Customer Reviews

Songs of Protest

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This cd is everything you want in a specialized anthology. "Where Have All The Flowers Gone" is pure art and poetry. It takes you full circle and makes your heart sink. "Eve Of Destruction" is full of rage and insight and truth. It's atomic in its message and presentation. "With God On Our Side" is one of Dylan's best songs (best version is by Baez). Pure poetry again. And the whole cd goes on like that. Great sound. The somber "Society's Child" and the hauntingly barefoot on shards of glass "Abraham, Martin And John" slices you in two. "Ball Of Confusion (That's What The World Is Today)" is Motown exploding. "War" keeps the message movin'. "Signs" was always one of my favorite radio songs. This is a must for anyone who lived through the late sixties and early seventies and felt the rage and fear at the destruction and insanity from sea to sea. This collections serves as both great music and powerful inspiration. Buy it!

As a child of the Sixties, I have a very strong emotional connection to these songs and as such find this a very enjoyable collection. If, however, you were to unearth these songs from a time capsule and listen to them for the first time thirty-plus years after they were first recorded, you might wonder what the fuss is all about. Certainly some of these songs were of the moment. To use an old cliche: You had to be there. After all, at age 30, Sonny Bono was a bit long in the tooth to play the angry young man. And "It's Good News Week" sounds more comical than biting satire.

But many of these songs retain their potency. Certainly, the carnival sound of "The 'Fish' Cheer/I Feel Like I'm Fixin'-To-Die Rag" is the perfect antithesis of the brutality of the Vietnam War. The Rascal's "People Got To Be Free" evokes John Lennon's sentiment that "All You Need Is Love." The Kingston Trio's version of "Where Have All the Flowers Gone" is a sad reminder of the price to be paid for war. Dion's "Abraham, Martin And John" still gives me chills. The one really glaring omission from this set is Dylan's "Masters of War." Only Edwin Starr's "War" comes close to matching Dylan's outrage.

If you need to remind yourself that the Sixties weren't all peace and love, this collection does a more than adequate job of showcasing the protest genre. RECOMMENDED

Songs of Protest presents a collection of tracks from the Viet Nam war era. While most of the music protests the war, a few tracks express anger on other topics.

From the early war years are the Kingston Trio's "Where Have All the Flowers Gone," Barry McGuire's "Eve of Destruction," "With God on our Side" by Manfred Mann, and Donovan's "Universal Soldier." Anyone of music listening age in the mid 60's surely remembers McGuire's angry voice and the questions he asks.

More recent war protest tracks show the songwriters maturing in the message. From the Woodstock era, Country Joe and the Fish performed "I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-die-rag", more commonly known as "The Fish Cheer." This isn't the Woodstock version, you don't have to worry about your kids overhearing it. Gimmie an F!

Rounding out the later war protests are Hedgehoppers Anonymous with "It's Good News Week", the Temptations "Ball of Confusion," and The Animals masterful "Sky Pilot."

The remaining tracks focus on personal freedoms and relationships. One of the better known classics is Janis Ian's interracial love dilemma in "Society's Child." Phil Ochs sings "I Ain't Marchin' Any More," the Rascals classic "People Got To Be Free," and the Five Man Electrical Band's "Signs" each state their protest of the "over thirty generation"

This collection is sure to bring back memories for all baby boomers.

This excellent album combines some of the greatest protest songs of the sixties in one very listenable package. One might quibble about the song selection (what, no Dylan?) but one cannot argue with the excellence of the music presented. It's a wonderful collection, perfect for a sixties enthusiast, even the tracks you don't recognize (and I knew almost all) are excellent. Many are the best tracks by the artist. Standouts include (but are not limited to) `Sky Pilot', `Signs' `War' and `Eve Of Destruction'. This album is a true relic of the period, and expresses many of the political concerns of the hippie movement. Highly recommended, especially for fans of the era.

I bought this record because I have been looking thirty years for a relatively obscure song,"It's Good News Week" and this album had the best mix of songs of the three albums that Amazon.com had in stock with my song on them. The mood ranges from near rage (Eve of Destruction)to quiet desperation (Society's Child), and all the tracks have some special quality to recommend them. For example, change a couple words and update the arrangement and "It's Good News Week" would be a hit today because it captures the superficiality of our connection to a troublesome world so well-- and it applies to today when protest is almost dead better than to the time in which it was written. Admittedly this song was never a big hit, but most of the others are and all except Sonny Bono's wretchedly sung and pathetically written "Laugh at Me" are well worth hearing again.

I was a teeny bopper when most of these tracks were first played on the radio and I loved them just because they were great tunes. Films like "Good Morning Vietnam" and UKTV programs such as "The Rock And Roll Years" revealed the true meaning of the lyrics and allowed me to enjoy the music for a second time. This CD has allowed me to enjoy the music for a third time - at high volume because now I own the remote control!

The album has a well balanced mix of messages about the absurdity of war, discrimination and mans inhumanity to his/her neighbour. Even if you don't give a toss about all that crap you will still enjoy the CD simply because it's all good music instead of the normal couple of good tracks mixed in with a pile of insignificant dross! Martin Wild, Oman Feb 99

After going to a party and remembering some of the great songs from the Protest Era around the Vietnam war, I bought this album. I was looking for songs from County Joe and the Fish and from others....I had forwotten the great artists like Manfred Mann and Donovon.

I loved these songs....we need new singer songwriters to capture and record the current protest....which goes largely unhead.

My main complaint about this disk is that Hedgehoppers Anonymous song "It's Good News Week" is an abridged version. I haven't heard the long version since the WVVX (a Chicago-area FM station) dropped its "oldies" format in the early 1980s. Surely Rhino could have tracked down the long version.

Otherwise, this is a nice period piece

ALL THE SONGS CONTAINED ON THIS CD ARE FABULUOUS, AND THE QUALITY OF THE CD IS EXACTLY WHAT YOU WOULD EXPECT FROM GOOD OLD RHINO RECORDS:PERFECT. THE VERSIONS ON THE CD ARE THE ONES YOU REMEMBER, AND EACH SONG SOUNDS BETTER THAN WHEN THEY FIRST CAME OUT. THE VERSION OF EVE OF DESTRUCTION CONTAINED ON THIS CD HAS A BETTER SOUNDING INTRO TO IT THAN ANY OTHER VERSION I'VE HEARD. THE ONLY SONGS THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN INCLUDED ARE FOR WHAT'S IT WORTH-BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD, THE SUN IS BURNING-SIMON AND GARFUNKEL, AND ANY SONGS BY JONI MITCHELL, BOB DYLAN, AND PETER, PAUL, AND MARY. THIS COLLECTION IS A MUST HAVE!!! -PETER A.

I love nearly all these songs, but I had to take one star off because some the greatest were missing: "Blowin' in the Wind" by Peter, Paul, and Mary, "When I was Young", by the Animals, "One Tin Soldier/Theme From Billy Jack" by Coven, "Put a Little Love in Your Heart" by Jackie DeShannon, and the all-time best: "People Get Ready" by the Impressions - how could they leave that one off? But overall, a great CD.