Phil Ochs Talking America

Leave the old and dying America and use your creative energies to help form a new America, which would be de-militarized, more humanistic, where the police are less hostile and closer to the community, where the wealthy are not given unleashed power for the exploitation of the people.
– Phil Ochs (quote from Broadside Magazine)

35 years after his death, Phil Ochs’ message remains as fresh as ever. i always have a place in my heart for such radicals and individuals not afraid to shout out loud what they believe in. i’m not talking about the Don Cherry types who are always yelling down others, accusing anyone who disagrees with them as leftwing bike riding pinko fags, but individuals like Martin Luther King Jr, John Lennon, and currently Julian Assange, who are brave enough to risk their own lives by promoting an alternative vision for a more peaceful world or by exposing corruption at the highest level.

i decided this week to revisit one of my favourite songwriters from the 60s, Phil Ochs. He is one of the great topical songwriters, an important figure in the history of popular music and his message is still relevant today.

Ochs moved to NYC in the early 60s and immediately made an impact on the folk scene that was raging in Greenwich Village, which included the likes of Dylan, Dave Van Ronk, Buffy Sainte-Marie and Pete Seeger. These heavyweights led the huge folk revival movement that swept America. Ochs was amongst the most political of the bunch. He was a political activist with a strong social conscience and heavily involved in both the civil rights and anti-war movements, lending his support to numerous benefits and protests.

In 1962 Broadside Magazine was founded, an underground independent press that became key to the cohesion of the folk movement housing folkies such as Ochs, Dylan and those too radical for the established underground. This magazine and its spirit has always intrigued me. It would be interesting to see if a publication like this could still work today.

Throughout the 60s Ochs would contribute numerous songs and articles to Broadside. Many of the songs can be found on The Broadside Tapes 1, a great showcase of Ochs’ abilities as a master writer of the topical song.

The rise of the 60s folk movement in large part ode its popularity to the emergence of The New Left in America. And vice versa. The New Left was a movement based around activism and direct action focused on attacking militarism, materialism and sexual repression. It was largely a youth movement centred around the college campuses of America. These large groups of youth on campus pressing for change provided a mass audience for folk singers like Ochs and especially Dylan, providing the conditions for them to become, like Lennon claimed, “bigger than Jesus.” These folks singers became the heroes of a generation.

One of my favourite Ochs tunes is “What Are you fighting for?” It’s still a good question to ask 35 years later and most relevant today as the Afghanistan War continues to rage on.

Is it unpatriotic to question war as folks like Don Cherry yammer on about every Saturday night on the CBC? Or it is honourable to ask tough questions of our government about its true interests? Are those interests to spread democracy and end sexual repression? Or is it to secure natural resources like British journalist Robert Fisk claims? Is it worth the sacrifice?

Read your morning papers, read every single line
And tell me if you can believe that simple world you find
Read every slanted word till your eyes are getting sore,
I know you’re set for fighting, but what are you fighting for?

What got me thinking about Phil Ochs again was a recent panel discussion followed by some excerpts from the new Phil Ochs documentary There But For Fortune on Democracy Now recently. Watch that segment here.

It’s been rather fun pulling out my Phil Ochs collection again and has also inspired me to delve further into his recorded career and message. The 60s ideals of love, compassion and peace could really give the current political discourse a nice shot in the arm.

Here’s a tribute from Billy Bragg to his hero Phil Ochs:

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* next post, coming soon – September 11th & the birth of Meat Song Tuesdays

Sean Fitzgerald – Showing the Way

There are a few key people along the way who have heavily inspired my career and given it direction. Sean Fitzgerald is likely the most important person for getting my solo career on track and providing me with a blueprint for how to get moving forward.

i met Sean on a whim. Bored one night in Windsor i picked up The Real Detroit and saw a listing for an Open Mic in Ferndale, Michigan at a venue called Xhedos Cafe. So i threw my guitar in the trunk, crossed the border and made my way north on I-75 to 9 mile. Sean Fitzgerald was the host and immediately made me feel comfortable and invited into his circle of artist friends.

Sean became my model of how to break into the music biz full-time – through hosting weekly Open Mic nights.

He realized the importance and responsibility of the role of the Open Mic host and took it seriously, showing genuine enthusiasm towards anyone who got up, always paying attention, no matter the skill level, and encouraging folks to keep creating and become part of a community.

If there is one word i’d use to define Sean Fitzgerald it would be ‘community.’

Sean was the bus driver of an entire community of like-minded artists. The connector for so many. He took pride in that role and was always promoting how great other people were, not himself. These are all things i tried to emulate myself and grew an appreciation for.

Long before the ‘support local’ movements gained today’s steam Sean Fitzgerald was spreading the word of the many fine artists who lived in the Detroit community. This inspired me to look inward as well and get focused on the positive aspects of the Windsor community and leave the bitching and complaining to others.

In many ways i think my love for Windsor was heavily inspired by Sean Fitzgerald and his love for Detroit. Sean LOVED DETROIT! and made me see Windsor through new eyes, as a great city full of creativity and passion.

This all led to me hosting Open Mics in Windsor every week for close to a decade at venues like Rock Bottom, Phog, Sky Lounge and The Grad House. The job as Open Mic host introduced me to so many amazing folks locally, kept the rent paid most months and gave me something to get excited about every week.

Sean showed me my ticket towards becoming a full-time professional musician and for that i will always be thankful.

Sadly Dec 10, 2008 Sean was in a car accident that ultimately took his life. This loss will be felt greatly in the Detroit urban folk community for years to come and amongst the many lives that he touched. I have a poster of Sean Fitzgerald hanging on my bedroom wall to always remind me of him and what he represented: Love, Charity, Community and Passion.

Here’s an interview i did with Sean Fitzgerald (in 2004?) on my old campus radio show called Open Mic: On Air! on CJAM 91.5 FM (features live in-studio performances of The Train Song, South of 8 Mile Blues & Jen):

* next post, coming soon – Behind the Song Sitting On A Bench (from Dependent Arising)