In 1966, Randy Burns was dropped off on the corner of Bleecker and MacDougal Street, with a bag over his shoulder and a guitar in his hand…ready for anything Randy had gotten his start a year earlier at The Exit Coffeehouse in New Haven, Connecticut but soon left to join the Urban Folk Revival in Greenwich Village. The first three months he slept in flop houses, on subways and park benches in Washington Square Park. Every week he played the open mic nights at the original Gerdes Folk City, The Gaslight Café and The Bitter End. Impressed by his talent, Clarence Hood, the owner of the legendary Gaslight hired Randy as the permanent opening act. At only eighteen he was opening for the biggest folk stars in the country, artists he’d only heard on records. Randy shared the stage with John Hammond, Tom Paxton, Dave Van Ronk, Eric Andersen, Spider John Koerner, Steve Gillette, Sonny and Brownie, Phil Ochs, Carolyn Hester, Washboard Sam and many, many others. During this period, he recorded three albums with a small independent label.
As the Folk Revival was fading, he formed the electric folk rock group, Randy Burns and the Skydog Band . Within months his first major label album was released on Mercury Records and two albums soon followed on Polydor Records.
Rolling Stone Magazine said, ‘Nobody, but nobody, sings anything like Randy Burns.’ The New York Times called Randy “Vocally Convincing.” Billboard Magazine wrote that “Randy’s voice is so intrinsically right that it wraps the listener in a pool of contentment.” When Randy played The Troubadour , the Los Angeles Times said, “Randy is the best country flavored rock singer since Graham Parsons, who was, and is, as good as anyone before him.”
We at Ho Hum Records were really keen to licence a few tracks from Randy's coffeehouse era, to re-engage Randy with an audience whom should know more about the wonderful talent of Randy Burns.
Introducing the Ho Hum Records Digital Singles Club. This is a platform where we will be looking to showcase and release
either music which may have been lost or new music waiting to be found. We really hope you enjoy the releases we find for you.
For any further information on this and any other Ho Hum matter, hit us up at info@hohumrecords.com...more
More folk-inflected confessionals on love, loss, and anxiety — plus a Kacey Musgraves cameo —from the Nashville indie pop auteur. Bandcamp New & Notable Feb 11, 2024
Warm synths, tape loops, kosmiche guitar, and folk melodies meet in a record that explores the relationship of the moon to the tides. Bandcamp New & Notable Jun 8, 2023