Patrick Sky
(October 2, 1943 – May 27, 2021)
Patrick Sky was an American musician, folk singer, and songwriter of Irish and Native American ancestry. Sky was born in Liveoak Gardens, Georgia, and was raised near the Lafourche Swamps of Louisiana, where he learned guitar, banjo, and harmonica. He moved to New York City after military service in the early 1960s, and began playing traditional folk songs in clubs before starting to write his own material. [1]
A close contemporary of Dave Van Ronk and others in the Greenwich Village folk boom, 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); until his death he claimed 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. He was recognized as an expert in building and playing the Irish uilleann pipes, often performing with his wife, Cathy. He also published several books on the subject.
In 1995, Sky edited a reissued version of the important 19th-century dance tune book Ryan’s Mammoth Collection [2] and followed up in 2001 with a reissue of Howe’s 1000 Jigs and Reels.[3]
According to musician Eric Andersen, Sky died in hospice care in Asheville, North Carolina, on May 27, 2021, aged 77.
- Tamarkin, Jeff. “Patrick Sky, Singer-Songwriter Popular in the ’60s, Dead at 77”. bestclassicbands.com. Retrieved May 27, 2021.
- Elias Howe and William Bradbury Ryan, Ryan’s Mammoth Collection: 1050 Reels and Jigs, Hornpipes, Clogs, Walk-arounds, Essences, Strathspeys, Highland Flings and Contra Dances, 3. Howe’s 1000 Jigs and Reels (Boston: Elias Howe, c. 1867), reformatted edition published by Mel Bay Publications, Pacific, MO: 2001, ed. Patrick Sky.
Well, I’m in the kitchen, my baby’s in the hall
Said, I’m in the kitchen, my baby’s in the hall
Yes, I’m in the kitchen, baby’s in the hall
She won’t speak to me at all
‘Cause you know we got, we got the separation blues
Said, you see that fly crawling up that wall, ta ta ta ta, ta ta ta ta
Said, you see that fly crawling up that wall, bup da da, da dee dee da da
You see that fly crawling up that wall
He won’t speak to Miss Spider at all
‘Cause you know they got, they got the separation blues
When you kick your baby outta bed because she won’t treat you nice
When you feel mistreated, said buddy take my advice
Leave that woman, and leave her quick, ta ta ta ta, ta ta ta ta
Said, leave that woman, and leave her quick
Yes, leave that woman, and leave her quick, else she’ll have you on a stick
You know it’s better to leave, and get some separation blues
Now, Adam ate the apple which Eve did thieve
Said, Adam ate that apple which Eve did thieve
Yes, Adam ate the apple which Eve did thieve
The Lord said, “Adam, you’ve gotta leave”
You know that gave him, gave him the separation blues
Now, the last words that poor John The Baptist said, ta ta ta ta, ta ta ta ta
Said, the last words that John The Baptist said, bup da da, da dee dee da da
Yes, the last words that John The Baptist said
Just before he, lost his head, UH!
Gives me, gives me the separation blues
All this goes to prove since time began what cause of women can do to men
It’s better to buy than to be sold, to the gutter for a bottle of gin
If she don’t treat you like you think she should
Said, if she don’t treat you like you think she should
Yes, if she don’t treat you like you think she should, services ain’t no longer no good
Well it’s time you got a dose of separation
Said, time you got a dose of separation blues
1986 Article about Patrick Sky from Chicago Tribune
PATRICK SKY BLOWS BACK ONTO THE ROAD
Patrick Sky
(October 2, 1943 – May 27, 2021)