Day Tripping: October 2

The Jester’s Thorny Crown

Don McLean was born the third of that name in 1945. An acute case of asthma kept him out of school for long periods of time. Don used that time to listen to Frank Sinatra, Buddy Holly, and his favorite folksingers, the Weavers.

McLean began playing the New York club scene and then in towns along the Hudson River. His mentor, Pete Seeger, took young Don under his wing and brought him on his Clearwater tour where McLean wrote the songs for Tapestry, his first album.

“Every thread of creation is held in position by still other strands of things living.”

After two years and 72 rejections later, Don released Tapestry on the Mediarts label. The best it could do was give crooner Perry Como a hit with And I Love You So. When Universal bought out Mediarts, Don got his break with American Pie in 1971. His second album took McLean from a relative unknown to international stardom virtually overnight.

Don McLean has written songs that have been recorded by major stars from every genre, including Garth Brooks, Madonna, Josh Groban, and Drake.

Today is:

Day of Non-Violence — another day that needs to occur more often. Perhaps it begins with…

World Smile Day

Musical Ride

The traditionalist audience at the Grand Ole Opry didn’t take well to the performance by Elvis Presley in 1954. After bombing on stage Elvis was told to go back to driving a truck. Presley vowed he would never return to the venue.

Interesting Notes

The comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz went into newspaper syndication in 1950, on Snoopy’s birthday.

Gone But Not Forgotten

The music world lost another legend in 2017 when Tom Petty passed away. Medical staff at UCLA were unable to revive him and took Tom off life support several hours after his cardiac arrest in his Malibu home. Petty was 66 years old.

Notable Births

Two comedians and a straight man, or vice versa?

1869 — Mahatma Gandhi 1890 — Groucho Marx 1897 — Bud Abbott

K. Barrett Maria Rattray Maryam Merchant Dr. Mehmet Yildiz Tree Langdon Myriam Ben Salem Phil Truman Chelsea Mandler MAT Terry Mansfield Hollie Petit, Ph.D. Terry Trueman Dr. Preeti Singh John Gruber Bill Abbate James G Brennan ScienceDuuude Marcus Liam Ireland Claire Kelly Noorain Hassan, BMS Amy Pierovich David Acaster Nora Thewriteyard David Perlmutter Joe Luca Holly Kellums Michael Burg, MD Lucy Dan Dave Logan

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The Story Of Day Tripping Through History What’s Past Is Often Present

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