Great album. Don't like the politics - then or now - but like Phil Ochs for the passion, humor, and quality of singing and songwriting.
As JamieC pointed out these songs still resonate, even the protest songs can be used for today's political climate. This is one of my favorite Ochs albums. So many wonderful performances. Phil was always on the front lines.
Several reasons. When Holtzman signed Phil it was for little money. Like Vanguard most Elektra albums were not big sellers. Some were steady, but low numbers. Vanguard HAD had a huge seller with Walk Right In, but if you look at the Elektra roster it was all niche artists, a couple steps above a vanity label. Holtzman did promise not to censor Phil's music, but there was not a lot of money. Jac DID try to convince Phil not to put Mao Tse Tung's poetry on the back of In Concert figuring some stores would refuse to carry it. But it was Elektra signing the Doors that forced the move. All the money that Morrison and company were given to sign, and that SHIRTLESS PHOTO of Morrison set Phil's teeth on edge and left him feeling Holtzman had lied to him. so he was gone. His brother Michael was working as a photographer in LA(Where Ochs was moving soon) and had some contacts out there, and he put out the word that Phil was looking for a new label. Four labels were in the running. MGM, Warner, Columbia, and lastly A&M. He dismissed MGM(probably Verve/Forecast), thought about Warner because of the movie connection, He played the entire Pleasures album for Clive Davis who wanted to sign him, but then there was still that huge shadow there(Dylan). Jerry Moss signed him to A&M because there would be no one like him on the label. That's pretty much the long and the short of it.
The collection of an influential protest singer/songwriter will join the work of his major influence when the Phil Ochs archive comes to the Woody Guthrie Center this year. Ochs wrote and sang hundreds of folk and rock songs during his career and released eight albums in the 1960s and ’70s, including songs “I Ain’t Marching Anymore,” “Changes,” “Power and the Glory,” “The War is Over” and more. “The topical songs that Phil Ochs wrote are still relevant today, just as the music of Woody Guthrie continues to address the struggles that we face in our society,” Deana McCloud, executive director for the Woody Guthrie Center, said in a press release. “We are honored to be the caretakers of the work that these advocates for social justice left, and we look forward to expanding our collection in the future to include more work that is empowering, gives voice to the voiceless and makes positive changes in our society.” The archives, which are being donated by his daughter, Meegan Lee Ochs, include tapes and videos of his TV appearances, scrapbooks, notes, photos, articles written by Ochs, and even a gold lamé suit worn by Ochs on the cover of his albums “Greatest Hits” in 1970 and “Gunfight at Carnegie Hall.” The Center announced it would make items from the collection part of future exhibits. Nora Guthrie, daughter of Oklahoma-native singer-songwriter Woody Guthrie, said the Ochs collection is a great fit for the center considering Ochs’ work was so tied to Guthrie’s earlier work. “Phil was one of Woody’s closest protégés — a true ‘son,’ ” Guthrie said in a press release. “His music and life steadfastly responded to the toughest, and most controversial, issues of his generation. He was a uniquely fearless and outspoken artist, as was my father. Having their archives in one place is the absolute mother lode for scholars and historians covering the arts and the issues of the 20th century.” [email protected]
Is that Meegan pictured there? FYI She was also pictured on the back of Eric Andersen's LP, Bout Changes and Things-Take Two.
Pleasures Of The Harbor From Wiki: Pleasures of the Harbor is Phil Ochs' fourth full-length album and his first for A&M Records, released in 1967. It is one of Ochs's 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. History 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. The mention of marijuana in one verse 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 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 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 is said to have 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.[1] All live versions of the song performed in concert featured Ochs alone, with just his guitar and voice, and one of those live performances is on the posthumously released compilations Chords of Fame and Farewells & Fantasies. Track listing All songs by Phil Ochs. "Cross My Heart" – 3:23 "Flower Lady" – 6:06 "Outside of a Small Circle of Friends" – 3:37 "I've Had Her" – 8:03 "Miranda" – 5:17 "The Party" – 7:57 "Pleasures of the Harbor" – 8:05 "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" All Music Review By William Ruhlmann Going into the studio after Dylan's move into rock accompaniment and Sgt. Pepper's vast expansion of pop music, Ochs wanted to make a record that reflected all these trends, and he hired producer Larry Marks, arranger Ian Freebairn-Smith, and pianist Lincoln Mayorga -- all of whom had classical backgrounds -- to help him realize his vision. The result was Pleasures of the Harbor, his most musically varied and ambitious album, one routinely cited as his greatest accomplishment. Though the lyrics were usually not directly political, they continued to reflect his established points of view. His social criticisms here were complex, and they went largely unnoticed on a long album full of long songs, many of which did not support the literal interpretations they nevertheless received. The album was consistently imbued with images of mortality, and it all came together on the abstract, electronic-tinged final track, "The Crucifixion." Usually taken to be about John F. Kennedy, it concerns the emergence of a hero in a corrupt world and his inevitable downfall through betrayal. Ochs offers no satisfying resolution; the goals cannot be compromised, and they will not be fulfilled. It was anything but easy listening, but it was an effective conclusion to a brilliant album that anticipated the devastating and tragic turn of the late '60s, as well as its maker's own eventual decline and demise.
Brilliant album, but I've always found it a bit heavy to listen to in one sitting. For all that, though, "Flower Lady" is perhaps Ochs' finest hour lyrically, worthy of Leonard Cohen or Joni Mitchell in the portrait it paints and the story it implies. How many times have we all been one of those other people who rush by on the street, too wrapped up in our problems to notice the beauty that's there for the taking? "The Party" is a welcome respite from some of the bleakness found elsewhere here - I'm not entirely sure Ochs intended for it to be funny, but I do, sort of. "Miranda" hasn't aged particularly well, but it does at least serve as a reminder that in that pre-feminist era, even left-wingers like Ochs tended to be a bit chauvinistic. "Outside of a Small Circle of Friends" suffers a bit from the fact that the Kitty Genovese story is mostly a myth (just for starters: the number 38 appears to have been pulled out of thin air, the likelier number of witnesses is 12, and one of them did in fact call the cops - they just got there too late). I do appreciate the point he's trying to make, but I can never get entirely past its being directly inspired by a "true" story that mostly isn't. The title track and "The Crucifixion" are a heck of an ending, though.
Keep in mind that that is the way the Genovese story was being reported AT THE TIME. The song is not about the Genovese murder, but the reporting about it inspired Phil to scribble down the first verse on a scrap of paper after hearing a friend utter the "outside of a circle of friends" line. The point is not getting involved out of fear, and the excuses we make to justify it. Its easy to talk the talk, but walking the walk is a whole nother' box of sunshine.
This album may be Phil's gretest work, certainly some of his best songwriting. I've struggled with the actual production choices and the instrumental accompaniment decisions over the years though, but that was the vision for it at the time, and I have to respect that. Some of the songs, especially Crucifixion, would have been best left to feature Phil's guitar work on its own.
Also, I've wondered if the tape used for the mono pressings of the LP were mixed to mono or simply foldown of the stereo mix? It's hard to tell.
One other thing I'll say about Pleasures is that it's up there with Dylan and the Beatles in terms of being a radical departure from his earlier work, and a surprisingly effective one. The folk purist in me misses the old Phil from this point on; but it definitely was time to move on all the same.
I agree and I think that his contemporaries and mates, Tom Paxton and Eric Andersen, made the transiton with more success, to a more pop orientated and produced sound than Phil did. Although Phil's songs were still amazing lyrically.
I'd agree that Paxton and Andersen handled it better in the long term...but compared to their first pop-oriented outings (I guess that would be More Hits from Tin Can Alley and Morning Again), Pleasures of the Harbor is the best of the three. I own both of the others and I can't even remember the last time I listened to either of them.
Pleasures of the Harbor is a great album, and it's where Phil's music takes a great creative upturn (don't get me wrong, I like the Elektra stuff, but I find his A&M recordings much more interesting and I personally listen to them more often).
For those who are interested here is a link to The Folkways Collection, a 24 part podcast on the Folkways label. Feel free to check it all out(its amazing and free). Listen or download the episodes. Scroll down to episode 23 for a look at Phil. http://www.folkways.si.edu/explore_folkways/folkways_collection.aspx
From everything I have discovered Pleasures is a dedicated mono mix(his last mono album). I understand that no A&M albums at this point(67) were fold downs. From an earlier thread
As much as I love all of Phil's albums, I consider Pleasures of the Harbor his masterpiece. It's a challenging listen, but that is something in its favor. He did not play it safe and the album is totally uncompromising in its musical vision. "The Party" is a hilariously scathing satire, enhanced by the piano almost quoting standards like "Strangers in the Night", "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes", "Nola", and others, but as soon as you recognize the tune, it goes off in another direction. Brilliant! Many have criticized Joseph Byrd's arrangement on "Crucifixion" which moves from Ivesian orchestral dissonance to electronic freakout. I think it serves the song exceptionally well. In short, IMO, as near perfect an album as has ever been released. One of the best of 1967 (every bit as good as Sgt. Pepper) and one of the best and most underrated of all time. Other artists have made albums that are, on their own terms, as good as this one, but no one has ever made a better one. Not even Phil could top it.
