Patrick Sky - Reality Is Bad Enough
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Track List: Reality Is Bad Enough
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Album Details: Reality Is Bad Enough
- Release Date:
- 01/01/1968
- UPC:
Pro Reviews: Reality Is Bad Enough
| EXPERT RATING: From AMG Reviews Sky made some modest steps toward folk-rock with his first Verve album, with (usually drumless) acoustic-oriented accompaniment, and some tracks remaining wholly acoustic. Most of the songs were earnest mystical meditations, modestly tuneful in the manner of his friend Eric Andersen (though not as good as Andersen's work). These were broken up by his unfortunate propensity for hammy comic numbers, "She's Up for Grabs" recalling the jazz-folk mugging of Dave Van Ronk, and the banjo-driven "Modern Major General" opening and closing with bugle fanfares. Sky's tone and phrasing, like those of many folk and folk-rock singers of the time, bring to mind a minor-league Bob Dylan, though his way with a vocal is more subdued and conversational. The lyrics are often anything but conversational, obscure in their meaning and dabbed in some free-associative surrealism, though the good-time comic romps are straightforward. There are touches of orchestration, accordion, sitar, harp, and congas from time to time, like a low-budget variation on some of the settings used by Donovan. The forlorn, introspective moodiness of the majority of the songs isn't unappealing, but most of the melodies aren't too memorable. The high spots include the sad lament for "Jimmy Clay," the soldier marching (presumably in Vietnam) while images of his former life in New York flash through his head, and "I Don't Feel That's Real," which has hooks reminiscent of Dylan's most pop-accessible mid-'60s songs. - Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide |
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Patrick Sky Biography
Patrick Sky was one of the most enigmatic performers of 1960s folk music. A descendant of the Creek Indian tribe, Sky first attracted attention singing the traditional folk songs that he learned from a grandmother as a child. Sky was equally influenc...Full Patrick Sky Biography
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