Photos by Andy Argyrakis

The extensive songbook of timeless troubadour Don McLean is filled with countless gems spanning folk, country, pop and rock, yet “American Pie” may very well take the cake when it comes to cross-generational classics.

In honor of its 55th anniversary and also America’s 250th birthday, the Grammy and Songwriters Hall of Famer filled up the North Shore Center For Performing Arts’ George Van Dusen Theatre, putting another feather in the cap of its 30th season.

Throughout 95 insightful minutes, McLean sung and strummed many stunningly crafted stories from the mid-1960s to today, while periodically covering a few formative influences in the spirit of the “Playin’ Favorites” series.

Ricky Nelson’s “Believe What You Say” greeted the audience prior to the now 80-year-old’s own “Botanical Gardens,” “Lovers Love The Spring” and “Headroom,” each coming across in the warm and welcoming tones of his recordings.

“And I Love You So” was the next original remade by at least a hundred artists, including everyone from Perry Como to Elvis Presley, though there was no beating the actual man behind the music.

Buddy Holly’s “Fool’s Paradise” and Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues” sandwiched the personally-penned ballad “Empty Chairs,” and a little later, “Vincent” served as another enduring addition to a “starry, starry night.”

That observation certainly applied in spades to the sextuple-platinum “American Pie,” an immortal anthem if there ever was one brought to further life as the crowd become a choir during the spine-chilling choruses.

McLean continued to shine on the gospel standard “This Little Light Of Mine,” and as he walked off to a reprise of “American Pie,” ranked right up there with the North Shore Center’s lengthy list of greats.

For additional information on Don McLean, visit DonMcLean.com.

Upcoming shows at the North Shore Center For The Performing Arts Theatre include The Wellermen (Sept. 25); Gromkie (Sept. 26); Music Of The Baroque (Sept. 27); 40 Fingers (Sept. 30); Reed Timmer (Oct. 1): “Swan Lake” (Oct. 2); Leonid & Friends (Oct. 3); “Ghostbusters” In Concert (Oct. 7-8); “Escape To Margaritaville” (Oct. 7-Nov. 1); Face 2 Face (Oct. 10); Third Coast Symphony (Oct. 11); Feast A Da Funny (Oct. 16); Toad The Wet Sprocket (Oct. 17); Vivaldi & Beyond (Oct. 18); La Diosa (Oct. 23); Maria Bamford (Oct. 24); Lions On Jeeps (Oct. 25); Bill Blagg (Oct. 25-26); Vitamin String Quartet (Oct. 26); “Cinderella” (Oct. 29) and The Sinatra Experience (Oct. 30). For additional details, visit NorthShoreCenter.org.

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