(Redirected from American pie song).  American Pie  is a song by American folk rock singer and songwriter Don McLean. Recorded and released on the American Pie album in 1971, the single was a number-one US hit for four weeks in 1972.ackground [edit]. Don McLean wrote the song in Cold Spring, New York and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The song made its debut in Philadelphia at Temple University when he opened for Laura Nyro on March 14, 1971.