Phil Ochs: There But for Fortune

This is about the life of 1960s folksinger, Phil Ochs. He discovered folk music and politics at Ohio State University in the late 1950s and began to blend the two. He grew up in the Jewish family of a failed medical doctor who suffered from bipolar disorder and depression after his military service in World War II.

Phil Ochs wrote and sang very topical protest music on many themes--unions, racial discrimination, and ultimately the Vietnam War. He began writing music and singing extensively in 1961 and 1962 in New York City and became part of the folk music world there. He had quite a distinctive voice and wrote more explicit protest music than more popular performers like Bob Dylan who were more interested in the creativity of their music.

After the 1968 Democratic National Convention, he began to lose his way through alcoholism and the same bipolar issues that had afflicted his father. He committed suicide by hanging in 1976 at the age of 35.

This is a remarkable documentary that is unflinching in describing the ascent and then the disintegration of Ochs' life. The story is told by many of Phil Ochs' musical friends, as well as his family, wife, and daughter. Many of his songs hold the documentary together.

As a 21-year-old, almost no one of my generation knows who Phil Ochs is. With this riveting documentary, hopefully some will learn. Though the film feels a little disjointed in the beginning (though still interesting), after about 20 minutes it hits all cylinders and does not let up. The end of the film is particularly moving.

Informal and intelligent, the documentary casts new light on Ochs, protest singers, and the 60s and 70s as a whole. Regardless of your musical interests, this film is sure to hold you. Further, many of Ochs's songs are exquisite and can be listened to and enjoyed by anyone, regardless of political beliefs.

Phil Ochs: There But for Fortune (2010) was written and directed by Kenneth Bowser.

Phil Ochs was a brilliant political singer/songwriter during the 1960's and into the 1970's. Phil wrote and sang about some of the most horrible years in U.S. history--the war in Vietnam raging, the civil rights protesters being beaten and arrested, the police riot at the 1968 Democratic Party convention, and the CIA's brutal intervention in places like Chile.

My wife and I were active in the peace and justice movement, and we became very active in 1969. (We are still peace and justice activists.) The political folksingers like Pete Seeger, John Baez, and Phil Ochs provided us with inspiration, determination, and courage. Now, almost 50 years latter, most people have boiled down what we did to making the peace sign and saying "make love not war." We did those things, but we did much, much more, and we did them to the songs of the political folksingers like Phil Ochs.

The film is unusual because we don't get much footage of Phil Ochs talking about his work. We hear him singing, and we get a few clips of him talking, but mostly we hear other people talking about Ochs. These include singers and activists like Erik Andersen, Joan Baez, Billy Bragg, Bob Dylan, Sean Penn, Pete Seeger, Dave Van Ronk, Tom Hayden, and Judy Henske. In addition, Phil's brother, wife, and daughter reminisce about Phil. (There's also footage of combat in Vietnam, in Chicago, and in the southern U.S.)

This is an excellent movie, but a somewhat discouraging one. We in the peace and justice movement felt as if we were pushing against a solid brick wall. We couldn't bring it down. In fact, we couldn't make a dent in it. And, all the while, we knew that the FBI was watching us. (The FBI had hundreds of pages of reports on Phil Ochs.)

Singers like Phil Ochs gave of themselves to help keep the peace and justice movement alive. However, he paid a price for his singing, and after a while, his situation spiraled down, out of control.

We saw the movie on DVD, where it worked well. It's not a must-see movie, except for peace activists and people interested in the history of the peace movement. The film certainly validates the anger and discouragement we felt. More important, it demonstrates the uplifting quality of really great protest songs. That makes it a good movie for everyone.

Some fascinating archival footage of the late, great Phil Ochs is presented here and it is just stunning. As part of the folksinger movement in the 60's, his only rival was Dylan, though Ochs was far more political. It is a bit myopic in that it mostly focuses on that. That is fine, but I would have liked to see commentary from fellow singers Eric Andersen and Tom Paxton, both of whom either recorded Phil's songs or wrote a song for him (Paxton's "Phil" is amazing). Not having them is a minor thing, though, and you do hear from his brother and sister, his ex-wife and daughter, as well as other people he knew (nearly all are listed as "friend" first in their description). If you do not know Phil's music, buy any compilation Elektra and A & M put out, as well as "In Concert" and "Pleasures Of The Harbour". I'm happy to see a documentary on Phil finally being done. Not perfect, but more than recommended.

This movie was a stunning and stirring tribute to two things: 1)The beloved (and neglected) musician, Phil Ochs, and 2)The oft- tributed 1960's. Weaving the topical songwriter's biography through the fascinating history of his time helps to make sense of the indelible stamp which that decade left on our souls. Appropriately, it doesn't end well, but it does capture that "we can change the world" empowerment that may presently and forever be rekindled.

Here you will find beautiful music(but seldom the whole song) and filmed insights into the early Greenwich Village folk scene, the riots at the 1968 Democratic Convention, the assassination of the Kennedy's, and as Phil embraced the world-at-large, the CIA-backed coup that helped install South American dictator, Pinochet. Here is understanding for that phrase, "the personal is political and the political is personal."

The real power-punch is that once you know his songs.. The themes are regrettably still relevant after 40+ years ! Sample these lyrics (from 1965), "We own half the world, Oh Say Can You See. And the name for our profits is democracy. So like it or not you will have to be free. Cause we're the cops of the world." Well, one update is necessary.. Because of those imperialistic policies we no longer own half the world.

If only Phil were with us now I have no doubt he could have similarly and poetically explained the financial collapse, the tea party, Citizens United, Iraq and Afghanistan, and the Wisconsin attack on unions. His manic-depressive curse was to perceive the world through a deeply felt lens of social justice which filtered out media distortion and political complexities and distilled the truth into a tune you could hum. Many "protest singers" of the time attempted this but nobody did it better.