Don McLean still thankful for his piece of the American pie

LOS ANGELES -- Thirty-two years after sealing his fate forever with one amazingly catchy 8 1/2-minute tune, Don McLean is gingerly asked the question once again:

Does he ever wish that "American Pie" had not been quite that big a hit? That it wouldn't have overshadowed everything else he would ever do?

"People always ask me that question, and it doesn't bother me at all," says McLean. "It's just the nature of my career."

"Sometimes when you get too big -- and I'm in no danger of doing that -- but sometimes when you get too big, all you can do is retire," he continues. "And I wouldn't want to do that. I would miss doing records. I have 200 songs out, and sometimes they get played a little bit and sometimes a lot."

So three decades after "American Pie" turned a struggling singer-songwriter into an American icon, Don McLean says he's doing just what he had hoped for all along -- living happily with his wife and two children in wooded Maine seclusion, putting out a record every year or so, going on the road when the mood strikes him.

He toured Europe earlier this year and crisscrossed the United States this summer,.

He's got a collection of new songs in the works, plus four new albums out this year alone, including a remastered version of the original "American Pie" album with bonus tracks from the 1971 recording sessions.

The others are a children's album, "You've Got to Share," that he recorded with his 13-year-old daughter and 9-year-old son, a collection of Western songs called, appropriately enough, "The Western Album," and a compilation work, "The Legendary Songs of Don McLean."

After nearly 40 albums, McLean, 57, still hasn't settled on a particular musical style, bouncing between rock, folk and rhythm and blues.

"There are people who know me only for 'American Pie' and people who have 30 albums of mine," he says. "It is an odd career that I've had."

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On the Web: www.americanpie.com