Searching for a piece of “American Pie” in New Rochelle
By Mark Lungariello – New Rochelle Sound Report – May 12, 2011
Even those of us that aren’t fans know the chorus: “Bye-bye, Miss American pie / Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry / Them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye / Singing ‘this’ll be the day that I die.’”
But what exactly it means is anyone’s guess.
Music geeks have been trying to decipher the lyrics of the song “American Pie” for years. And as legend has it, the Rosetta Stone to understanding the song is the City of New Rochelle itself.
Don McLean, the artist who released the iconic tune back in 1971, grew up in New Ro – and many believe the lyrical narrative of the song is set right here on the Sound Shore.
The piece de resistance in terms of evidence is that line in the chorus about “the levee.” If you’re someone like me or Mr. McLean – that is, a kid who came of age in Westchester County – chances are you spent time on North Avenue in New Rochelle. And as far as the rumor goes, we were spending time at “The Levee” mentioned in the song – yes, that’s Levee with a capital “L.” The legend, in case you hadn’t heard it at a North Avenue happy hour years ago, is that the reference to a levee is actually a reference to the levee – as in an old bar called The Levee that once stood where The Beechmont is now located.
One thing most can agree on is that the song is about Feb. 3, 1959, “The Day the Music Died” – that’s the day that a small plane crashed in Clear Lake, Iowa killing its passengers, among them rockers Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson. McLean, a big fan of Holly’s, was apparently pretty broken up over his idol’s death (he later dedicated the “American Pie” album to Holly). With the lyric “this’ll be the day that I die” reminiscent of Holly’s song “That’ll be the Day,” it seems a pretty safe bet that’s all true. But “The Levee” is a different story.
McLean was so upset, the legend goes, that he drove to The Levee for a drink to drown his sorrows. Problem was the bar was “dry,” meaning they weren’t serving any booze. The problem with that story is that The Beechmont was never called The Levee (according to the bar, they have been called “The Beechmont” since opening in the early half of last century). And there may have never even been any bar with that name, according to Jim Maisano.
Maisano, who currently serves as a county legislator, said he took up some amateur sleuthing by simply asking some of the city’s longtime residents. “The people all agreed there was never a bar called The Levee,” he said. “And the people who said the Beechmont used to be called The Levee are just wrong.”
Maisano, like McLean himself, graduated from Iona Prep. The county legislator said even back in the early 1980s while he was a prep student, The Levee rumor had become prevalent. During a recent conversation I had with him, Maisano did some quick math and realized that on “The Day the Music Died” McLean, born in 1945, wouldn’t have been old enough to drive a Chevy to The Levee, a levee, or anywhere else.
He also knocked down an interpretation of the line “them good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye.” Some think that the line is “whiskey in Rye” as in Rye, N.Y. The idea there, supposedly, is that with The Levee either out of alcohol or closed down, youngsters had to drive to Rye for a stiff drink. “Trust me,” Maisano said with a laugh. “There was never a time when the bars in Rye stayed open later than the bars in New Rochelle.”
Even if there is no actual bar called The Levee, many still believe the line is a reference to a bar called The Barge, which was literally docked near Hudson Park. At a levee. Maisano called the joint a “kooky place.” Bob Cox, the editor of New Rochelle blog Talk of the Sound remembers it vividly. And based on the makeup of the place, the “dry” thing may have been literal. “When the high tide came in, you were standing in two inches of water,” he said. “But I don’t know if that’s what he was referring to.”
To Cox, it doesn’t matter what the levee reference is – the song is still about the city. “It’s the most famous song about New Rochelle,” he said. Cox noted that growing up locally, McLean used his experience as a kid to shape the lyrics however cryptic they may be. In the first verse, for example, McLean says “But February made me shiver / With every paper I’d deliver” and he reportedly worked as a delivery boy for the now-defunct Standard-Star (the building which still stands downtown).
Cox believes city officials should seek to promote its place in pop culture, not just for “American Pie” but for other famous connections of New Rochelle – such as the fact Norman Rockwell resided there, and “The Dick Van Dyke Show” took place there. “It would be nice to include him in kind of showing off New Rochelle,” Cox said.
As for McLean himself, he long ago moved out of Westchester, and in true folk fashion, he is famously amused by the confusion and legends. He passed on an interview request on the topic. But shortly after the release of the record, he responded to some interpretations circulating in a statement: “You will find many ‘interpretations’ of my lyrics but none of them by me,” he said. “Sorry to leave you all on your own like this, but long ago I realized that songwriters should make their statements and move on, maintaining a dignified silence.”
He could be silent all he wants. But I’m sure New Rochelle’s good old boys will still be trying to read between the lines in the middle of sipping whiskey and rye, and God knows what else.
Mark Lungariello
Managing Editor
Home Town Media Group
200 William Street
Port Chester, NY 10573
Phone: (914) 653-1000 ext. 19
Fax: (914) 653-5000
E-mail: mark@hometwn.com
Link to Article:
http://mysoundreport.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1309:searching-for-a-piece-of-american-pie-in-new-rochelle&catid=37:columns&Itemid=55
Yes, from about 1980 to 1985,
Yes, from about 1980 to 1985, the Beechmont was known as Tin Lizzies. I remember this well because the Beechmont was always an Iona Prep bar, and I think it got new owners that wanted to turn it into an Iona College Bar. Remember this was during the time the NYS drinking age went from 18 to 19 and then to 21, which totally changed New Rochelle’s strip. When I was a junior and senior at Iona Prep, we were mad to lose our bar, so we moved down the street and claimed Characters as the Iona Prep bar (and Ursuline too). Characters was eventually knocked down for a car wash!
Beechmont opened in 1950s
My friend Bruce is not correct. I remember it was the Beechmont back in the 1960s, and I hear it originally opened in the 1950s. The Beechmont was the first bar I ever went to in 1979, just before it was switched to Tin Lizzies. I even remember the bouncer’s name – Dirt (hard to forget that one). We moved to New Rochelle in 1965 and I remember seeing the Beechmont sign back then when we drove by in the late 1960s/early 1970s. So besides the 5 Tin Lizzies years, it has been the Beechmont for over 50 years.
Since There are No Other Pressing Issues (just kidding)……
The internet does not always have the answwers or at least not a history of New Rochelle bars (of which I have snuck into a few myself) so lets pose this question to our City Historian. Barbra Davis has to know and maybe she has first hand knowledge!
Also here is a little know fact that i discovered in my 40 seconds of research. Lil, the owner of the Coyote Ugly Bar chain grew up in New Rochelle.
If it was up to me I would reopen Tammany Hall and serve Yellow Sub sandwiches.
Matbe i’ll write a song
Question of accuracy
“The problem with that story is that The Beechmont was never called The Levee (according to the bar, they have been called “The Beechmont” since opening in the early half of last century).”
Wasn’t the Beechmont called Tin Lizzy’s at one point? Or was that another North Avenue spot?
Writers often imbelish.
Writers often imbelish. Perhaps Donny needed somthing to rhyme and Beechmont doesn’t really rhyme.
Bars on north
Wait a second,
I have only known the Beechmont as the Beechmont,
I am not as old as you fogies,
But the bar next to the car wash was Georges when i was 16 , And the barge was not near hudson park but in the lower harbor and the bartender who was known as CHEECH! or bullet head to his real friends.
i think he was killed in a robborey in his blue bird cab at the bottom of main and echo..
OOH and tim Iodoni used to try and play the sax!! when he hung out as anew mayor,
And John Materano ( i hope igot the spell on his name close) the lawer could play a hell of a piano, Iwas told it helped pay his way through law school.
Fed Up is Right
The Beechmont was Tim Lizzy’s. The stories about Jim Valvano drinking there survive the man himself. BTW the Beechmont is no more than 30 to 35 yrs old if that old
Thanks Bruce
I thought so. Although it was a little before my time I remember Tin Lizzy’s in the 80’s. And I do believe that our former mayor, and current County Clerk manned the sticks there as well. Not that we can expect a song about Timmy any time soon.
Research
Research the town his family moved to. I believe it started with a P further North from New Rochelle. in this town you will find a Bar that was called “the Levee”.