(November 2023) Episode 532 is PHIL OCHS, the best folk musician of the 1960s you’ve probably never heard of. He got his start and made his initial recordings with protest songs in the mode of Seeger and Guthrie – direct, unambiguous, political. Songs like “I Ain’t Marching Any More,” “Here’s to the State of Mississippi” and “Draft Dodger Rag” brought him attention and scorn. In later recordings, Ochs widened his style into folk rock and even some country before personal demons ended his career and then his life. Fair or not, he is unavoidably compared to Dylan. Ochs sang with more clarity and a better voice, but by comparison he lacks Dylan’s poetic abstractions and lyrical magic.
Favorite album: Live at Newport
Favorite song: Remember Me
Compared to expectations: ↑
Recommendation: The protest songs do come off as period pieces, but sadly many seem relevant today (see: Remember Me). He is worth checking out for his melodicism.
Opus Project 