The Messed Up Truth About Don McLean

Andy Breckman, a DJ on influential New York-area radio station WFMU, started his career as a folk musician in the 1970s. Early on, he signed with once-mighty manager Herb Gart, who had just one major act left in his client base: McLean. Gart placed Breckman as the opening act for McLean on a 1980 tour of western Canada. Breckman was excited, until he met McLean, whom he called in a 1994 article for LCD (via WFMU's website), "the most bitter, petty, insecure scumbag I ever met." 

Breckman recalls McLean bullying their tour manager and ranting about musicians he considered untalented, like Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan. After shows, Breckman said, McLean routinely picked up female fans and took them to his hotel room for what he nicknamed "d*ck autographs." Nevertheless, Breckman stayed respectful, and during each show, he would play a short chunk of "American Pie" and then joke, "Gosh, I hope Don hadn't planned on singing that one." McLean said he liked the bit, but on the final show of the tour, McLean ended his show by declaring, "I'll be back next year. I won't be bringing my special guest,'" which was how Breckman had been billed.

McLean was also keen on making a TV show about a singing cowboy who fought crime. He never made it, but after mentioning it once to actor John Ritter, according to Breckman, McLean was convinced that the Three's Company star was going to steal the idea.

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