Maps of Music

Prime Time (1977)

Where the lyrics of Prime Time take you, and where it was really made.

A track from this 1977 album was sampled by Drake for his 2011 song "Doing It Wrong."

Place unknown

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Prime Time: sixth studio album by American singer-songwriter Don McLean
Released in 1977
Produced by John Peters
Thirteen tracks in total
Title track "Prime Time" runs 5:02 and is the longest track
"Red Wing" runs 1:12 and is the shortest track
All tracks composed by McLean except "South of the Border" (Michael Carr, Jimmy Kennedy)

McLean plays guitar and banjo, sings, and plays electric bass on "When Love Begins"
Rob Stoner plays electric bass and sings backing vocals
Howie Wyeth plays drums, marimba, piano, and harpsichord, and sings backing vocals
David Sanborn plays saxophone on "Jump"
Dom Cortese plays accordion on "South of the Border"
Kenny Asher plays organ, electric piano, clavinet, and synthesizer, and wrote the string arrangements
Gene Orloff and His Strings provide the strings, with Orloff as concertmaster
Pat Rebillot plays piano; Ed Freeman plays piano on "Building My Body"
John Farrell plays electric guitar on "Prime Time"

Donald McLean III, born October 2, 1945, American singer-songwriter and guitarist.
Known as the "American Troubadour" or "King of the Trail".
Grew up in New Rochelle, New York; became interested in folk music as a teenager.
By age 16 had bought his first guitar and made contacts in the music business, becoming friends with Erik Darling and Fred Hellerman of the Weavers.
Graduated from Iona Preparatory School in 1963; briefly attended Villanova University.
Performed for six years at venues including The Bitter End, the Gaslight Cafe, the Newport Folk Festival, and the Troubadour in Los Angeles.

Recorded the album Tapestry in 1969 in Berkeley, California; rejected 72 times by labels before Mediarts released it.
Breakthrough came with the album American Pie, released after Mediarts was taken over by United Artists Records.
The title song "American Pie" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in January–February 1972 and is his most successful single, certified six-times Platinum by the RIAA.
"Vincent", a tribute to Vincent van Gogh, reached number 1 on the UK Singles Chart and number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Roy Orbison's "Crying" by McLean reached number 1 in the Netherlands, UK and Australia, and number 5 on the US pop chart in 1981.
Other hits include "Castles in the Air", "Wonderful Baby" and "Dreidel".
Inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2004; "American Pie" entered the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002.

Record World called the title track "a rock 'n roll song with a honky-tonk flavor and a good deal of strong and ironic social commentary."
Record World's remark singles out the title track, which blends rock 'n roll with a honky-tonk flavor
The same remark points to the song's strong and ironic social commentary

Italian Wikipedia: the album did not achieve good commercial success
Italian Wikipedia: the tracks, especially the title track "Prime Time", are considered among McLean's best compositions
Drake sampled "The Wrong Thing to Do" in his song "Doing It Wrong" from Take Care (2011), so a track from this 1977 album reached a later audience through his work

Drake sampled "The Wrong Thing to Do" in "Doing It Wrong" from his 2011 album Take Care
"The Wrong Thing to Do" is the fifth track on Prime Time
The album opens with its title track, the longest song at 5:02
"South of the Border" is co-credited to Michael Carr and Jimmy Kennedy, the only track not composed by McLean alone