Don McLean was my first ever gig. I was 16 years old and I went with my friend and his mum to the Worthing Assembly Rooms. The poor guy deserved much better than that dump. He had a terrible cold and asked for some sweet tea. He wasn’t sure how he was going to get through American Pie at the end. He thought we’d have to sing it for him. And I guess we kind of did. It’s the perfect singalong song - or the chorus is at least. I made it my mission to remember the lyrics, though, and I do still to this day. And with this album of the day, I enjoyed reminiscing to the title track and to Vincent and Winterwood and just like the Worthing Assembly Rooms, Don Maclean deserved better - more recognition, more success, for writing sweet, folk rock ballads that were always pretty, sometimes enigmatic, usually heartfelt.