'American Pie' singer McLean arrested in DV assault

Don McLean mug shot from Monday arrest

CAMDEN, Maine - Don McLean, who wrote the iconic and enigmatic 1960s anthem "American Pie," was arrested on Monday on a domestic violence charge.

McLean, 70, was charged with suspicion of misdemeanor assault and released from Knox County Jail after a couple of hours on $10,000 bail.

The incident began around 2 a.m. when officers responded to his Camden home where he lives with his wife, Patrisha McLean..

The charge is considered a misdemeanor but will likely be heard at the Knox County Superior Court as most domestic violence cases are in Maine.

The couple have called Camden home for more than 20 years.

His initial arraignment is set for Feb. 22, a month in which he has no concerts scheduled, according to his official website, don-mclean.com.

McLean sold his original hand-written manuscript to his 8 ½-minute classic "American Pie" last April for $1.2 million.

Prior to the auction he told the Rolling Stone magazine, "I have two children and a wife, and none of them seem to have the mercantile instinct. I want to get the best deal that I can for them. It's time."

"Over the years I've dealt with all these stupid questions of 'Who's that?' and 'Who's that?'" he told the magazine. "These are things I never had in my head for a second when I wrote the song. I was trying to capture something very ephemeral and I did, but it took a long time."

Overall, McLean has opined he wrote the song as an homage to the late Buddy Holly who died in a plane crash amid the innocence of the '60s as the cynicism of the '70s began to take hold. The "American Pie" album was released in 1971 with the hit single taking the top spot on the Billboard charts for four weeks straight.