"And if there's any hope for America, it lies in a revolution, and if there's any hope for a revolution in America, it lies in getting Elvis Presley to become Che Guevara."-- Phil OchsWith that in mind, Phil Ochs did a series of shows in 1970 with a gold lame Elvis suit from Nudie's Rodeo Tailors, where he mixed his protest songs with Americana songs-- Buddy Holly, Merle Haggard and others. He was widely panned. When U2 did nearly the same thing 20 years later (including the suit), they were hailed as genuises. Phil was way before his time.
I think that the Clash were the nearest we ever came to Elvis-meets-Che.
1. Know Your Rights- The Clash
2. Mountains of Burma- Midnight Oil
3. Pre-road Downs- Crosby, Stills and Nash
4. Out in the Street- Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band
5. Knock, Knock—The Humane Society (from the “Nuggets” collection)
6. It Keeps You Running—The Doobie Brothers
7. I’d Run Away—The Jayhawks
8. Here’s to the State of Mississippi- Phil Ochs
9. The Price You Pay—Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band
10. No Deal—Townes Van Zandt
How is it that I have nearly 5,000 songs in my itunes, and inevitably two songs from the same album end up in my Random 10? And how is it that a good third of my tunes are Punk and New Wave, yet they almost never show up on my list? Why are they so shy?
11 comments:
The name Phil Ochs is so familar, but I can't exactly place him. Now of course, I will need to look him up because I simply don't have enough to do at this time of year.
Have you noticed that certain sings never show up on random, ever, while others get played every time? Why is that?
I dunno Johnny, I have a ton of Red House painters and Sun Kil Moon and I never hear them when I'm on random. I think there's some kind of block or something I swear!
El Vez is the love child of Elvis and Che.
I think El Vez had the same idea as Phil. How was the show?
You're right about Phil Ochs being ahead of his time. It's too bad he wasn't around long enough to hang out with Billy Bragg.
I'm pissed that I missed the El Vez show, but I'm glad I didn't buy tickets in advance. At 10:00 I was still at work talking to some freak, and I ended up having to go to the morgue first thing this morning. Buzz kill.
Love the preamble to your random ten and the extra Phil Ochs info Johnny Yen. I'm enjoying his stuff but will have to read more to get all the context.
The show was AMAZING!!!! I wish you guys could have gone. We had a blast and Ten and her husband had their picture taken with El Vez. He did a great anti-Bush mash-up of The Grinch and Dylan's Ballad of a Thin Man "There's something happening here, but you don't know what it is, do you Mr. Bush?" Just a fun fun night.
Bubs-
Yeah, loved Billy's "I Dreamed I Saw Phil Ochs Last Night." I think The Internationale cd was the second cd I ever got (I didn't own a cd player until like 1994).
Did you see Billy at the Double Door this March? He was great.
Dale-
Let me photocopy the liner notes of the lp "Chords of Fame," a Phil best-of, and send it. It'll give you a nice overview of Phil, lovingly written by a normally-irreverent Ed Sanders, who was one of the Fugs.
Lu-
Awesome! Ballad of a Thin Man is a longtime favorite. Highway 61 Revisited has just become a tri-generational album in my family-- my dad and I loved the album, and now my son loves it.
Johnny- I can't remember if I mentioned this already, but I am a huge Phil Ochs fan. I don't know if you're planning to go to the Chicago blogger rendezvous, but if you'd like to read his bio (Death Of A Rebel), you're welcome to it.
Chris- Thanks, that's very kind of you-- I actually own it already, as well as "There But For Fortune," by Michael Schumacher. Both are out of print, and hard to come by.
I haven't heard anything about a rendevouz. Do fill me in.
Here's a link:
http://tinyurl.com/ymcwxl
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