CR+music-Phil+Ochs

Phil Ochs

Phil Ochs was a musician in the Vietnam era. He could be considered the biggest competition to Bob Dylan in the category of protest music. Ochs was born on December 19, 1940, in El Paso, Texas. He grew up in a non-political environment. Phil Ochs began his musical career at Ohio State University. After 3 years at OSU, he dropped out and went to New York City. Originally, he was interested in journalism, but he turned his writing into lyrics to make songs. Phil’s music was inspired by Woody Guthrie, Bob Gibson, and Tom Paxton. He also admired John F. Kennedy. The next step to Ochs’ musical career occurred when he was signed with Elektra Records label, as his first record deal. This was very beneficial to Ochs’ success because he became very popular as a singer and guitar player by the mid 60’s. Some of his hits were: “There But For Fortune”, “When I’m Gone”, and “Love Me I’m A Liberal”. Here is a stanza of lyrics from his song “When I’m Gone”:

“There’s no place in this world where I’ll belong when I’m gone And I won’t know the right from the wrong when I’m gone And you won’t find me singin’ this song when I’m gone So I guess I’ll have to do it while I’m here”

So now you get a feel for his lyrics. They aren’t all that literal, but they are formed as a poem (however it is formed into a song). His style is very much like Bob Dylan.

In 1967 Phil Ochs went to A&M Records. His songs became more rock-based, and also had more orchestrated arrangements. One of his hits during this period was “Crucifixion”. However, he remained a lyric songwriter. By 1968, his fame had somewhat faded. Besides his album, Phil Ochs’ Greatest Hits, these years weren’t positive for Ochs. He was even being booed at concerts. While on tour in Africa, Phil Ochs was attacked! Ochs survived the attack but his singing voice was damaged. To make the situation even worse, Ochs was having an alcohol problem. Phil Ochs committed suicide at his sister’s house on April 7, 1976. People found him to be hanged. He lived to be only 35 years old.

Sources: http://www.sonnyochs.com/philbio.html http://web.cecs.pdx.edu/-trent/ochs/lyrics/when-im-gone.html The Encyclopedia of Popular Music Biography Resource Center (web page): search- phil ochs