American Troubadour | ||||
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Compilation album by | ||||
Released | 1997 | |||
Recorded | 1967–1974 | |||
Genre | Folk | |||
Length | 141:37 | |||
Label | A&M | |||
Producer | Larry Marks, Van Dyke Parks, Arthur Gorson and Phil Ochs | |||
Phil Ochs chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [1] |
Uncut | [2] |
American Troubadour is a 1997 British 2-CD set that presented a portrait of singer-songwriter Phil Ochs' later career, featuring selections from each of the five albums he recorded for A&M Records, from various non-album single sides and from a performance Ochs gave on March 13, 1969, in Vancouver, British Columbia. It is notable for the inclusion of Ochs' post-1970 single sides, otherwise unavailable on compact disc and for the inclusion of a cover of Chuck Berry's "School Days", a previously unavailable outtake from Ochs' infamous March 27, 1970, concert at Carnegie Hall.
Philip David Ochs was an American songwriter and protest singer. Ochs was known for his sharp wit, sardonic humor, political activism, often alliterative lyrics, and distinctive voice. He wrote hundreds of songs from the 1960s to early 1970s and released eight albums.
Chess Records was an American record company established in 1950 in Chicago, specializing in blues and rhythm and blues. It was the successor to Aristocrat Records, founded in 1947. It expanded into soul music, gospel music, early rock and roll, and jazz and comedy recordings, released on the Chess and its subsidiary labels Checker and Argo/Cadet. The Chess catalogue is owned by Universal Music Group and managed by Geffen Records and Universal Music Enterprises.
Gunfight At Carnegie Hall is the final album by Phil Ochs released during his lifetime, comprising songs recorded at the infamous, gold-suited, bomb-threat shortened first show at Carnegie Hall in New York City on March 27, 1970, though it contains less than half of the actual concert. The shows recorded that day served to surprise Ochs' fans, from his gold lamé Nudie suit, modeled after Elvis Presley's, to his covers of Presley, Conway Twitty, Buddy Holly and Merle Haggard songs, to his own re-arranged songs. Some fans loved it, but some attendees at the show were unhappy with the music he was playing, wanting only to hear "old" Ochs. Before he had a chance to convince them, the concert was cut short by a telephoned bomb threat.
Pleasures of the Harbor is Phil Ochs' fourth full-length album and his first for A&M Records, released in 1967. It is one of Ochs's most somber albums. In stark contrast to his three albums for Elektra Records which had all been folk music, Pleasures of the Harbor featured traces of classical, rock and roll, Dixieland jazz and experimental synthesized music crossing with folk, in hopes of producing a "folk-pop" crossover.
Rehearsals for Retirement is Phil Ochs's sixth studio album, released in 1969 on A&M Records.
Chords Of Fame is a two-LP compilation from American folk singer Phil Ochs, compiled by his brother Michael Ochs shortly after Phil's death and released in 1976 on A&M Records. With the exception of 1969's Rehearsals for Retirement, all studio albums are represented, as well as a number of live releases.
Cross My Heart: An Introduction to Phil Ochs is a British best-of compilation of the U.S. folk singer's A&M recordings. The CD features three tracks each from Pleasures of the Harbor, Tape from California, and Rehearsals for Retirement as well as two from Greatest Hits and one from Gunfight at Carnegie Hall, with the thirteenth track the B-side to his 1973 Africa-only single, "Niko Mchumba Ngobe". Overall, this is a more diverse collection than 2002's 20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection: The Best of Phil Ochs, which tips the balance more heavily toward Pleasures of the Harbor.
Live at Newport is a 1996 compilation on Vanguard Records of folk singer Phil Ochs' three appearances at the Newport Folk Festival, in 1963, 1964 and 1966. Presenting twelve tracks that also appear on his first, second, third, fourth and fifth albums, Ochs is at his peak as a folk singer throughout, singing anti-war songs alongside those espousing civil rights and worker's rights, and showcasing some more introspective numbers that would be dramatically rearranged on the fourth and fifth albums.
The War Is Over: The Best of Phil Ochs is a 1988 compilation album of Phil Ochs' works on A&M Records recorded between 1967 and 1970. With varying amounts of tracks from the albums, between two and five, from each album except Gunfight At Carnegie Hall, it paints a portrait of Ochs' later works that does not emphasize his folk songs, instead presenting the more introspective and/or experimental tracks. It did feature a live version of "I Ain't Marching Anymore" later reissued as a part of the 1991 album that presented the entire concert from which it was culled, There And Now: Live in Vancouver 1968.
There and Now: Live in Vancouver 1968 [sic] was a 1990 archival release of a concert by Phil Ochs in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, at the PNE Garden Auditorium on Thursday, March 13, 1969. Performing solo with guitar, Ochs was worn, weary and despairing in the aftermath of the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Ochs presents some of his older material, such as "There But For Fortune," "Changes" and "The Highwayman," alongside then-new songs from the as-yet-unreleased Rehearsals for Retirement such as "The Doll House" and "William Butler Yeats Visits Lincoln Park and Escapes Unscathed." The album thus documents two eras of Ochs in one seventy-minute show.
Farewells & Fantasies is the 1997 posthumous box set of the work of singer/songwriter Phil Ochs, chronicling his life and career in music from 1964 through 1970. With its non-chronological running order, it plays like three separate albums, each showcasing a different side of Ochs. The compilation was produced by Gary Stewart, Michael Ochs and Meegan Lee Ochs. Liner notes include a foreword by Meegan Lee Ochs, "The Sound of Freedom Callin'" by Michael Ventura and "Song of a Soldier: The Life and Times of Phil Ochs" by Mark Kemp, track-by-track explanations by Ben Edmonds, discography, selected bibliography, and many photographs, some of which are from the family's private collections. The box set is dedicated to a friend, co-writer, and inspiration to Phil Ochs, Bob Gibson, who died while the box set was in production. Its title comes from the back of Ochs' LP Tape from California.
"Back in the U.S.A." is a song written by Chuck Berry that was released in 1959 and was a top 40 hit. A cover version in 1978 by Linda Ronstadt was also a hit.
"School Days" is a rock-and-roll song written and recorded by Chuck Berry and released by Chess Records as a single in March 1957 and on the LP After School Session two months later. It is one of his best-known songs and is often considered a rock-and-roll anthem.
Live from London is a live EP by R.E.M. that was recorded on March 26, 2008 and released exclusively on iTunes on July 1, 2008. It is one of several releases in the Live from London series.
Nic Potter was a British bassist, composer and painter, best known for his work with the group Van der Graaf Generator in the 1970s.
"Bwatue" is a song by Phil Ochs, a US singer-songwriter best known for the protest songs he wrote in the 1960s. He co-wrote the song with two African musicians named Dijiba and Bukasa. "Bwatue" was written and recorded in 1973.
The discography of Phil Ochs, a U.S. protest singer and songwriter, consists of seven studio albums, six live albums, six compilation albums, one box set, six other albums, and nine singles.
Lincoln Mayorga was an American pianist, arranger, conductor and composer who worked in rock and roll, pop, jazz and classical music.
"Crucifixion" is a 1966 song by Phil Ochs, a US singer-songwriter. Ochs described the song as "the greatest song I've ever written".