The 16-page manuscript, sold to an unnamed buyer at Christie's, features handwritten and typed lyrics, including lines that the star wrote but didn't make the cut to the final version of the 1971 hit.
- April 8, 2015
AceShowbiz -
The manuscript for Don McLean's hit single "American Pie" has sold for $1.2 million at an auction in New York. The 16-page handwritten manuscript went to a collector who refused to be named at Christie's on Tuesday, April 7.
"Don McLean's manuscript of 'American Pie' achieved the 3rd highest auction price for an American literary manuscript, a fitting tribute to one the foremost singer-songwriters of his generation," Tom Lecky, Head of Department, Books & Manuscripts, said in a statement.
"This result is a testament to the creative genius of Don McLean and to the song's ability to still engage and inspire," he added.
The 16 pages feature handwritten and typed lyrics, including lines that McLean wrote but didn't make the cut to the final version of the 1971 hit. "The writing and the lyrics will divulge everything there is to divulge," the 69-year-old rocker explained in an interview before the auction. "You'll see what I am thinking about. It is a piece of a dream that I am trying to capture."
While fans have known that the beginning of the song, particularly the lines "The day the music died," refers to the deaths of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. Richardson a.k.a. The Big Bopper in a 1959 plane crash, the rest of the song remains a mystery. "I wanted to capture, probably before it was ever formulated, a rock and roll American dream," McLean said.
