And he didn’t even have to wear a strange costume to make a statement.
You will not be seeing Phil Ochs in concert at a theater near you.
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Simple Justice
And he didn’t even have to wear a strange costume to make a statement.
You will not be seeing Phil Ochs in concert at a theater near you.
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Still, if he appeared, it would be kind of dramatic, having been dead all these years. And if a film who’d watch it – outside of a small circle of friends?
Thanks Jeff. It helps to know I’m not the only one.
Saw him in concert many times. The last time not long before the end, when he was wearing the gold lame and losing track of what he was doing while performing. It was very sad, not least because at his best he put on a really terrific show.
You’re definitely not the only one, Scott. I remember taking one of my apolitical friends to see him at a concert at Westbury Music Fair in the 60s. He got all the way through his performance and still hadn’t sung “I Ain’t Marchin’ Anymore,” so when he came out for an encore, I just stood up and yelled it out. The audience laughed and cheered, and Phil sang it. Then I turned to my friend and said, “NOW do you get it?”
Feel free to delete the link to the video clip of him singing it.
The only problem I have with your inclusion of the link is that it’s killing my mojo on my next Phil Ochs post. But better that people hear it (and as often as possible) than not. Especially the ones who think the only thing boomers ever thought about is making a quick buck off some kid’s hide.
I bought a couple of Phil Ochs records in 2009, after being vaguely aware of him for years and years. He is good.
You bought “records”, as in LPs?
No, I got them as downloaded mp3s from eMusic, but I think they correspond to music that was in the form of records. One was called “Tape From California.” The other was called “There But For Fortune.” I still do buy records sometimes, but I just bust them down anyway.
I suddenly got more interested in Ochs because someone put a song called “Pretty Smart On My Part” on a compilation CD for me.
“There But For Fortune” was my favorite album of his, but I wonder how it comes across to people who didn’t live through those times or weren’t affected by his music at the time. To this day, I cannot listen to “I’m Gonna Say It Now,” “When I’m Gone,” and “Is There Anybody Here?” without tearing up thinking about what we lost when he killed himself. And yes, I still listen to his music.
Maybe if Scott isn’t too ticked at me for flunking MoJo 101, he can post more video clips of Ochs at some point.
And Scott: those who think boomers were all commercially oriented obviously slept through American history and don’t know much about us 60’s kids. I spent most of that decade getting thrown out of schools all over my area for organizing civil rights and human rights demonstrations, getting threatened or assaulted for anti-war activities, and generally leaving my folks in fear for my life. Commercial? Hardly… and I was just one of many.
I plan to post more. I’m hoping that if I post them, little by little, readers may be more inclined to watch and listen. They aren’t exactly pop music to the iPod crowd. And if you looked to your side in the 60s, that little kid was me standing next to you.
Really, there were a whole lot of us there. And when you get right down to it, some of us never left that fight.
I keep the Ochs box set of CDs in my car. The old LPs are at home.
I’ve been listening to his “Here’s to the State of Mississippi” a lot daily. Good stuff.
Mississippi find yourself another country to be part of…