Don McLean - American Pie Piano Track
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- Опубліковано 4 лют 2025
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Don McLean in 2012: "It was tough to constantly be saying the song wasn't right when we played "American Pie" in the studio. Musicians started to get ticked off and it made people wonder, "Does this guy know what he wants?" Finally the producer came up with a piano player, Paul Griffin. He heard my acoustic guitar in his ear and started pounding away at the piano. The rock and roll sound that I wanted was the one thing I couldn't get from Ed Freeman. He was very weak, I thought, in that area. Well, Paul started to jump all over that piano, everyone followed his lead. That's how I got the track I wanted for "American Pie."
Soulful piano playing
This piano track really drives the song. Griffin turned up at the studio and he'd never even seen the sheet music before. McLean says they piped his guitar into Griffin's headphones and he just started riffing as the song went along. The result is a remarkable piano track, which was probably a nightmare for transcription because he clearly ad-libbed his way through it. The result is brilliant!
That is Mr. Paul Griffin on piano. He was a gifted musician that passed on in 2000. He has played with Dylan, B.J. Thomas, Isley Bros., Don McLean, Laura Nyro, Steely Dan, Sonny Stitt, Van Morrison, Dion Warwick, Stanley Turrentine, and many other artists.
King Curtis "discovered" him. Another gift to the world from King Curtis.
This should be retitled to add Featuring Paul Griffin as he was the studio musician genius playing this part….
I just love how each verse has its own special sauce to it. It keeps it interesting and prevents it from getting stale.
Just watched "The Day the Music Died" documentary on Paramount+ and had to listen to this. Amazing!
Required listening for accompanists everywhere. Not just the feeling but the soul. At my first listen was listening so intently to the piano that I didn't realize that there was a tambourine in there as well.
Paul Griffin was a Genius, a Master Musician...that’s all anyone needs to know or say...
Agreed!
Incredibly beautiful piano part. Such a huge part of this legendary song
Agree that Paul Griffin deserves some featuring credit for this performance. It’s the soul of the song. Similarly Larry Knechtel on Bridge over troubled water,
Indeed, and Rick Wakeman on "Morning has Broken". All were gospel-inspired performances, by amazingly gifted ring--in session pianists, and in every case, they were a crucial factor in the song's success.
Who ever posted this is a genius
campbellboy14
Hats
An absolute wizard.
Very few studio piano players this good. The piano track makes the entire song. Everything else kind of wrecks the isolated piano part, to my ears at least.
I was looking for a karaoke version without backing vocals, to record a version with new lyrics and this is perfect. I'll add some guitar myself.
Thanks very much.
Paul Griffin was a musical genius.Listen to Sooner or Later by Dylan . that’s Griffin . An absolute master
Thank you very much for making this available.
a masterpiece
I listen to this every day. I'm working on playing it note for note.
I have thought about doing that as well.. he has a very unique style.. sounds so good!
How's it coming along friend? Hope you're making progress but I wish we had the transcription
@@kzeichon ultimate guitar, there’s a virtual tab of this exact piano arrangement. Or close enough. You can change it from guitar notation to piano.
I am doing that right now, pretty slow process doing it by ear but fun.
I love all the parts like at 3:36 and 4:53. 2:06 leads into one of those, but I like that whole part as well. I want to learn this sometime soon on the paino, and I know it's gonna be a challenge. I'll get it eventually.
Did you learn it?
Just to learn the basic chords would be cool without all his great innovative embellishments.
So.... did you learn it?
Where did you get this dude!?
Really interestiing. Thank you,
wow, where did you find the solo piano track? I haven't found the multi-track of this online! Many thanks for this 🎹😀
U saved my day
Outstanding track! Anything like this for Vincent?
how the hell did you obtain this lol
Is there a synthesia for this?
I don’t understand how Paul didn’t get any writing ( royalties) credit! Don had a great song that wasn’t coming together. In walks Paul and… there you go! As a musician, how can you not (financially) credit someone who tied your song together in a way you didn’t think of? So many artists should be embarrassed that session players that brought their music to life with their own inspiration, didn’t receive financial windfall.
I know that’s how it was for session players but man it wasn’t right
Is this the real piano track. It does sound a little different in parts.
I wondered that too, at first, but I've listened with great care and with the help of digital timeshifting, and I'm absolutely convinced now that it's definitely the studio piano from the original album release. There are certain sequences of slip notes integrated into a few of the flams in exceptionally intricate ways, which even Paul would probably not have ever played just the same way twice, and they match perfectly.
I think why it mainly sounds different is that most of what he does in the LH (and even some of the RH) is too far down in the album mix to be distinguished without great difficulty over the guitar, drums and other instruments like tambourine.
And I think the main purpose of the LH comping was to keep Paul G interested and excited and in the groove, I don't think the song needs anything more from him than what bleeds through, despite the brilliance of what does not.
Does anyone have a transcription?
Anyone looking to learn this faithfully should check out the keyboard transcription from Sheet Music Direct (not any of the arrangments from the same source. The one you need has page 6 as the first page, as a check). It is almost note-for-note perfect for the crucial first couple of pages, and the last couple.
Elsewhere (although it misses the most complex rhythmical embellishments, because it's actually trying to provide a piano part which could stand alone without any guitar backup - and even if it were not, imagine trying to transcribe the phenomenal piano Paul G plays in the main verses!) it provides an excellent frame to hang a more authentic treatment onto.
Most of the crucial flams and the incredibly complex (in some instances) sequences and integration of grace and slip notes are carefully captured and notated, and it's easy enough to tweak the occasional mis-transcribed snippets when so much of it is golden.
I can normally learn rock piano without a transcription, but this particular performance is right on the limit for me even with a transcription, just in terms of being able to remember every nuance, so as to practice to a pattern which can be nailed down.
Mainly (I think) this is because the syncopation is so multilayered and complex, and the embellishments so unusual, varied and crucial. It doesn't help that I also am holding down the vocal part, which is unbelievably rhythmically syncopated against the different syncopations in each of the four main rhythm instruments. Two and a quarter of which I'm playing: piano, hints of guitar where need (on the piano) and bass in the LH almost throughout.
Hard as it is to play it faithfully, that's nothing to the feat of coming up with it in the first place. It's just unfathomable to me that people like Paul G could get SO good at their trade!
S
S indeed
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I want sheet music
pm me and I'll send it to you
Hey is there a way I can get in on that sheet music? Love this part!
@@richchiaramonte5861 pm me and I'll send it to you as a pdf
Hey. First thx so much I’m excited!
So I’m not computer savvy (at all)….I can’t figure how to pm. If I put my email in this thread can u send it to that address? I’ll take my post off afterwards….I don’t want to ask for yours here obviously
@@richchiaramonte5861 sure you can do that. I also posted my gmail address after your reply
Personal practice notes:
2:20
5:41
1:26
copyright disclaimer is bullshit
Thank you very much for making this available.