Song of the Day 4/27: Yoon Suk-yeol, “American Pie”

Joe Biden hosted a state dinner at the White House and, I guess because guest of honor Yoon Suk-yeol is president of South Korea, he turned into karaoke night. After being told “American Pie” was Yoon’s favorite song when he was in school, Biden said, “Well, we want to hear you sing it.” Yoon obliged.

You’ve probably heard Don McLean’s version more often than you care to, but if you can stand it one more time, listen closely to the piano. Harlem-born Paul Griffin’s playing is familiar to anyone who’s heard Bob Dylan’s “Highway 61 Revisited” and “Blonde on Blonde,” and McLean said “American Pie” wouldn’t have been a hit without him.

Griffin was brought in the day of the session, and McLean said, “He started playing gospel piano all over that record, and that’s what made that track happen. Up until that day, it was a disaster.” Except for the first verse, what you hear was recorded live in the studio. “Everything was rocking and jumping, it was everything I wanted,” McLean said. “The track itself on the record is live, with all the guys playing. Everybody felt it and just jumped all over it.”