Randy Burns

Randall R. "Randy" Burns (born April 14, 1948) is an American folk singer, songwriter and guitarist who recorded several albums in the 1960s and early 1970s, when he performed with the Sky Dog Band. He has continued to perform and record occasionally.

He is not to be confused with record producer Randy Burns, who has worked with such bands as Megadeth.

Burns was born and grew up in New Haven, Connecticut, and began performing in coffee houses in the city aged 17. In 1966, he moved to Greenwich Village, New York City, where he busked before being recruited as the regular opening act at The Gaslight Cafe on Macdougal Street. He also performed at such clubs as Gerdes Folk City and The Bitter End, opening for such musicians as Tom Paxton, Phil Ochs, Carolyn Hester and Dave Van Ronk. He was invited to record for ESP-Disk Records by label owner Bernard Stollman, and released his first album, Of Love and War, in 1967. The album included versions of songs by Eric Andersen and David Blue as well as Burns' own compositions.

After returning to New Haven, Burns started a band, The Morning, who performed locally but then split up. Back in New York, Burns then formed a psychedelic band, the Sky Dog Band, comprising Burns (vocals, guitar), Mat Kastner (keyboards), Bruce Samuels (bass, flute), and John O'Leary (percussion). With engineer Herb Abramson they recorded Burns' second album, Evening of the Magician, released in 1968. Burns wrote all the songs and the album is described at Allmusic as " a minor classic of acid folk". For his third and final ESP-Disk album, Song for an Uncertain Lady (1970), Burns retained the Sky Dog Band, but the music showed an increased country music influence. Although Burns and the Sky Dog Band performed regularly around Greenwich Village, and toured nationally, none of his records were commercially successful.

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