TWO FROM THE MCLEAN FOLK VAULT WHICH DESERVE A MODERN COUNTRY MUSIC RESURRECTION

Don McLean really makes a good compromise to write about. A compromise
between the electric folk of Bob Dylan and traditional country music.
That`s because McLean was just enough electric to appeal to the rock
audience and just enough acoustic to appeal to the folk audience. In
the early 70`s, many traditional folk fans who felt betrayed by Bob
Dylan`s conversion to electric had only Donovan and a few other one
hit folk wonders to sing about if they couldn`t bring themselves to
listen to Dylan`s crossover sound. Don Mclean only had a brief time
in the commercial sun, but in a short space of time, just like his
hero Buddy Holly, he churned out a small but timeless body of work
which continues to inspire many musicians today, although most will
not admit to it. His one and only big hit, `American Pie`, which is
a tribute to Holly even though McLean continues to deny it to this
very day, is an epic masterpiece of lyrical complexity that i will
write my own tribute to one day. The grandiose storytelling didn`t
end with American Pie, his other hit `Vincent`, was more subdued &
personal but not lacking the same conviction. Two songs of McLean`s
which i think have always been unfairly overlooked by radio as well
as other musicians is the immensely melodramatic `Empty Chairs` as
well as the more upbeat and rockabilly inspired `Winterwood`. Both
songs should have been recorded by other artists over the years, i
find it unbelievable that mainstream rock and country artists have
not saw the potential to resurrect these two songs, albeit with a
few hefty re-arrangements to give them a more co-hesive structure,
to give them a new lease of life to a wider audience. The story of
lost love and sheer loneliness in Empty Chairs is almost enough to
bring a tear to anyones eye, and Winterwood is certainly up there
with the likes of Vincent in the folk fusion stakes, both lyrical-
ly and musically. I think it is about time that country musicians
put aside their disdain for Dylan and folk rock from the 60`s and
70`s in general long enough to see the potential in bringing these
two McLean gems back to life once more with some minor alterations.