"God save us all, Phil Ochs"

Autograph obtained in Montreal at the Salle Claude Champagne on October 22, 1966.

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.

Intimacy Underlines Phil Ochs' Concert

April 22, 1968

Phil Ochs, in concert at the Hartman Theatre Friday April 19.

By STUART MECK
Arts and Entertainment Editor

The gymnasium-like Hartman Theatre is certainly several notches below "intimate" in atmosphere and those cramped seats force long-legged critics into the fetal position. But Folksinger Phil Ochs turned the place into a coffee house Friday night.

Ochs, who looks like he would be a waiter at Larry's Bar on High Street, did more than sing; he almost entered into a dialogue with the audience, such was the strength of the rapport he built.

A former Ohio State journalism student turned success, Ochs possesses a voice tinged with a hard-edged lyricism. His protest songs are disparaging but never dirge-like; they push home their point by emphasizing absurdities. In "I Ain't a 'Marchin' Anymore," Ochs sings: "It's always the old who lead us to the war; it's always the young who fall."

"Draft Dodger's Rag," a wry commentary on the art of evading Gen. Louis Hershey's grasping organization, crackled at the hands of its composer as did the poignant "There But For Fortune," familiar to Judy Collins fans.

"Some of the songs I wrote have more meaning today than when I wrote them," Ochs said, launching himself into "I've Got Something To Say Sir; I'm Gonna Say It Now." He could have been speaking about the subject of any Administration Building demonstration at Ohio State as his song struck out at depersonalization on a modern campus.

Long were his ballads but never boring. Ochs converted Alfred Noyes' poem "The Highwayman," into that form and the result was more than pleasant.

Indeed, the concert was superior.

Phil Ochs: Hartman Theatre Concert Ad (1968)

By DEANNE LEFF
Lantern Staff Writer

FRIDAY--Folksinger Phil Ochs, an Ohio State dropout who made good, will appear at the Hartman Theatre at 8:30 p.m. This former journalism student is the writer of songs recorded by Pete Seeger, Glen Yarborough, Judy Collins and Joan Baez (most notable: "There but for Fortune").

Tickets for Ochs' concert are on sale at the Hartman Theatre box office, Sears stores, the University Music House and the Ohio Union 326.

Dylan Pleases Audience

Backed-Up by Band

[Bob Dylan Live at the Veterans Memorial Auditorium, Columbus, Ohio, 8:30 p.m., November 19, 1965]

November 22, 1965

By CHARLES G. FENTON

Bob Dylan came to town Friday night with a cold that made his voice rasp more than usual. Nevertheless, he pleased the youthful audience packed into Veterans Memorial Auditorium.

There were grade school children with braces on their teeth. There were high schoolers in tight denims wearing "Dylan caps." There were college students ranging from the far-out crowd with long hair and peace buttons to cool types in herringbone suits and vests.

She Wore a Mink

There was even one middle-aged couple. She wore a mink. He had distinguished-looking grey hair.

They all had come to hear the foremost musical spokesman of the younger generation.

When Dylan sang the songs he composes himself they listened respectfully. The instant he finished a song the vast auditorium resounded with applause.

Dylan began his concert with "She's Got Everything She Needs." He accompanied himself with a steady, driving guitar beat and occasional breaks on a howling, wailing harmonica.

Dylan doesn't really sing, but he does more than just recite his songs. His voice has little range, but he conveys a variety of feelings from the melancholy of "Baby Blue" to the bitter social commentary of "Desolation Row."

In "Desolation Row" Dylan blasts Alfred [sic] Einstein, priests, insurance salesmen and middle-men of all descriptions.

Ignores Audience

Dylan is a very self-contained performer. He concentrates on what he is doing and all but ignores his audience.

After nearly every song in the first half of the program he paused to retune his guitar. "My electric guitar never goes out of tune," he told the audience.

In keeping with his new image as a rock singer Dylan was backed up by a five-man band for the last half of his concert.

A grand piano, drums, an electric organ and two electric guitars make a lot of music for one singer to shout down, but Dylan did it, cold and all.

The sound of all those instruments amplified many times over through the huge speakers at Vets was almost deafening, but the audience seemed to like it.

Dylan Is a Changin'

November 12, 1965

By JAMES ANDERSON and CHARLES FENTON

"Come mothers and fathers throughout the land, And don't criticize what you can't understand. For your sons and your daughters are beyond your command - your old road is rapidly aging; Please get out of the new one if you can't lend a hand, For the times they are a changin'."

And so is Bob Dylan.

Dylan became popular at the crest of the folk music wave. His driving guitar, harmonica and Midwestern twang were reminiscent of Woody Guthrie.

He was adopted as a new prophet by the "hard core" folk music fans.

Today mention of his name draws varied reactions:

• Shock and dismay from parents.
• Cries of "fink" and "fraud" from former disciples because Dylan now plays electric guitar, piano and police siren in addition to his "pure" guitar and harmonica.
• Shouts of "hosanna" from a rebellious generation.
• Questioning stares of non-recognition from hermits who have heard no popular or topical singers for at least two years.

Dylan is the author of such provocative songs as "Blowin' in the Wind," "Don't Think Twice," "Like a Rolling Stone" and "Masters of War."

His songs are frequently performed by top rock groups such as The Beatles, the Byrds, Sonny and Cher and the Turtles.

Even Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, and Odetta have hit the Dylan trail. They occasionally devote large sections of an album to the poignant and bitter "art of Dylan" that has made him one of the most dynamic influences in contemporary music.

Bob Dylan will appear in concert at Veterans Memorial Auditorium Nov. 19 at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are available at Central Ticket Office, Sears Northland and Town and Country Shopping Center.

Phil Ochs / Dorweiler, Germany - Burg Waldeck Festival 1968

June 12-17, 1968

CD 1
1. Cops of the World
2. Flower Lady
3. Outside of a Small Circle of Friends
4. Changes
5. The War Is Over
6. I Ain't Marching Anymore
7. Power and the Glory
8. Cross My Heart
9. Rhythms of Revolution
10. I Ain't Marching Anymore
11. Joe Hill
12. Draft Dodger Rag
13. White Boots Marching in a Yellow Land
14. I'm Going to Say It Now
15. Crucifixion
16. Floods of Florence

CD 2
1. There But for Fortune
2. Is There Anybody Here
3. The Highwayman
4. Cops of the World
5. Flower Lady
6. Outside of a Small Circle of Friends
7. Changes
8. The War Is Over
9. I Ain't Marching Anymore
10. Power and the Glory

Set details from fredatwork:

Most likely recorded on analogue reel-to-reel tape (details unknown) by Wilfried Zahn (sound engineer at "Deutsches Rundfunkarchiv" - German Radio Archives - in Frankfurt).

Most likely 1st generation copy of original master tapes (destroyed in a fire at Burg Waldeck in 1977 where they had been kept) onto 18-cm reel-to-reel (19 cm per second), transfer by Juergen Kahle (unknown date prior to 1977).

Transfer to DAT (unknown date) by Stephan Roegner, transfer to CD-R (unknown date) by Deutsches Rundfunkarchiv (German Radio Archives).

The 10-CD-compilation on Bear Family Records contains two Phil Ochs titles from the 1968 festival
- Cross My Heart
- Power and (the) Glory

Phil Ochs as Elvis Presley

A few months ago I provided background materials on Phil Ochs' 1970 Carnegie Hall "gold suit" concerts to Dan Booth, for a conference with the Experience Music Project, a museum in Seattle, Washington. Last Friday, he gave the presentation as part of the "Continuum of Protest" panel. Here is the abstract:

"Phil Ochs as Elvis Presley: Gunfight at Carnegie Hall"
Contradictions are our hope! -Bertolt Brecht

If there’s any hope for America, it lies in a revolution, and if there’s any hope for a revolution in America, it lies in getting Elvis Presley to become Che Guevara. - Phil Ochs

In 1970 Phil Ochs felt played out as a protest singer, his faith in the transformative power of music challenged by the ongoing war. So the post-Dylan heir apparent of folk lay claim to a different throne. He wore a gold suit from Elvis Presley’s tailor on his next record cover and on tour, performing Elvis and Buddy Holly medleys. He became a walking contradiction: a folksinger playing chords of fame. It was a radical challenge to his fans, who found the oldies shtick not just retrograde but counter-revolutionary. At the notorious show documented on Gunfight at Carnegie Hall, the crowd booed him at first, cheering when a heckler cried, “Bring back Phil Ochs!” He responded with the hippie-baiting “Okie From Muskogee.” In the end the audience embraced the concept, demanding encores for a Phil reinvigorated through Elvis, and recuperating the old wild Elvis as reanimated by Phil. Earnest and uproarious, confronting the mainstream and the underground at once, this event is a model for inspired engagement with the world. My paper will use Gunfight as a means to explore notions of folk music as pop, culture as politics, performance art as show business, message as method, and Phil Ochs as Elvis Presley.

Dan Booth is a lawyer in Boston. He has written about music for the Boston Phoenix, In These Times, Index and a bunch of zines. He is an editor for the film journal, The Molten Rectangle. His dad once gave Phil Ochs a lift to a gig after a demonstration.

Here is some commentary on the presentation from the KEXP Blog:

So excited was I then to hear Dan Booth’s liberating call to artistic challenge, “Phil Ochs as Elvis Presley: ‘Gunfight at Carnegie Hall,’” which reminded me of how the protest singer once took amazing chances with his art and image, when folk music was the indie rock of its time. Booth is a zine dude who name-checked the Minutemen and The Mekons as he took the podium (yeah!), and described how Ochs became disenchanted with the ineffective political stiff-necks of his fan-base and forced them to give up phony grabs at authenticity, finding truth in the raw vision of artists like Merle Haggard — exemplified by himself dressing up like Elvis and playing raw rock and roll along with his caustic political songs. I’ve been an Ochs fan for years but never really understood this bizarre experiment until now. Ochs’ best quote on the subject: “To cater to an audience’s taste is not to respect it.” Ochs showed how anger could be used not only in the content of his lyrics but in the form in which he presented it.