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In honor of Phil Ochs

09 Apr 01 - 03:25 PM (#436600)
Subject: In honor of Phil Ochs
From: Phil Cooper

I was driving home from a gig Saturday night and was listening to the Midnight Special. Rich Warren announced that today (April 9) was the 25th anniversary of Phil Ochs' passing. I started playing guitar when I was 14 with Phil's "The War is Over" song book and a page of xeroxed chords from the library. Just thought mention should be made. His music certainly meant a lot to me.

09 Apr 01 - 03:34 PM (#436612)
Subject: RE: In honor of Phil Ochs
From: bradfordian

Phil, I sing his evocative THERE BUT FOR FORTUNE. Classic stuff. I think the current generations need to dip into the likes of Phil and Alex Campbell and many more who made significant contributions in the 60s & 70s Regards Baz.

09 Apr 01 - 03:42 PM (#436623)
Subject: RE: In honor of Phil Ochs
From: Big Tim

Saw Dick Gaughan on stage in Glasgow last year and he told the audience that he had just returned from the induction of Phil Ochs to the, I think it was , Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame. In his honour Dick sang "So I Guess I'll Have to do it While I'm Here". It was very moving for those of us who recall Phil from the old days.

09 Apr 01 - 06:00 PM (#436782)
Subject: RE: In honor of Phil Ochs
From: Phil Cooper

I saw Phil Ochs once in 1973 at the Earl of Old Town in Chicago for a Sunday afternoon Matinee. Great show, he started with "The Bells" and ended with "The Highwayman."

09 Apr 01 - 06:18 PM (#436806)
Subject: RE: In honor of Phil Ochs
From: Philibuster

I owe all my current interest in Folk to Phil. "Toast For Those Who Are Gone" was the first rythym part I learned. By ear...

09 Apr 01 - 06:37 PM (#436841)
Subject: RE: In honor of Phil Ochs
From: Lanfranc

I spent 20 years trying to replace my (stolen) copy of "Pleasures of the Harbor" - my efforts were one of the things that drew me to Mudcat. I now have the CD, and a handful of other albums by Phil Ochs. They are treasured items in my collection of musical memories.

From time to time I sing "Flower Lady", "Outside of a Small Circle of Friends", "There but for Fortune" and "When I'm Gone", and raise a glass to his memory.

Truly one of the great singer-songwriters of the last century. I would have loved to have met him, and dearly wish that someone had been there to stay his hand.

What would he be writing now?

Can it really be 25 years!

09 Apr 01 - 06:48 PM (#436850)
Subject: RE: In honor of Phil Ochs
From: katlaughing

First heard his stuff on a tape by Holly Near; she sang No More Songs. I learned it and sing it once in a while in Paltalk. Beautiful song. Just found a website for him the other day and was very moved by his bio and tragic end. Thanks for noting this day.

kat

09 Apr 01 - 07:57 PM (#436909)
Subject: RE: In honor of Phil Ochs
From: Chicken Charlie

Nobody mentioned "Changes," an outrageously excellent tune.

C.C.

09 Apr 01 - 08:29 PM (#436939)
Subject: RE: In honor of Phil Ochs
From: GUEST,Sarah2 (at work)

"Draft Dodger Rag," still a fave, along with "Changes," "The Party" -- oh, so much good stuff. Phil Ochs was the writer whose works showed me songs could Say Something. I was so angry when I heard . . . such a loss.

Sarah

09 Apr 01 - 11:26 PM (#437058)
Subject: RE: In honor of Phil Ochs
From: Mark Cohen

"Tape From California" was one of the first albums I ever bought. That would have been, what, 1968? (Remember albums?) I too still have the songbook, "The War is Over", and play songs from it frequently. He was brilliant, no question.

My recollection from 25 years ago is that Phil tried a new style and it was not well received, and that may have been a factor in his sad decision. I remember that my friend went to see him in concert in Philadelphia on what may have been his last tour, and was very upset that Phil had come out wearing gold lame and doing songs that were very different from his previous stuff. Of course, I'm not trying to place blame; suicide is never simple, and never fully explained or understood by those who remain behind.

Aloha,
Mark

10 Apr 01 - 12:45 PM (#437406)
Subject: RE: In honor of Phil Ochs
From: LR Mole

...protest they say protest; it is your diamond duty
Ah but in such an ugly time
The only true protest is beauty.---P.O.

10 Apr 01 - 01:22 PM (#437426)
Subject: RE: In honor of Phil Ochs
From: Jim Krause

Regarding Phil's sad end, I have a friend who was pretty close, he said, to Phil. From the sound of it, I guess my friend and Phil used to go out drinking together and get pretty sloshed. My friend went to AA, and Phil didn't. I don't think my friend has ever forgiven Phil for that. Too bad, for both of 'em.

Some of my favorite Phil Ochs songs are

  • What's That I Hear?
  • Draft Dodger Rag
  • I Ain't Marching Anymore
  • Outside a Small Circle of Friends

    One I never did quite understand is No More Songs. I don't quite understand what the apology was all about.
    Jim

    • 10 Apr 01 - 01:53 PM (#437458)
    Subject: RE: In honor of Phil Ochs
    From: zander (inactive)

    In the end Phil was too good for this world. Very ,very sad, Dave

    10 Apr 01 - 02:03 PM (#437466)
    Subject: RE: In honor of Phil Ochs
    From: Phil Cooper

    Mark,

    Tape From California was also the first album I ever got. I read Mark Elliott's "Death of a Rebel" which went into some of the issue of the audience not accepting some of the directions Phil wanted to go.

    10 Apr 01 - 03:43 PM (#437546)
    Subject: RE: In honor of Phil Ochs
    From: Sarah2

    In 1997, Elektra put out a 3-CD collection of his recordings, called "Phil Ochs" Farewells & Fantasies." Their catalog number is R27358, ISBN 1-56826-839-4, and the set is in the jacket of a book with tons of great photos and a forward by daughter Megan Lee Ochs, with some good "reflections on" stuff written by Michael Ventura, Mark Kemp and Ben Edmonds.

    It has:

    What's That I Hear
    The Bells
    Morning
    Bound for Glory
    The Highwayman
    Power and the Glory
    That's What I Want to Hear
    Links On the Chair
    Love Me, I'm a Liberal
    Too Many Martyrs
    In the Heat of the Summer
    Here's to the State of Mississippi
    I'm Goint to Say it Now
    One More Parade
    Draft Dodger Rag
    I Ain't Marching Anymore
    We Seek No Wider War
    Ringing of Revolution
    When I'm Gone
    There But For Fortune
    Song of My Returning
    The War is Over
    White Boots Marching in a Yellow Land
    Is There Anybody Here?
    Santo Domingo
    Song of a Soldier
    Cops of the World
    Bracero
    Canons of Chritianity
    I Kill Therefore I Am
    The Confession
    William Butler Yeats Visits Lincoln Park and Escapes Unscathed
    A Toast to Those Who Are Gone
    Changes
    The Doll House
    When In Rome
    Pretty Smart On My Part
    The World Began in Eden and Ended in Los Angeles
    Tape from California
    Chords of Fame
    Gas Station Women
    Miranda
    Outside of a Small Circle of Friends
    Flower Lady
    The Scorpion Departs but Never Returns
    Pleasures of the Harbor
    Jim Dean of Indiana
    Rehearsals for Retirement
    Doesn't Lenny Live Here Anymore?
    No More Songs
    Crucifixion

    There's a web address on the back: www.rhino.com, if anyone's interested.

    I do not work for them...but I adore his stuff.

    Sarah

    10 Apr 01 - 03:44 PM (#437548)
    Subject: RE: In honor of Phil Ochs
    From: Sarah2

    In 1997, Elektra put out a 3-CD collection of his recordings, called "Phil Ochs" Farewells & Fantasies." Their catalog number is R27358, ISBN 1-56826-839-4, and the set is in the jacket of a book with tons of great photos and a forward by daughter Megan Lee Ochs, with some good "reflections on" stuff written by Michael Ventura, Mark Kemp and Ben Edmonds.

    It has:

    What's That I Hear
    The Bells
    Morning
    Bound for Glory
    The Highwayman
    Power and the Glory
    That's What I Want to Hear
    Links On the Chair
    Love Me, I'm a Liberal
    Too Many Martyrs
    In the Heat of the Summer
    Here's to the State of Mississippi
    I'm Goint to Say it Now
    One More Parade
    Draft Dodger Rag
    I Ain't Marching Anymore
    We Seek No Wider War
    Ringing of Revolution
    When I'm Gone
    There But For Fortune
    Song of My Returning
    The War is Over
    White Boots Marching in a Yellow Land
    Is There Anybody Here?
    Santo Domingo
    Song of a Soldier
    Cops of the World
    Bracero
    Canons of Chritianity
    I Kill Therefore I Am
    The Confession
    William Butler Yeats Visits Lincoln Park and Escapes Unscathed
    A Toast to Those Who Are Gone
    Changes
    The Doll House
    When In Rome
    Pretty Smart On My Part
    The World Began in Eden and Ended in Los Angeles
    Tape from California
    Chords of Fame
    Gas Station Women
    Miranda
    Outside of a Small Circle of Friends
    Flower Lady
    The Scorpion Departs but Never Returns
    Pleasures of the Harbor
    Jim Dean of Indiana
    Rehearsals for Retirement
    Doesn't Lenny Live Here Anymore?
    No More Songs
    Crucifixion

    There's a web address on the back: www.rhino.com, if anyone's interested.

    I do not work for them...but I adore his stuff.

    Sarah

    10 Apr 01 - 03:50 PM (#437552)
    Subject: RE: In honor of Phil Ochs
    From: Sarah2

    oops...

    Sarah

    10 Apr 01 - 08:15 PM (#437732)
    Subject: RE: In honor of Phil Ochs
    From: Peter K (Fionn)

    Tom Paxton said it best.

    26 Jun 14 - 09:59 PM (#3636979)
    Subject: RE: In honor of Phil Ochs
    From: GUEST

    Hate to revive a 13-year old thread, but Phil stood in the trenches and gave everything he had for what he believed in. I think of Phil daily and I know I am not the only one. He is still a beacon in a world of instant gratification and me first. I would like to share my favorite of his verses, it was from the original version of Doesn't Lenny Live Here Anymore. Phil wrote it soon after Lenny Bruce's death in 1966 and performed it for a couple of years until the Rehearsals album was made. Phil introduced it as a study of various levels of depression.

    The deep sea diver ignores the shark-skinned warning
    And the empty mailbox chews on your hand every morning
    The buzzards bend to fly, and you don't know why
    And the tears cannot appear so you can cry....

    RIP Phil

    14 Oct 15 - 03:19 AM (#3743766)
    Subject: RE: In honor of Phil Ochs
    From: Sourdough

    I didn't know him well but I did get to hang out with him at the Unicorn, a Boston Folk CLub that he played at a couple of times. I had worked on a television program that had been shot on location there and had become friendly with the owner, George Papadopoulo and I was always welcome there. Passing time with the performers between sets was one of the perks. People write of his drug addiction and problems with alcohol but I don't recall anything about those.
    The main memory I have of him is his intensity. Although he had a sense of humor, there was something burning in him that was consuming his ability to enjoy life, I felt the same depth of passion in Peter LaFarge whom I knew, far less well, from Gerde's Folk City in the NYC Village. With hindsight, there may have been an inevitability i their premature deaths.

    The odd thing is that what I remember most about Phil Ochs' performances are his renditions of The Highwayman and The Tintinnabulation of the Bells. They are masterpieces of performance.

    Now that I think of it, I felt a similar resonance from Townes van Zandt whom I did not know personally at all. He died in a slower form of suicide. I think they may have shared something very basic.