Song:Many A Mile
Album:Patrick Sky
Not everyone who hung around Greenwich Village in the 60s became as famous as Bob Dylan. Patrick Sky was a respected singer, songwriter and producer who never broke through to the mainstream. Many A Mile has been frequently covered by other artists. He was born Patrick Lynch in Liveoak Gardens, GA in 1943 and he grew up in the LaFouche Swamps of Louisiana. He learned to play guitar as a child and played local clubs as a teen. After attending college and serving for a couple of years in the US Army, Sky started performing and settled in Greenwich Village in New York in the early 60s. Of course this was the hotbed of folk music. When Bob Dylan became famous, record companies searched Greenwich Village for guys that they thought could be just as famous. Vanguard Records signed Sky and he released the album Patrick Sky in 1965. Many A Mile became popular when Buffy Sainte-Marie recorded it in 1965. Sky also produced some of her albums and also produced albums by Mississippi John Hurt and Eric Andersen. Many A Mile was also recorded by John Kay, New Grass Revival, The Country Gentlemen and Dave Van Ronk. Like Andersen and Van Ronk, Sky never had much mainstream success. He recorded two albums for Vanguard and then two more for Verve Forecast. Sky's songs became political with the album Songs That Made America Famous. But no record company would release it until he licensed it to Adelphi in 1973. Adelphi sold it as the album no one wanted you to hear. Since then, Sky has owned his own record company and released his own music and music by others. Today Patrick Sky is an expert on uillean pipes which is the bagpipe of Ireland. He's written books about them. In 2009, Sky released a CD of traditional Irish music with wife Cathy on violin called Down To Us. The two continue to perform and Sky also makes and repairs uillean pipes. So even if he wasn't famous in the 60s, Patrick Sky has found his niche. Here's a video for Many A Mile by Patrick Sky.
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