Don McLean
Don McLean was born on October 2, 1945, in New Rochelle, New York, to Elizabeth and Donald McLean. By the age of five he had developed an interest in all forms of music and would spend hours listening to the radio and records that were around the house. Childhood asthma meant that Don missed long periods of school and while he slipped back in his studies, his love of music was allowed to flourish. He would often perform shows for family and friends.
As a teenager, he purchased his first guitar (a Harmony F Hole with a sunburst finish) from the House of Music in New Rochelle and took voice lessons paid for by his sister. These lessons combined with running, walking, and swimming, helped Don to develop breath control, which would later allow him to sing long, continuous phrases, in songs such as “Crying”, without taking a breath. The exercise also meant his asthma improved.
In 1961, Don took his only vacation with his father – a trip to Washington D.C. Sadly, a few months later his father died. Don was just 15 years old.
By this time, Don's musical focus was on folk music thanks, in part, to The Weavers landmark 1955 recording "Live at Carnegie Hall". Don was determined to become a professional musician and singer and, as a 16-year-old, he was already making contacts in the business. After getting his home number from the telephone directory, Don phoned Fred Hellerman and later, Erik Darling. Don and Erik became friends and Don visited his apartment in New York.
Through Erik Darling, Don recorded his first studio sessions with Lisa Kindred and was invited to join a group with Darling and the other members of the Rooftop Singers. However, even at that time, Don saw himself as a troubadour and turned down the offer.
While at Villanova University in 1963 (he stayed for just four months), Don met and became friends with Jim Croce and President Kennedy was assassinated.
After leaving Villanova, Don was managed by Harold Leventhal Management. This started a six-year period during which time Don performed at venues like The Bitter End and Gaslight Café in New York, the Newport Folk Festival, The Cellar Door in Washington, D.C., The Main Point in Philadelphia, the Troubadour and Ash Grove in Los Angeles and over forty colleges throughout New York and New England. He appeared alongside artists like Herbie Mann, Brownie McGee and Sonny Terry, Melanie, Steppenwolf, Pete Seeger, Janis Ian, Josh White, Ten Wheel Drive, The James Gang and others.
Don also found time to attend night school at Iona College and, in 1968, graduated with a Bachelors degree in Business Administration but turned down a prestigious scholarship to Columbia University Graduate School.
While singing at The Caffe Lena, the New York State Council for the Arts invited Don to become their Hudson River Troubadour. He accepted and spent the summer traveling from town to town in the Hudson Valley, giving talks about the environment and singing songs for whoever would turn up to listen.
Journalists & fans call him ‘The rock n roll poet.’ He's an Outlaw folk & rock n roll singer songwriter with a cause –songs of real life experience society,social struggles , ,love ,rebellion& satire –
A man with a message .A voice of the forgotten regular people kicked around by life who beat the odds .He overcame death more than once –being told he’d never play music or walk again after a rare illness in 2009 then collapsing and dying right on stage only to rise up and survive with a full miraculous recovery.Thrown in a UK jail while on tour ,hanging out with other immigrant's being held in the tank from all over the world .Armed with his battered acoustic & electric guitars,soulful harmonica & his songs , he has a perspective other songwriters don’t have,follows no one & goes where the winds takes him.
His new album Rabbit Foot Carnival with his band the Starshakers release is out now.
Like his previous albums it was recorded raw & live in the studio – music and vocal's recorded all at once-. Song of our time album in 2019 was hailed as a top release of the year in The USA & UK. A raw Folk album with 21st century lyrics.
His 'Acoustic Rumble' album was named “#1 release of the decade and #1 album of the year with the # 25 best song of the decade Poem to my country’ on the years end top 100 by Los Angeles Times by legendary music journalist ‘Mike Boehm’ who also declared the album
‘Better than Springsteen's Ghost of Tom Joad".
The album also topped the New york ‘Village Voice Pazz & Jopp poll’ & named #1 by The Orange County register.
He has also garnered critical acclaim in the UK in hip & underground magazines and blogs.
Mojo magazine named Michael's release Last Of The Honky tonks #6 of the month and Shindig magazine in 2018 naming his social commentary song ‘Jeanie Lees Phone' from the acclaimed vinyl release ‘The Ballad of Brian Jones’ -“A smash hit waiting to happen” . Legendary Stones photographer Gered Mankowitz did the vinyl album cover. His new songs Jeanie Lees Phone &
Scratch My Back,Memphis Bound & Jean Harlow played regularly in 2022 on Little Stevens Underground garage -Rodney on the rock show.(Also his first teenage band The Earwigs garage classic 'Here Come The Earwigs')
Michael also has won numerous awards for “Best roots Album , Best Live Performer- Best songwriter – by The Southern California Los Angeles & Orange County music awards.- .Several music journalists in the USA & Europe have dubbed Ubaldini “A Jack Kerouac in a black leather jacket”
The prolific songwriters 2021 album was a raw collection of original folk songs with guitar and harmonica only entitled 'Music Notes From The Underground'- a follow up to the acclaimed 2019 album ‘Song of our time’, as well as the re-issue of the Indie folk classic
‘Acoustic Rumble legacy edition’.The new album is filled with protest songs ,life’s struggles & songs that don’t pussyfoot around.His newest release Rabbit Foot Carnival has been released summer 2022 and first with is full band since 2016's Starshaker- legendary music journalist Robert Kinsler calls it "A Bona Fide Masterwork"
Michael started playing guitar and writing songs at age 7.
The first songs he learned were Hank Williams Jambalaya and and Ray Charles ‘What I’d say’ both learnt from his Dad- He was an odd kid with a 146 IQ as a child –This isolated him so he listened to records by the likes of Howlin’ Wolf ,CCR,Rolling Stones Robert Johnson ,Hank Williams ,Ray Charles ,The Beatles,Bob Dylan pre war Gospel & Woody Guthrie instead of children's records.Early on he played county fairs and sang at sideshows while barkers did card tricks.
When he got to high school it was - rock n roll ,Folk music & 1st wave Punk .
What always has set Ubaldini apart from his contemporaries is his cross breeding of styles blending Rock n roll music, early 20th century ballads ,Folk & delta blues along with honky tonk and what some call 21st century protest songs with attitude .He remains 'apolitical' -not of the left or the right- "I'm one for the everyday people not left or right with extremist ideologies -my songs sometimes hold a mirror up to society that's all -I never was much of a follower"
His musical pioneering would later emerge as categories marketed such as ‘Americana’ or ‘Alt Country – but Michael cant be labeled and came from a more rebellious & artistic dangerous side of the tracks , singing for the underdog, banging away on the guitar- He once was quoted saying:
“Because nobody would write these type of songs,people said I shouldn’t –– It didn’t fit in with mainstream pop or these pay to someone else your money for songwriting workshops where people conform to rules and don’t write what they live –Music needed an alternative to that. Someone had to write this type of songs . These things needed to be sung so I wrote em’-
His fan base included & includes legendary artists such The Late Joe Strummer of Punk legends & rock n roll hall of famers 'The Clash' & ‘Brian Setzer’, both who would turn up at his live shows -the latter dueting on a song with Michael on his debut album produced by Lee Rocker
He has recorded albums At the Legendary Sun Studio in Memphis –
Capitol records Studio B in Los Angeles for his album 706 Union Ave with his former band ‘Mystery train’ for EMI –He has been featured numerous times at The Bluebird café in Nashville &championed by The UK DJ Bob Harris.
He has done recent shows with artists diverse as Judy Collins & The Kingston Trio to Dwight Yoakam.The Cramps, Don Mclean & Lucinda Williams-Jerry Lee Lewis & Brian Setzer.
His very first band ‘The Earwigs- (in his teenage greaser Punk rock days) released a single now garnering 300 dollars by collectors .
He is a published poet (His book Lost American nights lyrics& poems from Moon tide press now in its 2nd edition)-He also has been featured twice -CNN Headline News with two feature stories on his music. ABC's ''Eye on LA' caught him for a live TV clip on stage at
'The Woody Guthrie Fest" in Echo Park CA. Despite his roots ,Michael is in no way ‘Retro’ and dismisses the term “just another label’' . His songs are authentic but with 21st century lyrics relevant to there here and now -He’s packed a lot of songwriting ,singing & outlaw folk & rock music between his wild road life,cheap motels ,relationships and pool halls.
Michael is true American songwriter
‘The rock n roll poet’