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Phil Ochs' "All the News That's Fit to Sing" to be Reissued on Vinyl in 2011

Scheduled for release on January 11, 2011 is a vinyl reissue of Phil Ochs' debut LP All the News That's Fit to Sing. This follows the reissue of I Ain't Marching Anymore which occurred in 2010.

Phil Ochs, James Taylor & Joni Mitchell: Amchitka CD - James Taylor Interview

Features photos and audio from the Greenpeace concert in 1970 and an interview with James Taylor.

Phil Ochs Sings for Broadside: Review

Phil Ochs Sings for Broadside, a cash-in LP release following Ochs' death in 1976, possessed a title that was only partially correct. In reality, only half of the songs were of Phil Ochs singing for Broadside magazine; the other half were in fact sung for a U.S. politician. According to the liner notes, the story went as follows:

Some time before Phil Ochs died April 9, 1976, in Far Rockaway, NY, he gave a benefit concert for Broadside. He brought us about $500. He also had the concert taped and he turned the tape over to us with the suggestion we make an LP Album out of it. "Let's give 'em one more broadside," he said. (It took us some time to realize that there was a certain tone of finality in this remark.) We played the tape and commented "there's not enough material on here to make a whole album and, besides, some of your best and strongest songs are missing." Phil laughed and pointed out "Look, you've got other tapes of mine. I don't think there's a single song I ever wrote that I didn't tape for you. Just splice on what you want. It's all yours. Have Moe Asch put it out."

The benefit concert in question actually took place in October 1974 for Ramsey Clark, who at the time was running for the U.S. Senate. That makes most of the paragraph a fabrication, with the exception of the correctly noted date and place of Ochs' passing. Why the fictitious story? Broadside magazine's founders, Sis Cunningham and Gordon Friesen, perennially strapped for cash according to their autobiography, Red Dust and Broadsides, were no doubt looking for a quick way to profit on their extensive Ochs archive of recordings. They followed this LP later that year with the Interviews with Phil Ochs LP, then in 1980 with The Broadside Tapes 1, when Michael Ochs stepped in and put a stop to any further Folkways releases bearing Phil Ochs' name (hence there never was a second volume of Broadside Tapes).

As to the content of the LP itself, the full Ramsey Clark concert is available in similar or better quality elsewhere (though only unofficially), but Phil is in fine form and it provides a rare glimpse into his latter day shows, which official CD releases have studiously steered away from. The remainder of the album is filled with rare Broadside demos - so rare in fact that the LP remains the only place to find recordings of "United Fruit" and "On Her Hand a Golden Ring," as the songs were spliced out of the original tapes during the making of the LP.

An interesting note of trivia: this LP was evidently picked up by The Clash, who in 1980 on their album Sandinista! released "Up in Heaven (Not Only Here)," which borrowed some lyrics from "United Fruit."

An odd compilation choice: "Talking Pay TV"

In what must be the strangest track selection of a Phil Ochs song, "Talking Pay TV" inexplicably appears on the Smithsonian Folkways compilation Classic Protest Songs. Among the hundred or so Ochs protest songs the compilers could have chosen, "Talking Pay TV" appears here as the sole Ochs composition, completely out of place. Not only is it not a protest song, it was never released by Ochs during his lifetime, hence negating in any sense its status as a "classic" of the 1960s. As Ochs noted in the Broadside Tapes, the song was written on assignment as an advertisement for a local pay-per-view television channel. What it is doing among tracks like "Masters of War" and "We Shall Overcome" is anybody's guess.

Phil Ochs: On My Way

Following an auction tape that was sold last year comes another new Ochs release entitled On My Way. It features a completely unreleased demo session of Phil running through his material in 1963 at the Florida resident of Roy Connors, member of the folk group The Highwaymen. The listing as described on the auction tape can be found here. The release date is set for June 22, 2010.

Amchitka: The 1970 Concert That Launched Greenpeace

DISC ONE
Phil Ochs
1. Intro Irving Stowe 1:38
2. Intro Phil Ochs 00:11
3. The Bells (E. A. Poe/P. Ochs) 3:09
4. Rhythms of Revolution 4:25
5. Chords of Fame 2:47
6. I Ain’t Marching Anymore 3:01
7. Joe Hill 7:10
8. Changes 3:36
9. I’m Going To Say It Now 2:57
10. No More Songs 3:49
James Taylor
11. Intro James Taylor 00:32
12. Something In The Way She Moves 3:09
13. Fire and Rain 3:52
14. Carolina In My Mind 4:39
15. Blossom 2:30
16. Riding On A Railroad 3:04
17. Sweet Baby James 3:27
18. You Can Close Your Eyes 2:31

DISC TWO
Joni Mitchell
1. Intro Joni Mitchell 00:17
2. Big Yellow Taxi/Bony Maronie (Larry Williams) 4:00
3. Cactus Tree 4:28
4. The Gallery 4:26
5. Hunter 2:36
6. My Old Man 4:29
7. For Free 5:08
8. Woodstock 5:16
9. Carey/Mr. Tambourine Man (Bob Dylan) 10:13
10. A Case Of You 4:44
11. The Circle Game 2:38

For sale through Greenpeace beginning November 10.

Toronto, Canada — Greenpeace Canada is set to release an exclusive two-disc, re-mastered live recording Amchitka, the 1970 concert that launched Greenpeace, featuring Joni Mitchell, James Taylor and the late Phil Ochs. The concert, a fundraiser to protest U.S. nuclear bomb tests near Amchitka, Alaska sees a first-time release on 10 November. The CD is available exclusively through Greenpeace and all proceeds will benefit the organization.
“We are pleased to offer this musical slice of history to Greenpeace supporters and music lovers around the world,” said Bruce Cox, Greenpeace Canada’s executive director. “This CD is a piece of musical magic. It contains never before heard songs, duets and chatter that capture the confidence and hope of the times. It carries a timeless message that change is possible.”

The concert, which took place at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, British Columbia on 16 October 1970, was organized by former trial lawyer and activist Irving Stowe. As co-director of the Don’t Make A Wave Committee, he raised enough money to send 11 peace activists by boat, christened The Greenpeace, to the Aleutian Island of Amchitka. The activists were unsuccessful in stopping the tests, but their voyage in 1971 marks the birth of the worldwide organization known today as Greenpeace.

“The Amchitka voyage would not have happened without the concert, and so we owe a debt of gratitude to Irving Stowe, and the talents of Joni Mitchell, James Taylor and Phil Ochs for generating the momentum that ultimately launched Greenpeace,” continued Cox. “The activists that traveled to Amchitka set the example that has guided and defined Greenpeace: non-violent direct action to protect our environment and motivate societal change.”

The upcoming release features concert performances by then-rising Canadian star Joni Mitchell and a 22-year old James Taylor. Protest singer, Phil Ochs kicks off the CD. Earlier that year Mitchell had been named Top Female Performer of 1970 by Melody Maker magazine and Taylor had released his major breakthrough album Sweet Baby James.

Of the historic concert, Amchitka emcee and Canadian broadcaster, Terry David Mulligan says, “The crew of ‘The Greenpeace’ took hold of our hearts and minds and pulled all of us along. As always, music carried the day.”

Greenpeace is an independently funded organization that works to protect the environment. The organization challenges government and industry to halt harmful practices by negotiating solutions, conducting scientific research, introducing clean alternatives, carrying out peaceful acts of civil disobedience and educating and engaging the public. For more information on Greenpeace visit http://www.greenpeace.org.

Rehearsals for Retirement

Rehearsals For Retirement was Phil Ochs' sixth album, released in 1969 on A&M Records. Recorded in the aftermath of Ochs' presence at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago (where his exploits included selecting and purchasing a pig for Abbie Hoffman and the Yippies to nominate for President), it is the darkest of Ochs' albums, a fact exemplified by its cover, a tombstone proclaiming that Ochs had died in Chicago.

"Pretty Smart On My Part," the album opener, is a song in the persona of a right-wing reactionary, who plans to, among other things, "assassinate the President and take over the government" (the song was noted on Ochs' lengthy FBI file). "William Butler Yeats Visits Lincoln Park and Escapes Unscathed" is Ochs' telling of the events that unfolded in Chicago, followed by an upbeat jaunt berating those who weren't there. "The World Began in Eden and Ended in Los Angeles" seems to portray Ochs' then-home as a hellhole, as all metropolises eventually end up. "Doesn't Lenny Live Here Anymore" is the tale of a woman seeking out her ex-lover, and finding Ochs instead, telling a tale of loneliness that permeates American life.

Perhaps the most despairing track on the album is "My Life," in which Ochs states bluntly, "my life is like a death to me," which presages Ochs' suicide seven years later. He also asks the FBI to "take your tap from my phone and leave my life alone."

Track listing

All songs by Phil Ochs.

Side One

1. "Pretty Smart on My Part" – 3:18
2. "The Doll House" – 4:39
3. "I Kill Therefore I Am" – 2:55
4. "William Butler Yeats Visits Lincoln Park and Escapes Unscathed / Where Were You in Chicago?" – 3:29
5. "My Life" – 3:12

Side Two

1. "The Scorpion Departs But Never Returns" – 4:15
2. "The World Began in Eden and Ended in Los Angeles" – 3:06
3. "Doesn't Lenny Live Here Anymore?" – 6:11
4. "Another Age" – 3:42
5. "Rehearsals For Retirement" – 4:09

Participants

• Phil Ochs - guitar, vocals
• Larry Marks - producer
• Lincoln Mayorga - piano, accordion
• Bob Rafkin - guitar, bass
• Kevin Kelley - drums (rumored)
• Ian Freebairn-Smith - arrangements

Greatest Hits

Greatest Hits was Phil Ochs' seventh LP and final studio album. Contrary to its title, it offered ten new tracks of material, mostly produced by Van Dyke Parks, and was released in 1970. Focusing more on country music than any other album in Ochs' canon, it featured an impressive number of musicians, including members of The Byrds and Elvis Presley's backing group alongside mainstays Lincoln Mayorga and Bob Rafkin. His lyrics were at their most self-referential and only one overtly political song appeared, "Ten Cents A Coup," which includes an earnest (though comical) spoken introduction strung together from two anti-war rallies. The song is an ironic tribute to Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew, who Ochs wryly suggests are more laughable than Laurel and Hardy.

Among the self-referential tracks was "Chords of Fame," which warned against the dangers of popularity. "Boy In Ohio" saw Ochs pining for his childhood and "Jim Dean of Indiana" was a tale of James Dean's life, a tribute to him, written after Ochs had visited Dean's grave. "No More Songs" was the most telling of the tracks, as Ochs would release but five more studio tracks in his lifetime after 1970, never completing another studio album.

Track listing

All songs by Phil Ochs.

1. "One Way Ticket Home" – 2:40
2. "Jim Dean of Indiana" – 5:05
3. "My Kingdom For A Car" – 2:53
4. "Boy In Ohio" – 3:43
5. "Gas Station Women" – 3:31
6. "Chords of Fame" – 3:33
7. "Ten Cents A Coup" – 3:14
8. "Bach, Beethoven, Mozart and Me" – 5:05
9. "Basket in the Pool" – 3:40
10. "No More Songs" – 4:31

Participants (partial list)

* Phil Ochs - guitar, piano, vocals
* Van Dyke Parks - producer, keyboards
* Andrew Wickham - co-producer ("Gas Station Women" and "Chords of Fame" only)
* Clarence White - guitar, backing vocals
* Laurindo Almeida - guitar
* James Burton - guitar
* Bob Rafkin - guitar, bass
* Chris Ethridge - bass
* Kenny Kaufman - bass
* Gene Parsons - drums
* Kevin Kelley - drums
* Earl Ball - piano, arrangements
* Lincoln Mayorga - keyboards
* Mike Rubini - keyboards
* Richard Rosmini - pedal steel, harmonica
* Ry Cooder - mandolin on "One Way Ticket Home"
* Don Rich - fiddle
* Gary Coleman - percussion
* Tom Scott - tenor saxophone
* Bobby Bruce - violin
* Anne Goodman - cello
* Merry Clayton, Sherlie Matthews and Clydie King - backing vocals
* Bobby Wayne and Jim Glover - harmony vocals
* Bob Thompson - arrangements

Pleasures of the Harbor

Pleasures of the Harbor was Phil Ochs' fourth full-length album and his first for A&M Records, released in 1967. It is one of Ochs' most somber albums. In stark contrast to his three albums for Elektra Records which had all been basically folk music, Pleasures of the Harbor featured traces of classical, rock and roll, Dixieland jazz and experimental synthesized music crossing with folk, in hopes of producing a "folk-pop" crossover.

The best known track is "Outside of a Small Circle of Friends," a sarcastic jab at the apathetic nature of people in certain situations, at its base the story of the murder of Kitty Genovese in New York City (which numerous people witnessed, doing nothing to help), set to a Dixieland backing. Its mention of marijuana in one verse, however ironically intentioned, was misinterpreted, and its release as a single failed to do anything on the charts as it was banned from radio play by many stations.

"The Party" savaged high-class snobs, with Ochs taking the role of a singing (not playing) lounge pianist, observing the ridiculous nature of their gatherings. "Flower Lady" was a six-minute narrative about contrasting characters in the city, with each anecdote having one thing in common: everyone ignores the poor woman trying to sell her flowers.

"Pleasures of the Harbor," the title track, is a bittersweet dirge to lonely sailors seeking human comfort and connection while in port. Ochs composed it after watching a screening of John Ford's 1940 film The Long Voyage Home, which starred one of Ochs' movie idols, John Wayne. It features a lilting melodic line and what some consider to be an overblown film score-like orchestration (supposedly including a young Warren Zevon), a view which Ochs himself would later on come to share.

This recording of "The Crucifixion," which closed the album, was deemed a failed experiment by Ochs, as far as its avant-garde production experiment (by Joseph Byrd) is concerned. Lyrically and musically, however, many consider the song to be Ochs' masterpiece. Its ten verses compare John F. Kennedy and Christ, and explore the "cycle of sacrifice" where we build up our leaders into heroes so that we can enjoy tearing them down. The song brought Kennedy's brother Robert to tears when Ochs performed it for him a cappella in early 1968, months before the younger Kennedy's own assassination. All live versions of the song performed in concert featured Ochs alone, with just his guitar and voice, and one of those starkly beautiful live performances is on the posthumously released compilations Chords of Fame and Farewells & Fantasies.

Track listing

All songs by Phil Ochs.

1. "Cross My Heart" – 3:23
2. "Flower Lady" – 6:06
3. "Outside of a Small Circle of Friends" – 3:37
4. "I've Had Her" – 8:03
5. "Miranda" – 5:17
6. "The Party" – 7:57
7. "Pleasures of the Harbor" – 8:05
8. "The Crucifixion" – 8:45

Personnel

• Phil Ochs – vocals, guitar
• Larry Marks – producer
• Lincoln Mayorga – piano
• Warren Zevon – guitar on "Pleasures of the Harbor"
• Ian Freebairn-Smith – arrangements
• Joseph Byrd – arrangements on "The Crucifixion"

Tape From California

Tape From California is Phil Ochs' fifth album, released in mid-1968 on A&M Records. A step back from its predecessor Pleasures of the Harbor, a sort of cross between that album and 1966's Phil Ochs In Concert, it features folk with shades of rock, bluegrass and baroque music.

The best-known track is the epic "The War Is Over," a portrait of the ridiculousness of war released at a time when Vietnam seemed as if it would never end. Its upbeat, military-style backing is as ironic as the backing for "Outside of a Small Circle of Friends" had been one year prior. The opening track, written as he was moving from New York City to Los Angeles, is the first truly rocking song in Ochs' catalogue, an aural comment on Ochs' own life circa 1968. "The Harder They Fall" is a reworking of nursery rhyme characters into a somewhat menacing and bewildering tale, including lines about Mother Goose stealing lines from Lenny Bruce. "White Boots Marching in a Yellow Land," in line with his earlier anti-war songs, is one of the more poetic songs on the album.

"When In Rome," which lasts over thirteen minutes, is Ochs' longest song, a portrait of depression in the style of Bob Dylan's "Desolation Row," set to simple acoustic guitar backing. It could have been about life in ancient Rome, America in the 1960s, or any other point in between.

Track listing

All songs by Phil Ochs.

1. "Tape From California" – 6:45
2. "White Boots Marching in a Yellow Land" – 3:35
3. "Half A Century High" – 2:53
4. "Joe Hill" – 7:18
5. "The War Is Over" – 4:25
6. "The Harder They Fall" – 3:52
7. "When In Rome" – 13:13
8. "The Floods of Florence" – 4:52

Participants

• Phil Ochs - guitar, vocals
• Larry Marks - producer
• Lincoln Mayorga - piano, keyboards
• Van Dyke Parks - piano, keyboards ("Tape From California")
• Ramblin' Jack Elliott - flat-picked guitar ("Joe Hill")
• Ian Freebairn-Smith - arrangements

Gunfight at Carnegie Hall

Gunfight At Carnegie Hall was Phil Ochs' final album, comprising songs recorded at the infamous, gold-suited, bomb-threat shortened first set at Carnegie Hall in New York City on March 27, 1970, though it contains less than half of the actual concert. The shows recorded that day served to surprise Ochs' fans, from his gold lamé Nudie suit modeled after Elvis Presley's to his covers of Presley, Conway Twitty, Buddy Holly and Merle Haggard songs, to his own re-arranged songs. Some attendees at the show were unhappy with the music he was playing, wanting only to hear "old" Ochs, but before he had a chance to convince them, the concert was cut short by a telephone bomb threat. Some angry fans — who had paid for a full concert — confronted Phil at a between-show dinner, and he took their names, promising to get them into the second show for free. But the box office was locked — Ochs smashed the glass, severely cutting his thumb. Breaking into the lockbox was the last straw. While they let Ochs perform the second show, he was immediately afterwards banned from performing at the venue permanently. He appeared onstage at the second show with a bandaged hand, telling the audience the story.

On the Gunfight album, before performing a medley of Buddy Holly songs, Ochs gives an introduction where he describes Holly's influence on the songs he would become famous for, like "I Ain't Marching Anymore." Ochs says that these songs were "just as much Phil Ochs as anything else." When some of the audience shout and boo after this set, Ochs admonishes them to "not be like Spiro Agnew," saying that their prejudice against certain forms of music was bigotry: "You can be a bigot from all sides. You can be a bigot against Blacks; you can be a bigot against music." Many in the audience cheer this sentiment.

The second show, starting at midnight, went on for over three hours - when Carnegie Hall cut the power to the mics while Ochs was performing a medley of Elvis songs, Ochs shouted out and the remaining audience started chanting "We want power!" until the mics were turned back on. (Though the Gunfight album is comprised of performances from the first show, the chant from the second show is included.) Many loyal fans remained to the very end of the concert, cheering and dancing, enjoying this chance to share what was felt to be an historic moment with Ochs.

Ochs begged his then-label, A&M to release an album of his gold-suited Carnegie Hall concerts in late 1970. They refused, and it languished for four years in the vaults until the label relented, releasing fifty minutes of material, mostly the covers (four of sixteen originals performed were released, compared to five of seven covers). The album's release, however, came with a catch. It was only released in Canada, and Americans had to wait twenty-plus years to see an American release. It appeared on compact disc in 2000, strangely packaged with Rehearsals For Retirement in a two-disc set. There is no talk of a release of either show, though an additional cover, Chuck Berry's "School Days" appeared on the 1997 British anthology, American Troubadour and an acoustic version of "Crucifixion" was released on the 1976 compilation Chords Of Fame and later on the 1997 box set Farewells & Fantasies. Bootleg copies, however, of the entire second show have been known to be traded among fans. Ochs had been drinking between sets, and his voice was not in as good shape as it had been for the first show, though the between-song patter gives many insights into his frame of mind and the motives behind Greatest Hits and the subsequent gold-suited shows.

Track listing

1. "Mona Lisa" (Ray Evans, Jay Livingston) – 3:49
2. "I Ain't Marching Anymore" (Phil Ochs) – 4:23
3. "Okie From Muskogee" (Roy Burris, Merle Haggard) – 2:49
4. "Chords of Fame" (Ochs) – 4:49
5. "Buddy Holly Medley : Not Fade Away / I'm Gonna Love You Too / Think It Over / Oh, Boy! / Everyday / It's So Easy / Not Fade Away" (Charles Hardin, Norman Petty, Joe B. Maudlin, N. Sullivan, Sonny West, Bill Tilghman, Jerry Allison) – 7:18
6. "Pleasures Of The Harbor" (Ochs) – 5:59
7. "Tape From California" (Ochs) – 5:09
8. "Elvis Medley : My Baby Left Me / Ready Teddy / Heartbreak Hotel / All Shook Up / Are You Lonesome Tonight? / My Baby Left Me" (Arthur Crudup, R. Maralasco, Robert Blackwell, Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller, Otis Blackwell, Roy Turk, Lou Handman, – 10:12
9. "A Fool Such As I" (B. Trader) – 2:00

Group Members

* Phil Ochs - guitar, vocals
* Bob Rafkin - guitar, backing vocals
* Lincoln Mayorga - piano
* Kenny Kaufman - bass, backing vocals
* Kevin Kelley - drums

Forever Changing: The Golden Age of Elektra Records 1963-1973

An unprecedented five-disc boxed set, Forever Changing: The Golden Age Of Elektra Records—1963 to 1973, focuses on the heyday of the Elektra label as it made the transition from folk music to folk rock, before fully embracing electric rock. Forever Changing opens with pivotal early folk artists Judy Collins, Fred Neil, and Phil Ochs and sees the gradual impact of electric music with, first, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band and then key signings to the label in Love, The Doors and the extraordinary, unique Tim Buckley. Elektra Records never lost its folk roots and, as the sixties progressed, the label embraced the singer/songwriter era by signing Carly Simon, Harry Chapin, and the hugely successful Bread. Yet in 1969, Elektra went on to release the debut albums by The Stooges and the MC5, groups which still make a fierce impact on young musicians to this day; a far cry from the pristine folk of Judy Collins.

Elektra was the brainchild of Jac Holzman, and it was his vision that drove the label through 1973, when he handed over the reigns. A true visionary who believed in the artist and was never afraid to take risks, Holzman went from releasing traditional folk and exotic recordings in the ’50s to signing those truly trailblazing artists: Love, The Doors, Tim Buckley, Fred Neil, Phil Ochs, David Ackles and so many more.

Forever Changing mixes these familiar names with a host of genuine rarities and lesser-knowns. Elektra’s reputation preceded it and helped give maverick artists such as Nico, The Holy Holy Modal Rounders, David Peel and the UK-signed psychedelic folk group The Incredible String Band a launchpad to wider recognition.

A bonus disc, titled 'Another Time, Another Place,' presents an alternative take on Elektra’s history, from the rare 1963 single by The Beefeaters (who went on to become The Byrds), through one of Jac Holzman’s final signings, Jobriath. This disc also includes Eric Clapton & Powerhouse, The Baroque Beatles Book, Simon Stokes, Joseph Spence, Eclection, Leviathan, Goodthunder and David Peel.

The booklet includes a special foreword by Jac Holzman and new interviews with the artists, where possible, plus contributions from Elektra insiders, fellow artists and fellow travelers for whom Elektra was and still is the label.

Forever Changing is housed in a sumptuous 12-inch box that includes, among other delights, a lavishly illustrated hardback book to accompany the discs, four fine art prints of classic Elektra sleeves, a set of postcards, scrapbook style facsimile memorabilia, an illustrated discography, and a CD-Rom copy of Jac Holzman and Gavan Daw’s autobiography and label history Follow The Music.