He has had a strong following and many tribute concerts over many years, partly due to the efforts by his sister Sonny Ochs, but mostly because he was unique.
It's been awhile since I've seen it, but in the case of "When I'm Gone". I believe that the whole song is actually there, it's just semi obscured by other things for about half of it.
Is all of the dubbed "No more songs" video from the John Byner show in the doc? That was the one major film I don't think I'd seen before.
I picked up a truly mint stereo version of Pleasures of the Harbor last weekend and have been playing it like crazy since. I feel a binge coming on...
I was a little concerned that the only other book Elliot had to his credit was a Burt Reynolds bio named "Burt!", but enjoyed learning about Phil regardless. Luckily, I did happen to pick up There But For Fortune at the same book/record store. I filed it away to read when I'm in the right mood, the ending being so tragic.
Was this mentioned already? Does anyone here have it? https://www.amazon.com/Trials-Trage...keywords=The+Burg+Waldeck+Festivals+1964-1969
Wonderful stuff, JamieC. I am sorry, but, you ARE the Phil Ochs authority! Hats of to you. I treasure all my Phil Ochs vinyl , but especially Pleasures Of The Harbor, and Tapes....
The first Phil album I heard and still my favorite. Sums up his sad, depressed genius period so well. "Gas Station Women" is one of the greatest country songs ever written.
Phil had a voice that would have fit well in the early honky tonk era of the early to mid 1950's. His voice had a quality similar to that of one of the great honky tonk singers, Webb Pierce...and they even looked a little bit alike. I sat with him once when he sang several of the songs on this album alone with his guitar in a back room.
Awesome! I agree about the voice and the look. Webb is one of my favorites. That's such a cool story. Thanks for sharing!
When I asked Phil (just after it was released) why the "Greatest Hits" title, when it was all new songs, he said (perhaps jokingly), "No one's gonna put out a greatest hits record of me, so I did it myself", or words pretty close to that. The cover photos, the suit and even the music were part of his insistence that the only way to connect to the masses would be to dress and play music that they would like. He was very emphatic about that...it was a political act to him. I listened to him say this clearly to people surrounding him, in the week or so after the Carnegie Hall concert
I was starting to read the above comment and was saying to myself, "Gee I agree with this guy and he had experiences similar to my own", before I realized that it was my own post from three years ago.
Wanted to share some fine covers by some fine artists... "When I'm Gone..." Eric Andersen Thea Gilmore Thea Gilmore - When I'm Gone Allison Crowe When I'm Gone (Phil Ochs) - Allison Crowe w. lyrics
Somehow I missed this. I think that this is the second promo with "marijuana" snipped. It is four seconds short.
This copy has been added to Discogs since our original posts; I'm guessing that since the timings are the same the 'Censored' version has 'Smoking Marijuana' beeped out, and the 'Unexpurgated' leaves the line as-is. Phil Ochs - Outside Of A Small Circle Of Friends (promo)
I was psyched about 3-4 years ago,when I found a mono white label promo "Tape From California" for $9.I still need Rehearsals.
Sorry I missed out on most of the fun here. I’m just not a huge poster and the album threads can go by so fast. It’s been a busy year for me. Excuses aside Ochs is one of my all time favorites. I got Pleasures of the Harbor my freshmen year of highschool after only knowing his name and nothing else about him. A truly brilliant artist who we lost way ahead of his time. I constantly over the 16 or so years sice I’ve been a fan find myself wondering what he would he singing if he were still around. His light shone bright for us for a while.
If he had conquered his demons and regained his health, he would probably have been touring for the last 40 years, probably with a small combo, playing both acoustic and electric, with some solo performances - and his material would likely have been a blend of influences from his social and political songwriting to songs based on roots music to songs with poetic imagery. Over the 40 years, I expect there may have been 15-20 new albums, and he might have started a little bootleg series of his own from unreleased archives. We know what his politics would have been. He would have left audiences laughing and crying. When I met him, he was wearing his glasses (but took them off for his stage show) Phil's daughter, Meegan Young Phil And I suspect he would still have a full head of hair at 77.
I’m sure what you post is correct. Thanksas always for your informative and insightful posts. Get well soon, Tribute.
