Phil Ochs

Philip David Ochs (December 19, 1940 – April 9, 1976) was a U.S. protest singer (or, as he preferred, a "topical singer") popular during the 1960s. Ochs was a member of the IWW and considered himself to be a democratic socialist. He has been described as "a warrior" and "the last heir to Woody Guthrie". His best known songs include "Power and the Glory", "There But for Fortune", "Changes", "When I'm Gone", and "I Ain't Marching Anymore".

Early career

Born in El Paso, Texas, and raised in Columbus, Ohio, he grew up in a non-political middle-class family. His father, who suffered from bipolar disorder, committed suicide. After attending the Staunton Military Academy in rural Virginia, he studied journalism at Ohio State University, but dropped out in his last year. While in Miami, the 18-year-old Ochs was imprisoned for sleeping on a park bench, an incident he would later recall: "Somewhere during the course of those fifteen days I decided to become a writer. My primary thought was journalism ... so in a flash I decided â€" I'll be a writer and a major in journalism."Doggett, P. All the News That's Fit to Sing & I Ain't Marching Anymore liner notes, Elektra, 2001 He moved to New York City and became an integral part of the Greenwich Village folk music scene. He emerged as an unpolished yet passionate vocalist who wrote poignant lyrics about war, civil rights, labor struggles and other topics which continue to be relevant up to this day, and could perhaps be described as a socially conscious patriot in the tradition of Woody Guthrie. He described himself as a "singing journalist", saying he built his songs from stories he read in Newsweek.

Ochs contributed many songs and articles for Broadside Magazine, and it was at Broadside he had his first chance to record. His first three albums (All the News That's Fit to Sing (1964), I Ain't Marching Anymore (1965), and Phil Ochs in Concert (1966)), all on Elektra Records, contain some of his best work as a pure folk singer and examples of two traditional genres that Ochs contributed to in his early performances, namely the talking blues and the musical reinterpretation of older poetry (as of Alfred Noyes's The Highwayman and Edgar Allan Poe's The Bells). During this early period of his career, his friend Bob Dylan said, "I just can't keep up with Phil. And he's getting better and better and better."This praise and friendly rivalry was to change in 1965, and at one occasion Ochs' criticism of one of Dylan's singles led Dylan to throw him out of his limousine, proclaiming: "You're not a folksinger, Ochs, you're just a journalist".

Later life

At this point, Ochs left Elektra for A&M Records and abandoned his stripped-down performance style for richer orchestration. In his later studio albums (Pleasures of the Harbor (1967), Tape from California (1968), Rehearsals for Retirement (1969), and the ironically titled Greatest Hits (1970)) he moved away from topical songs and experimented with ensemble and even orchestral instrumentation in the hopes of producing a pop-folk hybrid that would be a hit.

Robert Christgau, writing of Pleasures of the Harbor in May 1968, did not consider this a good turn. While describing Ochs as "unquestionably a nice guyâ€¦impossible to dislike" as a person, then went on to say "Too bad his voice shows an effective range of about half an octaveâ€¦ [and that] his guitar playing would not suffer much if his right hand were webbed. Very bad indeed that he has learned so little from Mao Tse-tung's poetryâ€¦"; eight of Mao's poems had appeared on the record jacket, with the tagline "Is this the enemy?" "Pleasures of the Harbor", continued Christgau, "â€¦epitomizes the decadence that has infected pop since Sgt. Pepper. â€¦[The] gaudy musical settings â€¦ inspire nostalgia for the three-chord strumâ€¦" Robert Christgau, Column, Esquire, May 1968, reproduced online on Christgau's site, accessed 7 August 2006.

The most popular tunes from these albums were "Outside of a Small Circle of Friends" (about the murder of Kitty Genovese), "Chords of Fame," "Pleasures of the Harbor," "Crucifixion," and "Jim Dean of Indiana". None actually became hits, although "Small Circle of Friends" received airplay before being banned from many radio stations for suggesting (perhaps sarcastically) that "smoking marijuana is more fun than drinking beer". It was the closest Ochs ever came to the Top 40.

A lifelong movie fan, Ochs worked the narratives of justice and rebellion that he saw in films as a young man into his music. He was devastated when his onetime hero John Wayne embraced the Vietnam War with what Ochs saw as the blind patriotism of The Green Berets.

Ochs was profoundly concerned with the escalation of the Vietnam War. He was present at the demonstrations during the 1968 Democratic National Convention (he comments on the event during his concert There and Now: Live in Vancouver 1968, which includes the song "Where were you in Chicago?"). He traveled with Chilean folksinger VÃctor Jara and sang with Chilean President Salvador Allende before his election and prior to both their deaths during the 1973 coup d'Ã©tat. Ochs organized concerts to protest these Nixon-era developments, and re-recorded his old sarcastic song "Here's To The State Of Mississippi" as "Here's To The State of Richard Nixon".

While touring in 1973 Ochs was attacked and strangled by robbers, supposedly damaging his singing voice. He believed the attack may have been arranged by government agents.Intensely disappointed by his lack of commercial success and haunted by bipolar disorder and an alternate personality by the name of John Butler Train, Phil Ochs hanged himself on April 9, 1976 at his sister's home after a long stretch of erratic behavior. After his death, it was revealed that the FBI had a 410-page file on Ochs.

Legacy

His songs have been covered by Jim and Jean, Joan Baez, Eric Andersen, Billy Bragg, Teenage Fanclub, Ani DiFranco, Gene Clark, Dick Gaughan, Eugene Chadbourne, John Wesley Harding, Eddie Vedder, The Weakerthans, Marianne Faithfull, Travis MacRae, Diamanda Galas, Freddie Feldman and They Might Be Giants, Black 47 and Kind Of Like Spitting among many others. Jello Biafra and Mojo Nixon, in their album Prairie Home Invasion, recorded a version of "Love Me, I'm a Liberal" with updated lyrics (Clinton-era). Evan Greer, part of the Riot Folk collective, has updated "Love Me, I'm a Liberal" (Bush-era). Ryan Harvey, also part of the Riot Folk collective, has remade "Cops Of The World" with updated lyrics. The Clash used some of the lyrics to Ochs' "United Fruit" in their song "Up in Heaven (Not Only Here)," which appeared on their 1980 album Sandinista!. During their recent performance on VH1's Storytellers, Pearl Jam covered "Here's to the State of Mississippi" with updated lyrics to include Jerry Falwell, Dick Cheney, John Roberts, Alberto Gonzales and George W. Bush.

Ochs is also mentioned in the Dar Williams song "All My Heroes Are Dead," the Will Oldham song "Gezundheit," and the They Might Be Giants song "The Day." The Josh Joplin Group recorded an eponymous tribute to Ochs on their album Useful Music. Schooner Fare recorded "Don't Stop To Rest (Song for Phil Ochs)" on their album Closer to the Wind (1981). The punk band Squirrel Bait cited Ochs as a major creative influence in the liner notes of their 1986 album Skag Heaven, and cover him there with the title track from Tape From California.

In addition, he is the subject of "I Dreamed I Saw Phil Ochs Last Night", by British singer Billy Bragg, from his 1990 album The Internationale. British group Latin Quarter memorialized him in the song "Phil Ochs" on their album Long Pig (1993). John Wesley Harding has also recorded a song titled "Phil Ochs, Bob Dylan, Steve Goodman, David Blue & Me", the title a reference to the Ochs song "Bach, Beethoven, Mozart and Me". Singer-Songwriter Jen Cass has recorded a song titled "Standing In Your Memory", and Harry Chapin "The Parade's Still Passing By" as tributes to Phil Ochs. Expressing his feelings upon learning of Ochs' death, Tom Paxton in his 1978 album "Heroes" wrote the touching song titled simply "Phil".

Kind Of Like Spitting also released an album full of cover songs that were originally recorded by Ochs, in order to pay tribute to his music and raise awareness to Ochs, to whom they felt had been overlooked by many. The album, Learn:The Songs Of Phil Ochs contains 9 songs that were originally written and performed by Ochs.

Among Ochs' many admirers were the short story writer Breece D'J Pancake and actor Sean Penn.

Discography

Studio albums and live recordings

All the News That's Fit to Sing (Elektra, 1964)
I Ain't Marching Anymore (Elektra, 1965)
Phil Ochs in Concert (Elektra, 1966)
Pleasures of the Harbor (A&M, 1967)
Tape from California (A&M, 1968)
Rehearsals for Retirement (A&M, 1969)
Greatest Hits (A&M, 1970)
Gunfight at Carnegie Hall (A&M Canada, 1975)

Compilations and other albums

The Campers: Camp Favorites (Cameo, 1962)
*Chords of Fame (A&M, 1976)
*Songs for Broadside (Folkways, 1976)
*Interview with Phil Ochs (Folkways, circa 1976)
*The Broadside Tapes 1 (Folkways, circa 1980)
*A Toast to Those Who Are Gone (Rhino, 1986)
*The War Is Over: The Best of Phil Ochs (A&M, 1988)
*There But for Fortune (Elektra, 1989)
*There and Now: Live in Vancouver 1968 (Rhino, 1990)
*Phil Ochs at Newport (Vanguard, 1996)
*Farewells and Fantasies (Elektra and Rhino, 1997)
*American Troubadour (A&M Britain, 1997)
*The Early Years (Vanguard, 2000)
*20th Century Masters (Universal, 2002)
*Cross My Heart: An Introduction to Phil Ochs'' (Polydor, 2004)

External links

*Phil Ochs's career on A&M Records with gallery, international discography
* Phil Ochs web pages includes lyrics, discography, images, &c.
* All things Phil: Phil Ochs on the Web
* Phil Ochs tribute at Big Bridge
* Folkways Smithsonian Bio & Music Samples
* No Depression #10, Jul-Aug 1997
* Industrial Workers of the World
* Photos

Phil Ochs: Encyclopedia BETA

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