I was/am a big Phil Ochs fan, just wondering if anybody
here knows any stories about him. he hung himself in
1976 at his sisters house in Far Rockaway, NY. Anybody
know any details?
Loved his song "Crucifixion" about JFK
I was/am a big Phil Ochs fan, just wondering if anybody
here knows any stories about him. he hung himself in
1976 at his sisters house in Far Rockaway, NY. Anybody
know any details?
Loved his song "Crucifixion" about JFK
He was born in El Paso, I know that. Bobby Fuller lived there as well. Rhino has a great Phil Ochs live CD.Originally Posted by Shadowcatcher
Renowned Death Hag
Phil Ochs
Birth: Dec. 19, 1940
Death: Apr. 9, 1976
Folk singer.
Philip David Ochs was born in El Paso, TX on December 19, 1940. He left his journalism studies at Ohio State University to pursue a career as a professional musician, and soon gained a wide following in New York City. He released his first album, "All The News Thatâ??s Fit To Sing," in 1964. Several years later, his fame skyrocketed, and Ochs packed Carnegie Hall for a sold-out solo show. Many of his songs, including "The Power And The Glory," "Love Me, I'm A Liberal" and "I Ain't Marching Anymore" have become folk standards. Ochs was famous for his impressive catalogue of original songs, as well as his musical interpretation of classic poems, such as Edgar Allen Poe's "The Bells." He traveled the globe performing his unique mix of inspired guitar work and cutting-edge lyrics. While on tour in Africa, he was mugged; during this attack, his throat was injured, resulting in the loss of part of his vocal range. This blow to Ochs' career added to his deepening depression. At the age of 35, haunted by a combination of his waning career, alcoholism and chronic depression, Phil Ochs committed suicide on April 9, 1976.
Cause of death: Suicide by hanging
Search Amazon for Phil Ochs
Burial:
Cremated, Ashes scattered.
Specifically: Ashes scattered in Scotland
Interesting I nver heard of him.
For a minute there I thought you meant the Human League Singer!
At the time of his death it was said that at least part of his depression came from his belief that the poilitical beliefs that fired his work had fallen out of fashion.
One thing that probably would have caused him to hang himself on the spot would be finding himself confused with the singer from Human League.
Death Hag of Legend
OMG I thought the guy from The Human League died! There is nothing wrong with The Human League, Ratkin!
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.
His songwriting and use of lyrics are just as good or even better then Bob Dylan.
It's hard to understand why Ochs is so underated especially since his voice is easier on the ears than Dylan's.
Hee hee hee haw haw hawOne thing that probably would have caused him to hang himself on the spot would be finding himself confused with the singer from Human League.
I never said there was anything wrong with The Human League. I simply said that Phil Ochs would have objected to being mistaken for one of them.
There was nothing wrong with the Human League than an influx of talent couldn't have fixed.
Death Hag of Legend
Too each his own. Or hers.
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.
A few tidbits.. He went to a military high school in Staughton(sp) VA.. Also attibuting to his depression/suicide.. He was mugged at knifepoint and his throat was slashed. He obviously was not mortaly wounded, but the slashing cut his vocal cords and he could not sing as well as before the attack.. Poor old soul..Goodbye Lefty..
I Dreamed I Saw Phil Ochs Last Night
By Billy Bragg
I dreamed I saw Phil Ochs last night alive as you or me. says I to Phil "you're ten years dead"I never died' says he I never died" says he. The music business killed you Phil they ignored the things you said and cast you out when fashions changed says Phil "but i ain't dead"says Phil "but i ain't dead". The FBI harassed you Phil they smeared you with their lies. says he "but they could never kill what they could not compromised, I never compromised"Though fashion's changed and critics sneered the songs that I have sung ..are just as true tonight as then the struggle carries on ..the struggle carries on"..With the song of freedom rings out loud from valleys and from hills where people stand up for their rights Phil Ochs is with us still Phil Ochs inspires us still.
Last edited by RIPWELLSTONE; 10-16-2008 at 04:41 PM. Reason: Grammar errors when it was transfered from web page..
Phil Ochs (pronounced “oakes”) was a singer/songwriter who was known for his sharp wit, sardonic humor, political activism, insightful lyrics, and haunting voice. He wrote hundreds of songs in the 1960s and released eight albums in his lifetime.
Phillip David Ochs was born on December 19, 1940 in El Paso, Texas where his father was stationed as an army medic. Phil later moved with his family to Ohio, where he spent his childhood. He was a huge fan of 50's rockers Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis. He became friendly with Jim Glover, whose parents were communists and often espoused the virtues of Marxism to Ochs who became fascinated with the concept of blending music with leftist politics. Ochs and Glover become a duo and started up a group called “The Singing Socialists.”
Ochs wound up in New York sharing the burgeoning folk scene with Bob Dylan, Tim Harden, Tom Paxton, Eric Andersen, Dave Van Ronk. As talented writer/singers, Ochs and Dylan quickly developed a love/hate relationship. In fact, Phil might have equaled and even surpassed Dylan except his politics got in his way, as did his own self-destructive tendencies.
Interestingly Dylan, who is considered a spokesman for his generation, quickly in his career came to the conclusion that politics was a crock while Ochs remained a true believer who felt he could change the course of the world through topical song writing. Though a lefty, Ochs described liberals as, “… phony elitist jackasses whose whole idea of solving problems was to throw money at them.” He sang about this view in his song “Love Me I’m A Liberal.” Ochs’ directness made him the enemy of the Left just as much as he was despised by the Right. As for temperament, Phil could be very nasty and rarely hid his feelings. He was neurotic and prone to deep depression and heavy drinking.
Throughout the 1960s, Ochs was a steady and popular performer. But, often, he would forgo paying gigs to perform at political benefits and rallies. He hated the commercialization of both the Leftist political movements of the day and the folk music scene. He gradually moved from communism to democratic socialism because of phony dissidents like Abby Hoffman and Jerry Rubin, who made careers of cursing authority figures for attention and the hell of it. Ochs believed in debate and discourse an not in desecrating the American flag, which was a popular sport of the Left in those days. He once rescued a trampled, spit-on American flag at a political rally and folded it properly. Ochs also refused to follow the heard of independent minds dressing in tie-dye and jeans, usually preferring to perform in a suit.
After the horrors of 1968, Phil felt the Left had turned on the average American and that his topical and politically charged songs were being sung only to those who already agreed with him. In a strange attempt to reach out beyond his core audience (as well as indulge his love for rock n roll), Ochs attempted to combine the look and sound of Elvis Presley with the radical politics of Che Guvera. One night in March of 1970 he took the stage at Carnegie Hall dressed in a gold lamé suit and performed 1950's rock numbers with a full band behind him. The stunned and confused audience of uber-cool lefties went berserk, booing and screaming obscenities. Ochs tried to reason with the audience, speaking to them like friends, trying to get them to understand his point. While he did manage to win the crowd over (those that stayed, anyway), Phil would never again play with a band or don the Elvis monkey suit. Instead, he quickly retreated back to the standard Phil Ochs catalog and stage act honed so well through the sixties. An ad for a performance he gave at Hunter College the next year cried out, “The Return of the Original Phil Ochs ... Live... In Person ... Himself ... Guaranteed.”
Frustrated with his failed experiment, suffering from writers block and sick of the business in general, Ochs decided to travel around the world. He ventured to Africa in 1973 and was attacked and strangled by robbers in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The assault damaged his vocal cords, causing a loss of the top three notes in his vocal range and heightened his growing mental problems. As his drinking worsened, Phil become bloated, ill-tempered and very nasty. In a TV interview he called Dylan “a cheap little Jew.” The comment sparked by Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue tour which Ochs was supposed to be a part of but which Bob nixed because Ochs’ drunken behavior was getting out of hand. Ochs resented this, particularly because the idea for Rolling Thunder had originally been his.
By 1975 Phil Ochs had burned all his bridges and his career was over. Banned from even performing at small clubs, Phil wandered Manhattan like a self-haunted ghost. His mother and his sister tried to get him psychiatric help, but Phil never kept appointments with doctors. He eventually had taken on another persona named John Train. This alter ego was invented by Ochs in an attempt to escape himself, his depression pushing a desire to crawl out of his own skin. Ochs took up residendce with his sister in Far Rockaway, New York. He finally hung himself on April 8, 1976.
It always amazes me how coincidental thingson these forums turn out to be. I have been up all night helping a client prepare for an audit.
To stay awake I cranked up Pandora through my headphones on my PC. One of the stations I set up is Tom Paxton (Jimmy Noonan, and the Marvelous Toy among others and then they play "similar artists". They played a bunch of Phil Ochs. I had forgotten how much I like him.
There were a few really talented folkys that dies too soon, Gram Parsons ( sort of folkie) and Richard Farina. Dylan came close when he crashed his bike.
Phil was really paranoid at the end. He carried a weapon all the time, a pipe or a knife etc. He used a fake name John Train and insisted John Train had killed Phil Och. Very sad.
Regards,
Mary
They Might Be Giants provided my introduction to Phil... Apparently they regretted their song about "the day Marvin Gaye and Phil Ochs got married" (silly a song though it is), which led to them doing a great cover of 'One More Parade', complete with John Linnell imitating Phil's voice.
Senior Death Hag
Smokin' marijuana is more fun than drinkin' beer
But a friend of ours was captured and they gave him 30 years
Maybe we should raise our voices, ask somebody why
But demonstrations are a drag, besides we're much too high
And I'm sure it wouldn't interest anybody
Outside of a small circle of friends.
"I Ain't Marching Anymore" is one of my favorite songs of all time.
Too little space to list all the Phil Ochs songs I love. Even like his live version of the Beatles "I Should of Known Better" Billy Braggs song introduced me to him.
Interesting, I am in Staunton all the time and know this academy well. It's not currently in use, but the buildings are really majestic looking. I listen to a lot of folk music and didn't realize he had attended there.
Senior Death Hag
His sister was a substitute teacher in my school district when I was growing up. I remember my mom mentioning the suicide after I told her she was a sub for one of my classes, but I've only found out more details about it in the last few years.
To Phil Ochs:
Renowned Death Hag
I like this one...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yB-BBVQLnxI&
Last edited by RiotBoots; 08-21-2012 at 10:29 PM. Reason: Video was too big!
There is a really good documentary called "There But for Fortune" (also my favorite Phil Ochs song).
Trailer here:
This is just profoundly sad - an interview with Phil near the end where he is pretty far removed from reality and talks at length about his alter-ego John Train and how Train has killed Phil.
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