Patrick Sky
Encyclopedia
Patrick Sky is a musician, singer and songwriter of Irish and Native American ancestry (Creek Indian, Sky was raised near the Lafourche Swamps
of Louisiana). A contemporary of Bob Dylan
and others in the Greenwich Village folk boom of the 1960s, following military service Sky released a number of well received albums from 1965 onwards and played with many of the leading performers of the period, particularly Buffy Sainte-Marie
, Eric Andersen
and the blues singer Mississippi John Hurt
(whose Vanguard
albums Sky produced). Sky's song "Many A Mile" became a folk club staple, and has been recorded by Sainte-Marie and others.
Becoming increasingly disillusioned with the music business and politically radical, Sky released the controversial and scabrously satirical Songs That Made America Famous in 1973 (the album was recorded in 1971 but rejected by several record companies before it found a home); to this day he claims to have received no royalties for the album. This album featured the earlier known recorded version of the song "Luang Prabang
," written by Sky's friend Dave Van Ronk
. Patrick Sky had honed his politically charged satire in earlier albums, but Songs That Made America Famous raised the stakes. The Adelphi Records website describes how the content was, indeed, shocking; yet, how several critics encouraged the public to rush to buy these timely and brilliant "explicit lyrics" while it could. Sky gradually moved into the field of Irish traditional music, founding Green Linnet Records
in 1973. Today he is recognised as an expert in building and playing the Irish uillean pipes, often performing with his wife, Cathy. He has also published several books on the subject.
With Cathy Sky
Lafourche Parish, Louisiana
Lafourche Parish is a parish located in the south of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It was originally the northern part of Lafourche Interior Parish, which consisted of the present parishes of Lafourche and Terrebonne. The parish seat is Thibodaux...
of Louisiana). A contemporary of Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
and others in the Greenwich Village folk boom of the 1960s, following military service Sky released a number of well received albums from 1965 onwards and played with many of the leading performers of the period, particularly Buffy Sainte-Marie
Buffy Sainte-Marie
Buffy Sainte-Marie, OC is a Canadian Cree singer-songwriter, musician, composer, visual artist, educator, pacifist, and social activist. Throughout her career in all of these areas, her work has focused on issues of Indigenous peoples of the Americas. Her singing and writing repertoire includes...
, Eric Andersen
Eric Andersen
Eric Andersen is an American singer-songwriter.-Biography:In the early 1960s, Eric Andersen was part of the Greenwich Village folk scene in New York...
and the blues singer Mississippi John Hurt
Mississippi John Hurt
John Smith Hurt, better known as Mississippi John Hurt was an American country blues singer and guitarist.Raised in Avalon, Mississippi, Hurt taught himself how to play the guitar around age nine...
(whose Vanguard
Vanguard Records
Vanguard Records is a record label set up in 1950 by brothers Maynard and Seymour Solomon in New York. It started as a classical label, but is perhaps best known for its catalogue of recordings by a number of pivotal folk and blues artists from the 1960s; the Bach Guild was a subsidiary...
albums Sky produced). Sky's song "Many A Mile" became a folk club staple, and has been recorded by Sainte-Marie and others.
Becoming increasingly disillusioned with the music business and politically radical, Sky released the controversial and scabrously satirical Songs That Made America Famous in 1973 (the album was recorded in 1971 but rejected by several record companies before it found a home); to this day he claims to have received no royalties for the album. This album featured the earlier known recorded version of the song "Luang Prabang
Luang Prabang (song)
Luang Prabang is a song written by Dave Van Ronk, originally recorded by Patrick Sky for his album Songs That Made America Famous . Van Ronk recorded a version himself for Going Back To Brooklyn in 1994. It is named for the city Luang Prabang in Laos. It is one of the few songs Van Ronk wrote himself...
," written by Sky's friend Dave Van Ronk
Dave Van Ronk
Dave Van Ronk was an American folk singer, born in Brooklyn, New York, who settled in Greenwich Village, New York, and was eventually nicknamed the "Mayor of MacDougal Street" ....
. Patrick Sky had honed his politically charged satire in earlier albums, but Songs That Made America Famous raised the stakes. The Adelphi Records website describes how the content was, indeed, shocking; yet, how several critics encouraged the public to rush to buy these timely and brilliant "explicit lyrics" while it could. Sky gradually moved into the field of Irish traditional music, founding Green Linnet Records
Green Linnet Records
Green Linnet Records was an American independent record label that specialized in Celtic music. Founded by Lisa Null and Patrick Sky as Innisfree Records in 1973, the label was initially based in Null's house in New Canaan, Connecticut. In 1975, the label became Innisfree/Green Linnet and Wendy...
in 1973. Today he is recognised as an expert in building and playing the Irish uillean pipes, often performing with his wife, Cathy. He has also published several books on the subject.
Discography
- Patrick SkyPatrick Sky (album)Patrick Sky is the self-titled debut album of Patrick Sky, released in 1965 on the Vanguard label.-Side One:# "Many a Mile"# "Hangin' Round"# "Love Will Endure"# "Reuben" # "Rattlesnake Mountain" # "Everytime"...
(1965) - A Harvest of Gentle ClangA Harvest Of Gentle ClangA Harvest of Gentle Clang is a 1966 LP by Patrick Sky, dedicated by him to Buffy Sainte-Marie.-History:With tracks such as "Jay Gould's Daughter," "John Riley" and "Farmer's Cursed Wife" , the album is part traditional folk album and part...
(1966) - Reality Is Bad EnoughReality Is Bad EnoughReality Is Bad Enough is an album by Patrick Sky--his first for the Verve Forecast label.-Side one:#"She's Up for Grabs" – 2:46#"Children's Song" – 2:37#"Silly Song" – 2:18#"Sometimes I Wonder" – 3:39#"I Don't Feel That's Real" – 3:27...
(1968) - PhotographsPhotographs (Patrick Sky album)-Side One:# "She" – 2:25# "Dirge to Love Gone By" – 3:08# "I Like to Sleep Late in the Morning" – 2:20# "Circe" – 3:04# "Pinball Machine" – 3:51-Side Two:# "Photographs" – 2:30# "Peter Pan" – 2:10# "Beggar's Riddle" – 3:18...
(1969) - Songs That Made America FamousSongs That Made America FamousSongs That Made America Famous is a Patrick Sky album released on Adelphi Records in 1973. Sky recorded the album in 1971 but had difficulty finding a label to release it, as the satirical lyrics are explicit.-Side One:#"Fight for Liberation"...
(1973) - Two Steps Forward, One Step BackTwo Steps Forward, One Step Back (Patrick Sky album)Two Steps Forward, One Step Back is a Patrick Sky LP released as SLIF 2000 on Leviathan Records, identified as "[a] division of Innisfree Inc." on the back sleeve...
(1975) - Through A WindowThrough A Window-Side A:*1." San Francisco Bay Blues"**I'll never forget Jesse Fuller playing his Foot-Della [sic] at the Gaslight in New York. He played a 3-hour set and had to be dragged offstage.*2. "Ramblin' Boy"**Tom Paxton's best....
(1985)
With Cathy Sky
- Down to UsDown to UsDown to Us is a 2009 album of traditional Irish music performed by Patrick Sky and Cathy Sky .-Track listing:# Reels: The Girl That Broke My Heart/ Callaghan’s/ Connaught Heffer# Set dance:jig; The Drunken Gauger/ Jackson’s...
(2009)
External links
- Patrick Sky and Cathy Sky's webpage - Official website of Patrick and Cathy Sky, including a biography and a link to a discography
- Adelphi Records - In-context description of the album Songs That Made America Famous and contemporaneous reviews