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Contrary to belief, and what many consider to be historical fact, Don McLean recently said his “American Pie” was written in Philadelphia, not in an upstate New York bar that has long laid claim to being the place where he wrote the lyrics to the 1971 chart-topping song on a cocktail napkin.
According to a November 2011 interview, McLean wrote the song in Philadelphia and first performed it at Temple University when he was the opening act for Laura Nyro.
Temple University
1801 N. Broad Street
Philadelphia PA 19122
215 204-7000
While it’s true that American Pie was partially written in Philadelphia, it was not written at Temple University, just first performed there. It was written in the basement of his first wife’s house in the Chestnut Hill section if the city.