From the first time I heard "American Pie" there were so many questions I wish I could have asked Don McLean about his masterpiece. I finally got the chance since he's going to be at the Count Basie Theatre Sept 28 with Pure Prairie League.

Now McLean normally doesn't talk about his iconic masterpiece which is an RIAA song of the century coming in at 5 out of 25, but he's more than willing to talk about his inspiration and what the two of us have in common, a love for Buddy Holly.

So it was by starting the conversation about Holly that led McLean down the road to writing and recording American Pie, much like it happened in real life. The song took 3 months to write after living it for 10 years. Who's the king? Who's the jester? What did Buddy's older brother Travis do when he first heard the song? It's all here as well as the inspiration to write "Vincent" and the approach he took to create his other iconic hit.

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