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!
Extract from the Rock Classic book: Bob Dylan Bringing It All Back Home: Rock Classics Paperback
Introduction
I can confidently state that Bringing It All Back Home is, without a doubt, one of the most important albums in the entire history of rock music. I will explain why.
Not only was it ground-breaking in the way that it fused elements of blues, folk, rock and poetry, but it was also incredibly influential on the sound and writing of the major acts of the time. Without Bob Dylan and the album Bringing It All Back Home, there would not have been the impetus for bands such as The Beatles, The Stones or The Beach Boys to later construct hugely influential albums, or, at least, they would not have been as experimental and adventurous. Neither would we have had the incredible bodies of work by major singer-songwriters like Neil Young, Roy Harper or Bruce Springsteen. The sixties underground scene would not have happened without its explosion of styles, from psychedelic and heavy metal to prog rock, country and blues, its anti-war and civil rights protest and complex poetic songs. This album changed the face of rock music. ‘Artists from the Beatles to Bruce Springsteen have cited Bob Dylan as one of the most important influences on their music making and songwriting, noting that Dylan helped them see the possibilities of a different kind of lyric writing that was more intimate, personal, and autobiographical than what they found in early Rock and Roll songs.’ Stephanie Mooneyhan
Paul McCartney said: ‘I’ll never be able to write like Dylan. He thinks of these fantastic word combinations. It doesn’t matter if you get lost in one of his compositions, you can get hung up on just two words – the man is a poet.’
The album came out at a crucial point in time. This was 1965, the midpoint of the sixties, a turning point, and Bob Dylan was the fulcrum on which rock music turned. Before Bringing It All Back Home, we had rock, R&B and blues-based beat music (as with The Beatles and The Stones) and, lyrically, more sophisticated folk music. After Bringing It All Back Home, we had a new world of possibilities. The album opened up a theatre of opportunity by melding together the two distinctly different genres, and, in the process, creating an entirely unique style of music, a different way of songwriting and a different structure to popular music. With new sounds, new ideas, and a new attitude, nothing would ever be the same.
Books – My writing career – Publishing History
Books – My writing career – Publishing History
I thought I’d written around a hundred but there are a few more than that. Some exist just as typescript waiting to be rewritten in a digital format. One day I might get around to it. Some are works in progress.
It’s been hell getting this into WordPress. It doesn’t like tables!! It’s still not completely right.
Rock Music Published with Sonicbond Press
| On Track Series | Published |
| 1. Roy Harper: Every Album, Every Song (On Track) Paperback 2. Captain Beefheart On Track: Every Album, Every Song – Paperback 3. Bob Dylan 1962 to 1970 On Track (Decades) Paperback 4. Neil Young 1963 to 1970: Every Album, Every Song (On Track…) Paperback 5. Phil Ochs On Track: Every Album, Every Song (On Track…) Paperback 6. Leonard Cohen On Track: Every Album, Every Song (On Track…) Paperback | Sonicbond publishing Sonicbond publishing Sonicbond publishing Sonicbond publishing Sonicbond publishing Sonicbond publishing |
| Classic Albums Series | |
| 7. The Beatles: White Album – Rock Classics Paperback 8, Bob Dylan Bringing It All Back Home: Rock Classics Paperback | Sonicbond publishing Sonicbond publishing |
Education – Oxford University Press
| Education books | |
| 9. Coordinated science multiskill practicals 10. Coordinated science practicals 11. Headship – a passion for education | Oxford University Press Oxford University Press Self-Published |
Science Fiction – Published as Ron Forsythe
| Sci-Fi novels | Published |
| 12.Gordian Fetish 13. God’s Bolt 14. Reawakening (Sequel to God’s Bolt) 15. Star 16. Green 17. Neanderthal 18. Schizoid 19. Farm 703 – The Human Project 20. Quantum Fever 21. Conexion 22. New Eden 23. The Pornography Wars 24. Terra 3 (The Cabal) 25. The Scrolls of Pandora 3 26. DremeWorld 27. A Message From Hermes 28. Ghenghis Smith | Self-Published Self-Published Self-Published Self-Published Self-Published Self-Published Self-Published Self-Published Self-Published Self-Published Self-Published Self-Published Unpublished Unpublished Unpublished Unpublished Unpublished |
| Sci-Fi novels written as Opher Goodwin | Published | Notes |
| 29. Pornographic Syndromes 30. Destination Self 31. Hallucination 32. Nosedive 33. Green 34. Intergalactic Rockstar – Star turn 35. Ebola in Eden 36. Zero to Infinity 37. Reality Dreams Vol 1 38. Reality Dreams Vol 2 39. October 14th is too far 40. Trapdoor 41. Journey into time 42. Sorting the Future | Self-Published Self-Published Self-Published Self-Published Self-Published Self-Published Self-Published Self-Published Self-Published Unpublished Unpublished Unpublished Unpublished Self-Published | Exists as typescript Exists as typescript Exists as typescript Exists as typescript |
| Fiction – Avant Garde Novels | ||
| 43. Danny’s Story 44. City Angels 45. Goofin’ with the Cosmic Freaks 46. 53 & Imploding 47. Reflections From a Ditch 48. Farther From the Sun 49. The Universe – a Users Guide 50. The Apartment 51. Torture 52. Bodies in a Window | Self-Published Self-Published Self-Published Self-Published Self-Published Self-Published Self-Published Self-Published Self-Published Self-Published | |
| Antitheist | ||
| 53. Antitheist’s Bible 54. Book of Ginny 55. Antitheist’s Dictionary | Self-Published Self-Published Self-Published | Rewritten (Kathy & Tobes) |
| Sixties | ||
| 56. Diary of a 60s freak | Self-Published | |
| Poetry | ||
| 57. Poetry Vol 1 – Prose and Cons 58. Poetry Vol 2 – Vice and Verse 59. Poetry Vol 3 – Rhyme and Reason 60. Poetry Vol 4 – Stanzas & Stances 61. Poetry Vol 5 – Poems & Peons 62. Poetry Vol 6 – Codas, Cadence and Clues 63. Poetry Vol 7 – Rituals & Odes 64. Poetry Vol 8 – Poems for Hard Times 65. Poetry Vol 9 – Diddles, Riddles, Enviroscribbles & political Tribbles 66. Poetry Vol 10 – Weaponising Words 67. Poetry Vol 11 – Guns, Rhymes, Elephants & Dreams 68. Poetry Vol 12 – Dead Ducks, Own Goals & Greed 69. Poetry Vol 13 – Moroccan Skies, Wonder Whys, Disguise & Lies 70. Poetry Vol 14 – Fana Ticks, Fantast Ticks, Miss Ticks, Polly Ticks 71. Poetry Vol 15 – Dark Matter for Dark Ages 72. Poetry Vol 16 – A Cosmic Dance Through Life 73. Poetry Vol 17 – Long Ago & Inbetween 74. Poetry Vol 18 – Polly Ticks, Squawks & Parasites 75. Poetry Vol 19 – Poems For The Planet 76. Poetry Vol 20 – Random Muses From My Mind 77. Poetry Vol 21 – 350 Million, Oven-Ready, World-Beating Poems 78. Poetry Vol 22 –Out Of The Covid & Into The Frying Pan 79. Poetry Vol 23 – Visions From The Pits Of Love & Despair 80. Poetry Vol 24 – Escapees From the 60s (In process ) 81. Poetry Vol 25 – Toxic Times 82. Poetry Vol 26 – Crying For Ukraine 83. Poetry Vol 27 – Broken Britain 84. Poetry Vol 28 – More Futile Gestures 85. Poetry Vol 29 – Fusion, Fission & Chain Reactions 86. Poetry Vol 30 – Wonder, Awe & Anger in Rhythm 87. Poetry Vol 31 – My Thoughts Are Quantum (In process ) 88. Poetry Vol 32 – Futile Gestures of Defiance 89. Poetry Vol 33 – Fighting Words | Self-Published Self-Published Self-Published Self-Published Self-Published Self-Published Self-Published Self-Published Self-Published Self-Published Self-Published Self-Published Self-Published Self-Published Self-Published Self-Published Self-Published Self-Published Self-Published Self-Published Self-Published Self-Published Self-Published Self-Published Self-Published Self-Published Self-Published Self-Published Self-Published Self-Published Unpublished Self-Published Unpublished | |
| Art | ||
| 90. My Art & Outpourings | Self-Published | |
| Rock Music | ||
| 91. Rock Strata Vol 1 92. Rock Strata Vol 2 93. Rock Strata Vol 3 94. Rock Strata Vol 4 95. Rock Streams 96. Rockin my life away 97. Roy Harper Vol 1 98. Roy Harper Vol 2 99. Roy Harper Vol 3 100. Roy Harper Vol 4 101. Roy Harper Biog 102. Under the covers 103. In Search of Captain Beefheart (A memoir) 104.. 537 Essential Rock Albums pt 1 105. Ruminating on Roy Harper (Me & Roy Harper) 106. Nick Harper the Wilderness Years 107. Tribute to Rock Geniuses Vol 1 108. The Blues Muse (a novel) 109. Rock Routes (History of Rock Music) | Unpublished Unpublished Unpublished Unpublished Unpublished Unpublished Unpublished Unpublished Unpublished Unpublished Unpublished Unpublished Self-Published Self-Published Unpublished Self-Published Self-Published Self-Published Self-Published | Typescipt Typescipt Typescipt Typescipt Typescipt Incomplete Completed for publication Typescript Typescript Typescript Partial and incomplete Incomplete Fully edited & ready novel tracing Rock history |
| Short Stories & Anecdotes | Published | Rewritten as |
| 110. A Universe of Shorts, Tails and Tales, and the Truth 111. Anecdotes, Weird Science, Writing & Ramblings From Life 112. More Anecdotes, Essays, Beliefs & Flotsam | Self-Published Self-Published Self-Published |
| The Environment | Published | Rewritten as |
| 113. Anthropocene Apocalypse | Self-Published |
| Covid Diaries | Published | Rewritten as |
| 114. The Corona Diaries – Pt. 1 – (210 days from March 15th 2020 to October 19th 2020) 115. The Corona Diaries – Pt. 2 – (Day 211 – Day 410 – October 12th 2020 – May 7th 2021) 116. The Corona Diaries – Pt. 3 -(Day 411 – Day 630 May 8th 2021- December 15th 2021) 117. The Corona Diaries pt. 4 | Self-Published Self-Published Self-Published | Still on the computer |
Sgt Sunshine from the album Folkjokeopus by Roy Harper
Roy Harper: Every Album, Every Song (On Track), Paperback
Sgt Sunshine
The band starts the album off by launching into an upbeat rendering of Sgt Sunshine. This sets a storming pace, with Roy’s voice soaring above in a near falsetto singing ‘Sunrise’. Right from the opening notes the song has a rockier feel than any of the tracks on Come Out Fighting Ghengis Smith. It is quite a band, particularly with the great Nicky Hopkins on keyboards. The recording has a brighter, sparkier production than that on CBS. It seems to me as if Shel was going for a more commercial upbeat sound.
Roy had always wanted to sing duets with a woman and Jane Scrivener’s clear voice makes an ideal foil for Roy. This is the first time on record but he has subsequently successfully duetted with several women during the course of his career. Roy was always smitten by the female singers of the Incredible String Band. I think I can detect a number of their influences on this album.
‘Sgt Sunshine’ would have made a great single if there had not been so many open drug references.
The lyrics describe the time when a police officer defiantly lit up a marijuana joint outside the City Hall in protest over the draconian drug laws. Roy, an ardent advocate of cannabis, immediately called him Sgt Sunshine and wrote this song about him.
There is an oblique reference to the TV series ‘The Prisoner’ with mention of the village. ‘The Prisoner’ had a lasting impact on Roy and its influence would recur in ‘McGoohan’s Blues’.
The basic premise of the song is that society has the wrong priorities. A life spent striving for money and fearing death is certainly no way to live.
‘Sgt Sunshine’ also appeared on the sampler Gutbucket.
The Spice of Life
The Spice of Life
The spice of life:
It’s hot.
The herbs
The vitamins
Produce a nutritious meal;
A balanced diet
Possessing the full spectrum
Of flavours,
To be consumed with delight.
The feast,
The banquet,
A smorgasbord
From which to choose
A diet of distinction!
Opher – 19.9.2024
I guess we select the various ingredients from the range available. Everything is spread out before us. The variety is spectacular. We can put together the most amazing, healthy meals, or pile our plates with rubbish. How we put the ingredients together is up to us.
The world is our banquet.
Our lives are our choices.
Opher Goodwin – Captain Beefheart On Track; Every Album, Every Song
by Nicky Crewe
intro
Longtime Beefheart enthusiast Opher Goodwin has researched and written an essential reference work for fans old and new. Nicky Crewe takes us through the pages
It could be argued that we can now expect the internet to provide the answers to our curious questions on any topic, but sometimes it’s important to know what questions to ask, and whose information to believe. That’s where the ‘Every Album, Every Song’ series from Sonicbond Publishing steps in. The series is a great resource for those who want to know more about the music and musicians they admire and love. Written by fans who dig deep into the archives and their own experiences, these slim volumes pack a huge amount between the covers. In this one, Opher Goodwin shares some of his own life-changing encounters with Captain Beefheart and his music, coming right up to date with the Magic Band tours of 2014 and 2017. He sets Beefheart’s music and legacy into context, socially and culturally – in his case, John Peel’s radio programme and a significant 1967 London gig at Middle Earth meant he never looked back. Goodwin doesn’t avoid the difficult aspects of Beefheart’s behaviour towards members of his band, especially during the ‘Trout Mask Replica’ era. Some of the stories are as discordant and disturbing as the music they produced. Credit is also given to the roles played by John French, Ry Cooder and Frank Zappa in building Beefheart’s success and lasting reputation and relevance. He both researches and reviews this music that continues to inspire and influence, setting it in context, unpicking some of the stories and myths that have built up around the man and his chosen musicians. As the author his task is to listen with attention to every track: what an amazing opportunity. My own love of Beefheart’s music followed a similar trajectory. I first heard ‘Electricity ‘on the jukebox at the Magic Village, Roger Eagle’s cellar club in Manchester in 1968, and was blown away. I was then introduced to ‘Trout Mask Replica’ and ‘Safe As Milk’. Beefheart’s music may have been an acquired taste, but it was one I acquired quickly. I saw the band at the Bickershaw Festival in 1972, as I was working in a wholefood catering tent right next to the stage. No sleep possible! Roll on another year and I was in a band managed by Roger Eagle (later responsible for Eric’s in Liverpool). Not only did he promote Beefheart’s tours in the UK, but the two of them became close friends, sharing a love of blues music and a similar stature and approach to life. Through Roger, I was invited on the tour bus whenever I was free and got to see much of the ‘Clear Spot ‘tour. I took this opportunity for granted at the time. Many of my friends were musicians, in bands with varying degrees of success. I still have my gifted copies of ‘Spotlight Kid’ and ‘Clear Spot’ from those days, and over the years I have come to realise how privileged and fortunate I was to have had such an adventure. I followed Beefheart’s new releases for many years, but for me those two albums stand out. They contained songs that were unexpectedly tender and poetic, as well as harking back to the delta blues that Beefheart was so influenced by, and they are forever associated too with that particular period of my young life. Sometimes when I walk in to a cafe, club or shop, I unexpectedly hear one of Beefheart’s songs. My heart leaps: it’s a little piece of magic for the day. It happened to me last week with ‘Too Much Time’, which led to a conversation with a young barista, about the same age now as I was when I met Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band. It’s fantastic that people are still discovering him, still sharing his music, as his legacy continues to grow. Opher Goodwin’s book covers the official albums, the compilations, rarities and bootlegs and the live albums. There’s information about the offshoot band Mallard, and the reformed Magic Band, and the solo projects of all those who passed through that legendary band. There’s even a section on tributes and covers. Sometimes I wonder if you can know too much: when I was 16 I didn’t need to know the hows and whys to respond to the music, the voice, the presence and the genius, but now I find those back stories fascinating, and I owe Opher Goodwin my thanks.
Ghenghis Smith – a new Sci-Fi novel.
I have produced a series of five Sci-Fi novels loosely based around a future galactic system. Each one of the novels centres around a current social trait – populism, corruption, greed, advertising, religious fanaticism, exploitation, biased media, terrorism and the control of the masses.
Overpopulation is a huge problem. People live in tiny hutches, level upon level. The novels are based around their struggle to survive as the wealthy, living in obscene luxury, exploit them.
So far I have written:
The Cabal – renamed Terra 3
The Scrolls of Pandora 3
DremeWorld
A Message From Hermes
and
Ghenghis Smith.
The first four have been fully edited and are ready to go. My latest effort (Ghenghis Smith) is presently a first draft of some 59,000 words. I am embarking on a rewrite. I hope to enlarge it to be at least 70,000 words. Wish me luck!
When I have completed that I will then start the process of looking for a publisher and agent! Any help gratefully received!
The Rock Classics
So far I have published two books in the Rock Classics section with SonicBond publishing: The Beatles White Album and Bob Dylan’s Bringing It All Back Home. Both pivotal, iconic albums that altered the landscape of Rock Music.
The Beatles: White Album – Rock Classics Paperback
Arguably the greatest album by the best rock band ever, The Beatles – also known as The White Album – proved to be a watershed recording. Coming as it did, after manager Brian Epstein’s death; after the disillusionment with the Maharishi; in the middle of the break-up of long-term relationships, and following on from the psychedelic masterpiece Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, it heralded changes of style and the marked the start of the falling apart of the previously tight-knit group. The album’s diversity and creation are analysed and its background and dynamics revealed. This extraordinary double album reflects a remarkable time and period. As the sixties came to an end, so too did the band. They mirrored the times they lived in. The album also followed on from their first highly criticised TV flop Magical Mystery Tour, the success of the first global satellite triumph of ‘All You Need Is Love’, and the highly ambitious Apple business venture. George Martin ducked out and ructions broke out between band members. But, among all the pressures and stress they found time to write and record an incredible array of songs; songs that synergised into a spectacularly successful album with a fascinating story. This is the tale of every track and every facet of this remarkable record.
Bob Dylan Bringing It All Back Home: Rock Classics Paperback
One of the most pivotal albums in the evolution of rock music, few other recordings have had more impact than the 1965 Bob Dylan classic, Bringing It All Back Home. In the mid-sixties, rock music was about to explode into psychedelia, prog and jazz fusion. Meanwhile, Bob Dylan had made an enormous impact on songwriting with his first four all-acoustic albums. He had created a different way of writing songs, by embracing themes such as civil rights, anti-war protests and social issues, which lifted the subject matter from teenage love songs to serious poetic works of art, rife with symbolism. But with Bringing It All Back Home, Dylan shot his lyrics through with surreal hard-edged beat poetry while the music contained both acoustic songs and blues-based loud electric rock. It alienated him from many of his peers in the folk community but nonetheless contains classic cuts like ‘Mr Tambourine Man’ ‘Maggie’s Farm’ and ‘Subterranean Homesick Blues’. Dylan had opened the door to experimentation. The Beatles, The Stones, The Who, The Doors, Hendrix, Pink Floyd and Cream all listened and responded. In its wake, Songwriting rose to new heights with few boundaries. After Bringing It All Back Home, music was forever changed.
I’m hoping to do a few more. There are some stonkers out there! I have a lot of favourites.
Once again – thanks for all the brilliant reviews and ratings. Fills me with joy!!
The Sci-Fi novel – New Eden – some of the ideas that went into the book
At the time I wrote this novel, back in the 1980’s, Ebola was first hitting the news. Thankfully the outbreaks of Ebola have all been contained and we have never had to deal with a global pandemic. Ebola would have been a worse challenge than Covid 19.
Back then I was seeing two things occurring in the world. The overpopulation problem was creating a huge environmental impact, a lot of pollution, overcrowded cities and deforestation. At the same time automation and technology was replacing the need for a large workforce.
As far as politicians were concerned we were creating a surplus population who were unemployable. The solution was to remove that surplus.
A tyrannical government decided on a plan of action. They would develop a virus, based on Ebola, that was 100% fatal, develop a vaccine and, as part of their annual vaccination programme, vaccinate all the people they wanted to survive. It was eugenics in full operation. Not only would they rid themselves of surplus population, but they could remove all opposition and anyone they did not deem fit.
As with most plans, things do not work out as intended.
With the passing of time, the burgeoning population and the advent of A/I, the tenets of the novel were even more pertinent. I originally had released the book as Ebola in the Garden of Eden. I re-edited it and reissued it as New Eden.
Available in both paperback and kindle .
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