Home Free feat. Don McLean - American Pie: A Pro DJ Reacts!
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- Опубліковано 19 лют 2021
- This is one of my all-time favorite songs, featuring the legend himself ...
Original video for Home Free feat. Don McLean - American Pie: • Home Free - American P...
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Want more homework? There's a great article here talking about this cover and the plane crash that caused "the day the music died" that McLean referred to 50 years ago:
tasteofcountry.com/home-free-don-mclean-american-pie/
From what I have heard Don had heard Home Free do a few songs and he reached out to them for the 50 year re-release. Outstanding performance to say the least.
I think Home Free being an acapella group paid homage to this song admirably. Their harmonies made this song.
I wore out my Don McClean album back in 1971 and I absolutely love Home Free and their version.
It was Don who approached HOME FREE to do the 50Th anniversary of it !!! How cool is that ??? I think the whole thing is just AWESOME !!!!!
And, all was done with Don’s approval.....otherwise I doubt it would have flown with Him at the helm 🙃‼️
Kenny Rogers reached out to do a collaboration with them for "Children go where I send thee"...how amazing to have legends call you to see if you want to work with them.
Home Free is amazing. And Don sounds amazing for 75! This was to honor the song for it’s 50th anniversary. Home Free are all ‘a cappella’ so they really know their own voices. The first guy to sing was the bass/baritone and has a 4 octave range. The last guy to sing is the bass and has a 5 octave range so he can go really low and also sing tenor. The man wearing the glasses is the tenor and is a great singer. They’re amazingly versatile and the beatboxer is incredible. Home Free has sung with Kenny Rogers, Lee Greenwood, Alabama, Oak Ridge boys and now Don McLean. They sing a lot of covers but also write and sing their own songs. Keep listening to them. You forget they don’t use instruments as the beatboxer is so good. Good reaction.
Actually 50 years ago...I was in 6th grade at Everglads Elementary here in Miami, FL. when this came out in October 1971. Home Free released this on Feb 3rd, which was the 62nd anniverary of the "Day the music died", Feb 3rd, 1959, when the plane crash took the lives of The Big Bopper (Chanilly Lace), Buddy Holly (That'll be the Day, Peggy Sue etc) and Ritchie Valens (La Bomba, Come on Let's Go, Donna)...Valens was only 17 as well...this was the 1st big tragedy with rock-n-rollers, so it was almost litterally "the day the music died". Don pulled this from his own childhood as he used to deliver morning papers...this is my favorite Home Free cover now. It's the song of *MY* generation. And yes til the end of my days in school on every field trip we took, and on every bus trip home after a football game played in say Hialeah, or at the Orange Bowl, or at Harris Field down towards Homestead & Florida City...we in the marching band from Miami Coral Park Sr High sang this instead if 99 bottles of beer LOLOLOL. Home Free had to get this right for me, which they did, thank God...by the was Don is retired now & 75 years young. You can tell by my post just how much this song means to me and folks my age.
I pinned a comment with some info about the song and the cover, but there's some really good interviews recently where Don has been slowly clearing up some of the theories around a few of the lyrics.
Don't worry ... there's a few '80s kids left that still love and appreciate this one. I'm really glad they nailed it too 🙂
Don reached out to them to do the 50th anniversary version. They did it proud and it was really neat to hear Don singing in it.
Agreed 🙂
When Home Free covers an artist they always honor the original in some way. Their respect for what has come before shows in the loving care they appear to take in re-recording great music from our shared past. Whether Love Train, God Bless The USA or this, everything is handled with care and appreciation.
Don and the members of Home Free all won 3 Tries for this. Don got his star in Hollywood, and asked HF to sing at the commemeration. Quite the honor!
They did another colab you should check , for the 4 of july last year they recorded -- God Bless the U.S.A with Lee Greenwood and the United States Air Force Band
Yesss, this ☝
They have done several and always respect the song and artists...Oakridge Boys, Kenny Rogers, Don, Alabama
I have to disagree about Rob's range. You need to listen to their cover of Boyz 2 Men, End of the Road. Rob sings lead on it.
I will!
That was my thought too.
"This song is a gift" - love this analogy. I've loved this song since it first came out - even had the album. I think Home Free did an amazing job with this & it was great to see & hear Don. Excellent reaction.
Home Free re-did God Bless the USA with Lee Greenwood last summer, and Lee and Don apparently have the same agent.So magic was made. He reached out to them; it's his 50th anniversary of the song's release.
Don reached out to Home Free to accompany him on the re-release of this song. And Home Free was happy to do it with him. And they did an awesome and amazing job as usual. Every Home Free band member has beyond excellent voices.
Wow...this was a superb and deeply thoughtful reaction...maybe the best one on this song I've herd...outstanding reaction man!!! thank you for putting into words what we're all feeling!
Thank you! I'm glad you liked it!
This is the song my son when he was 4 used to sing this song...I believe that as an adult he ONLY owned Chevys Hearing this song always takes my mind back then, and tears me up
I love that Home Free is always respectful of the singers they collaborate with - doubtless one of the reasons they've been sought out by legends! When this song was released a local radio stn. would, on request, send a breakdown of all the lyrics. This song is so deep, with so much in it - it's a true masterpiece. I think the age in Don McLean's voice only adds to the poignancy.
I think they met the challenge perfectly. Love it. Due respect to the song. Due respect to Don. Added their own touches. Perfect in my opinion. Don chose Home Free to do this project. Home Free has worked with many legends and always respect them and their bodies of work.
MAN, TIM'S BASSLINE IS AWESOME. HE HAS A 5 OCTAVE RANGE. BUT, LORD , DON MCLEAN IS GREAT AT 75. LOVED IT!
What thoughtful, heartfelt words. Thank you. It is indeed a gift.
I totally agree. Home Free sang this song with the respect it deserves and your words reflected that point. I could tell you were moved by this rendition and you've got one more sub as of now!
Actually Rob is a lead to high tenor. Not as high as Austin obviously. Listen to End of the Road or Mayday.
Read somewhere that Adam Rupp, the beatboxer almost passed out twice recording this.
They did a very similar thing with Kenny Rogers on "Children Go Where I Send Thee" in 2015 and thus made another very precious memory for us all.
This was the 50th Anniversary of American Pie !!!
Very pleased to see you reacting to more Home Free, and this epic song. I really liked what you had to say about making stories - it definitely resonated for me. Sometime you might like to react, or even just listen to HF's original song, Remember This, it has some thoughts along the same lines.
Home Free are making most of their videos from home at the moment, because of the pandemic, and the fact that they live scattered across the country. For this one they got professional crews to film them in front of green screens - Tim and Austin in Nashville, Rob and Adam in Minnesota and Chance in LA, but often they are actually filming themselves on their phones. I saw you did a reaction to Pentatonix's Daft Punk Medley - one for the film company that made it, Jimmy Bates of FifGen, is still working with Home Free as editor and director, as well as cameraman, and has done a lot to make great videos for them over the past year, with limited resources.
This collab was Don's idea. He heard from Lee Greenwood that Home Free was a great group to work with. I hope you will check out their collab with Lee and the US Airforce band on God Bless The USA. It is emotional and Lee also still sounds amazing.
Rob, the beard, is the "lead" tenor. Austin, the second upbeat verse, is the "high" tenor. Both are true tenors and have overlapping ranges just different timbres. Chance, the first upbeat verse, is a bass/baritone who covers the bass line when Tim, the bass, does the lead. Adam, the beatboxer, does harmonies on occasion and has a pleasant tenor. Chris, who appears in earlier releases and was replaced by Chance, calls himself a second tenor. I think that Don Mclean strikes me as a lower, darker voiced tenor. Maybe a bari-tenor?
Very nice analysis. Thank you.
50yrs to date that it was first released...1971
It's a 50 year anniversary re-release rather than a cover.
It's 7 seconds shorter than the original. As someone who grew up with this song (16-17 when this premiered) and knew every word this is wonderful!!😎😎😎😎
It’s a musical picture from 59-71!! Enjoyed the news clips in the video!! HF showed great respect to Don & this song!! We don’t know how many moments we have in life! Nice thoughtful reaction!!
As one who is well on the downward slope of the arc, I remember well when this song first came out, and it was so pleasing to see that Don is still doing well, and I agree with your assessment that is is a gift for another generation. Watching reactors to various songs has shown that so much of what I consider immortal or at least classic is unknown to so many of the current generation. Thankfully, there are a number of groups who are covering some of these classics and perhaps stimulating some of the younger folk to explore the wonderful musical legacy that is available to them through the magic of the internet.
An added plus...Don still performs to this day...not hugely large time...hell, he’s 75 !!! But, I caught him on an interview in Ireland ...it was AWESOME, & he played numerous songs he had written...it was too KOOL !!!!! The guy Still Has It !!!!!
Loved your reaction. this is a song from my childhood and i love to see a new generation enjoy it.
Excellent reaction! I have watched many reactions to this video...this one is by far the the best reaction I've seen! Just so heart felt and meaningful.....thank you for this! 62 yrs ago when the music died....I was in the 2nd grade but remember how it affected my sister...50 yrs ago when this song was released...I had just got married...so yes I too remember it very well!
Your reaction here shows that you have history with this song, whether bad or good you can see it means something to you. This is only my 2nd home free song to listen to, I think now I will listen to more.
I found you through watching Pentatonix Daft Punk reactions.
This song definitely means a lot to me. Nothing bad in my connection to this song, just very, very deep and personal in a way that I'm grateful for when I really think about it.
I started studying music at 10 years old and fell in love with it so much that for better or worse, I knew I wasn't going to do anything else with my life. I know I'm not done yet because there are songs that can still affect me the way this one does, so that's how I know to keep going. 🙂
Thank you so much for watching! I won't be continuing to do react videos in the future for a bunch of dumb UA-cam reasons, but I will be leaving the ones I did up on my channel as long as I can and I hope you'll stick around for some of my other future content.
When Home Free has a guest performer, that Guest ALWSYS has a significant appearance... Not just a few seconds to say that the person appeared.
I only ever heard this on the radio and always heard the whole song.
New sub here! I appreciated your breakdown of the song and what it means to you. Home Free has really raised the bar when it comes to collaborations with big artists! Kenny Rogers- Children Go Where I Send Thee, Elvira and Beautiful Star of Bethlehem with the Oak Ridge Boys, Christmas in Dixie with Alabama, and God Bless the USA with Lee Greenwood and the Airforce band. I know I've missed some but those are a few you might like if you like collaborations. Otherwise the Home Free rabbit hole is deep and diverse! They cover all different genres. They've got hymns, funny and silly remixes, and a good selection of their own originals. They've really used the pandemic to put out a lot of music. Doing videos from home and still killing it! Thanks for the reaction, I look forward to more. ❤
I'm glad you liked it! Welcome to the channel!
Yes...a gift. They have done the same with many other legends of the past. Such a great way like you said to take it to another generation. Hope you check those out as well.
You seem close to tears at the end of that video, buddy. Thanks for sharing because unlike many reactions I have seen, you have a deep personal relationship with and knowledge of the song that made your reaction unique. Glad that you have an appreciation of my favourite vocal group & what they brought to the song. Thank you.
... no comment. 🙂
The first guy that sang Chance is the baritone. The guy with the beard is a lower tenor, his name is Rob, the High tenor is Austin, the Bass is Tim and the beatboxer is Adam.
It is rare to find a music reaction channel where you actually learn something about the professional process.
For me, this song has always been the Great American Musical Scrapbook. The video captured that with the shadowbox style and the bittersweet arrangement.
On a lighter note they said they had to give Adam their beatboxer oxygen because of the length he had to beatbox for this song lol
This moves me every time I hear it. You are right, it's a gift to present and future generations. Thank you!
Glad you enjoyed it!
The amazing thing about this group is that they have 5 tenors if need be. Austin is a true high tenor. Rob (beard) is a mid tenor. Adam sings tenor when not doing perk. Chance and Tim both sing bass to tenor with ridiculous ranges.
Don sounds amazing in this 50 years later. And this arrangement is a great tribute to his original
Completely agree! Thanks for watching!
A lot of men are bari-tenors. High baritone to low tenor. With training they can extend their range a little and then often pick one.
He had a pretty wide and smooth range when he was younger - more like baritone plus a good high tenor. I imagine it is a little reduced now, but I'm not complaining. He was in his late 20's when I heard him (as a young kid) on my sister's record albums. I'm in my 60's now. How does he do it?
Well, Rob has a good range. It's probably where they dictated he should stick to on his verse to keep it in line with the overall arrangement. Rob has higher register in other songs he's in.
Rob the guy with the beard , you said is most like Don's is a tenor, austin the 2nd guy is high tenor , chance, the first guy is the baritone , Tim, the last guy is the bass .
He was delivering newspapers when he read the news about their deaths.
He was 75 when they did this and he still sounds incredible
Thanks for sharing🥲
If you're going down the trail of Home Free collaborations you have to do Ring of Fire featuring Avi Kaplan & also Children Go Where I Send Thee with Kenny Rogers. Both are off the charts great. I agree with another comment about Rob's range. Listen to their cover of End Of The Road. He will shock you.
Your comparison with Johnny Cash covering Hurt is an apt one. Don Mclean's voice has a gravitas that can only ever be earned through the shedding of blood, sweat, and tears. The very essence of old man voice is jaded, its a life lived and a life suffered. I love the reverence Home Free performed with here, simply raising his voice rather than fully overtaking. Yes, they left their mark, but goodness did they spotlight Don.
Completely agree ♥️
I like the comparison to Johnny Cash that you made. I've listened to this cover more than a couple of times and hadn't quite made that very clear connection, you hit the nail on the head. Such a great song and a respectful cover. If you haven't done it yet check out the behind the scenes making of, it's pretty neat.
I have! This video is way more technical than it looks, and they did an incredible job!
Love Home Free! Thanks for reacting to this!
Great heartfelt reaction, loved it! Would've subbed again if I wasn't already
I never knew exactly how to describe it, either, but RIAA called it the 5th best song of the entire 20th century!
I totally agree with Mikki Forrester. Give a listen to Home Free’s cover of Boyz II Men’s End of the Road.
This is what songs sound like when the poet sings it.
Love this on so many levels and your reactions are insightful.
Thank you for the reaction! Please react to Take Me Home Country Roads by Home Free, it's one of their best cover in my opinion.
I am convinced that if this had been the original, it would never have left the #1 spot.
I just subscribed, appreciated your heartfelt reaction!❤️
They were sought out by Don to make this version. So, I would imagine he wanted it closer to the original take on it.
The "Big-Beard" named Rob Lundquist.
He asked Home Free to do this for the 50th anniversary. During Covid
The full version was the dj bathroom break version.
This was really good. Home free can sing.
I always like this song when Don first came out with it. The Home Free guys respected the meaning of the song and Don McLean himself. Oops, I had looked up Home Free and the making of the song....and posted it. Had to delete that and post yours. Then clicked on the Taste Of Country.com you had posted just above. It tells the story of Don and Home Free getting together. Don was happy with how Home Free did the song. Not that it means anything but I loved the way the song turned out. Thanks so much for your reaction.
This song has been written on my soul for decades, too. Since I was 12. It took me several days to be ready to give this version a listen, and likely would've been longer if McLean hadn't been involved.
I think I may know one major factor OTHER than McLean's involvement in them successfully solving the equation for doing such a well known song well while still putting their mark on the cover...
Despite all the ways Home Free made this uniquely theirs, I could still sing along, from first word to last, without stumbling. Even on my first listen.
Bc not only is American Pie incredibly well known, it's a song frequently sung along to, especially in groups. I can't think of a time I've heard it at events (weddings, backyard cook outs, casual parties, etc) without ALSO hearing 2/3 of the attendees singing the whole damn thing.
It's in the overlapping region of a Venn diagram between "songs the majority of people know really well" and "songs that can easily be sung even if the singer has a fairly narrow range". So that means that one of the most critical things to get right is ensuring that folks can sing along without changing the muscle memory so many people have for the original. It's one of the things Weird Al nailed, too- sure, he rewrote the lyrics, but at the same time, you could sing the original lyrics over his parody without a hitch, AND a large chunk of the new lyrics were either unchanged at all, or *so* close to the original words with regard to the mouth movement involved.
"Written on my soul" is really, really accurate. I might have to borrow it some day :)
Have you heard Rob in their Mayday cover? Love it!! And their Boys II Men cover.... mmmm
Does anyone else want a master class breaking down the lyrics of this song?
Don has been doing a run of interviews lately since this is the song's 50th anniversary, and he's been discussing some of the lyrics that he previously left up to interpretation. It's really fascinating stuff!
You know what would be cool? If Home Free got together with Weird Al and did a similar version of the The Saga Begins.
Welp ... this idea is gonna keep me up all night. Thanks for that.
"... in a galaxy far away, Naboo was under an attack ..."
Excellent song and reaction. An interesting shot I caught today was that the beat boxer was singing in front of a huge analytical diagram of the mouth and throat. It was just sort of fitting that a master of mouth sounds would be there.
r0kus HF puts a lot of thought into their videos as well as the music! Have you recognized all the news clips in the video??
Late to the party here I also have to say I grew up with this song as it was my dad's favorite song of all time may he rest in peace. I just want to say you're the first person I've seen that has actually A.) know this song and B.) recognized who Don Mclean is instead of saying he's just some guy they brought in to sing the song with them; but not appreciating the fact that he is the man who wrote the song and performed it all those years ago.
Thank you for watching! It's been so great to see all the comments from folks who love the song like I do.
Pure perfection
One the greatest Storytellers ❤❤❤❤
I would agree that Don is most likely a high baritone/low tenor, but Rob is definitely a straight up Tenor 1. He can go very high in chest and has great access to head voice
The only regret is that Tim's verse did not have a drop note into the basement.
You need to listen to more of them because Rob and sing even higher than he did here the guy with the beard as you called him
❤❤
They’re not covering it! They’re singing along with him. Jester is Bob Dylan.
Anyone else having a sing along with Switch?? Lol
I sing along with most songs during my DJ sets. I can't help it 😂
They sang it up tempo to keep from killing the Beat Boxer!
?
Am I missing something but is Tim not in this one, and if not who’s doing the bass line?
Never mind, I see that he cut his hair and I didn’t recognize him.
Same thing happened to me the first time I saw him after the haircut...lol.
Lol! And when Tim is singing his verse, Chance is covering bass. He actually does that quite often now. He sang bass in his previous group and has a 4 octave range. Not quite as wide a range as Tim's 5+, but still impressive.
Don McLean is SEVENTY-FIVE YEARS OLD!
Okay, can I just point out though that having the guy IN THE COVER OF HIS OWN SONG is cheating? Cuz it's definitely cheating.
I'm not saying it's not great - it's freakin' amazing.
It's just also cheating.
:)
Nah. Nothing in the rule book about covering your own songs if it's a wholly different instrumentation and approach.
@@DJSwitchPDX no i mean cheating for home free to have him in it.
i'm not just salty cuz they got the call and voice play didn't, YOU'RE just salty cuz etc. ;-)