With the passing of many musical icons in recent days, it is sad to report on the demise of yet another – this time due to a domestic violence incident.
Singer-songwriter Don McLean was arrested and charged for assault in Camden, Maine USA according to a report by WCSH-TV. McLean, 70, was arrested without incident and transported to Knox County Jail around 3:13 a.m. on 18th January, before his release from custody after posting bail several hours later. McLean was charged with the lowest level assault crime – a charge of domestic violence assault. Police Chief Randy Gagne did not identify the victim but said that nobody involved required medical attention.
McLean‘s original manuscript and notes to “American Pie” were sold at auction for $1.2 million (€1.071million) last April. The name of the buyer was not released. The 16 pages included the original working manuscript and typed drafts of the song. The eight-minute-long “American Pie” was released in 1971 and was a No. 1 U.S. hit for four weeks in 1972. “The day the music died” refers to the Feb. 3, 1959, deaths of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper in a plane crash in a field not far away from the town of Clear Lake, Iowa where the show had been the previous night performing at the Surf ballroom. McLean, a longtime Maine resident, said writing the song was “a mystical trip into his past.” As I keep saying, it pays to write songs.