Favorites & Rarities

Don McLean | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 25, 1992)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Capitol
• ASIN: B00000DRDN
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #158,203 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A most beautiful voice partnered with songwriting mastery., April 27, 2000

By 

D. Mok (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Favorites & Rarities (Audio CD)

"American Pie" is Don McLean's most famous song, a misunderstood classic that because of its lyrical crypticism, bouncy imagery and classic-rock arrangement draws polarized responses. Supporters call it a classic; detractors call it a novelty. I fall firmly into the former category. "American Pie" is catchy, smart, and dares to be its own entity. Was there ever a song written quite like it? It was on a level all its own lyrically, as well, carving out one of popular music's most enjoyable and multilayered mysteries.

The one thing "American Pie" doesn't showcase as much is that Don McLean is one fine singer. With superhumanly accurate pitch, rich and narrative while evoking a romantic power, McLean's voice is a marvel, one of those classic voices that cross the generations. The first time I heard it was on the animated film The Flight of Dragons (McLean performed the beautiful title song, which I've been hunting for on CD for years) at the age of eight and I fell in love with that voice. And then there's his guitar playing -- in the words of Eric Clapton as quoted in the liner notes to Favorites & Rarities, "McLean's picking, like his singing, is par excellence".

So what we have here is a collection of beautiful songs (mostly written by McLean) performed immaculately. The pastoral, acoustic guitar-based "Castles in the Air", McLean's superlative cover of Roy Orbison's heartbreak classic "Crying", the romantic paean to Van Gogh "Vincent" and "American Pie" are the most well known songs here, but you'll also discover the lesser-known gems like "Babylon", the haunting traditional ballad that ended the American Pie album; "If We Try", one of the loveliest and most understated songs about romantic yearning I've ever heard, with an enchanting lyric; a newer, slower version of "Castles in the Air" that takes away some of the exuberance of the original but adds vocal ease and atmospheric richness; and "Empty Chairs", as usual a marvellously voiced ballad that ranks comfortably with "Crying" and "Vincent" as McLean balladeering at its best.

The second disc of "Rarities" contains songs that mostly belong in the Woody Guthrie tradition of good-humoured, earthy folk tunes. "Good Old Wagon", "Milkman's Matinee", "Yonkers Girl", "Black Sheep Boy" -- though McLean's lyrics are more celestial and ethereal than Guthrie's (or Guthrie's disciple, Bob Dylan), his vocal versatility allows him to achieve the playfulness and folk appeal that the stories behind the songs attempt to convey.

Cherish the legacy of a great American singer and songwriter, one of the strongest poets, musical and lyrical, ever to have graced popular music.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A bizarre combo -, January 3, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Favorites & Rarities (Audio CD)

a package for neophytes and connoisseurs, highlighting McLean's wonderful songwriting skills and instrumental chops, this two CD set is incredible value at this price.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Buried Treasure, October 26, 1999

By 

A. Butterfield (UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Favorites & Rarities (Audio CD)

There are some really good songs on this one in the Rarities section, and some of those fascinating little banjo bits that McLean likes. It's interesting to hear the tracks that didn't make it onto the original albums and it looks like it wasn't necessarily because they weren't as good as the rest. Good Old Wagon has to be my favourite. Oddly, this track is mentioned on the Tapestry Album cover but the track isn't on the album. It should've been. In the favourites section, it's pretty much what you'd expect but the sound quality is better, especially the tracks from the American Pie album. Well worth buying if you're a fan.