I love Phil Ochs. He's far and away my favorite musician and songwriter. I've listened to him since I was 12. He and Bob Dylan were contemporaries and friends in the 60's. I'm sad that Dylan went...
I love Phil Ochs. He's far and away my favorite musician and songwriter. I've listened to him since I was 12.
He and Bob Dylan were contemporaries and friends in the 60's. I'm sad that Dylan went on to massive fame and Ochs has languished in obscurity, but I guess that has to do with Ochs committing suicide in 1976.
"Friends" might be stretching it a bit; Dylan kicked him out of the tour that Ochs came up with (and famously, out of his limo a decade earlier), and Ochs...wasn't the fondest of him. From one of...
"Friends" might be stretching it a bit; Dylan kicked him out of the tour that Ochs came up with (and famously, out of his limo a decade earlier), and Ochs...wasn't the fondest of him. From one of his biographies:
"[Dylan is] the most boring man in the world, because [he was] Shakespeare at twenty-five,
and now [he's] dog shit."
Then again, to be fair, Ochs was at the breakdown stage of his life from untreated bipolar disorder. (One of the other things he did in regard to Dylan at this point was insult his Jewish heritage, which was...a bit ironic, given Ochs was Jewish.)
"Friends" probably works, but what an extremely tumultuous friendship that was.
(He's absolutely one of my favourite artists too!)
There are two, and both have their drawbacks (Schumacher's is widely seen as a more objective piece, while Eliot's makes no attempt to be so (Eliot knew him personally); I personally think Eliot's...
There are two, and both have their drawbacks (Schumacher's is widely seen as a more objective piece, while Eliot's makes no attempt to be so (Eliot knew him personally); I personally think Eliot's was incredibly engaging, though it's a bit rough on him unfairly, I think, and that matches the opinions of his contemporaries. Schumacher's is my favourite between the two), so if you don't wanna try both, go with Death of a Rebel for engagement, and There but for Fortune if you'd prefer a better look.
Also, here's a really nice blog post by Tom Paxton (another contemporary of Dylan, and one who takes credit in helping him set A Harsh Rain's A-Gonna Fall to music, at that) in memory of him:
And of course, the beautiful song he wrote about his death, my favourite performance of which (specifically because he offers incredibly sweet and sad backstory beforehand) is here:
Thanks for the reccomendations! I am familiar with Paxton's tribute. I'm curious if you've heard of Leslie Fish and her tribute to Phil Ochs. I would certainly call it a lower tier than Paxton,...
Thanks for the reccomendations! I am familiar with Paxton's tribute. I'm curious if you've heard of Leslie Fish and her tribute to Phil Ochs. I would certainly call it a lower tier than Paxton, but I enjoy it nonetheless: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1hUf4qYwbM
For anyone who's new to Phil Ochs, I'd like to recommend a few more of my favorites: Power and the Glory There But for Fortune Song of My Returning Remember Me
For anyone who's new to Phil Ochs, I'd like to recommend a few more of my favorites:
I love Phil Ochs. He's far and away my favorite musician and songwriter. I've listened to him since I was 12.
He and Bob Dylan were contemporaries and friends in the 60's. I'm sad that Dylan went on to massive fame and Ochs has languished in obscurity, but I guess that has to do with Ochs committing suicide in 1976.
"Friends" might be stretching it a bit; Dylan kicked him out of the tour that Ochs came up with (and famously, out of his limo a decade earlier), and Ochs...wasn't the fondest of him. From one of his biographies:
"[Dylan is] the most boring man in the world, because [he was] Shakespeare at twenty-five,
and now [he's] dog shit."
Then again, to be fair, Ochs was at the breakdown stage of his life from untreated bipolar disorder. (One of the other things he did in regard to Dylan at this point was insult his Jewish heritage, which was...a bit ironic, given Ochs was Jewish.)
"Friends" probably works, but what an extremely tumultuous friendship that was.
(He's absolutely one of my favourite artists too!)
TIL, thanks!
I don't normally read biographies, but I'd love to read one about Ochs. Do you have a recommendation?
There are two, and both have their drawbacks (Schumacher's is widely seen as a more objective piece, while Eliot's makes no attempt to be so (Eliot knew him personally); I personally think Eliot's was incredibly engaging, though it's a bit rough on him unfairly, I think, and that matches the opinions of his contemporaries. Schumacher's is my favourite between the two), so if you don't wanna try both, go with Death of a Rebel for engagement, and There but for Fortune if you'd prefer a better look.
Also, here's a really nice blog post by Tom Paxton (another contemporary of Dylan, and one who takes credit in helping him set A Harsh Rain's A-Gonna Fall to music, at that) in memory of him:
http://www.tompaxton.com/phil-ochs/
And of course, the beautiful song he wrote about his death, my favourite performance of which (specifically because he offers incredibly sweet and sad backstory beforehand) is here:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=UfvAWdiRAFc
Thanks for the reccomendations! I am familiar with Paxton's tribute. I'm curious if you've heard of Leslie Fish and her tribute to Phil Ochs. I would certainly call it a lower tier than Paxton, but I enjoy it nonetheless: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1hUf4qYwbM
Oh my God, that was fantastic. Less emotional than Paxton's, but I think a bit more clever.
For anyone who's new to Phil Ochs, I'd like to recommend a few more of my favorites:
Power and the Glory
There But for Fortune
Song of My Returning
Remember Me
Funny how I end up stumbling upon this post after listening to "Love Me I'm A Liberal" not more than an hour ago.