I saw Phil Ochs in February of 1968, at the Kresge Auditorium of MIT. He was not a very good performer, as I recall, visibly uncomfortable on stage, no connection or communication with the audience other than the music, which he more or less rushed through. He was not a particularly good guitarist or singer. He rocked woodenly back and forth, shifting his weight from leg to leg arhythmically, which distracted considerably from the attention one wanted to pay to the music. He either mumbled between songs, or said nothing and just proceeded into the next number.

There was no hint of another "presence" though, he just wasn't at home in front of the audience. None of which, of course, bears on the fact that his best writing ("Changes" is my favorite - "Crucifixion" is a wonderful poem, but probably shouldn't be a song) is unmatched, (and the rest of his stuff can approach abysmal and pretentious).

The next night, as luck would have it, I saw Tom Paxton, who was (and still is) a consummate performer, who was (or appeared to be) totally comfortable onstage, in full command of his music and the audience. Saw him a year ago, and it was like no time had passed, he'd just added more lovely fun & music.