Maps of Music

Tapestry (1970)

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

The title track of this 1970 debut album inspired the formation of the Greenpeace environmental movement.

Key places

Recorded at Sierra Sound Laboratories in Berkeley (1970)

Recording site Zellerbach Auditorium (Berkeley) — The album was recorded at the Sierra Sound Laboratories in Berkeley, California, in 1969–70. The point is placed at the city centre of Berkeley, not at the studio building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Tapestry: debut studio album by American folk singer Don McLean
• Originally released October 1970 by Mediarts Records
• Recorded 1969–70 at Sierra Sound Laboratories, Berkeley, California
• Produced by Jerry Corbitt of the Youngbloods
• Title track inspired the formation of Greenpeace

Background

• Italian Wikipedia describes it as mainly a folk record of ballads
• Mediarts later sold to United Artists; album reissued by United Artists in 1971
• Italian Wikipedia credits all songs to Don McLean as lyricist and composer

Recording

• Recorded at Sierra Sound Laboratories, 1741 Alcatraz Ave, Berkeley, California
• Personnel: Don McLean (vocals, lead guitar, banjo), Richard Turner (guitar, bass guitar), Peter Childs (dobro, bass guitar), Jerry Corbitt (bass guitar)
• Drums: Gregory Dewey and Jeff Meyer; piano: Scott Lawrence and Edward Bogas (Bogas also string arrangements)
• Engineers: Bob DeSousa and Roy Ward; mixing: Ed Freeman and Tom Flye
• Track listing on Italian Wikipedia: first side six songs, total 21:01; second side five songs, total 20:52

Cover

• Cover design by Norber Jobst
• Photography by Julie Snow

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · it.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• 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.

Career

• 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.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Originally released October 1970 by Mediarts Records
• Re-issued 1971 by United Artists after United Artists bought Mediarts
• Italian Wikipedia gives commercial and critical success as the reason for the United Artists reissue
• Italian Wikipedia calls Mediarts a small independent label
• Re-issued 1981 on Liberty Records
• The 1981 Liberty reissue does not include "Three Flights Up"
• Italian Wikipedia describes the record as a folk album made of a series of ballads

Records

• No chart positions or certifications stated in the source

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · it.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The title track inspired the formation of the Greenpeace environmental movement.
• "And I Love You So" is one of McLean's most recorded songs, with versions from Elvis Presley in the 1970s to Glen Campbell nearly 30 years later.
• Perry Como had a huge international hit with "And I Love You So" in 1973.
• The album was produced by Jerry Corbitt of the Youngbloods.
• The 1981 Liberty Records reissue leaves out "Three Flights Up".

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · ko.wikipedia.org

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