I really don't want to monopolize this post but it is my favorite version of this song and to watch Phil singing it is just magical to me.Wish I could have been there.His voice,talent,poetry and singing all wrapped into such a beautiful musical expression is priceless.What a sad and tragic loss for all of us.Miss you much Mr. Phil Ochs.
I met Phil for the first time in 68, in Detroit. I was 16 and working for Gene McCarthy. Phil played for the rally at Tiger Stadium. After the speeches and the songs, He came down and talked to the kids working the rally. None of us was old enough to vote. Phil played at nearly every demonstration I went to, usually for free. I was living in Dublin when Phil hanged himself. I was devastated. Something uniquely American was gone.
I interviewed Phil at Berkeley for the college radio station in, I think (!) about 1964. For me his greatest song, and the one I played that night was "Here's To The State of Mississippi". A hard-hitting song for the 60's with no ambiquity. He told it like it was. Rest in Peace, my friend.
This is one of the most brilliant poems ever! He had such a great voice, too. Breaks my heart that more people don’t know about him and his work. R.I.P. to a genuine master of his art.
"On a shuttle from Washington, D.C., to New York, Ochs began singing this folk song with lyrics about JFK's fall. As he did, Robert F. Kennedy - who was sitting near the back of the two-thirds empty plane - began to cry, suddenly realizing the song was about is brother, according to the documentary Robert F. Kennedy: A Memoir."
Phil performed at a venue in Montreal in the mid 60s that was owned by a friend's father. We were allowed in for free in exchange for setting up the chairs for the performance. Phil sat at the bar having a beer and I screwed up my courage and went over and told him that I loved his music. I wasn't brave enough to tell him that I loved him, and his music (my first conscious crush). How I wept upon learning of his death. I love you Phil.
I look at his face and there's an earnestness that belongs to the sixties. Neil young payed him a tribute at Farm Aid after a conversation he had with my beloved Pete Seger backstage, then he sang, "Changes;" I of course, cried. I would speculate he, Neil Young learned the song as a fan of Ian and Sylvia and still remembered how to play it all these years later. His music, Phil Ochs, haunts me.
I just saw a website which proudly listed eight examples of songs which use alliteration. I posted the full text of "The Crucifixion," to show them what REAL alliteration in song lyrics looks like. :)
The first time I heard this song was when I was 16 and WOR AM in NYC on Saturday nights aired a folk music hour or two. This was 1967 and the version I heard was not Phil's but that of Jim and Jean. I had no idea what the song was about but liked their version. When Phil recorded this with what In my opinion was disgusting discordant orchestrations on the Pleasures of The Harbor for A & M records, it was recorded at a much faster pace and the words were not as clear. Phil wrote this and started singing this 2 years before he actually recorded it and always sang it a bit faster and many listeners couldn't make out or process what he was actually singing. This must have gotten back to Phil as if you listen to this live recording, the song is sung at a slightly slower pace and the words were sung much more carefully with better enunciation, as if he wanted his audience to better understand the song. Unfortunately, this song was above the heads of the average listener of the day as you can tell from the reaction of the audience. They were not drugged or bored or anything else eluded to in the comments here, just confused by the song and it's meaning, thus the polite applause at the end, barely acknowledging that they had just heard perhaps one of his greatest songs but didn't realize it at that time.
every Saturday night, WQXR, a classical music station,broadcast a two hour folk music program, hosted by Robert Sherman. I discovered a good many of my favorite folk singers there, although I had heard some of them on WBAI.it only lasted about two years or so,but it gave me a love of folk music of that period which was the golden age of folk music and will never come again.
The orchestrated version is astoundingly effective in furthering this profound narrative. Well worth anyone's search for the Pleasures of the Harbor LP, It's I believe the only place it sits.
@@fgiord8fgg I remember hearing Phil on WBAI, Small Circle of Friends, sitting at the breakfast table before going to school, maybe 1968 in 8th grade. Loved him then, still do. Greatest protest singer of the 60's, maybe ever.
the Jim and Jean version was the first I heard as well. I still have that record, brilliant. Phil Ochs had a huge talent and heart. So sad that those that care the most seem to leave us, in body, first. His words and truths will always live on and I am grateful that at least we have his huge gift today all these years later.
We've been blessed with many superb singer-songwriters. But I don't think any of the others -- and I include the greatest, Dylan, Mitchell, Lightfoot, Nyro -- have written any songs as great as this one.
You should listen to Sixto Rodriguez. His first 2 albums, Cold Fact and Coming from Reality, that came out in the early 70's were brilliant. His voice was better than Dylan's and I think he was a better song writer too. We never heard about him, the radio stations here would not play his songs.
Barry Brodsky That was the folk scene norm. Detached "coolness." In some clubs, audiences didn't even clap; they snapped their fingers. Originally, this was to avoid noise complaints, but it caught on.
+Barry Brodsky Really? I see rapt attention. In those days audiences didn't woop and woo at every brilliant lyric line or fluid vocal phrase the way we constantly do.
Barry Brodsky There is one man who seems sincerely fascinated with looking at the chord progressions on the guitar. Perhaps I'm reading something into it that isn't there, but his look appears different than the others.
To be fair did any of us upon hearing 'crucifixion' the first time know it's meaning? We had to research or perhaps read the liner notes on Phil's album...
It's taken Dylan 54 years with "Murder Most Foul", also about the JFK assassination, to begin to approach Phil Ochs' epic "Crucifixion". But it's nowhere near as moving or beautiful. Pure genius. We need Phil Ochs' voice, now more than ever.
And along with Changes it did bring a stop to the Dylan arrogance, at least temporarily, according to Phil at the time so I am sure there is respect now even if he still cant bring himself to talk about it publicly.
One of the many reasons I am so grateful to have had my father in my life...he introduced me to so many great poets and followed singers such as Phil Ochs. Sadly not many of my peers will ever hear such true artistry.
Powerful - I first heard this in 1975, 7 years old, and I could tell from my parents that this was serious...meaningful. It's been amazing uncovering the many layers of meaning over the last (nearly 50) years. " ....reality is ravaged, it's the freeing from the fear, the drama is distorted to what they want to hear, swimming in their sorrow and the twisting of a tear, as they wait for the new thrill parade..." Tiktok anyone?
His finest rendtion of this song is on LIve from Vancouver-1968.Was performed a few months afer Chicago with great passion; and his voice is crystal clear
Thank-you so much for posting this video. I watch it 3 or 4 times a week. There is another video of Phil singing crucifixion but it is only about 2 minutes long so it is really nice to have the whole song.Love you Phil,and as Pink Floyd said,wish you were here.
It is urban legend that song was written specifically about JFK. From Phil's own mouth he explained that the assassination of JFK set in motion his seeing the history of man be nothing but a cycle of blood sacrifice of all sent from afar to this Place Earth. He stated from the stage at times, this song was about people like Jesus/Mahatma Gandhi and MLK,jr(that said post 1969. Phil was an Atheist, but in this song, like many atheist, he believed beyond this Earth messengers were sent, only to be made blood sacrifice. It is the contemplation of the Earth that makes many an atheist///////////////////////////Thisis is as inspired a song of truth i have ever heard in my life. It is beyond masterpiece, it is stunning truth/to not memorize and grasp what he is saying is because "BUT IGNORANCE IS EVERYWHERE"--line from song. He his idealism was crushed as humanity just got uglier and uglier// how ugly, can you beat this for ugliness Dylan a lowlife shill for cars in lust for mo' mo' money, the innwardly now dead souled loser.imagine what a great soul like Ochs would think of this--people who who have a "no big deal" i stil idolize Dylan--UFB DEAD SOULED PEOPLE.THEY BE iI BLESS YOU PHIL FOR BEING YOUR SOUL ETERNAL/FOREVER---you died atheist but for you i feel NOT alone, and brings me to belive in G-d, even though i am an atheist of this Hell Hole Planet Where These Cycles Of Blood Sacrifice Repeat Endlessly i Annoint This Planet VAMPIRE
Thank you for this interpretation. But for all your great insight I think you miss one major point ! You are diametrically in opposition to Phil's views in one major aspect, Phil DOES NOT look at our world as a 'Hell Hole', most certainly not ! He views it as an experiment, for what reason, he does not know or ever try to explain. It is 'simply' what it is, a sacrifice. He does indeed know and speak of how it ends for all life on earth and he speaks of it very matter-of-factly without any fears. His Power lies in the fact that he had accepted, and finally embraced his own destiny.
Greg Greenway - a still-living folk singer - sent me here via his Facebook post. He does a very moving version of "Crucifixion" - and will be playing it on the 50th anniversary of John Kennedy's murder. Funny - I always thought of this song as being about ONLY the murder of Jesus Christ. Mr. Greenway offers the opinion that the song is about how human societies raise up heros - and then kill them. In listening to the song - I did hear lines that seemed to fit JFK more than Jesus. This is a very moving and disturbing piece of music - from a gifted artist we lost much too soon.
"...blood is the language of the band." If you a follow a god that needs blood, money, or anything else that you really can't part with, consider switching.
I heard this in total just once before - back in the '60s. It came over the radio, caught my attention and I managed to tape a fair portion of it. I thought it was so profound that it would be replayed many times, but no. I replayed my partial taping many times and longed to hear the whole piece again. I've searched for it a number of times, over the years, with no luck. Tonight I found it! Many thanks for posting it! It is as amazing to me now as it was then.
Sooooooo beautiful.Such an overlooked artist.I only saw him once but it is such a wonderful memory. Words can't express the admiration I have for Phil as a person,an artist a performer and someone who not only talked the talk but truly walked the walk.Such a shame so few people know about Phil. I truly miss Phil and his wonderful voice both figuratively and literally.PS: I don't believe Phil killed himself.
Every time I hear that line, the image in my mind is Bobby Kennedy lying on the floor of the Ambassador Hotel pantry, eyes still open, blood trickling from the wound behind his right ear, with the busboy holding up his head and the busboy's rosary wrapped around Bobby's fingers. I know it was written a couple of years before that, but 1968 is what made that song the mythical cylical chronicle of despair it now is.
It is great to see almost 8 minutes of Phil singing this terrific song.The only complaint I have is the audience.They just don't seem that into this virtuosa performance. It is like someone dosed them with about 50 mgs. of valium.I would have been estatic to be in that audience and definetly would have given him a standing O. I would love to hear other peoples take on the audience.Love you and miss you Phil.You gave your all.
Vick Mackey these are young kids so how's it possible to expect them to digest any of what's sung here with images so epic that it may have to be interpreted as one pleased. Phil may have needed to let them know what the song was about for their curiosity!
It's tough to explain poetry, like trying to explain a joke, then telling it. Have you considered that it reached the ears it was meant to, and they were held in thought for awhile. I know 50 years after I heard it, I'm still in thought. Someday I'll understand, but not on this side of the dirt. @@tom.mihail9366
Great to see Phil singing for a group. Be sure to check out the Facebook group Celebrating Phil Ochs' 75th Birthday and the website Celebrating Phil Ochs.
There may be a hint of hyperbole in the above statement, Talented poet with prophetic narrative...yes. His biography shows a tortured man with flaws, Perhaps Bi-Polar, not unlike many soul searching artists with tremendous storms of creativity.
Oh, so amazing to see him sing this live. I only saw him in performance--at the 1966 Newport Folk Festival, and at Vassar College in '67 or'68--before he wrote this so never got to see him perform it.
@@sharan5092 First...you were really there? And, if so, why? Because he had to be YOUR Bob Dylan? Not who he wanted to be? Or, maybe, just shallow 'following the crowd"? You think Phil booed Dylan?
I would add, having this piece of film (video?) is a treasure, and I love hearing him singing his masterpiece. Some folks have mentioned Jim & Jean’s recording, and I think it is fantastic.
This is one of my favorite songs, and I appreciate having the live solo vocal + guitar version in addition to the full orchestration on "Pleasures of the Harbor." I am a huge fan of both versions.
of the million of tunes i have heard if i must chose one as the most complete this is it. fortunate to have seen Phil twice. the first was on 3 December 1963 at the u of Penn. a benefit concert for the miners in hazard ky
Really? JFK resisted General Curtis Lemay who wanted to bomb Cuba and instead chose a blockade, which forced Russia to remove its nuclear weapons from Cuba. My parents credited JFK with preventing nuclear war. It was a very tense time.
I think you need to do some actual historical research on the Cuban Missile Crisis.Of course it’s easy to be an arm chair president without the responsibility and the reality. That said, I don’t think this is actually about JFK.
This appears to be from the same performance that there's a video of "I ain't marching anymore". It's a Scandinavian (Swedish, maybe?) TV broadcast, and there's a caption indicating it was 1969.
Never heard this one, I am very familiar with "There but for fortune" which is really great. I must say this one meanders too much for my taste, no doubt the voice is very strong here, and he displays great commitment to his words; but it is too tragic for me, lost interest way before he finished. I just read his bio, was not aware of the nature of his death, too bad he did not get the help he so greatly needed before snuffing out his own flame. Dylan could meander too, but I think I remained interested due to his vocal growl, his harmonica playing, and his overall songwriting greatness, which of course was at times "free associaition", but that really kept me hooked, waiting on what was next.
Aram Katz To be honest, Phil Ochs seems to be leagues above anyone in folk music, at least from a pure songwriting standpoint. Nobody was as good as him......except Bob Dylan :/
![Phil Ochs • Interview (Folk Music/Activism) • 1971 [Reelin' In The Years Archive]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/m-P7ByOLo_o/mqdefault.jpg)
I really don't want to monopolize this post but it is my favorite version of this song and to watch Phil singing it is just magical to me.Wish I could have been there.His voice,talent,poetry and singing all wrapped into such a beautiful musical expression is priceless.What a sad and tragic loss for all of us.Miss you much Mr. Phil Ochs.
I miss him too, don't see anyone nowadays even close. Very Sad... .
I met Phil for the first time in 68, in Detroit. I was 16 and working for Gene McCarthy. Phil played for the rally at Tiger Stadium. After the speeches and the songs, He came down and talked to the kids working the rally. None of us was old enough to vote. Phil played at nearly every demonstration I went to, usually for free. I was living in Dublin when Phil hanged himself. I was devastated. Something uniquely American was gone.
I interviewed Phil at Berkeley for the college radio station in, I think (!) about 1964. For me his greatest song, and the one I played that night was "Here's To The State of Mississippi". A hard-hitting song for the 60's with no ambiquity. He told it like it was. Rest in Peace, my friend.
I remember 'here's to the state of 'Mississippi' so well! Living in Philly with Frank Rizzo in charge, yeah i remember it.
That song is so great.
I was hoping someone who was either present at this rendition or sho met or knew Phil would post. Thank you for doing so.
Mine was "When I'm Gone" - he wrote his own epitaph.
I grew up in Detroit, to me In the Heat of the Summer speaks the loudest, but picking a favorite OVHS song is like picking you favorite child.
This is one of the most brilliant poems ever! He had such a great voice, too. Breaks my heart that more people don’t know about him and his work. R.I.P. to a genuine master of his art.
Truly the Claude Monet of folk music. Pure genius.
"On a shuttle from Washington, D.C., to New York, Ochs began singing this folk song with lyrics about JFK's fall. As he did, Robert F. Kennedy - who was sitting near the back of the two-thirds empty plane - began to cry, suddenly realizing the song was about is brother, according to the documentary Robert F. Kennedy: A Memoir."
yes, this is also reported in one of Ochs's biographies, though I recall that Ochs played it for RFK in his office.
Yes that's what I heard, too. RFK was moved to tears.
Yeah, I think it was in Bobby's office, just after Bobby had given his first major Senate speech against the war on Vietnam.
Wow!!
Phil performed at a venue in Montreal in the mid 60s that was owned by a friend's father. We were allowed in for free in exchange for setting up the chairs for the performance. Phil sat at the bar having a beer and I screwed up my courage and went over and told him that I loved his music. I wasn't brave enough to tell him that I loved him, and his music (my first conscious crush). How I wept upon learning of his death. I love you Phil.
He was called to testify at the Chicago 7 trial. He tried to preform with his guitar on the witness stand.
I look at his face and there's an earnestness that belongs to the sixties. Neil young payed him a tribute at Farm Aid after a conversation he had with my beloved Pete Seger backstage, then he sang, "Changes;" I of course, cried. I would speculate he, Neil Young learned the song as a fan of Ian and Sylvia and still remembered how to play it all these years later. His music, Phil Ochs, haunts me.
One the most powerful songs EVER written.
Such sadness and beauty... Tears. Thank you.
And 50 Phil Ochs Fans Can't Be Wrong! (still)
I just saw a website which proudly listed eight examples of songs which use alliteration. I posted the full text of "The Crucifixion," to show them what REAL alliteration in song lyrics looks like. :)
The first time I heard this song was when I was 16 and WOR AM in NYC on Saturday nights aired a folk music hour or two. This was 1967 and the version I heard was not Phil's but that of Jim and Jean. I had no idea what the song was about but liked their version. When Phil recorded this with what In my opinion was disgusting discordant orchestrations on the Pleasures of The Harbor for A & M records, it was recorded at a much faster pace and the words were not as clear. Phil wrote this and started singing this 2 years before he actually recorded it and always sang it a bit faster and many listeners couldn't make out or process what he was actually singing. This must have gotten back to Phil as if you listen to this live recording, the song is sung at a slightly slower pace and the words were sung much more carefully with better enunciation, as if he wanted his audience to better understand the song. Unfortunately, this song was above the heads of the average listener of the day as you can tell from the reaction of the audience.
They were not drugged or bored or anything else eluded to in the comments here, just confused by the song and it's meaning, thus the polite applause at the end, barely acknowledging that they had just heard perhaps one of his greatest songs but didn't realize it at that time.
Rick8351 His television appearances have such a different vibe than his live recordings. People always seem nonplussed
every Saturday night, WQXR, a classical music station,broadcast
a two hour folk music program,
hosted by Robert Sherman.
I discovered a good many of my
favorite folk singers there,
although I had heard some of
them on WBAI.it only lasted
about two years or so,but it
gave me a love of folk music
of that period which was the
golden age of folk music and
will never come again.
The orchestrated version is astoundingly effective in furthering this profound narrative. Well worth anyone's search for the Pleasures of the Harbor LP, It's I believe the only place it sits.
@@fgiord8fgg I remember hearing Phil on WBAI, Small Circle of Friends, sitting at the breakfast table before going to school, maybe 1968 in 8th grade. Loved him then, still do. Greatest protest singer of the 60's, maybe ever.
the Jim and Jean version was the first I heard as well. I still have that record, brilliant. Phil Ochs had a huge talent and heart. So sad that those that care the most seem to leave us, in body, first. His words and truths will always live on and I am grateful that at least we have his huge gift today all these years later.
We've been blessed with many superb singer-songwriters. But I don't think any of the others -- and I include the greatest, Dylan, Mitchell, Lightfoot, Nyro -- have written any songs as great as this one.
You should listen to Sixto Rodriguez. His first 2 albums, Cold Fact and Coming from Reality, that came out in the early 70's were brilliant. His voice was better than Dylan's and I think he was a better song writer too. We never heard about him, the radio stations here would not play his songs.
Seems to me the audience doesn't have a clue what they're witnessing, which is pure musical and poetic genius.
seriously
Barry Brodsky
That was the folk scene norm. Detached "coolness."
In some clubs, audiences didn't even clap; they snapped their fingers. Originally, this was to avoid noise complaints, but it caught on.
+Barry Brodsky Really? I see rapt attention. In those days audiences didn't woop and woo at every brilliant lyric line or fluid vocal phrase the way we constantly do.
Barry Brodsky There is one man who seems sincerely fascinated with looking at the chord progressions on the guitar. Perhaps I'm reading something into it that isn't there, but his look appears different than the others.
To be fair did any of us upon hearing 'crucifixion' the first time know it's meaning? We had to research or perhaps read the liner notes on Phil's album...
It's taken Dylan 54 years with "Murder Most Foul", also about the JFK assassination, to begin to approach Phil Ochs' epic "Crucifixion". But it's nowhere near as moving or beautiful. Pure genius. We need Phil Ochs' voice, now more than ever.
And along with Changes it did bring a stop to the Dylan arrogance, at least temporarily, according to Phil at the time so I am sure there is respect now even if he still cant bring himself to talk about it publicly.
One of the many reasons I am so grateful to have had my father in my life...he introduced me to so many great poets and followed singers such as Phil Ochs. Sadly not many of my peers will ever hear such true artistry.
Powerful - I first heard this in 1975, 7 years old, and I could tell from my parents that this was serious...meaningful. It's been amazing uncovering the many layers of meaning over the last (nearly 50) years. " ....reality is ravaged, it's the freeing from the fear, the drama is distorted to what they want to hear, swimming in their sorrow and the twisting of a tear, as they wait for the new thrill parade..." Tiktok anyone?
His finest rendtion of this song is on LIve from Vancouver-1968.Was performed a few months afer Chicago with great passion; and his voice is crystal clear
great album, though Phil stumbled on the words in some of the songs. I think he was exhausted.
@@leftys408 yes that's the problem with that album.
Thank-you so much for posting this video. I watch it 3 or 4 times a week. There is another video of Phil singing crucifixion but it is only about 2 minutes long so it is really nice to have the whole song.Love you Phil,and as Pink Floyd said,wish you were here.
It is urban legend that song was written specifically about JFK. From Phil's own mouth he explained that the assassination of JFK set in motion his seeing the history of man be nothing but a cycle of blood sacrifice of all sent from afar to this Place Earth. He stated from the stage at times, this song was about people like Jesus/Mahatma Gandhi and MLK,jr(that said post 1969. Phil was an Atheist, but in this song, like many atheist, he believed beyond this Earth messengers were sent, only to be made blood sacrifice. It is the contemplation of the Earth that makes many an atheist///////////////////////////Thisis is as inspired a song of truth i have ever heard in my life. It is beyond masterpiece, it is stunning truth/to not memorize and grasp what he is saying is because "BUT IGNORANCE IS EVERYWHERE"--line from song. He his idealism was crushed as humanity just got uglier and uglier// how ugly, can you beat this for ugliness Dylan a lowlife shill for cars in lust for mo' mo' money, the innwardly now dead souled loser.imagine what a great soul like Ochs would think of this--people who who have a "no big deal" i stil idolize Dylan--UFB DEAD SOULED PEOPLE.THEY BE
iI BLESS YOU PHIL FOR BEING YOUR SOUL ETERNAL/FOREVER---you died atheist but for you i feel NOT alone, and brings me to belive in G-d, even though i am an atheist of this Hell Hole Planet Where These Cycles Of Blood Sacrifice Repeat Endlessly i Annoint This Planet VAMPIRE
Thank you for this interpretation. But for all your great insight I think you miss one major point ! You are diametrically in opposition to Phil's views in one major aspect, Phil DOES NOT look at our world as a 'Hell Hole', most certainly not ! He views it as an experiment, for what reason, he does not know or ever try to explain. It is 'simply' what it is, a sacrifice. He does indeed know and speak of how it ends for all life on earth and he speaks of it very matter-of-factly without any fears. His Power lies in the fact that he had accepted, and finally embraced his own destiny.
Read and see “DUNE”
Greg Greenway - a still-living folk singer - sent me here via his Facebook post. He does a very moving version of "Crucifixion" - and will be playing it on the 50th anniversary of John Kennedy's murder. Funny - I always thought of this song as being about ONLY the murder of Jesus Christ. Mr. Greenway offers the opinion that the song is about how human societies raise up heros - and then kill them. In listening to the song - I did hear lines that seemed to fit JFK more than Jesus. This is a very moving and disturbing piece of music - from a gifted artist we lost much too soon.
"...blood is the language of the band."
If you a follow a god that needs blood, money, or anything else that you really can't part with, consider switching.
I heard this in total just once before - back in the '60s. It came over the radio, caught my attention and I managed to tape a fair portion of it. I thought it was so profound that it would be replayed many times, but no. I replayed my partial taping many times and longed to hear the whole piece again. I've searched for it a number of times, over the years, with no luck. Tonight I found it! Many thanks for posting it! It is as amazing to me now as it was then.
Sooooooo beautiful.Such an overlooked artist.I only saw him once but it is such a wonderful memory. Words can't express the admiration I have for Phil as a person,an artist a performer and someone who not only talked the talk but truly walked the walk.Such a shame so few people know about Phil. I truly miss Phil and his wonderful voice both figuratively and literally.PS: I don't believe Phil killed himself.
Vick Mackey foul play you say? any evidence to support this claim?
Politics Kills; I don't see suicide here.
@@sharan5092 yes, how long before all realize “environment matters”??
Can anyone tell me who he is? I could google of course but so many say that's not the man they knew so I wanna hear from the people
"... and do you have a picture of the pain"
Every time I hear that line, the image in my mind is Bobby Kennedy lying on the floor of the Ambassador Hotel pantry, eyes still open, blood trickling from the wound behind his right ear, with the busboy holding up his head and the busboy's rosary wrapped around Bobby's fingers. I know it was written a couple of years before that, but 1968 is what made that song the mythical cylical chronicle of despair it now is.
It is great to see almost 8 minutes of Phil singing this terrific song.The only complaint I have is the audience.They just don't seem that into this virtuosa performance. It is like someone dosed them with about 50 mgs. of valium.I would have been estatic to be in that audience and definetly would have given him a standing O. I would love to hear other peoples take on the audience.Love you and miss you Phil.You gave your all.
Vick Mackey these are young kids so how's it possible to expect them to digest any of what's sung here with images so epic that it may have to be interpreted as one pleased. Phil may have needed to let them know what the song was about for their curiosity!
It's tough to explain poetry, like trying to explain a joke, then telling it. Have you considered that it reached the ears it was meant to, and they were held in thought for awhile. I know 50 years after I heard it, I'm still in thought. Someday I'll understand, but not on this side of the dirt. @@tom.mihail9366
I THINK THIS WAS PRODUCED IN SWEDEN OR SOMEWHERE. AUDIENCE DOSENT SPEAK ENGLIUSH
Thanks for putting up this full version!
Phil was so dam talented. Oh what a shame he left us so soon.
Pibbs1 'Absence makes the heart grow fonder'! we all wish Phil were here!
Great to see Phil singing for a group. Be sure to check out the Facebook group Celebrating Phil Ochs' 75th Birthday and the website Celebrating Phil Ochs.
I forgot about this song, this recording. Probably my favorite song of all time.
Amazing!!! We were blessed to have Phil with for the time we did...wish it was longer...
Phil ochs.. He was a spokesman for his generation
And, for all generations.
I'm only 29 and he speaks to me now. It's no surprise because many of the issues he spoke about that were prevalent in the 60's are still here.
He was the best !! more than human !!
This live clip of Phil is excellent. Do you have any more?
I'm pretty sure Phil Ochs is the most incredible human being to have ever walked the Earth
One of them, without question. Shame he never got the exposure he deserved, but, maybe he was too deep for most people.
Phil was quite shy as well as a person!
There may be a hint of hyperbole in the above statement, Talented poet with prophetic narrative...yes. His biography shows a tortured man with flaws, Perhaps Bi-Polar, not unlike many soul searching artists with tremendous storms of creativity.
@@davebinns3632 Accurate analysis, Thanks.
Fine poet, but his admiration for Mao Tse-tung and Fidel Castro was as misguided as Pete Seeger admiring Joseph Stalin for so many years.
Oh, so amazing to see him sing this live. I only saw him in performance--at the 1966 Newport Folk Festival, and at Vassar College in '67 or'68--before he wrote this so never got to see him perform it.
I remember Booing Dylan in 65 at Newport festival when he came on Electric.
@@sharan5092 First...you were really there? And, if so, why? Because he had to be YOUR Bob Dylan? Not who he wanted to be? Or, maybe, just shallow 'following the crowd"? You think Phil booed Dylan?
And God help the critic of the dawn . . .
TV in the Sixties was so cool...
re: the RFK anecdote: . . . . . i recall it was on plane. i also seem to recall that the story had been recounted by journalist jack newfield (?)
Ahhh hes absolutely amazing
Dude thank you so much for uploading this here.
I would add, having this piece of film (video?) is a treasure, and I love hearing him singing his masterpiece. Some folks have mentioned Jim & Jean’s recording, and I think it is fantastic.
What a treasure! Wish Glenn Yarborough version was also available. Where did you get this?
Nice to see the live video, too bad about the HISS.
"do you have a picture of the pain" The universal question!
“He Was A Friend Of Mine” by The Byrds is my favorite.
one of his best live performances, if you ask me
all the heavens are horrified they stagger from the sight
as the cross is trembling with desire
those words amaze me to this day.
I am not socialist, just the opossite, but I like a lot Phil Ochs.
SO GOOD TO BE ALIVE WHEN THE EULOGIES ARE READ
DO YOU HAVE A PICTURE OF THE PAIN
THE AUDIENCE IS STUNNED
The worst of it is all men suffer this fate
Great to see the full clip up on youtube!
This is one of my favorite songs, and I appreciate having the live solo vocal + guitar version in addition to the full orchestration on "Pleasures of the Harbor." I am a huge fan of both versions.
Missing Phil most madly of all.
Perfection
That voice!!!
Thank-you so much for downloading this clip.
Happy to subscribe to such a reverent channel. Phil Ochs; how sad of his passing💔💜
of the million of tunes i have heard if i must chose one as the most complete this is it. fortunate to have seen Phil twice. the first was on 3 December 1963 at the u of Penn. a benefit concert for the miners in hazard ky
🎇 His poetry! This is Milton, Shakespeare.
stunning just stunning what a loss my fav singer song writer of all time. fortunate to have seen him several times
My heart is shattered.
❤ ✌
Great artistry. Sadly wasted on a man who nearly ended the world during the Cuban missile crisis.
It was about Jesus Christ though, he never explicitly said it was about JFK
The point is…. He didn’t.
Really? JFK resisted General Curtis Lemay who wanted to bomb Cuba and instead chose a blockade, which forced Russia to remove its nuclear weapons from Cuba. My parents credited JFK with preventing nuclear war. It was a very tense time.
I think you need to do some actual historical research on the Cuban Missile Crisis.Of course it’s easy to be an arm chair president without the responsibility and the reality.
That said, I don’t think this is actually about JFK.
@@pritishsalian794he did actually say this song was a tribute to "the process that took the lives of JFK, RFK, and MLK"
what year is this?
Any year you want.
This appears to be from the same performance that there's a video of "I ain't marching anymore". It's a Scandinavian (Swedish, maybe?) TV broadcast, and there's a caption indicating it was 1969.
No
What do you mean?
Never heard this one, I am very familiar with "There but for fortune" which is really great. I must say this one meanders too much for my taste, no doubt the voice is very strong here, and he displays great commitment to his words; but it is too tragic for me, lost interest way before he finished. I just read his bio, was not aware of the nature of his death, too bad he did not get the help he so greatly needed before snuffing out his own flame. Dylan could meander too, but I think I remained interested due to his vocal growl, his harmonica playing, and his overall songwriting greatness, which of course was at times "free associaition", but that really kept me hooked, waiting on what was next.
Just that some of the 60's "Protest songs" I think took it far too seriously, it is music, not a congressional address!
Phil Ochs, Gordon Lightfoot, Paul Robeson, Pete Seeger, Harry Chapin. . .the five greatest singer/songwriters ever known!
Aram Katz To be honest, Phil Ochs seems to be leagues above anyone in folk music, at least from a pure songwriting standpoint. Nobody was as good as him......except Bob Dylan :/
@@LonelyAtTheTop79 phil is the solo male pinnacle and joni if the female pinnacle and if u know that then u know
Respect
And Dylan called him a mere “journalist”?
And threw him out of his limousine. What a pig
Well Dylan is a self centered egotistical tard
Bob Dylan sold out. This is obvious. Chords of Fame poached him a long, long time ago.