Phil Ochs
Philip David Ochs (born December 19, 1940 in El Paso , Texas , United States , † April 9, 1976 in Far Rockaway , New York ) was an American singer, songwriter and political activist . He mainly sang protest songs or, as he called it, "topical songs" (songs about current topics), but also turned to more personal topics on his later albums.
biography
Early years
Phil Ochs was born on December 19, 1940 in El Paso, Texas , the second child of Jacob ("Jack") Ochs (1910–1963), a New York- born doctor, and Gertrude Phin from Edinburgh, Scotland Ochs (1912-1994). His parents met and married in Edinburgh, where Jack Ochs was studying medicine. After their wedding, they moved to the United States. Jack Ochs was drafted into the army during World War II and sent overseas. His war experiences affected his mental health, and he suffered from depression after his return from the army . Due to his illness, he was unable to establish a successful medical practice and instead worked in a number of hospitals. As a result, the family kept moving, most recently to Columbus (Ohio) when Phil Ochs was 14 years old. Ochs grew up with an older sister, Sonia ("Sonny"), born in 1937 and a younger brother, Michael, born in 1943. The family belonged to the Jewish, non-religious middle class.
As a teenager, Ochs was a talented clarinet player. He played the instrument in the orchestra of the Capital University Conservatory of Music in Ohio , where he rose to become the first solo clarinetist shortly after his 16th birthday.
From 1956 to 1958 Phil Ochs attended the Staunton Military Academy in Virginia as a student , where he also played in the local military band. It was during this time that Ochs became interested in other sounds he heard on local radio, music by early rock icons Buddy Holly and Elvis Presley, and country music.
After graduating from Staunton, Phil Ochs enrolled at Ohio State University , where he studied journalism . It was here that his interest in politics developed and it was here that he met his fellow student Jim Glover, who introduced him to the folk music of Woody Guthrie , Pete Seeger and bands like The Weavers . Glover taught Ochs to play the guitar and discussed politics with him. Ochs began writing articles for the local student magazine, as well as his first political songs. During this time he made his first appearances as a singer and guitarist, first as a duo with Glover and, after he left university for New York, as a solo musician. Ochs dropped out in his last semester to move to New York and become a folk singer.
1962 to 1966
Phil Ochs arrived in New York City in 1962 and soon became an important part of the Greenwich Village folk music scene . He emerged as an unpolished, but passionate singer, who was able to write poignant and biting texts on current topics such as war , human rights and workers' struggles. He described himself as a "singing journalist" whose songs were based on stories he read on Newsweek . Ochs was well known in the summer of 1963 to be invited to the renowned Newport Folk Festival . He also attended the festival the following year, as well as in 1966. Throughout his career, Ochs has performed in a wide variety of venues including civil rights rallies, antiwar demonstrations, and concert halls such as New York's Carnegie Hall
Phil Ochs recorded his first three records for Elektra Records : All The News That's Fit To Sing (1964), I Ain't Marching Anymore (1965) and Phil Ochs In Concert (1966). On these albums Ochs could only be heard accompanied by an acoustic guitar. Even though Ochs wrote considerably more songs during this time than were recorded on these three albums, these records contained some of his best political songs such as I Ain't Marching Anymore , Draft Dodger Rag , Love Me, I'm A Liberal , but also more introspective songs like Changes and When I'm Gone . Ochs contributed to traditional genres through his early appearances and records, including talking blues and the musical reinterpretation of old poems such as The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes and The Bells by Edgar Allan Poe . During this early period, his then boyfriend Bob Dylan said of him, “I just can't keep up with Phil. And he's getting better and better and better.” “I just can't keep up with Phil. And he's getting better and better better and better. ")
In 1962 Ochs married Alice Skinner (1944-2010) in a civil ceremony, who was pregnant with their daughter Meegan (born 1963). The couple separated in 1965 but never divorced.
1967 to 1969
In 1967 Ochs left Elektra in favor of A&M Records and moved to California. On his later albums Pleasures Of The Harbor (1967), Tape From California (1968), Rehearsals For Retirement (1969) and the ironically titled Greatest Hits (1970), Ochs moved away from recordings made with a single acoustic guitar and experimented with ensembles and orchestral instrumentation, hoping that his mix of pop and folk would prove commercially successful.
None of Och's songs became a hit, although Outside Of A Small Circle Of Friends was widely played on the radio until many radio stations dropped the song because of the sarcastic verse that using marijuana is more fun than drinking beer took. Joan Baez , however, had a top ten hit in Great Britain with her cover of the ox song There But For Fortune and in the US her version of the song reached # 50 on the Billboard charts .
Although he tried new things musically, Ochs did not reveal his political roots. He was deeply affected by the escalation of the Vietnam War , appeared at countless anti-war rallies and in 1967 organized two large anti-war demonstrations in Los Angeles and New York, which ironically declared the war over. ("Is everybody sick of this stinking war? In that case, friends, do what I and thousands of other Americans have done - declare the war over.")
During this time, Ochs wrote anti-war songs like The War Is Over and White Boots Marching In A Yellow Land , as well as more personal songs like Crucifixion , Pleasures Of The Harbor , Chords Of Fame and Boy In Ohio .
Since Ochs had been a big movie fan throughout his life, he worked into his songs the stories of justice and rebellion that he had seen in his youthful films. He was deeply disappointed when his hero John Wayne supported the war in Vietnam and advocated what Ochs felt was blind patriotism.
In Germany Phil Ochs performed at the Waldeck Festival in 1968 . In the same year he was involved in the founding of the Youth International Party (Yippies) and also supported them in the plans for a "Festival of Life" during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August 1968. Ochs, who at that time was also the Democratic Party Presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy was in Chicago both as a guest of the McCarthy campaign and as a participant in the demonstrations. He made several appearances as a singer, witnessed the violence committed by the police against demonstrators and was temporarily arrested himself.
The events of 1968 - the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy , the violence of the Chicago police force, and the election of Richard Nixon as president - left Ochs deeply disaffected and depressed.
1970
In 1970 Ochs changed his musical direction again. The events of 1968 had convinced him that the average American was not interested in political songs or yippie tactics. Ochs turned back to the musical roots of his youth, country music and early rock 'n' roll . He was convinced the only way to reach American audiences was by uniting Elvis Presley with Che Guevara . He commissioned a gold lamé suit from Presley's tailor and appeared in it in various concerts, supported by a rock band, singing his own songs, mixed with songs by Buddy Holly , Elvis Presley and Merle Haggard . The audience reacted to this “new” Phil Ochs with mixed feelings at best. Depressed by the lack of widespread recognition and suffering from writer's block , Ochs stopped recording after his 1970 album Greatest Hits , which contrary to the title consisted of only new material.
Despite his personal problems with depression and alcoholism, Ochs performed on October 16, 1970 at a benefit concert with Joni Mitchell and James Taylor in Vancouver. The proceeds of the concert enabled a protest against atomic bomb tests on the island of Amchitka (Alaska) by Greenpeace . The concert was recorded, the recording was later digitally processed and released by Greenpeace as a double CD in 2009 under the name Amchitka, The 1970 Concert That Launched Greenpeace .
1971 to 1975
In August 1971, Phil Ochs visited Chile, where Salvador Allende , a socialist, was elected president in a 1970 democratic election. There he made friends with the folk singer and Allende supporter Victor Jara . Ochs left Chile in October to travel on to Argentina . Later that month, while singing at a political rally in Uruguay , Ochs and his then-travel companion, David Ifshin, were arrested and held overnight. They returned to Argentina, but were arrested there immediately after leaving the plane and deported to Bolivia after a short stay in prison . Ifshin had previously been warned by the Argentine left that dissidents deported by Argentine authorities would disappear forever in Bolivia. The American flight captain allowed Ochs and Ifshin to stay on board the aircraft after landing in Bolivia and refused entry to the Bolivian authorities. The plane flew on to Peru , where Ochs and Ifshin were able to leave it unmolested. Ochs returned to the USA a little later.
In December 1971, Ochs was invited by John Lennon to sing at the John Sinclair Freedom Rally , a major fundraiser for activist and poet John Sinclair, who had been sentenced to long prison terms for a minor drug offense.
Although Ochs found it difficult to write new songs, he had occasional breakthroughs. So he rewrote his old, sarcastic song Here's To The State Of Mississippi as Here's To The State Of Richard Nixon . In 1972 Ochs was asked to write the theme song for the film Kansas City Bomber . The song was not used for the soundtrack but was released as a single.
Ochs decided to travel. In mid-1972 he was in New Zealand and Australia , combined with a few appearances in Australia. In 1973 he traveled to Africa where he visited Ethiopia , Kenya , Tanzania , Malawi and South Africa . In Dar es Salaam (Tanzania), Ochs was ambushed and strangled by robbers. This attack resulted in his vocal cords being damaged and he was no longer able to reach the three highest notes in his vocal range. The attack compounded his growing mental problems. Ochs assumed the attack could have been arranged by American government officials - perhaps the CIA . Nevertheless, Ochs continued his stay in Africa.
On September 11, 1973, the Allende government was overthrown in a coup in Chile. Allende died in the course of the coup . Víctor Jara was taken to the Estadio Chile with countless others , where they were tortured and murdered. When Ochs heard about the coup d'état and the death of his friend Jara, he was shocked. He decided to organize a benefit concert to make the public aware of the situation in Chile and to raise funds for the people of Chile. During the An Evening With Salvador Allende concert , Pete Seeger, Arlo Guthrie and Bob Dylan performed .
The war in Vietnam ended on April 30, 1975. Ochs organized a final War Is Over rally that took place on May 11 in Central Park , New York . More than 100,000 people came to listen to Phil Ochs, Harry Belafonte , Odetta , Pete Seeger and others. Phil Ochs and Joan Baez sang There But For Fortune together and Ochs concluded his performance with his song The War Is Over .
Decline and death
Ochs' alcoholism became more of a problem and his behavior became increasingly unpredictable. In mid-1975 he assumed the identity of John Butler Trains. He said that Train murdered Ochs and Train replaced him. Train, in turn, was convinced that someone was trying to kill him. Ochs' friends tried to help him. His brother Michael was considering sending him to a mental hospital, and friends tried to convince him to volunteer for help. They feared for his safety as he got involved in brawls with strangers and landlords. Unable to pay his rent, he began to live on the streets at times.
After several months, the Train persona disappeared and Ochs returned, but his repeated talk of suicide disturbed his friends and family. In January 1976 Ochs moved to Far Rockaway, New York, to live with his sister Sonny. He was lethargic and his almost only activities were watching TV and playing cards with his nephews. Ochs went to see a psychiatrist who diagnosed bipolar disorder . He was prescribed medication that he was not taking. Phil Ochs hanged himself on April 9, 1976.
Years after his death, it became known that the FBI was maintaining a file of nearly 500 pages on Ochs.
legacy
Even decades after his death, there are several discussion groups and websites on the Internet dedicated to Ochs and his music, and books and articles have been and continue to be written about his life and music.
His sister, Sonny Ochs, organizes regular Phil Ochs Song Nights in the USA and his brother Michael Ochs has been involved as a producer on several releases of Ochs 'music as well as the documentary film "There But For Fortune" about Ochs' life.
Och's album "Rehearsals For Retirement" was recorded in 1998 on The Wire's "100 Records That Set the World on Fire (While No One Was Listening)" .
In 2009 Ochs received the Elaine Weissman Lifetime Achievement Award from the North American Folk Music and Dance Alliance .
In September 2014, his daughter, Meegan Ochs, donated her father's archive of notebooks, video tapes, photos, and other documents and mementos to the Woody Guthrie Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In July 2015 Phil Ochs was honored with the Woody Guthrie Legacy Award , presented for the first time .
Influence on other artists
Phil Och's songs have been recorded by a number of artists including Eric Andersen , Joan Baez , Billy Bragg , Eugene Chadbourne , Judy Collins , John Denver , Ani DiFranco , Marianne Faithfull , Julie Felix , Dick Gaughan , Jim and Jean , Gordon Lightfoot , Christy Moore , Bonnie, Prince 'Billy , Melanie Safka , Pete Seeger , Teenage Fanclub , They Might Be Giants , Eddie Vedder and Neil Young .
In 1998 Sliced Bread Records released the album "What's That I Hear ?: The Songs Of Phil Ochs" with 28 covers of his songs. Wood Records released an indie rock album in 2003 called Poison Ochs: A Tribute To Phil Ochs. In 2005 the album “Learn: The Songs Of Phil Ochs” by the band Kind Of Like Spitting was released . Sonia Rutstein released 10 songs by Phil Ochs with her band disappear Fear on July 4th 2011 under the title Get Your Phil . In December 2015, two more albums with covers of his songs were released: “We're Going To Sing It Now: Celebrating Phil Ochs On His 75th Birthday” and a CD released by Canadian singer Erin Saoirse Adair entitled “I'm Going To Sing It Now: The Songs Of Phil Ochs ”.
In Germany, Walter Mossmann provided some songs by Phil Ochs with German texts for the anti-nuclear power plant movement in the 1970s and Gerd Schinkel also published some of Och's songs with German lyrics.
Jello Biafra and Mojo Nixon recorded a version of Love Me, I'm A Liberal with updated lyrics for their album Prairie Home Invasion . Pearl Jam sang "Here's To The State Of Mississippi" with updated lyrics during their appearance on the TV series VH1 Storytellers. In 2014 Neil Young recorded the ox song "Changes" for his album "A Letter Home".
Ochs 'admirers include the actor Sean Penn , who for many years had the idea of making a film about Ochs' life, as well as the Canadian singer Neil Young .
tribute
Shortly after hearing the news of Ochs' death, Tom Paxton wrote a touching song about his friend called "Phil". Phil Ochs was also mentioned in the song All My Heroes Are Dead by Dar Williams and honored with a tribute of the same name by the Josh Joplin Group . Billy Bragg sang I Dreamed I Saw Phil Ochs Last Night in 1990 and blamed the record industry for Ochs' death. The British group Latin Quarter sang Phil Ochs on their album Long Pig . Singer Nanci Griffith wrote a song about him called "Radio Fragile," Jen Cass ' "Standing In Your Memory," and Harry Chapin's "The Parade's Still Passing By," are tributes to Ochs. The Cajun musician Vic Sadot sang Ochs in his song "Broadside Balladeer" and Colin Wilkie dedicated a song to him with the title "Now You're Gone", the title a reference to the Ochs song "When I'm Gone".
Movies
In 1984 a documentary about the life of Phil Ochs appeared under the title "Chords Of Fame" by the director Michael Korolenko. In January 2011, filmmaker Kenneth Bowser's documentary "Phil Ochs: There But For Fortune" was released, which includes numerous interviews with family members, friends and companions, and extensive archive material about Ochs as well as key events in the American anti-war and civil rights movement.
Discography
Regular studio albums and live recordings
- 1964: All the News That's Fit to Sing (Elektra)
- 1965: I Ain't Marching Anymore (Elektra)
- 1966: Phil Ochs In Concert (Elektra)
- 1967: Pleasures of the Harbor (A&M)
- 1968: Tape From California (A&M)
- 1969: Rehearsals for Retirement (A&M)
- 1970: Greatest Hits (A&M)
- 1975: Gunfight at Carnegie Hall (A&M Canada)
Compilations and other albums
- 1976: Chords of Fame (A&M)
- 1976: Songs for Broadside (Folkways)
- circa 1976: Interview with Phil Ochs (Folkways)
- circa 1980: The Broadside Tapes 1 (Folkways)
- 1986: A Toast to Those Who Are Gone (Rhino)
- 1988: The War Is Over: The Best of Phil Ochs (A&M)
- 1989: There But for Fortune (Elektra)
- 1990: There and Now: Live in Vancouver 1968 (Rhino)
- 1996: Phil Ochs at Newport (Vanguard)
- 1997: Farewells and Fantasies (Elektra and Rhino)
- 1997: American Troubadour (A&M Britain)
- 2000: The Early Years (Vanguard)
- 2002: 20th Century Masters (Universal)
- 2004: Cross My Heart: An Introduction to Phil Ochs (Polydor)
- 2009: Amchitka: The 1970 concert that launched Greenpeace
- 2014: Live Again: recorded May 26th, 1973 at The Stables (Rock Beat Records)
- 2017: Live in Montreal, 10/22/66 (Rock Beat Records)
literature
- David Cohen: Phil Ochs. A Bio-Bibliography. Greenwood Press, Westport 1999.
- Marc Eliot: Death Of A Rebel. Carol Publishing Group, New York 1995.
- Francesca Ferrari: When I'm Gone.Phil Ochs E L'Utopia Della Speranza. Pacini Editore, Pisa 2014.
- Christine Möhle: Trials And Tragedies. Phil Ochs And His Rehearsals For Retirement. Tredition, Hamburg 2017.
- Phil Ochs: The War Is Over. Barricade Music, New York 1968.
- Michael Schumacher: There But For Fortune. The Life Of Phil Ochs. Hyperion, New York 1996
- Michael Schumacher: There But for Fortune. The Life Of Phil Ochs. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis 2018.
Web links
- Philip David Ochs
- Amchitka (concert)
- Nomoresongs: Phil Ochs
- Celebrating Phil Ochs
- wordpress.com: Shadows that shine
Individual evidence
- ^ Cohen, p. 2.
- ↑ Schumacher, pp. 25-26.
- ↑ Eliot (1995), pp. 15-16.
- ↑ Schumacher, pp. 33-35.
- ↑ Schumacher, pp. 36-41, 44-45.
- ↑ Schumacher, pp. 53-54.
- ↑ Schumacher, pp. 60–63, 83–85, 119.
- ↑ Schumacher, p. 112.
- ↑ Eliot (1995), pp. 83-85, 95-98, 114-116.
- ↑ Schumacher, pp. 76-77, 90-91, 116-117.
- ↑ Broadside Magazine, No. 32, 1964, p. 11.
- ↑ Eliot (1995), p. 61, Schumacher, p. 94.
- ↑ Schumacher, pp. 130, 134-135.
- ↑ Eliot (1995), pp. 144-148.
- ↑ Eliot (1995), pp. 149-150.
- ↑ Schumacher, pp. 139-148, 169-173.
- ↑ Ochs (1968), p. 92.
- ↑ Schumacher, pp. 120-121.
- ↑ Schumacher, p. 178.
- ↑ Kleff, p. 59.
- ↑ Schumacher, pp. 182-184.
- ↑ Schumacher, pp. 194–197.
- ↑ Schumacher, pp. 203-204.
- ↑ Schumacher, pp. 222-224.
- ↑ Schumacher, p. 227.
- ↑ Schumacher, pp. 227-232.
- ↑ Schumacher, pp. 226, 255.
- ↑ Eliot (1995), p. 220, Schumacher, pp. 216-217, 262.
- ↑ Schumacher, pp. 239–242.
- ↑ Schumacher, pp. 245-253.
- ↑ Schumacher, pp. 256-259.
- ↑ Schumacher, p. 255.
- ↑ Eliot (1995), pp. 229-230, Schumacher, p. 271.
- ↑ Schumacher, pp. 264-269.
- ↑ Schumacher, pp. 279-281.
- ↑ Schumacher, pp. 287-288.
- ↑ Schumacher, pp. 288-297.
- ↑ Schumacher, pp. 304-306.
- ↑ Schumacher, pp. 310-311.
- ↑ Schumacher, pp. 313-314.
- ↑ Schumacher, pp. 327-333.
- ↑ Schumacher, pp. 339-341.
- ↑ Schumacher, pp. 344-347.
- ↑ Schumacher, pp. 348-349.
- ↑ Schumacher, pp. 351-352.
- ↑ Eliot (1995), pp. 331-329.
- ↑ Remembering Phil Ochs ; accessed on December 31, 2015.
- ↑ folk.org: Lifetime Achievement Awards , accessed December 31, 2015.
- ↑ Phil Ochs archives being donated to Woody Guthrie Center , accessed December 31, 2015.
- ↑ Phil Ochs to be posthumously honored , accessed December 31, 2015.
- ^ Phil Ochs, the 'singing journalist'… remembered in new documentary ; accessed on December 31, 2015.
- ↑ One of the greatest who ever lived ; accessed on December 31, 2015.
- ↑ Chords of Fame ; accessed on December 31, 2015.
- ↑ Phil Ochs: There But For Fortune ; accessed on December 31, 2015.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Ochs, Phil |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Ochs, Philip David (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American singer, songwriter, and political activist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 19, 1940 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | El Paso , Texas, USA |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 9, 1976 |
| Place of death | Far Rockaway , New York |