Patrick Sky
Patrick Sky is a weird case. According to Dave Van Ronk, an elder statesman of the Greenwich folk scene, Sky jumped out a window to escape a bad marriage, moved to Florida, changed his name, and then ran into Buffy Sainte-Marie (more about her later), who brought him to the Village. Van Ronk said that Sky nearly derailed Joni Mitchell’s career when he loudly proclaimed that her performance of her song, "Get the Urge for Going", "really sucked", which caused Mitchell to consider quitting the music business.
Sky's first two records were recorded for the folk label Vanguard Records. His first album includes his most well-known song, "Many a Mile", a story of lost romance that has been covered by many artists. While his early albums were typical folk/blues fare, well-constructed and competently performed, later albums were more political in nature.
In 1971 Sky recorded Songs That Made America Famous, which purposefully and successfully offended the sensibilities of pretty much everybody, with songs such as "Child Molester's Blues", which sarcastically (I hope) laments the hard life of the pedophile, and "Luang Prabang", about a soldier whose balls were blown-off during the Vietnam War. Vanguard refused to release it. It was finally put out several years later by a small independent label. It was not well-received at the time, but over the years was recognized for its wit and daring.
Sky has been largely inactive on the music scene since Songs That Made America Famous, instead becoming a builder of uilleann pipes, the national bagpipe of Ireland.
Patrick Sky is a weird case. According to Dave Van Ronk, an elder statesman of the Greenwich folk scene, Sky jumped out a window to escape a bad marriage, moved to Florida, changed his name, and then ran into Buffy Sainte-Marie (more about her later), who brought him to the Village. Van Ronk said that Sky nearly derailed Joni Mitchell’s career when he loudly proclaimed that her performance of her song, "Get the Urge for Going", "really sucked", which caused Mitchell to consider quitting the music business.
Sky's first two records were recorded for the folk label Vanguard Records. His first album includes his most well-known song, "Many a Mile", a story of lost romance that has been covered by many artists. While his early albums were typical folk/blues fare, well-constructed and competently performed, later albums were more political in nature.
In 1971 Sky recorded Songs That Made America Famous, which purposefully and successfully offended the sensibilities of pretty much everybody, with songs such as "Child Molester's Blues", which sarcastically (I hope) laments the hard life of the pedophile, and "Luang Prabang", about a soldier whose balls were blown-off during the Vietnam War. Vanguard refused to release it. It was finally put out several years later by a small independent label. It was not well-received at the time, but over the years was recognized for its wit and daring.
Sky has been largely inactive on the music scene since Songs That Made America Famous, instead becoming a builder of uilleann pipes, the national bagpipe of Ireland.
