Rowman & Littlefield Publishers / Backbeat
Pages: 344
Trim: 6⅜ x 9½
978-1-4930-5147-2 • Hardback • December 2020 • $29.95 • (£25.00)
978-1-4930-5148-9 • eBook • December 2020 • $28.50 • (£19.99)
Phil Ochs was born in El Paso, Texas, in 1940. After attending Staunton Military Academy, Ochs became political while a journalism major at Ohio State University. Forsaking his college degree, Ochs moved to New York City in 1962 to join the burgeoning folk scene. Most well known as a topical singer-songwriter, Ochs was also an anti–Vietnam War and civil rights activist, performing at countless rallies, benefits and marches (authoring the seminal anti-war song "I Ain't Marching Anymore"). Ochs recorded three albums for Elektra Records before moving westward to Los Angeles and A&M Records. Ochs died, by his own hand, in Far Rockaway, Queens, in 1976.
Phil Ochs, Joan Baez, and Bob Dylan were the most important and influential musical voices of the Sixties protest movement that encompassed civil rights, anti-war, feminism, political reform, and a general questioning of blind faith in authority. What made Phil stand out was not just his passion for social justice as expressed in his seminal songs "I Ain’t Marchin' Anymore" and "There But for Fortune," or his sardonic wit that shined an unyielding light on society's petty hypocrisies as in "Love Me, I’m a Liberal" and "Outside of a Small Circle of Friends," but the compassion in his more poetic songs like "Floods of Florence" and "Pleasures of the Harbor." To listen for an hour to Phil Ochs songs is to get an honest yet loving glimpse into the flaws and strengths of humanity. — Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Six-time NBA champion and MVP
Phil Ochs was a tireless crusader for justice. He is one of the all-time great activist troubadours. With wit and fire, his songs skewered the evildoers of his day and remain perfect examples of how to fight the power with guitar in hand.— Tom Morello, American musician, singer, songwriter, actor and political activist
Phil Ochs was a born writer. He played guitar because that was the language his generation was speaking. Today, his questioning voice chimes as clearly as it ever did.— Billy Bragg, British singer, songwriter, and activist
The words (and melodies) of Phil Ochs have inspired me for over 50 years. They are "dances of delight" but also remind us that: "Can't add my name into the fight when I'm gone, so I guess I better do it while I'm here."— Russ Feingold, Former US Senator, WI
The long lost, largely unpublished, prose of folksinger Phil Ochs does much more than entertain. At the least, it takes us back to a more innocent time. At the best, it awakens the poet in the soul.— Kinky Friedman, Author, The Mile High Club
As much as has been written about the sixties, it’s arguable that no one experienced that defining moment in American history more personally than Phil Ochs .— Steve Earle, American singer, songwriter, record producer, author and actor.
As a teenager my life was changed by Phil Ochs' anti-war songs and his unique ability to combine fierce progressive ideology with a sentimental heart. This remarkable collection of his prose is a reminder that Ochs was simultaneously one of the intellectual leaders of the counter-culture, a writer whose moral clarity was balanced by humor, irreverence, and wisdom. I'm Gonna Say It Now is not merely a treasured relic for Ochs completists, it reveals a unique window into a pivotal moment in American history. — Danny Goldberg, Author of Serving The Servant: Remembering Kurt Cobain and In Search Of The Lost Chord:1967 and the Hippie Idea
Phil Ochs was much more than simply a songwriter. He wrote obsessively, because he had to—from his heart, his soul, his conscience. This collection of Phil's many and varied writings throughout his life sheds new light on his brilliant mind.— Joan Baez, American singer, songwriter, musician and activist.
I grew up listening to Phil Ochs, and his music had as much to do with my political awakening as did reading Rachel Carson or Allen Ginsberg, listening to John Lennon or Joan Baez or being given a chance to laugh at all the madness via Hunter S. Thompson or Lenny Bruce. Phil Ochs was that combination — heart, rage, satire, a call to action, a moment of peace. When he died before his time I remember feeling crushed yet determined not for any of us to give up. The stakes are too high. That he still speaks to us today is a monument to his art and his enduring soul.— Michael Moore, American documentary filmmaker
Everything Phil Ochs wrote, including this new collection of journalism, poetry and calls to action, exudes great humanity, heart, and brilliant humor. He was and continues to be a great blessing.— Anne Lamott
Phil Ochs told the truth before it was ready to be accepted, before it was politically expedient. He was the kind of truth teller that made liberal allies nervous because his truth demanded an accountability to their own compromise, their own self serving pragmatism.— Tim Robbins, American actor, screenwriter, director, and producer
Phil Ochs has one of those minds. He wrote with such clear thinking, his words lift boulders off hypocracy's hide, and his wit whittles the readers distractions into justice.— Sean Penn
"Once he dumped hack rules forced on him as a journalism student, the late singer-songwriter Phil Ochs became an extraordinary scribe. This collection includes reportage, satire, political essays, music and film criticism, liners, poetry and travel notes. Early prose is stilted, but when he landed in New York to join the 1960s folk movement, he hit stride by blending facts with wry -- frequently cutting -- wit."-Mojo Magazine
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"Ochs’s work remains relevant today, and this book will appeal to his loyal fans and to readers interested in folk music’s role in promoting justice."-Library Journal
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