Customer Reviews

All News That's Fit to Sing / I Ain't Marching

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

The sound quality of this recording is flawless. Since you got to this location, you are already interested in Phil Ochs and his music. Both "I Aint Marching" and "All the News" contain great examples of his work. However, *this* edition is clear and clean. No external sounds, no dropouts, no grunge. This set, as opposed to the Hannibal versions, is the one you want.

Whether the lyric lilt of his voice or the tremendous passion of his articulate poetry, Phils Ochs had a profound impact on listeners. He could be politically outlandish (sometimes even more outlandish that his own personal views) but more often incredibly insightful -- samples of that are on these two CDs.

His lyrics are some of the the most intelligient written by the modern day folks artists or songwriter of any ilk. And his later work, although not in the least classic folk style material, showed an artistic maturity that could be dazzling. The lyrics could be at once cinematic, portraying a physical scene, and at the same time evocative of intense emotions.

And he used his voice with a keen sense of timing and phrasing -- it's fun just to listen to how he wraps a line around the tempo.

During his short life he was known as much for his politcs as his artistry, and he probably wouldn't have had it any other way.

The material here is that of his first two solo issue albums. His poetic masterpieces came later on Tape From California and Rehearsal for Retirement.

10 stars is a fair rating for these two CDs, imo.

These two albums run back to back and embrace a diversity of styles and materials. As a social critic, by the second album, Phil hit his stride in the classic "I ain't a marching..." as opposed to the occasional discourses of his first album. Phil's capacity for humour shines through in his 'talking blues songs' which the more bitter driving songs(like Mississippi and Days of Decision) Real tenderness of feelings and expressive melodies feature in "In the Heat of the Summer","Celia" and "Lou Marsh." You will find his nod to other lyrical poets in "The Bells" ,"The Highwayman" , a style which he took up in his own "Hills of West Virginia."

...Phil was a clinically depressed troubled man in which he took out his fustrations through his music. These recordings are priceless! 10 stars, 5 for each album. I think Phil was America's biggest patriotic musician period! My all-time favorite fighter! "Oh when will Celia come to me?" God Bless!

"All the News" seems more dated and has fewer great songs that hold up these days, but the good ones on this LP, including Edgar Allen Poe's "The Bells" are worth owning if one is interested in Sixties' urban singer/writer/protester efforts. "I Ain't Marching Anymore" has much greater relevance in this time of wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and on generic "terror." Even "Draft Dodger Rag", almost 30 years after the USA abandoned the military draft, is catchy enough to stick in the mind for days after hearing it. Phil did not have the best voice among his peers, and his writing, as much journalism as poetry, has not been covered by other artists much in recent decades, but it was powerful. For good Phil songs done by singers whose vocalizing is wonderfully pleasant, look up "Jim and Jean" on Amazon or Google. There are other Ochs' compliations available on CD, many with the best of his later work, but these two old Elektra LP's have the charm of youthful innocence and arrogance. Phil became a tragic figure, and died young by his own hand, but on this disc he will always be the just-out-of-college smart-aleck and humanitarian who captivated me when I saw him in a New Jersey concert in 1965.