Randy Burns And The Sky Dog Band (1971)

Some artists should get a Grammy, or at least the Polar Music Prize, just because they have such a cool artist or band name. Should anyone ask me if I wanted to play in a band called The Sky Dog Band, I wouldn't hesitate long. Looking at the exterior - a number of long-haired, smiling dudes (Randy also with equally long beard), the year 1971, the band's groovy name - this record must be something extra and probably quite druggy. It must be PSYCHEDELIA. Or maybe ACID ROCK. At least some laid-back west coast pop with songs about female beauty, beaches and sunshine.

I bought this album the other week through Blocket.se, Sweden's biggest internet site for selling and buying used stuff. A nice man sold a stack of albums (about 65 of them) for an affordable price. Moreover, he lived within a five minute walk from my job, of course it was an offer I couldn't refuse. Fun to buy a bunch of records where you have no idea what at least half of them are.

When I started spinning the album on the stereo it gave me the biggest surprise. It was Country & Western.

Randy Burns was born in 1948 and as a 17-year-old ran away from home. He ended up in New York where, after some time, he signed a contract with the legendary record company ESP-Disk. And yes, his second album, Evening Of The Magician, is a classic acid folk album. He made another album for the same company before changing to Mercury, who released Randy Burns And The Sky Dog Band, his only album on that company. It didn't sell very well, and Randy never became a particularly big name in the music world. He still plays today and in 2010 he released the album Hobos And Kings.

I've never been a fan of Country & Western. Apart from a fairly large number of albums with Lee Hazlewood, who surely must count as some sort of Country & Western music, at least sometimes, I've never owned a Country & Western album and have never had the desire to do so. However, a few months ago, when I saved some records from my parents' collection (see previous post) some Kris Kristofferson albums came along. And now Randy Burns. And who knows how many more Country & Western albums are hidden in the bags with records I bought last week? If you're positive, you can argue that this is a new unexplored world for me, waiting to deliver hidden gems.

Randy today

Randy Burns And The Sky Dog Band is not my kind of record, since I'm not a Country & Western man. The songs are played with electrical instruments, so there are no songs with just an acoustic guitar and a whiny whisky hoarse voice, which at least opens up the soundscape a bit. I find some beauty in two songs, To The Women Of My Life and Song To Vermont. The former Lee Hazlewood should have done a cover of, it would have fit him well. The latter is a rather sweeping song with a beautiful melody and cool background singing. Otherwise, the band's name is the greatest benefit to the album, but also a good enough reason to own this record..

Other cool band names:
Mooseheart Faith Stellar Groove Band
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
Acid Mothers Temple

Tracklist


Side A
1. August Woman 2:33
2. Seventeen Years On The River 4:32
3. Livin' In The Country 3:30
4. The Streets Of Montreal 2:52
5. Merrilee 3:15

Side B
1. Life's Begun 4:20
2. Blue Line 2:05
3. To The Women Of My Life 3:15
4. Song To Vermont 4:02
5. Waiting For An Old Friend 3:32

Although you can find some videos with Randy Burns on Youtube, I couldn't find any songs from this album,