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All the News That's Fit to Sing
by Phil Ochs
Product Group: Music
Studio: Collector's Choice
ISBN: B000BRBHC2
UPC: 617742061529
Binding/Media: Audio CD
Release Date: 2006-02-21
SKU: AZN-CCM06152
Condition: New
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Editorial Reviews
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Album Description
Phil’s 1964 debut release was all that and more, sporting not only songs drawn from the tumultous events of the day but also an adaptation of an Edgar Allan Poe poem (The Bells) and a tribute to Woody Guthrie (Bound for Glory)—immediate notice of a major new songwriting talent on the scene. When we were surveying the Elektra catalog to determine which albums to reissue, we were surprised, nay, astonished to discover that the first two albums by Phil Ochs had fallen out of print! These are only two of the most important albums of the early-to-mid-’60s folk music explosion, sporting some of the most barbed topical songs of the decade, and they are reissued here with new notes and mastering. A pair of indispensable exclusives!
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Customer Reviews
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Wow
Rating  (5)
Date: 2008-06-15
0 out of 2 customers found this reveiw helpful
I love Phil Ochs. I could listen to his beautiful voice and funny/meaningful verse. He was a great singer and I miss him.
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Phil's best folk album.....
Rating (5)
Date: 2007-10-19
5 out of 6 customers found this reveiw helpful
This is my favorite of Phil Ochs's early, folk albums. While some of the songs are dated (he was a protest singer, after all), many have stood the test of time and are just as beautiful and moving today as they were all those years ago. Here, Phil offers many of his signature songs, such as Power and the Glory, which some have said suggested should be the new National Anthem. The song Celia is one of Phil's most uplifting and moving songs. Bound for Glory is a great tribute to Woody Guthrie, and despite being a bit dated, the Ballad of William Worthy is really funny (the song is about a man who was arrested for travelling to Cuba, which is still illegal, but there's a line in there about the dictatorship in Spain. Spain was under the rule of Francisco Franco when Phil wrote the song. Spain is a vibrant democracy today.). The political song What's That I Hear is still vibrant and vital, and I love the adaptation of The Bells. Phil took the famous Edgar Allen Poe poem and put it to music (another example of this is Phil's masterful song The Highwayman, which is on Phil's 2nd album I Ain't Marching Anymore. It is a poem by Alfred Noyes that Phil set to music).
Sometimes political stuff can date, especially if its too explicit and topical. Some songs do that here (and on Phil's 2nd album), but there is enough great music here to make up for this minor trangression, and Phil isn't shrill and preachy like many political artists/entertainers. He eventually stopped writing political material, and his last 4 albums are much more ambiguous and mysterious than his early work. This is the best example of his protest phrase, even though that phrase simplifies this album, which is about much more than politics. I miss Phil. I feel that politics eventually destroyed him. While his later work wasn't political, he still was actively engaged as late as 1972. But he eventually gave up music, politics, and life, and the rest of his life was a complete mess. He eventually hung himself. It was a true tragedy, as he was a great artist.
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