117: Phil Ochs In Concert (1966)
“He became as famous as he should have been. Much of his stuff was really too involved for the common man… He didn’t make you feel like you were, you know, warming your hands by a bonfire, and everybody was singing along. He never made you feel like that … I think he made some people really nervous.”
—Judy Henske
Phil Ochs, perhaps more than anybody else in the 1960s Greenwich Village folk scene, believed that he could end the Vietnam War and change the world through his music. He offered deeply critical insight both of mainstream society and of the folk scene itself, calling out hypocrisy where he saw it and asking his listeners to consider questions and issues without easy solutions. He did this through a combination of exceptional songwriting gifts and a blazing intensity, but this intensity also limited his ability to appeal to a wide audience, and he largely faded into obscurity after his untimely 1976 death. In this episode, John leads a discussion on the 1966 live(ish) album In Concert, which he has loved for nearly 20 years, and the tenor of the discussion ranges from serious to silly in a way that mirrors the album itself. Join John, Ben, Phil, and Amanda as they cover an essential album from one of the most complicated figures ever to pick up an acoustic guitar and declare his truth.
Miscellany
Phil Ochs: There But for Fortune, while not available through major streaming services (as of May, 2023), is nonetheless available through the link provided below. We left out a tremendous amount of relevant biographical material for various reasons, and this documentary is as good a source to learn about some of it as any.
During an early portion of recording the episode, John’s smoke alarm decided this was a great time to start beeping, in case you’re wondering about that sound tucked in the background.
Regarding the introduction to “Ringing of Revolution” and the mention of Ronald Reagan: this is sometimes cited as the first ever mention of Reagan in popular music, but he was mentioned in 1965 on the Tom Lehrer live album “That Was the Year That Was” in the song “George Murphy.”
When we mentioned “Universal Soldier,” Amanda quoted Buffy Sainte-Marie’s original lyrics: “Without him, how would Hitler have condemned them at Dachau?” Donovan, for reasons unknown, changed the line from Dachau to Liebau, which was a training camp for the Hitler Youth.
Other links
Phil Ochs: There But for Fortune streaming (JustWatch.com)
Discord & Rhyme’s merch store (TeePublic)
Discord & Rhyme Roll Call
John McFerrin (host)
Ben Marlin (moderator)
Phil Maddox
Amanda Rodgers
Phil Ochs in Concert tracklist
I’m Going to Say it Now
Bracero
Ringing of Revolution
Is There Anybody Here
Canons of Christianity
There But for Fortune
Cops of the World
Santo Domingo
Changes
Love Me I’m a Liberal
When I’m Gone
Other clips used
Phil Ochs:
I Ain’t Marching Anymore
There But For Fortune (early version)
Pleasures of the Harbor
The War is Over
My Life
Outside of a Small Circle of Friends
Draft Dodger Rag
Others:
Arlo Guthrie & Hoyt Axton - Deportee
Bob Dylan - A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall
Bob Dylan - Chimes of Freedom
Donovan - The Universal Soldier
Jethro Tull - Hymn 43
Dead Kennedys - Religious Vomit
Joan Baez - There But For Fortune
Bob Dylan - The Ballad of Hollis Brown
Nazareth - The Ballad of Hollis Brown
David Bowie - Changes
Simon and Garfunkel - Bleecker Street
The Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem - Rosin the Bow
Jello Biafra and Mojo Nixon - Love Me, I’m a Liberal
Dead Kennedys - Kill the Poor
Band/album personnel
Phil Ochs - Vocals, acoustic guitar
Credits
“Discord & Rhyme (theme),” composed by the Other Leading Brand, contains elements of:
Duran Duran - Hungry Like the Wolf
Amon Düül II - Dehypnotized Toothpaste
The Dukes of Stratosphear - What in the World?? ...
Faith No More - Midlife Crisis
Herbie Hancock - Hornets
Kraftwerk - Autobahn
Talking Heads - Seen and Not Seen
Phil Ochs - I'm Gonna Say it Now (this episode only)
You can buy or stream In Concert and other albums by Phil Ochs at your local record store, or the usual suspects such as Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and Amazon. Follow Discord & Rhyme on Twitter @DiscordPod for news, updates, and other random stuff. Editing is by Rich Bunnell, and special thanks to our own Mike DeFabio, the Other Leading Brand, for production and original music. See you next album, and keep as cool as you can.