A Slice of American Pie

New doc on the day the music actually did not die. Plus: What did seem to die when a Leonard Cohen album was killed. Plus: obscure Allison Russell cut and the usual cartoons.

First, new doc The Day the Music Died on the making and meaning (?) of classic song “American Pie” started streaming last night, so here is an excerpt. My friend Rob Stoner, who played bass on the song and is interviewed briefly in the flick, advises: 1) “Listen to Buddy Holly’s ‘I'm Gonna Love You Too’ and you will hear the melody which McLean "borrowed" for this song.” 2) “For hard core Donnie fans only. His pompous, self aggrandizing bloviation is hard to take.” 3) “His recent NRA endorsement the week of the Uvalde massacre surely ruined whatever was left of his reputation among most fans.” Next: The current Leonard Cohen doc Hallelujah explores amazing fact that Columbia rejected the album where it first appeared when first presented to them. But also on the nixed lp was the lesser-known but equally great, “If It Be Your Will,” which few heard until the Anthony live cover in a previous Leonard doc. Then, as you may know, we are huge Allison Russell fans and I recently found this song below from her earlier pairing with husband JT Nero—which shockingly has never appeared on one of their or her albums. Finally, a few cartoons. Enjoy, and if you haven’t, please subscribe, it’s still free.