Phil Ochs : Chords Of Fame

Of all the protest singers who emerged from the Greenwich Village scene of New York City in the early 1960s, few -then or in retrospective - were as genuine or as committed as Phil Ochs.
Ochs may have been in the shadow of another Mid Western boy, but his songs stand up to the comparison and many are as relevant today as when he wrote them.
While others sought the hit parade, Ochs stayed true to his beliefs, singing on the university campuses and on the protest marches.
To a degree this denied him the widepsread popularity others chased, which at times frustrated him.
As Tom Paxton put it: Ochs believed he was next in line - and then he died.
Chords of Fame; the theme song for a heroic but ultimately tragic story.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Phil
• Ochs
• protest
• songs
• songwriters
• folkscare
• Greenwich
• Village
• New
• York
• City
• SplashPix

[pete7356]

Phil is the forgotten genius of the 60s music scene

[nancyzeetoo]

One great thing about Phil Ochs is that, although he has been gone for over 30 years, we do not need to imagine how we would have viewed things. We know. The songs may be old, but the themes are universal. Just plug in the new names and play.

His songs have done what he most hoped they would - transcend both the times and songwriter himself. He'll never be a household name, but it's amazing how an audience still seems to find him. Any teenagers out here?

[Sheerkat7]

Just noticed that Phil Ochs died on Paul Robeson's birthday. Paul died in January of the same year.

[BobTheRecordGuy]

@paragtime :

1) You are right that "Communists and fascists end up the same", they are both enemies of freedom, equally.

2) Some people who support far-left politics are enemies of freedom = tools. That's true.

3) Not Phil Ochs, who was too smart for that; too smart to be used. he was no liberal either. He was a patriot.

4) Ochs was an artist. While I don't agree with a lot of his politics I admire his courage in pursuing the truth as he saw it. But moreso, he created art.

[ultimategamer789]

@ grossmann It's called taxes. Every gov't has them, and could not function without them. The Constitution clearly addresses taxes & it's duty to it's "makers & takers".

[paragtime]

@62grossman I believe in his right to believe as he did but he did NOT believe in the Constitution because he believed the govt had both a duty and a righjt to steaL from the makers to give to the takers..there is no way that is an American view.

[AMr7002]

@G58 Perhaps that was purposeful. Phil Ochs was often savagely satirical. Maybe this is a mocking touch to the music.

[G58]

The tempo is so at odds with the lyrics it's hard to believe Ochs was the author. His total detachment from its meaning is a huge disappointment for me, having learned to appreciate what a great song/story this is, listening to Melanie Safka's amazingly touching & heart-felt rendition. Reminiscent of Hobo's Lullaby & criticizing Dylan et al it's about the death of a troubadour & by implication, in allegory: their musical soul. You get absolutely no sense of that from Ochs' upbeat hick version.

[Marthio]

@nancyzeetoo Yep, going to be 18 tomorrow. And I must say, the messages in his songs are quite heavy. I understand them as well. Great artist and my personal inspiration for guitar. I can only hope to be like him one day.

[todd11561]

Phil's story is a tragic one.... he took his own life.

He succumbed to mental illness.

[DarrylWThomas]

@spacepatrolman You are so ignorant, it isn't even fair to insult your intelligence.

[spacepatrolman]

@lonsumtravlr dylan was a punk comparerd to phil