Does anyone here remember (and like or dislike) Phil Ochs?
Stephen King has given him a couple of nice mentions in his books; seeing poor Ochs referred to always makes me smile, but it seems like he’s fallen in the dustbin of history…
–Sarge, I’m only 18, I got a ruptured spleen… (Draft Dodger Rag)
I remember Phil Ochs, sadly and fondly. The great pity of his life was that he couldn’t help but compare himself (and be compared by others) to Bob Dylan. Ochs wanted to achieve the kind of recognition and success that Dylan had, without “selling out”, as he felt Dylan had done (remember, in “Ringing of Revolution”, when he says, “I play Bobby Dylan. The young Bobby Dylan…”).
He did have a gift, though: you can’t listen to “Changes”, or “There but for Fortune” and not recognize his talent. It’s sad that he coundn’t deal with a fickle public, nor find his niche. My brother thinks Ochs was such a tragic figure that someone should make a movie about him: whaddya think?
Aw hell, I was born in Nixon’s first year in office and I love “Draft Dodger’s Rag”. I keep seeing a box set floating around various music stores and I swear as God is my witness I’m gonna buy the damn thing one of these days.
Sure, I think there should be a movie made, but get someone sharp on it - telling the actual story instead of making it a nostalgic schmaltzfest.
For all that, though, don’t you think this thread would be better off in IMHO than GQ?
I remember Phil Ochs very fondly, having grown up during the era when he was active. I even saw him in person once, when he played my University in the midst of anti-war protests. I went up to him backstage, but he was just slumped on the floor after his set.
I have most of his albums on vinyl - one day I’ll probably get them on CD. It wasn’t only his political songs that were great - Pleasures of the Harbor was also superb, and his song about the Kennedy assassination - I forget the title, but I don’t mean That Was the President - still sends shivers down my spine.
I was profoundly saddened when I heard he had done himself in.
(I agree this should probably be in IMHO, though.)
Well… not surprisingly, I remember Phil Ochs a little less fondly than the other posters here.
Phil Ochs thought BOB DYLAN was a sellout? What a laugh! The Phil Ochs I remember tried DESPERATELY to sell out, and failed miserably!
The Phil Ochs I remember was a washed-up, middle-aged clown in a gold lame jumpsuit, doing the most pitiful Elvis imitation I’ve ever heard (and believe me, I’ve heard some mighty lame Elvis imitators)! This was in the early or mid 70s, when the Viet Nam war was either over or nearly over, the draft had been abolished, and the supposed idealists of the Sixties New Left suddenly realized they were no longer in danger of getting killed themselves, and could ignore Viet Nam (as they always had BEFORE the war) again.
So, with no war to protest against, Phil Ochs became utterly irrelevant. His audience deserted him, because they suddenly realized he didn’t have any talent! Ochs became desperate to win back his audience… or to find a new one… and tried to become a Vegas act. Problem is, he really bit the big one!
Years ago, long after Ochs’ death, one of his rabid fans was playing some of his old records on a public radio show. MOSTLY, the show stuck to his anti-war and anti-Nixon songs, but he played some clips of Ochs’ last live album. When Ochs started singing a medley of 50s rock hits in his bad Elvis voice, his own fans booed him mercilessly… and CORRECTLY! Now, I give Ochs credit for one thing: not many artists would have the cojones to include vicious boos and catcalls on their own live albums.
Still, the fact remains, Phil Ochs TRIED to sell out. He tried HARD to pander to mass audiences. He just didn’t have the talent to do it successfully.
Astorian–
No debate, he tried really hard to sell out. I was as disgusted by the Elvis clothes as you seem to be, and thought “Pleasures of the Harbor” was mostly crap, musically. The lyrics were OK on some of the cuts, though.
I agree his suicide came about as a result of his feeling irrelevant.
With that gold lame getup Ochs was just trying to piss people off. Can anyone honestly believe that, in the 1970s, putting on a suit that Elvis had worn the previous decade and playing '50s rock’n’roll songs was “selling out?” That’s more like commercial suicide–was he hoping to tour someday with Sha-Na-Na? I don’t buy it.
::runs in, cues Tom Lehrer’s “Folk Song Army” on the CD player::
All Things Considered on NPR ran a segment on The Best of Broadside, a box set of folk music, including Phil Ochs.
Robin