Philip David Ochs (1940 – 1976) was a politically active singer-songwriter who wrote hundreds of songs in the 1960s and released eight albums.

Ochs performed at many events such as anti-Vietnam War and civil rights rallies. He described himself as a "left social democrat." He was deeply affected by the protests at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, which led to a police riot. In the 1970s he became mentally unstable and developed problems such as bipolar disorder and alcoholism, finally committing suicide at the age of 36.

Bound For Glory

This tribute to Woody Guthrie appeared on Phil Ochs' first album, All The News That's Fit to Sing, recorded in 1964 for Elektra Records.

Here is my rendition, and here are the lyrics.

Changes

This is one of very few love songs that Ochs wrote, about how he misses his former the life he used to have with his wife and daughter. It is from his third album, "Phil Ochs In Concert" (1966), his last acoustic album, which actually included several studio tracks, due to technical problems with some of the live recordings.

This song was suggested by my YouTube friend, "blinddrunkal".

Here is my rendition and here are the lyrics.

Here's to the State of Mississippi

This hard-hitting song, from Ochs' second Album, I Ain't Marching Anymore attacks the poor civil rights record and general bigoted attitude of the state of Mississippi at the time. He later rewrote it as Here's to the State of Richard Nixon with minor changes to the lyrics. It has been reworked by various singers to reflect the political situation at different times. A good example is Eddie Vedder's State of George W.

Having recently watched the movie, Mississippi Burning I now have a better idea of what Phil Ochs was talking about in this song.

Here is my rendition of the song, using the original lyrics.

I Ain't Marching Anymore

This anti-war song is one of the best known songs by Phil Ochs, who was known to be a harsh critic of the American military industrial complex. It first appeared on his 1965 Elektra album of the same name, and was released as a folk-rock single the following year.

Ochs, who wrote the song as America was getting more deeply entangled in the Vietnam War said that it "borders between pacifism and treason, combining the best qualities of both" and that "the fact that you won't be hearing this song on the radio is more than enough justification for the writing of it."

Obviously he didn't often get invited to perform on national television, but he did sing this song in 1967 on an ABC television special Dissent or Treason. In August 1968, he sang it during the famous protests outside the Democratic National Convention, as part of a campaign to encourage young men to burn their draft cards, a performance which he considered the highlight of his career.

Here is my rendition of the song. Even better, here is Phil Ochs himself doing it. And Arlo Guthrie also did it.
The lyrics are here.

There But For Fortune

Phil Ochs wrote this song while driving to Lincoln, Nebraska. He said that it was one of the few cases in which he had the melody written first and was able to write the words in less than ten minutes. It is based on the saying, 'There but for the grace of God.'

The song was popularised by the singing of Joan Baez, whose rendition included an extra verse written by Noel Paul Stookey (of Peter, Paul and Mary). Because her version was so well known Phil sometimes jokingly introduced his song as being written by Joan Baez. Here is a video of him singing it.

It has also been recorded by Marianne Faithfull, Cher, and Francoise Hardy (in French).

Here is my video of the song, and here are the lyrics.

A Toast to Those Who Are Gone

This song is the title track of an album of unreleased demos made in the sixties. It came out in 1987 and pays homage to some of the great martyrs of history.

Here is my rendition and here are the lyrics.