Tony Levin on "American Pie"

kesslari · #1 02-20-2008, 09:59 AM

Last night in the car I heard "American Pie" (Don MacLean).
I always noticed the bass part as very "over the top" for that kind of pop ballad, but only recently learned that Tony Levin had done it. Very cool.

Does anyone know the story behind that recording? I imagine it took a very innovative/imaginative/visionary producer to bring in someone like Levin to that session and say "go to town" rather than to play in what was (and is) much more typical and safe for a pop ballad that was aimed at the charts.

BigSwami · #2 02-20-2008, 10:15 AM

I seem to think it had something to do with how the world always seems like a duller and less youthful place after the tragic death of a visionary. I think he was trying to sort of encapsulate the era from the death of Buddy Holly et al (aka "the day the music died") to the deaths of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King. You've got all this kind of 50's teenybopper imagery being used, and then it's contrasted with the rage and emotional upheaval of the late 1960s.

**barebones** · #3 02-20-2008, 10:29 AM

Lyrically, I think it's sort of a societal "loss of innocence" tale, as some believe took place following the various historical occurrences noted by another poster above.

Musically, I think the bouncy variety of the bass line makes a long, repetitive song much more interesting that it would be with something more reserved. I never knew that was Tony Levin on bass. His playing and career are really quite fascinating!

Matt

kesslari · #4 02-20-2008, 11:51 AM

Well, another myth bites the dust.
Sigh... I read it here on TB that it was Tony Levin.
But it was Bob Rothstien. I looked a bit further and in an interview, Levin says that he did play sessions for MacLean, but not on American Pie.
Still a very interesting choice for a non-traditional way to play over a ballad...

Lot of details about the session here:
http://mixonline.com/mag/audio_don_mcleans_american/

Vandelay · #5 02-20-2008, 12:05 PM

Thanks for the link, was interesting.

"American Pie" was the first record I ever owned, my sister bought it for me when I was 9. And as the article says, the song was so long that you had to flip over the single halfway through to hear it all. I memorized all the words, at least what I thought were the words -- you get a lot of them wrong when you're 9! I had no idea what it was about, but it was sure fun. I still enjoy listening to the bass line on it.

Vandelay · #6 02-20-2008, 12:10 PM

P.S. Just found Rothstein's website -- he also goes by the nickname of "Rob Stoner".

http://www.robstoner.com/index.php