Phil Ochs On Track: Every Album, Every Song Paperback

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I thought some of you might appreciate another little snippet from Phil Ochs On Track: Every Album, Every Song Paperback

   I have attempted to give insight into his life, motivations and each and every song.

   For those of you who have read the book a little feedback would be great. Thank you!

Excerpt from the Introduction:

   In the course of his two years in Staunton (1956-1958) he developed a love of country and western. His heroes were Hank Williams, Ernest Tubb, Johnny Cash and Faron Young. During the latter part rock ‘n’ roll had burst onto the scene and Phil became swept up in that too. He was smitten by Buddy Holly and idolised Elvis Presley. He avidly played the radio alternately tuning into Alan Freed and country and western channels.

   In 1958 he signed up to Ohio State University and arrived wearing a red leather jacket like the one James Dean wore in Rebel Without A Cause. As he had no idea what to major in he took a range of general courses. He’d only been there a short while before deciding that it wasn’t for him. He fled to Florida and was living rough, ending up bust by the police for sleeping on a park bench. While in the police cell Phil apparently had that epiphany. He decided that what he really needed to do was to become a writer and settled on journalism. He promptly went back to Ohio State and changed courses.

   While studying journalism he was listening to rock and pop music and started studying politics with a particular interest in the situation in Cuba with Fidel Castro, Russia and the American government. Politics was quite a departure and eye-opener for Phil. He’d come from a very unreligious and unpolitical background, not used to discussing real issues in depth. He took to politics with zeal and became obsessed like all new acolytes.

   According to his brother Michael, they used to have long debates about music and politics. Phil was still into his country singers and Michael was more into rock ‘n’ roll and rhythm & blues. The one person they both agreed was Elvis Presley; he was god.

   It was while at Ohio that the final link in the chain was established. It was here that he met the guy who was going to change his life – Jim Glover. Jim was a left-wing folkie and introduced Phil to the mighty musical tomes of the great Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger and the Weavers. He also taught Phil how to play the guitar. Jim used to take him home for meals where Jim’s animated father, Hugh, an avid Marxist, would regale them with stories embroidered with his political views, becoming a substitute father for the entranced Phil.

   It’s available on Amazon or from local bookstores (Probably have to be ordered)

Phil Ochs On Track: Every Album, Every Song: Amazon.co.uk: Opher Goodwin: 9781789523263: Books

Now Out! – Phil Ochs On Track: Every Album, Every Song Paperback

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Phil Ochs On Track: Every Album, Every Song Paperback

Phil Ochs was the ‘The Prince of Protest’ in the sixties. The only real rival to Bob Dylan, he was the archetypal Greenwich Village topical songwriter. Whether protesting the Vietnam War or campaigning for civil rights, workers’ rights and social justice, Phil was always there. Phil was the man to take up causes, write songs, play at rallies and even risk his life. His clear voice and sense of melody, linked with his incisive lyrics, created songs of beauty and power. As his career progressed, with lyrics and music becoming more highly poetic and sophisticated, he still never lost sight of his cause. Towards the end of the sixties he joined with the YIPPIES in protest against the Vietnam War. But idealism became Phil’s downfall. He was an idealist who could see no point in continuing if he was unable to make the world a better place. Phil lost all hope and descended into depression, which, along with excessive alcohol consumption, led to his suicide in 1976. Shortly before he took his life, Phil asked his brother if he thought anyone would listen to his songs in the future. Well here we are; sixty years later, still listening. The songs of Phil Ochs are every bit as relevant as they ever were and they are making the world a better place!

Phil Ochs On Track: Every Album, Every Song: Amazon.co.uk: Opher Goodwin: 9781789523263: Books

Another Excerpt – Phil Ochs On Track: Every Album, Every Song Paperback

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   According to his brother Michael, they used to have long debates about music and politics. Phil was still into his country singers and Michael was more into rock ‘n’ roll and rhythm & blues. The one person they both agreed was Elvis Presley; he was god.

   It was while at Ohio that the final link in the chain was established. It was here that he met the guy who was going to change his life – Jim Glover. Jim was a left-wing folkie and introduced Phil to the mighty musical tomes of the great Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger and the Weavers. He also taught Phil how to play the guitar. Jim used to take him home for meals where Jim’s animated father, Hugh, an avid Marxist, would regale them with stories embroidered with his political views, becoming a substitute father for the entranced Phil.

   The seeds were sown and began to germinate and blossom at an alarming rate. Phil and Jim would sit up all night playing music, listening to music and debating music and politics.

   Phil read avidly, absorbing the essence of socialism, started organising protests against the ROTC (college Reserve Officers Training Corps) and writing radical articles that were banned from the college magazine. Frustrated at not being able to get his articles published he started his own underground magazine called ‘The Word’.

   It wasn’t long before the politics and music merged together. He formed a singing partnership with Jim and played the local folk clubs first as ‘The Singing Socialists’ and then ‘The Sundowners’. Phil had discovered his new passion. He took his music seriously, declaring: ‘music had to be relevant.’

Phil Ochs On Track: Every Album, Every Song Paperback – One More Parade

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One More Parade (Phil Ochs, Bob Gibson)

Phil’s recording career kicks off with one of his strongest anti-war songs; a lambasting of the patriotic parade glorifying and sanitising war. There is a mocking disdain for the glorification of the war killing machine. Phil pulls back the shroud so that you can see behind the pomp and pageantry to the grief of the bereaved widows. The reality of war is glossed over behind a façade of bravery, parade ground precision and smart uniforms. ‘All march together. Everybody looks the same. So there’s nobody you can blame. War’s a game. World’s in flames. So start the parade!’

   The number starts with a military drumbeat intro leading into plucked acoustic guitar strings picking out a melody against a background of strummed guitars. It sets up a marching rhythm that is echoed by the inflexions in Phil’s vocal. His tenor voice, strong, even strident, full of confidence and power, projecting the message of the song in no uncertain manner, full of disdain for the medals and the guns, the adulation and patriotic fervour so far removed from the appalling reality of mud, maiming and slaughter that is the reality of war.

   The song came out of a collaboration with his good friend and mentor Bob Gibson. The melody was Bob’s and he provided an important step in Phil’s songwriting.

Phil Ochs On Track: Every Album, Every Song: Amazon.co.uk: Opher Goodwin: 9781789523263: Books

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Neil Young 1963 to 1970: Every Album, Every Song Paperback

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In the realm of singer songwriters, few have been as influential as Neil Young, whose music has always been creative and relevant throughout six decades. Neil is a chameleon for whom boundaries of genres do not exist. He has delved into folk, country, r&b, rock ‘n’ roll, grunge, hard rock, electronic and pop and made them his own. But the sixties were his launch pad. This book follows his music through that seminal period when he played with The Squires, Mynah Birds, Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Crazy Horse and The Stray Gators. During this seminal period, Young wrote or co-wrote some of his greatest songs, including ‘I Am A Child’, ‘Southern Man’, ‘Helpless’ and – most importantly – ‘Ohio’. It is the story of how one of the most seminal artists of the last fifty years learned his trade – every band, every twist and turn and every track.

Neil Young 1963 to 1970: Every Album, Every Song: Amazon.co.uk: Opher Goodwin: 9781789522983: Books