:Phil Ochs

Philip David Ochs was born on December 19, 1940,Stanton, p. 351 in El Paso, Texas, to Jacob "Jack" Ochs (August 11, 1909 – April 30, 1963),{{Cite web |title=Texas, U.S., Naturalization Records, 1852-1991 |url=https://www.ancestry.com/sharing/24286782?mark=7b22746f6b656e223a2239347539754844416d4751365a696b4c6672577559554e55693033796367375332353971533336326d59303d222c22746f6b656e5f76657273696f6e223a225632227d |access-date=2024-10-13 |website=Ancestry.com |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=Ohio, U.S., Death Records, 1908-1932, 1938-2022 |url=https://www.ancestry.com/sharing/24288301?mark=7b22746f6b656e223a2258475662526233466c556354573830496e587079556874655257645571597374756f64714e57437a7947733d222c22746f6b656e5f76657273696f6e223a225632227d |access-date=2024-10-13 |website=Ancestry.com |language=en-US}} a physician who was born in New YorkSchumacher, p. 13. to Polish-Jewish parents, and Gertrude Ochs (née Phin; February 26, 1912 – March 9, 1994),{{Cite web |title=U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 |url=https://www.ancestry.com/sharing/24286906?mark=7b22746f6b656e223a22566d582b396f326a766b2b464c47575a6b5178525077654a48662b2f695073616a304b6e6e6848436167453d222c22746f6b656e5f76657273696f6e223a225632227d |access-date=2024-10-13 |website=Ancestry.com |language=en-US}} who was born in ScotlandSchumacher, pp. 11–12. to Jewish parents. His parents met and married in Edinburgh where Jack was attending medical school,Brend, p. 100. and afterwards moved to the United States. Ochs grew up with an older sister, Sonia (known as Sonny, born April 12, 1937),{{Cite web |title=U.S., Consular Reports of Births, 1910-1949 |url=https://www.ancestry.com/sharing/24291048?mark=7b22746f6b656e223a22726b33525359735377326c32486148725938664354376a4f5133524f6a74527277536d47573143637547633d222c22746f6b656e5f76657273696f6e223a225632227d |access-date=2024-10-13 |website=Ancestry.com |language=en-US}} and a younger brother, Michael (born February 27, 1943).{{Cite web |title=Texas, U.S., Birth Index, 1903-1997 |url=https://www.ancestry.com/sharing/24290957?mark=7b22746f6b656e223a224444724c727677705066583368636f342b6b6435504f484c4c6f4d707177414e533741447365436f7748383d222c22746f6b656e5f76657273696f6e223a225632227d |access-date=2024-10-13 |website=Ancestry.com |language=en-US}}Cohen (1999), p.2

After being drafted into the army, Jack was sent overseas near the end of World War II and treated soldiers at the Battle of the Bulge. His war experiences, however, affected his mental health and he received an honorable medical discharge in November 1945.Schumacher, p. 17. Upon arriving home, Jack was hospitalized for bipolar disorder and depression,Schumacher, pp. 16–17, 21. and was distant from his wife and children. He was also unable to establish a successful medical practice and instead worked at a series of hospitals around the country. As a result, Ochs and his family moved frequently: first to Far Rockaway, New York, when Ochs was a teenager; then to Perrysburg in western New York, where he first studied music; and then to Columbus, Ohio.Schumacher, pp. 20, 23–24.

As a teen, Phil Ochs was recognized as a talented clarinet player; in an evaluation, one music instructor wrote: "You have exceptional musical feeling and the ability to transfer it on your instrument is abundant."Schumacher, p. 24. His musical skills allowed him to play clarinet with the orchestra at the Capital University Conservatory of Music in Ohio, where he rose to the status of principal soloist before he was 16. Although Ochs played classical music, he soon became interested in other music sounds he heard on the radio, such as early rock icons (Buddy Holly and Elvis Presley) and country artists (Merle Haggard, Faron Young, Ernest Tubb, Hank Williams, and Johnny Cash).Schumacher, pp. 24–27.

Ochs also spent a lot of time at the movies while living in Far Rockaway, as there were three theaters in town. Because his mother did not want to hire a babysitter, she instead gave her sons money and the brothers saw five to six films each week.Eliot (1989), p. 12, 13. He especially liked big screen heroes (John Wayne and Audie Murphy{{cite web| url=http://www.acousticmusicscene.com/2011/01/16/sonny-ochs-reflects-on-her-brother-phil-and-a-new-film-about-him/|title=Sonny Ochs Reflects on Her Brother Phil and a New Film About Him|last=Kornfeld |first=Michael|date=January 16, 2011|work=Acoustic Music Scene|access-date=January 18, 2011}}) and later developed an interest in movie rebels (Marlon Brando and James Dean).Eliot (1989), pp. 5, 8, 13.

From 1956 to 1958, Ochs was a student at the Staunton Military Academy in rural Virginia. After graduating, he returned to Columbus and enrolled at Ohio State University.Schumacher, pp. 26–28. Unhappy after his first quarter, 18-year-old Ochs took a leave of absence and traveled to Florida, where he was jailed for two weeks for sleeping on a park bench in Miami, an incident he would later recall:

Somewhere during the course of those fifteen days I decided to become a writer. My primary thought was journalism ... so in a flash, I decided—I'll be a writer and a major in journalism.{{Cite AV media notes |author=Phil Ochs |last2=Doggett |first2=P. |year=2001 |title=All the News That's Fit to Sing/I Ain't Marching Anymore |type=CD reissue |publisher=Elektra |id=8122 73564-2}}

File:Bob Gibson c 1960 (JJH).jpg was a major influence on Ochs' writing.]]

Ochs returned to Ohio State to study journalism and developed an interest in politics, with a particular interest in the Cuban Revolution of 1959. At Ohio State, he met Jim Glover, a fellow student who was a devotee of folk music and whose father was a socialist. Glover introduced Ochs to the music of Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, and the Weavers. Glover taught Ochs how to play guitar, and they debated politics. Ochs began writing newspaper articles, often on radical themes. When the student paper refused to publish some of his more radical articles, he started his own underground newspaper called The Word, as well as writing for the satire magazine, The Sundial, with fellow classmate R. L. Stine.{{Cite web |date=2015-04-28 |title=Phil and Me |url=https://celebratingphilochs.com/phil-and-me/ |access-date=2023-06-27 |website=Celebrating Phil Ochs |language=en}} His two main interests, politics and music, soon merged, and Ochs began writing topical political songs. Ochs and Glover formed a duet called "The Singing Socialists",{{cite news|title=The Power and the Glory|last=Houghton|first=Mick|author2=Allan Jones|date=March 2011|work=Uncut}} Page 60. later renamed "The Sundowners", but the duo broke up before their first professional performance and Glover went to New York City to become a folksinger.Schumacher, pp. 33–41.

Ochs' parents and younger brother had moved from Columbus to Cleveland, and Ochs started to spend more time there, performing professionally at a local folk club called Farragher's Back Room. He was the opening act for a number of musicians in the summer of 1961, including the Smothers Brothers.Schumacher, pp. 41–42. Ochs met folk singer Bob Gibson that summer as well, and according to Dave Van Ronk, Gibson became "the seminal influence" on Ochs' writing.Schumacher, p. 43. Ochs continued at Ohio State into his senior year, but was bitterly disappointed at not being appointed editor-in-chief of the college newspaper, and dropped out in his last quarter without graduating. He left for New York, as Glover had, to become a folksinger.Schumacher, pp. 44–45.

{{quote box|width=40%|quote=In the early 1960s, there was a folk music rebirth in this country with the likes of Peter, Paul and Mary, Joan Baez, Pete Seeger and Bob Dylan. Although his fame was probably limited, Ochs became an integral part of that crowd. His songs "Draft Dodger Rag" and "I Ain't Marching Anymore" became a rallying cry for the peace movement much the way that Dylan's did. |salign=right |author=Leba Hertz |source="'Phil Ochs' Review: A Voice Made for Marching", San Francisco Chronicle, March 18, 2011{{cite web |url=https://www.sfgate.com/movies/article/Phil-Ochs-review-A-voice-made-for-marching-2389322.php |title='Phil Ochs' Review: A Voice Made for Marching |first=Leba |last=Hertz |date=March 18, 2011 |work=San Francisco Chronicle |access-date=November 20, 2018 }} }}

Ochs arrived in New York City in 1962 and began performing in numerous small folk nightclubs, eventually becoming an integral part of the Greenwich Village folk music scene.Schumacher, p. 53. He emerged as an unpolished but passionate vocalist who wrote pointed songs about current events: war, civil rights, labor struggles and other topics. While others described his music as "protest songs", Ochs preferred the term "topical songs".Brend, pp. 101–102.

However, in order to get by, in November 1962, Ochs accepted $50 to record a children's album, a collection of traditional popular campfire songs, titled Camp Favorites (1963).{{Cite web |date=1963 |title=Phil Ochs - First Real Album (Campfire Songs) |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7D91B6ind6U |access-date=May 3, 2024 |website=YouTube |via=June 2, 2014}} In 1963, Cameo Records released this budget LP.{{Cite web |date=1963 |title=The Campers – Camp Favorites |url=https://www.discogs.com/release/4319109-The-Campers-Camp-Favorites |access-date=May 3, 2024 |website=Discogs}} Ochs requested his name not be used and it wasn't until well after his death that its existence became known. The Campers consists of Ochs (who is not credited on the record), an unknown female vocalist and a group of children.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2015-08-17 |title=Camp Favorites |url=https://celebratingphilochs.com/camp-favorites/ |access-date=2024-05-03 |website=Celebrating Phil Ochs |language=en}}Cohen, David. "Another Side of Phil Ochs". 2000.

Ochs described himself as a "singing journalist",{{cite book |last=Buckley |first=Peter |title=The Rough Guide to Rock: The Definitive Guide to More Than 1200 Artists and Bands |edition=3 |year=2003 |publisher=Rough Guides |location=London |isbn=978-1-85828-457-6 |page=[https://archive.org/details/roughguidetorock00roug/page/742 742] |url=https://archive.org/details/roughguidetorock00roug/page/742 }} saying he built his songs from stories he read in Newsweek.Schumacher, p. 54. By the summer of 1963, he was sufficiently well known in folk circles to be invited to sing at the Newport Folk Festival, where he performed "Too Many Martyrs" (co-written with Bob Gibson), "Talking Birmingham Jam", and "Power and the Glory"—his patriotic Guthrie-esque anthem that brought the audience to its feet. Other performers at the 1963 folk festival included Peter, Paul and Mary, Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, and Tom Paxton.Schumacher, pp. 59–63. Ochs' return appearance at Newport in 1964, where he performed "Draft Dodger Rag," "Talking Vietnam Blues," and other songs, was widely praised.Schumacher, p. 84. However, he was not invited to appear in 1965, the festival when Dylan famously performed "Maggie's Farm" with an electric guitar. Although many in the folk world decried Dylan's choice, Ochs admired Dylan's courage in defying the folk establishment, and publicly defended him.Schumacher, pp. 98, 101–104.{{cite news |first=Phil |last=Ochs |title=It Ain't Me, Babe |work=The Village Voice |date=August 12, 1967 }}

In 1963, Ochs performed at New York's Carnegie Hall and Town Hall in hootenannies.Schumacher, p. 67. He made his first solo appearance at Carnegie Hall in 1966.Schumacher, pp. 112–115. Throughout his career, Ochs would perform at a wide range of venues, including civil rights rallies, anti-war demonstrations, and concert halls.Cohen (1999), pp. 12–15.

Ochs contributed many songs and articles to the influential Broadside Magazine.Schumacher, pp. 54–55.{{cite web |url=https://folkways.si.edu/search?query=Phil+Ochs |title=Smithsonian Folkways Recordings |publisher=Folkways.si.edu |access-date=March 24, 2018 }} He recorded his first three albums for Elektra Records: All the News That's Fit to Sing (1964), I Ain't Marching Anymore (1965), and Phil Ochs in Concert (1966).Cohen (1999), pp. 189–191. Critics wrote that each album was better than its predecessors, and fans seemed to agree; record sales increased with each new release.Schumacher, pp. 91–92, 117.

On these records, Ochs was accompanied only by an acoustic guitar. The albums contain many of Ochs's topical songs, such as "Too Many Martyrs", "I Ain't Marching Anymore", and "Draft Dodger Rag"; and some musical reinterpretation of older poetry, such as "The Highwayman" (poem by Alfred Noyes) and "The Bells" (poem by Edgar Allan Poe). Phil Ochs in Concert includes some more introspective songs, such as "Changes" and "When I'm Gone".Eliot (1989), pp. 77, 86–89, 99–103.Schumacher, pp. 76–77, 90–91, 116–117.

During the early period of his career, Ochs and Bob Dylan had a friendly rivalry. Dylan said of Ochs, "I just can't keep up with Phil—and he's gettin' better and better".{{cite news |first=Karl |last=Dallas |title=Dylan Said It—'I Can't Keep Up With Phil' |work=Melody Maker |page=10 |date=November 27, 1965 }} On another occasion, when Ochs criticized either "One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)" or "Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?" (sources differ), Dylan threw him out of his limousine, saying, "You're not a folk singer. You're a journalist."Schumacher, p. 106.

In 1962, Ochs married Alice Skinner, who was pregnant with their daughter Meegan, in a City Hall ceremony with Jim Glover as best man and Jean Ray as bridesmaid, and witnessed by Dylan's girlfriend at the time, Suze Rotolo.{{cite book|last=Rotolo|first=Suze|author-link=Suze Rotolo|title=A freewheelin' time: a memoir of Greenwich Village in the sixties|year=2008|publisher=Broadway Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-7679-2687-4|page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780767926874/page/249 249]|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780767926874/page/249}}Eliot (1979), pp. 61-63. Phil and Alice separated in 1965, but they never divorced.Schumacher, pp. 58, 67, 92.Eliot (1989), p. 148.

Like many people of his generation, Ochs deeply admired President John F. Kennedy, even though he disagreed with the president on issues such as the Bay of Pigs Invasion, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the growing involvement of the United States in the Vietnamese civil war. When Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963, Ochs wept. He told his wife that he thought he was going to die that night. It was the only time she ever saw Ochs cry.Schumacher, p. 68.Schumacher, pp. 68–69.

Ochs's managers during this part of his career were Albert Grossman (who also managed Bob Dylan, Peter, Paul, and Mary and Gordon Lightfoot) followed by Arthur Gorson.Eliot (1989), p. 64, 94. Gorson had close ties with such groups as Americans For Democratic Action, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and Students for a Democratic Society.Eliot (1989), pp. 66–67.

Ochs was writing songs at a fast pace. Some of the songs he wrote during this period were held back and recorded on his later albums.Schumacher, pp. 118, 149.

In 1967, Ochs—now managed by his brother Michael—left Elektra Records for A&M Records and moved to Los Angeles, California.Schumacher, pp. 129–130, 134. He recorded four studio albums for A&M: Pleasures of the Harbor (1967), Tape from California (1968), Rehearsals for Retirement (1969), and the ironically titled Greatest Hits (1970; which actually consisted of all new material).Cohen (1999), pp. 191–193. For his A&M albums, Ochs moved away from simply produced solo acoustic guitar performances and experimented with ensemble and even orchestral instrumentation, "baroque-folk",Brend, p. 106. in the hopes of producing a pop-folk hybrid that would be a hit.Eliot (1989), pp. 131–133.

Critic Robert Christgau, writing in Esquire of Pleasures of the Harbor in May 1968, did not consider this new direction a good turn. While describing Ochs as "unquestionably a nice guy", he went on to say, "too bad his voice shows an effective range of about half an octave [and] his guitar playing would not suffer much if his right hand were webbed." "Pleasures of the Harbor", Christgau continued, "epitomizes the decadence that has infected pop since Sgt. Pepper. [The] gaudy musical settings ... inspire nostalgia for the three-chord strum."{{cite web |url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/bk-aow/column3.php |title=Dylan-Beatles-Stones-Donovan-Who, Dionne Warwick and Dusty Springfield, John Fred, California |access-date=January 24, 2009 |last=Christgau |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Christgau |date=May 1968 |work=Esquire }}

With an ironic sense of humor, Ochs included Christgau's "webbed hand" comment in his 1968 songbook The War is Over on a page titled "The Critics Raved", opposite a full-page picture of Ochs standing in a large metal garbage can.Ochs (1968), p. 44. Despite his sense of humor, Ochs was unhappy that his work was not receiving the critical acclaim and popular success he had hoped to achieve.Schumacher, p. 166. Still, Ochs would joke on the back cover of Greatest Hits that there were 50 Phil Ochs fans ("50 fans can't be wrong!"), a sarcastic reference to an Elvis Presley album that bragged of 50 million Elvis fans.Schumacher, p. 226.

None of Ochs's songs became hits, although "Outside of a Small Circle of Friends" received a good deal of airplay. It reached No. 119 on Billboard{{'}}s national "Hot Prospect" listing before being pulled from some radio stations because of its lyrics, which included "smoking marijuana is more fun than drinking beer".Eliot (1989), pp. 136–137. It was the closest Ochs ever came to the Top 40. Joan Baez, however, did have a Top Ten hit in the U.K. in August 1965, reaching No. 8 with her recording of Ochs's song "There but for Fortune",{{cite book |last=Warner |first=Jay |title=Notable Moments of Women in Music |year=2008 |publisher=Hal Leonard |location=Milwaukee, Wisc. |isbn=978-1-4234-2951-7 |page=[https://archive.org/details/notablemomentsof0000warn/page/133 133] |url=https://archive.org/details/notablemomentsof0000warn/page/133 }}{{Pop Chronicles|34|3}} which was also nominated for a Grammy Award for "Best Folk Recording".{{cite book |last=Taylor |first=Timothy Dean |title=Global Pop: World Music, World Markets |url=https://archive.org/details/globalpopworldmu00tayl |url-access=registration |year=1997 |publisher=Routledge |location=New York City|isbn=978-0-415-91872-5 |page=[https://archive.org/details/globalpopworldmu00tayl/page/225 225] }} In the U.S. it peaked at No. 50 on the Billboard charts{{cite magazine |url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p1917|pure_url=yes}} |title=Billboard singles |magazine=Billboard | access-date=February 3, 2009 }}—a good showing, but not a hit.Schumacher, p. 95.

Although he was trying new things musically, Ochs did not abandon his protest roots. He was profoundly concerned with the escalation of the Vietnam War, performing tirelessly at anti-war rallies across the country. In 1967, he organized two rallies to declare that "The War Is Over"—"Is everybody sick of this stinking war? In that case, friends, do what I and thousands of other Americans have done—declare the war over."{{cite news |first=Phil |last=Ochs |title=Have You Heard? The War is Over! |work=The Village Voice |date=November 23, 1967 }}; reprinted in Ochs (1968), p. 92; excerpted in Schumacher, p. 171.—one in Los Angeles in June, the other in New York in November.Schumacher, pp. 139–148, 170–173. He continued to write and record anti-war songs, such as "The War Is Over" and "White Boots Marching in a Yellow Land". Other topical songs of this period include "Outside of a Small Circle of Friends", inspired by the murder of Kitty Genovese, who was stabbed to death outside of her New York City apartment building while dozens of her neighbors reportedly ignored her cries for help, and "William Butler Yeats Visits Lincoln Park and Escapes Unscathed", about the despair he felt in the aftermath of the Chicago 1968 Democratic National Convention police riot.Schumacher, pp. 149, 208.

Ochs was writing more personal songs as well, such as "Crucifixion", in which he compared the deaths of Jesus Christ and assassinated President John F. Kennedy as part of a "cycle of sacrifice" in which people build up heroes and then celebrate their destruction; "Chords of Fame", a warning against the dangers and corruption of fame; "Pleasures of the Harbor", a lyrical portrait of a lonely sailor seeking human connection far from home; and "Boy in Ohio", a plaintive look back at Ochs's childhood in Columbus.Eliot (1989), p. 193.Schumacher, pp. 110, 160, 214–215, 223–224.

A lifelong movie fan, Ochs worked the narratives of justice and rebellion that he had seen in films into his music, describing some of his songs as "cinematic".For example, in the spoken introduction to "Ringing of Revolution" on Phil Ochs in Concert. He was disappointed and bitter when his onetime hero John Wayne embraced the Vietnam War with what Ochs saw as the blind patriotism of Wayne's 1968 film, The Green Berets:

[H]ere we have John Wayne, who was a major artistic and psychological figure on the American scene, ... who at one point used to make movies of soldiers who had a certain validity, ... a certain sense of honor [about] what the soldier was doing. ... Even if it was a cavalry movie doing a historically dishonorable thing to the Indians, even as there was a feeling of what it meant to be a man, what it meant to have some sense of duty. ... Now today we have the same actor making his new war movie in a war so hopelessly corrupt that, without seeing the movie, I'm sure it is perfectly safe to say that it will be an almost {{Sic|?|hide=y|technically|-}}robot-view of soldiery, just by definition of how the whole country has deteriorated. And I think it would make a very interesting double feature to show a good old Wayne movie like, say, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon with The Green Berets. Because that would make a very striking comment on what has happened to America in general.{{cite journal |last=Cunningham |first=Sis |author-link=Sis Cunningham |author2=Gordon Friesen |year=1968 |title=Interview with Phil Ochs |journal=Broadside Magazine |issue=91 |author2-link=Gordon Friesen }}; quoted in Schumacher, p. 178.

Ochs was involved in the creation of the Youth International Party, known as the Yippies, along with Jerry Rubin, Abbie Hoffman, Stew Albert, and Paul Krassner.Eliot (1989), p. 140. At the same time, Ochs actively supported Eugene McCarthy's more mainstream bid for the 1968 Democratic nomination for President, a position at odds with the more radical Yippie point of view.Schumacher, p. 182–184.Despite their disagreements, the Yippies used several Ochs songs in their media, in particular, the anti-war "I Ain't Marching Anymore". For example, see [http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/videodir/pacificaviet/yippie.ram this Yippie-produced documentary] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080528201004/http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/videodir/pacificaviet/yippie.ram |date=May 28, 2008 }}. Still, Ochs helped plan the Yippies' "Festival of Life" which was to take place at the 1968 Democratic National Convention along with demonstrations by other anti-war groups including the National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam.Brend, pp. 106–107.

Despite warnings that there might be trouble, Ochs went to Chicago both as a guest of the McCarthy campaign and to participate in the demonstrations. He performed in Lincoln Park, Grant Park, and at the Chicago Coliseum, witnessed the violence perpetrated by the Chicago police against the protesters, and was arrested at one point.Schumacher, pp. 194–196.See also the documentary film [https://vimeo.com/64409865 Conventions: The Land Around Us] at Vimeo Ochs also purchased the young boar who became known as the Yippie 1968 Presidential candidate "Pigasus the Immortal" from a farm in Illinois.{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wChZDwAAQBAJ&q=phil+ochs+bought+pigasus&pg=PT89 |title = Uncle John's Unsinkable Bathroom Reader|isbn = 9781607104605|last1 = Institute|first1 = Bathroom Readers'|date = October 2011| publisher=Simon and Schuster }}{{Cite web | url=https://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/222656-yippie-party-pigasus-the-immortal-1969-i |title = YIPPIE Party Pigasus the Immortal 1969 Inauguration Vietnam Pinback Button Lot |work=Collectors Weekly}}

File:REHEARSALS.jpg]]

The events of 1968{{snd}}the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. and of Robert F. Kennedy weeks later, the Chicago police riot, and the election of Richard Nixon{{snd}}left Ochs feeling disillusioned and depressed.Schumacher, pp. 201, 204. The cover of his 1969 album Rehearsals for Retirement portrayed a tombstone with the words:

At the trial of the Chicago Seven in December 1969, Ochs testified for the defense. His testimony included his recitation of the lyrics to his song "I Ain't Marching Anymore". On his way out of the courthouse, Ochs sang the song for the press corps; to Ochs's amusement, his singing was broadcast that evening by Walter Cronkite on the CBS Evening News.Eliot (1989), pp. 175–188.

After the riot in Chicago and the subsequent trial, Ochs changed direction again. The events of 1968 convinced him that the average American was not listening to topical songs or responding to Yippie tactics. Ochs thought that by playing the sort of music that had moved him as a teenager he could speak more directly to the American public.Schumacher, pp. 222–223.

Ochs turned to his musical roots in country music and early rock and roll.Schumacher, p. 224. He decided he needed to be "part Elvis Presley and part Che Guevara",Schumacher, p. 227. so he commissioned a gold lamé suit from Elvis Presley's costumer Nudie Cohn.Brend, p. 108. Ochs wore the gold suit on the cover of his 1970 album, Greatest Hits, which consisted of new songs largely in rock and country styles.

Ochs went on tour wearing the gold suit, backed by a rock band, singing his own material along with medleys of songs by Buddy Holly, Elvis, and Merle Haggard. His fans did not know how to respond. This new Phil Ochs drew a hostile reaction from his audience. Ochs's March 27, 1970, concerts at Carnegie Hall were the most successful, and by the end of that night's second show, Ochs had won over many in the crowd.{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/WolfFiles/story?id=92624|title=The Sad End of the First Elvis Impersonator|last=Wolf|first=Buck|date=August 16, 2001|publisher=ABC News|access-date=October 31, 2015}} The show was recorded and released as Gunfight at Carnegie Hall.Schumacher, pp. 227–233.

During this period, Ochs was taking drugs to get through performances. He had been taking Valium for years to help control his nerves, and he was also drinking heavily.Schumacher, pp. 216–217, 233. Pianist Lincoln Mayorga said of that period, "He was physically abusing himself very badly on that tour. He was drinking a lot of wine and taking uppers. The wine was pulling him one way and the uppers were pulling him another way, and he was kind of a mess. There were so many pharmaceuticals around – so many pills. I'd never seen anything like that."Schumacher, p. 233. Ochs tried to cut back on the pills, but alcohol remained his drug of choice for the rest of his life.Eliot (1989), pp. 207, 213, 236.Schumacher, pp. 260, 265, 275, 301–302, 310–311.

Depressed by his lack of widespread appreciation and suffering from writer's block, Ochs did not record any further albums.Schumacher, pp. 226, 235, 255. He slipped deeper into depression and alcoholism. His personal problems notwithstanding, Ochs performed at the inaugural benefit for Greenpeace on October 16, 1970, at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, British Columbia. A recording of his performance, along with performances by Joni Mitchell and James Taylor, was released by Greenpeace in 2009.

File:Phil Ochs rewrite of his song.jpg" into "Here's to the State of Richard Nixon". Typed at the apartment of Chip Berlet in 1974 prior to Ochs's performance of the song at Impeachment Ball. Copy sent to his brother Michael Ochs for registration. Original at Chicago History Museum.]]

In August 1971, Ochs went to Chile, where Salvador Allende, a Marxist, had been democratically elected in the 1970 election. There he met Chilean folksinger Víctor Jara, an Allende supporter, and the two became friends. In October, Ochs left Chile to visit Argentina. Later that month, after singing at a political rally in Uruguay, he and his American traveling companion David Ifshin were arrested and detained overnight. When the two returned to Argentina, they were arrested as they left the airplane. After a brief stay in an Argentinian prison, Ochs and Ifshin were sent to Bolivia via a commercial airliner where authorities were to detain them.Schumacher, pp. 239–253.

Ifshin had previously been warned by Argentinian leftist friends that when the authorities sent dissidents to Bolivia, they would disappear forever. When the airliner arrived in Bolivia, the American captain of the Braniff International Airways aircraft allowed Ochs and Ifshin to stay on the aircraft and barred Bolivian authorities from entering. The aircraft then flew to Peru where the two disembarked and they were not detained. Fearful that Peruvian authorities might arrest him, Ochs returned to the United States a few days later.

Ochs was having difficulties writing new songs during this period, but he had occasional breakthroughs. He updated his sarcastic song "Here's to the State of Mississippi" as "Here's to the State of Richard Nixon", with cutting lines such as "the speeches of the Spiro are the ravings of a clown", a reference to Nixon's vitriolic vice president, Spiro Agnew—sung as "the speeches of the President are the ravings of a clown" after Agnew's resignation.Schumacher, p. 255.Eliot, p. 216.The "Spiro" lyrics can be heard in {{YouTube|Qxk0x5wuRH0|this clip}} from the 1971 "Free John Sinclair" rally. The "President" lyrics can be heard in the 1974 single release.

Ochs was personally invited by John Lennon to sing at a large benefit at the University of Michigan in December 1971 on behalf of John Sinclair, an activist poet who had been arrested on minor drug charges and given a severe sentence. Ochs performed at the John Sinclair Freedom Rally along with Stevie Wonder, Allen Ginsberg, David Peel, Abbie Hoffman, and many others. The rally culminated with Lennon and Yoko Ono, who were making their first public performance in the United States since the breakup of the Beatles.Schumacher, pp. 256–259.

Although the 1968 election had left him deeply disillusioned, Ochs continued to work for the election campaigns of anti-war candidates, such as George McGovern's unsuccessful Presidential bid in 1972.Schumacher, pp. 262–263.

In 1972, Ochs was asked to write the theme song for the film Kansas City Bomber. The task proved difficult, as he struggled to overcome his writer's block. Although his song was not used in the soundtrack, it was released as a single.Schumacher, pp. 263–264, 269, 271.

File:Mackay296.jpg, May 1973]]

In mid-1972, Ochs traveled to Australia and New ZealandSchumacher, pp. 264–271. and then to Africa the following year, where he visited Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, and South Africa. While visiting Tanzania one night, he was attacked and choked by robbers in Dar es Salaam, which damaged his vocal cords, causing a loss of the top three notes in his vocal range.{{cite web|title=Phil Ochs Biography|url=http://www.sonnyochs.com/philbio.html | publisher=SonnyOchs.com| access-date=April 17, 2009}} The attack also exacerbated his growing mental problems, and he became increasingly paranoid. Ochs believed the attack may have been arranged by US government agents, perhaps the CIA. Still, he continued his trip, even recording a single in Kenya, "Bwatue".Schumacher, pp. 279–285.

On September 11, 1973, the Allende government of Chile was overthrown in a coup d'état. Allende committed suicide during the bombing of the presidential palace,{{cite news |title=Chile court confirms Salvador Allende committed suicide |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-19567445 |publisher=BBC News |date=September 12, 2012}} and singer Victor Jara was rounded up with other professors and students, tortured and murdered.{{cite news |last1=Haberman |first1=Clyde |title=He Died Giving a Voice to Chile's Poor. A Quest for Justice Took Decades.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/18/us/victor-jara.html |work=The New York Times |date=November 18, 2018|access-date=September 14, 2023}} When Ochs heard about the manner in which his friend had been killed, he was outraged and decided to organize a benefit concert to bring to public attention the situation in Chile, and raise funds for the people of Chile. The concert, "An Evening with Salvador Allende", was held on May 9, 1974, at New York City's Felt Forum, included films of Allende; singers such as Pete Seeger, Arlo Guthrie, Dave Van Ronk, and Bob Dylan; and political activists such as former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark. Dylan had agreed to perform at the last minute when he heard that the concert had sold so few tickets that it was in danger of being canceled. Once his participation was announced, the event quickly sold out.Schumacher, pp. 287–297.

After the Chile benefit, Ochs and Dylan discussed the possibility of a joint concert tour, playing small nightclubs. Nothing came of the Dylan-Ochs plans, but the idea eventually evolved into Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue.Schumacher, pp. 298–299.

The Vietnam War ended on April 30, 1975.{{cite book |last=Schomp |first=Virginia |title=The Vietnam War |year=2002 |publisher=Benchmark Books |location=Tarrytown, N.Y. |isbn=978-0-7614-1099-7 |page=[https://archive.org/details/vietnamwar00scho/page/78 78] |url=https://archive.org/details/vietnamwar00scho |url-access=registration }} Ochs planned a final "War Is Over" rally, which was held in New York's Central Park on May 11. More than 100,000 people came to hear Ochs, joined by Harry Belafonte, Odetta, Pete Seeger, Paul Simon and others. Ochs and Joan Baez sang a duet of "There but for Fortune" and he closed with his song "The War Is Over".Schumacher, pp. 304–306.

Ochs' drinking became more and more of a problem, and his behavior became increasingly erratic. He frightened his friends both with his drunken rants about the FBI and CIA and about his claiming to want to have Elvis' manager Colonel Tom Parker or Kentucky Fried Chicken's Colonel Sanders manage his career.Schumacher, pp. 310–311.

In mid-1975, Ochs took on the identity of John Butler Train. He told people that Train had murdered Ochs and that he, John Butler Train, had replaced him. Ochs was convinced that someone was trying to kill him, so he carried a weapon at all times: a hammer, a knife, or a lead pipe.Schumacher, pp. 312–318

His brother, Michael, attempted to have him committed to a psychiatric hospital. Friends pleaded with him to get help voluntarily. They feared for his safety because he was getting into fights with bar patrons. Unable to pay his rent, he began living on the streets.Schumacher, pp. 327–333.

After several months, the Train persona faded and Ochs returned, but his talk of suicide disturbed his friends and family. They hoped it was a passing phase, but Ochs was determined.Schumacher, pp. 339–341. One of his biographers explains Ochs' motivation:

{{Blockquote|By Phil's thinking, he had died a long time ago: he had died politically in Chicago in 1968 in the violence of the Democratic National Convention; he had died professionally in Africa a few years later when he had been strangled and felt that he could no longer sing; he had died spiritually when Chile had been overthrown and his friend Victor Jara had been brutally murdered; and, finally, he had died psychologically at the hands of John Train.Schumacher, p. 341.}}

On Christmas Eve 1975, Ochs visited the apartment of Larry Sloman and Dave Peller, which he had done semi-frequently near the end of 1975. On this particular evening, Peller recorded Ochs singing ten songs, five of them new and intended for an album that "would be an unflinching narrative of his psychosis over the past year"{{cite web |last1=Peller |first1=Dave |title=Phil Ochs' Last Recording |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzFQBASpfKk |website=YouTube|date=April 8, 2016 }} which went by the working title of Duels in the Sun. Five other songs were also in some level of completion by this time. A second tape, possibly recorded before Christmas Eve, features additional songs intended for this project.{{cite web |last1=Sloman |first1=Larry |title=Phil Ochs Last Recording - Tape II |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGLaxHfybQk |website=YouTube|date=December 24, 2023 }} This album would never come to fruition beyond these two recordings.

In January 1976, Ochs moved to Far Rockaway, New York, to live with his sister Sonny. He was lethargic; his only activities were watching television and playing cards with his nephews. Ochs saw a psychiatrist, who diagnosed him with bipolar disorder. He was prescribed medication, and he told his sister he was taking it.After Ochs's death, his sister found he had been lying about taking his medication. Schumacher, p. 349. On April 9, 1976, Ochs died by suicide by hanging himself in Sonny's home.Schumacher, pp. 344–352.

Years after his death, it was revealed that the FBI had a file of nearly 500 pages on Ochs.Blair, p. 4. Much of the information in those files relates to his association with counterculture figures, protest organizers, musicians, and other people described by the FBI as "subversive".Eliot (1989), pp. 301–308. The FBI was often sloppy in collecting information about Ochs: his name was frequently misspelled "Oakes" in their files, and they continued to consider him "potentially dangerous"Schumacher, p. 355. after his death.

Congresswoman Bella Abzug (Democrat from New York), an outspoken anti-war activist who had appeared at the 1975 "War is Over" rally, entered this statement into the Congressional Record on April 29, 1976:

{{Blockquote|Mr. Speaker, a few weeks ago, a young folksinger whose music personified the protest mood of the 1960s took his own life. Phil Ochs – whose original compositions were compelling moral statements against the war in Southeast Asia – apparently felt that he had run out of words.

While his tragic action was undoubtedly motivated by terrible personal despair, his death is a political as well as an artistic tragedy. I believe it is indicative of the despair many of the activists of the 1960s are experiencing as they perceive a government that continues the distortion of national priorities that is exemplified in the military budget we have before us.

Phil Ochs's poetic pronouncements were part of a larger effort to galvanize his generation into taking action to prevent war, racism, and poverty. He left us a legacy of important songs that continue to be relevant in 1976—even though "the war is over".

Just one year ago—during this week of the anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War—Phil recruited entertainers to appear at the "War is Over" celebration in Central Park, at which I spoke.

It seems particularly appropriate that this week we should commemorate the contributions of this extraordinary young man.{{cite journal |last=Abzug |first=Bella |author-link=Bella Abzug |title=Death of Phil Ochs| date=April 29, 1976 |journal=Congressional Record |volume=122 |issue=10 }}, quoted in Schumacher, pp. 354–355.}}

Robert Christgau, who had been so critical of Pleasures of the Harbor and Ochs's guitar skills eight years earlier, wrote warmly of Ochs in his obituary in The Village Voice. "I came around to liking Phil Ochs's music, guitar included," Christgau wrote. "My affection [for Ochs] no doubt prejudiced me, so it is worth [noting] that many observers who care more for folk music than I do remember both his compositions and his vibrato tenor as close to the peak of the genre."{{cite web |url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/rock/ochs-76.php |title=Phil Ochs 1940–1976 |access-date=January 28, 2009 |last=Christgau |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Christgau |date=April 19, 1976 |work=The Village Voice }}

On May 28, 1976, at New York City's Felt Forum, a memorial concert was held for Ochs. Spearheaded by Michael and Sonny Ochs, the over six hour concert consisted of performances of Ochs's best known material by many of his peers and influences, including Dave Van Ronk, Pete Seeger, Jim Glover, Jean Ray, Melanie, Bob Gibson, and Peter Yarrow, with spoken Ed Sanders written tributes delivered by Jerry Rubin and Ramsey Clark.{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/05/28/archives/the-pop-life-friends-of-phil-ochs-sing-a-tribute-to-him-tonight-at.html | title=The Pop Life | work=The New York Times | date=May 28, 1976 }}

Almost fifty years after his death, Ochs's songs remain relevant.{{cite web|url=http://acousticmusicscene.com/2016/04/06/remembering-phil-ochs-on-the-40th-anniversary-of-his-death/|title=Remembering Phil Ochs on the 40th Anniversary of His Death|last=Kornfeld|first=Michael|date=April 6, 2016|publisher=AcousticMusicScene.com|access-date=April 14, 2016|quote=Many of [Ochs'] songs became anthems for the anti-war movement during the turbulent 1960s, and his music continues to influence and inspire songwriters today – 40 years after his death}} His work continues to influence singers and fans worldwide, most of whom never saw him perform live. There are mailing lists and online discussion groups dedicated to Ochs and his music;{{cite web |url=http://web.cecs.pdx.edu/~trent/ochs/maillist.html |title=Phil Ochs Mailing List|website=Web.csc.pdx.edu |access-date=January 28, 2009 }}{{cite web |url=http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/phil-ochs/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120709235255/http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/phil-ochs/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 9, 2012 |title=Phil Ochs Yahoo! Group|website=Launch.groups.yahoo.com |access-date=January 28, 2009 }} websites that have music samples, photographs, and other links;{{cite web |url=https://myspace.com/philochsmusic/ |title=Phil Ochs on MySpace|website=Myspace.com |access-date=March 18, 2015 }}{{cite web |url=http://www.nomoresongs.com/ |title=No More Songs |website=Nomoresongs.org |access-date=January 28, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180307043314/http://nomoresongs.com/ |archive-date=March 7, 2018 |url-status=dead }} and articles and books continue to be written and published about him.Examples include {{citation | last=Marlatt | first=Jayne Stewart | title=There but for Fortune: A Critical Analysis of the Protest Rhetoric of Phil Ochs | publisher=California State University, Sacramento | year=1985 }}, {{cite journal |last=Niemi |first=Robert |date=Winter 1993 |title=JFK as Jesus: The Politics of Myth in Phil Ochs' 'Crucifixion' |journal=Journal of American Culture |volume= 16|issue= 4|pages=35–40 |doi=10.1111/j.1542-734X.1993.00035.x }}, and {{cite journal |title=Tribute to Phil Ochs |journal=Big Bridge |volume=9 |url=http://www.bigbridge.org/issue9/ochstitlepage.htm |access-date=January 28, 2009 |archive-date=August 21, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080821132958/http://www.bigbridge.org/issue9/ochstitlepage.htm |url-status=dead }}

His sister, Sonny Ochs (Tanzman), runs a series of "Phil Ochs Song Nights" with a rotating group of performers who keep Ochs's music and legacy alive by singing his songs in cities across the U.S.{{cite web |url=http://www.sonnyochs.com/remembering.html |title=History of Phil Ochs Song Nights |access-date=October 5, 2010|last=Ochs |first=Sonny |publisher=SonnyOchs.com}} His brother Michael Ochs is a photographic archivist of 20th-century music and entertainment personalities.{{cite web |url=http://company.gettyimages.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=151&isource=corporate_website_ind_press_release |title=Getty Images Acquires the Michael Ochs Archives |access-date=January 28, 2009 |date=February 27, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110711091018/http://company.gettyimages.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=151&isource=corporate_website_ind_press_release |archive-date=July 11, 2011 }} His daughter Meegan Lee Ochs worked with Michael to produce a box set of Ochs's music titled Farewells & Fantasies, the title of which was taken from Ochs's sign-off on the "postcard" on the back of Tape from California: "Farewells & Fantasies, Folks, P. Ochs".{{cite web |url=http://freepress.org/Backup/UnixBackup/pubhtml/culture/philochs.html |title=Phil Ochs: Pleasures of the Puzzle |access-date=January 28, 2009 |last=Cohen |first=David |date=December 4, 1997 |work=Columbus Free Press }}{{cite AV media notes |title=Tape from California |others=Phil Ochs |year=1968 |last=Ochs |first=Phil |type=LP |publisher=A&M }} Meegan has a son named Caiden Finn Potter, Ochs's only grandchild.{{cite web| url=http://sonnyochs.com/photos.html |title=Photo page | last=Ochs | first=Sonny | publisher=SonnyOchs.com |access-date=April 23, 2009}} Alice Skinner Ochs was a photographer;{{cite web |url=http://aliceochsphotography.com/ |title=Alice Ochs Photography |access-date=January 28, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081215035529/http://aliceochsphotography.com/ |archive-date=December 15, 2008 }} she died in November 2010.{{cite web| url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/marinij/obituary.aspx?n=alice-elizabeth-ochs&pid=146996915 | title=ALICE ELIZABETH OCHS Obituary|date=December 8, 2010|work=Marin Independent Journal|access-date=January 20, 2011}}

In February 2009, the North American Folk Music and Dance Alliance gave the 2009 Elaine Weissman Lifetime Achievement Award to Ochs.{{cite news |last=Tackett|first=Travis |url=http://www.bluegrassjournal.com/2008/10/24/folk-alliance-to-honor-old-town-school-of-folk-music-phil-ochs-guy-candie-carawan/ | title=Folk Alliance to honor Old Town School of Folk Music, Phil Ochs, Guy & Candie Carawan |date=October 24, 2008 |publisher=BluegrassJournal.com |access-date=March 18, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120219132731/http://www.bluegrassjournal.com/2008/10/24/folk-alliance-to-honor-old-town-school-of-folk-music-phil-ochs-guy-candie-carawan/ |archive-date=February 19, 2012 }}

In September 2014, Meegan Lee Ochs announced that she was donating her father's archives to the Woody Guthrie Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.{{cite web|url=http://woodyguthriecenter.org/blog/news/|title=Woody Guthrie Center to house artist Phil Ochs' work|date=September 2014|publisher=Woody Guthrie Center|access-date=September 9, 2014|archive-date=September 10, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140910200226/http://woodyguthriecenter.org/blog/news/|url-status=dead}} Included are many of his notebooks, journals, videotapes of his performances, the gold lamé suit, photographs, and other documents and memorabilia that Meegan had preserved since his death.{{cite news| url=http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/09/05/phil-ochs-archives-go-to-woody-guthrie-center/|title=Phil Ochs Archives Go to Woody Guthrie Center|last=Kozinn| first=Allan|date=September 5, 2014|work=The New York Times|access-date=September 9, 2014}}

{{Main|List of cover versions of Phil Ochs songs}}

Ochs's songs have been covered by scores of performers, including Joan Baez, Bastro, Cher, Judy Collins, John Denver, Ani DiFranco, Ronnie Gilbert, John Wesley Harding, Henry Cow, Jason & the Scorchers,{{cite web |url=http://www.furious.com/perfect/jasonscorchers.html |title=Scorched Earth |last=Crandall |first=Alan |date=July 1998 |work=Perfect Sound Forever |access-date=April 10, 2016 }} Jim and Jean, Jeannie Lewis,{{cite web |url=http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/17165 |title=What Phil Ochs Heard |last=Healy |first=Barry |date=July 29, 1998 |work=Green Left Weekly |access-date=April 10, 2016 }} Gordon Lightfoot, Melanie, Christy Moore,{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2005/oct/21/popandrock.shopping3 |title=Christy Moore, Burning Times |last=Denselow |first=Robin |author-link=Robin Denselow |date=October 20, 2005 |work=The Guardian |access-date=April 10, 2016 }} Morrissey, Pete Seeger, They Might Be Giants, Eddie Vedder, and the Weakerthans.Cohen (1999), pp. 273–294. Wyclef Jean performed "Here's to the State of Mississippi" in the 2009 documentary Soundtrack for a Revolution.{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/29/AR2010042901451.html |title=Movie Review: 'Soundtrack for a Revolution' |last=Hornaday |first=Ann |date=April 30, 2010 |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=April 10, 2016 }}

In 1998, Sliced Bread Records released What's That I Hear?: The Songs of Phil Ochs, a two-CD set of twenty-eight Ochs songs by singers such as Billy Bragg, John Gorka, Nanci Griffith, Arlo Guthrie, Magpie, Tom Paxton, and Peter Yarrow.{{cite web |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r347659|pure_url=yes}} |title=What's That I Hear?: The Songs of Phil Ochs |access-date=April 9, 2016 |last=Eder |first=Bruce |website=AllMusic}} The liner notes indicate that all record company profits from the sale of the set were to be divided between the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Southern California and Sing Out! magazine.{{Cite AV media |author=Phil Ochs |year=1998 |title=What's That I Hear?: The Songs of Phil Ochs |title-link=What's That I Hear?: The Songs of Phil Ochs |type=CD |publisher=Sliced Bread }}

Wood Records released an indie rock/experimental rock tribute album titled Poison Ochs: A Tribute to Phil Ochs in 2003.{{cite web |url=http://www.indieville.com/reviews/poisonochs.htm |title=Poison Ochs: A Tribute to Phil Ochs |access-date=April 8, 2016 |last=Shimmer |first=Matt |publisher=indieville.com }}

In 2005, Kind Of Like Spitting released an album, Learn: The Songs of Phil Ochs, consisting of covers of nine songs written by Ochs, to pay tribute to his music and raise awareness of the artist, whom they felt had been overlooked.{{cite web |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r790586|pure_url=yes}} |title=Learn: The Songs of Phil Ochs |access-date=January 28, 2009 |website=AllMusic }}{{cite AV media notes |title=Learn: The Songs of Phil Ochs |others=Kind Of Like Spitting |year=2005 |last=J. |first=David |type=CD |publisher=Hush |id=HSH052 }}

Jello Biafra and Mojo Nixon, on their album Prairie Home Invasion, recorded a version of "Love Me, I'm a Liberal" with lyrics updated to the Clinton era.Cohen (1999), p. 274. Evan Greer, part of the Riot-Folk collective, later updated the song for the George W. Bush era.{{cite web |url=http://www.riotfolk.org/popup.php?p=lyrics&id=205 |title=Love Me, I'm a Liberal (2003) |access-date=March 18, 2015 |last=Greer |first=Evan |publisher=Riot-Folk |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120308000618/http://www.riotfolk.org/popup.php?p=lyrics&id=205 |archive-date=March 8, 2012 }} Ryan Harvey, also part of Riot-Folk, remade "Cops Of The World" with updated lyrics.{{cite web |url=http://www.riotfolk.org/popup.php?p=lyrics&id=486 |title=Cops of the World |access-date=March 18, 2015 |last=Harvey |first=Ryan |publisher=Riot-Folk |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120106055435/http://www.riotfolk.org/popup.php?p=lyrics&id=486 |archive-date=January 6, 2012 }} The Clash used some of the lyrics to "United Fruit" in their song "Up in Heaven (Not Only Here)", which appeared on their 1980 album Sandinista!.Cohen (1999), p. 294. During their performance on VH1 Storytellers, Pearl Jam covered "Here's to the State of Mississippi" with updated lyrics to include Jerry Falwell, Dick Cheney, John Roberts, Alberto Gonzales, and George W. Bush.{{cite magazine |url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/58253/pearl-jam-tells-its-story-at-vh1-taping |title=Pearl Jam Tells Its 'Story' at VH1 Taping |date=June 2, 2006 |magazine=Billboard |access-date=April 10, 2016 }} In 2002, with the agreement of Ochs's sister Sonny, Richard Thompson added an extra verse to "I Ain't Marching Anymore" to reflect recent American foreign policy.{{cite web |url=http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2003/06/richard-thompson.html |title=Richard Thompson: Plunging the Knife in Deeper |access-date=April 10, 2016 |last=Winters |first=Pamela |date=June 9, 2003 |work=Paste }} Jefferson Starship recorded "I Ain't Marching Anymore" with additional lyrics by band member Cathy Richardson for their 2008 release Jefferson's Tree of Liberty.{{cite web |url=http://www.top40-charts.com/news.php?nid=42167 |title=New Jefferson Starship Album of Formative Folk Treasures: Jefferson's Tree of Liberty |publisher=Top40 Charts.com |date=August 8, 2008 |access-date=April 10, 2016 }}

Neil Young has cited Ochs as a major influence on his music. In a 1969 interview, Young said, "I really think Phil Ochs is a genius ... he's written fantastic, incredible songs – he's on the same level with Dylan in my eyes."{{cite book |last1=McDonough |first1=Jimmy |title=Shakey: Neil Young's Biography |date=2002 |publisher=Random House Canada |isbn=0-679-30940-3 |page=137 |edition=Hardback |url=https://archive.org/details/shakeyneilyoungs0000mcdo/page/n7/mode/2up?q=Ochs |access-date=October 12, 2022}} In 2013, Young performed "Changes" at Farm Aid{{cite magazine |url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/5719533/farm-aid-2013-pete-seeger-sings-out-neil-young-speaks-up-and-jack-johnson-cows |title=Farm Aid 2013: Pete Seeger Sings Out, Neil Young Speaks Up and Jack Johnson Cows Around |first=Thom |last=Duffy |date=September 23, 2013 |magazine=Billboard |access-date=April 10, 2016 }}{{youTube|c9gyHnWegb4|Neil Young – Changes (Live at Farm Aid 2013)}} and included it in his 2014 tour set;{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/08/arts/music/temperamental-neil-young-starts-run-at-carnegie-hall.html |title=Familiar Yet Distant, With Songs and an Edge |first=Nate |last=Chinen |date=January 8, 2014 |work=The New York Times |access-date=April 10, 2016 }}{{cite news |url=http://popcultureblog.dallasnews.com/2014/04/neil-young-gave-his-heart-and-soul-thursday-and-some-folks-just-gave-him-a-hard-time.html/ |title=Neil Young gave his 'Heart' and 'Soul' Thursday, and some folks just gave him a hard time |last=Wilonsky |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Wilonsky |date=April 18, 2014 |work=The Dallas Morning News |access-date=April 10, 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160503013236/http://popcultureblog.dallasnews.com/2014/04/neil-young-gave-his-heart-and-soul-thursday-and-some-folks-just-gave-him-a-hard-time.html/ |archive-date=May 3, 2016 }} it also is the lead track on A Letter Home, his 2014 album of covers.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/neil-youngs-new-covers-album-available-right-now-surprise-20140418 |title=Neil Young's New Covers Album Available Right Now: Surprise! |last1=Greene |first1=Andy |date=April 18, 2014 |magazine=Rolling Stone |access-date=April 10, 2016 |archive-date=March 16, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180316115311/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/neil-youngs-new-covers-album-available-right-now-surprise-20140418 |url-status=dead }}

In 2016, Richard Barone released his album Sorrows & Promises: Greenwich Village in the 1960s, which includes "When I'm Gone".{{cite web |url=http://observer.com/2016/08/richard-barone-breathes-new-life-into-the-golden-age-of-village-folk/ |title=Richard Barone Breathes New Life Into the Golden Age of Village Folk |first=Peter |last=Gerstenzang |date=August 4, 2016 |work=New York Observer |access-date=July 4, 2018 }} Barone said of the project: "My favorite artist on the album is Phil Ochs. I grew up with Phil Ochs songs. I love his topical songs–and I also like his songs that are not political. He was always really good no matter what he was doing."{{cite web |url=http://www.unionvilletimes.com/?p=35455 |title=Barone Dives Into the Soul of 60's Village Artists |first=Denny |last=Dyroff |date=June 17, 2017 |work=The Unionville Times |access-date=July 4, 2018 }} On tour, Barone also performed "Changes".{{cite web |title=Richard Barone Concert Setlist at Mexicali Live, Teaneck on July 13, 2017 |url=https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/richard-barone/2017/mexicali-live-teaneck-nj-33e454b5.html |website=setlist.fm |access-date=July 12, 2018}}

In 2020, Welsh singer-songwriter Martyn Joseph released Days of Decision: A Tribute to Phil Ochs containing 14 Ochs covers, as well as liner notes by Ochs' sister, Sonny.{{cite news |last1=Ainscoe |first1=Mike |title=Martyn Joseph – Days Of Decision, A Tribute To Phil Ochs: Album Review |url=https://atthebarrier.com/2020/01/16/martyn-joseph-days-of-decision-album-review/ |access-date=19 November 2022 |work=At The Barrier |date=16 January 2020}}

In 2024 Phil Odgers and John Kettle released an album of 11 Ochs covers called "Far Rockaway".

On learning of Ochs' death, Tom Paxton wrote a song titled "Phil", which he recorded for his 1978 album Heroes.Cohen (1999), p. 296. Ochs is also the subject of "I Dreamed I Saw Phil Ochs Last Night", by Billy Bragg, from his 1990 album The Internationale, which was based on the Alfred Hayes/Earl Robinson song "Joe Hill" which Ochs helped popularize.{{Cite web |title=Billy Bragg - The Internationale Album Reviews, Songs & More |website=AllMusic |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-internationale-mw0001958374 |access-date=2023-06-03 |language=en}}{{cite web |last=Bragg |first=Billy |author-link=Billy Bragg |title=I Dreamed I Saw Phil Ochs Last Night |url=http://www.billybragg.co.uk/music/album.php?albumID=21&songID=178 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111204212436/http://billybragg.co.uk/music/album.php?albumID=21&songID=178 |archive-date=December 4, 2011 |access-date=January 20, 2012 |publisher=BillyBragg.co.uk}} Ochs also had his own, different song ("Joe Hill") about the early 20th-century union activist/songwriter. "Thin Wild Mercury," by Peter Cooper and Todd Snider, is about Ochs's infamous clash with Dylan and getting thrown out of Dylan's limo.{{cite web |url=http://www.petercoopermusic.com/track/203843/thin-wild-mercury?feature_id=39256&trackship_id=319919 |title=Thin Wild Mercury |access-date=March 18, 2015 |last=Cooper |first=Peter |author2=Todd Snider |publisher=Peter Cooper – The Official Site |author2-link=Todd Snider }}

Ochs is mentioned in the Dar Williams song "All My Heroes Are Dead", the Will Oldham song "Gezundheit", the Chumbawamba song "Love Me", and the They Might Be Giants song "The Day".Cohen (1999), pp. 295–297. The Josh Joplin Group recorded a tribute to Ochs on their album Useful Music.{{cite web |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r415306|pure_url=yes}} |title=Useful Music |last=Swihart |first=Stanton |access-date=February 1, 2009 |publisher=AllMusic}} Schooner Fare recorded "Don't Stop To Rest (Song for Phil Ochs)" on their 1981 album Closer to the Wind. Latin Quarter memorialized him in the song "Phil Ochs" on their album Long Pig (1993).{{cite web |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r220274|pure_url=yes}} |title=Long Pig |last=Schnee |first=Stephen SPAZ |access-date=February 1, 2009 |publisher=AllMusic}}

John Wesley Harding recorded a song titled "Phil Ochs, Bob Dylan, Steve Goodman, David Blue and Me", the title a reference to the Ochs song "Bach, Beethoven, Mozart and Me".{{cite web |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r8949|pure_url=yes}} |title=It Happened One Night |last=Woodstra |first=Chris |access-date=February 1, 2009 |website=AllMusic }} Singer-songwriter Nanci Griffith wrote a song about Phil entitled "Radio Fragile", included in her album Storms.{{cite web|url=http://popdose.com/the-popdose-guide-to-nanci-griffith/|title=The Popdose Guide to Nanci Griffith|date=January 8, 2008|publisher=Popdose|access-date=April 9, 2018}} English folk/punk songwriter Al Baker recorded a song about Ochs entitled "All The News That's Fit To Sing", a reference to the title of Ochs's first album. Cajun musician Vic Sadot wrote a song about Ochs entitled "Broadside Balladeer".{{cite web |url=http://vicsadot.com/2011/09/23/broadside-balladeer/ |title=Broadside Balladeer |access-date=April 4, 2012 |publisher=Vic Sadot Music |date=September 23, 2011 |archive-date=May 24, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140524045400/http://vicsadot.com/2011/09/23/broadside-balladeer/ |url-status=dead }} Singer-songwriter Jen Cass's "Standing In Your Memory", and Harry Chapin's "The Parade's Still Passing By" are tributes to Ochs. Leslie Fish recorded "Chickasaw Mountain", which is dedicated to Ochs, on her 1986 album of that name.

The punk band Squirrel Bait cited Ochs as a major creative influence in the liner notes of their 1986 album Skag Heaven, and cover his "Tape From California".{{cite web |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r18799|pure_url=yes}} |title=Skag Heaven |last=Cook |first=Stephen |access-date=February 1, 2009 |website=AllMusic }} The American hardcore punk supergroup Hesitation Wounds wrote a song called "P. Ochs (The Death of a Rebel)", which appeared on their self-titled debut EP in 2013.Hesitation Wounds, "P. Ochs (The Death of a Rebel)." Retrieved August 17, 2022. https://secretvoice.bandcamp.com/album/hesitation-wounds The song's lyrics reference the folk singer's life and suicide.{{Cite web |title=Hear a New Song from Hardcore Supergroup, Hesitation Wounds |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/r7pae9/hesitation-wounds-new-abuse |access-date=2022-08-17 |website=Vice.com |date=March 23, 2016 |language=en}} Ochs has also influenced Greek folk-rock songwriters; Dimitris Panagopoulos' Astathis Isoropia (Unstable Equilibrium) (1987) was dedicated to his memory. On the 2005 Kind Of Like Spitting album In the Red, songwriter Ben Barnett included his song "Sheriff Ochs", which was inspired by reading a biography of Ochs.{{cite web |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r804778|pure_url=yes}} |title=In the Red |access-date=February 1, 2009 |website=AllMusic }} On April 9, 2009, Ochs' friend Jim Glover performed a tribute to Ochs at Mother's Musical Bakery in Sarasota, Florida.{{cite web |title=A Tribute to Phil Ochs |url=http://www.mothersmusicalbakery.com/EventDescription.html |publisher=Mother's Musical Bakery |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100527235629/http://www.mothersmusicalbakery.com/EventDescription.html |archive-date=May 27, 2010 }}

Among Ochs's many admirers were the short story writer Breece D'J Pancake{{cite book |title=The Stories of Breece D'J Pancake |first=James Alan |last=McPherson |editor=Breece D'J Pancake |publisher=Back Bay |location=Boston |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-316-71597-3 |page=12 |chapter=Foreword }} and actor Sean Penn.{{cite AV media notes |title=A Toast to Those Who Are Gone |title-link=A Toast to Those Who Are Gone |others=Phil Ochs |year=1986 |first=Sean |last=Penn |type=CD |publisher=Rhino }} Meegan Lee Ochs, who worked as Sean Penn's personal assistant from 1983 to 1985,{{cite book |last=Kelly |first=Richard T. |title=Sean Penn: His Life and Times |publisher=Canongate U.S. |location=New York |year=2006 |page=xvii |isbn=978-1-84195-739-5 }} wrote in her foreword to Farewells & Fantasies that she and Penn discussed "over many years" the possibility of making a movie about her father;{{cite AV media notes |title=Farewells & Fantasies |title-link=Farewells & Fantasies |others=Phil Ochs |year=1997 |chapter=Foreword |first=Meegan Lee |last=Ochs |page=3 |type=CD |publisher=Elektra |id=R2 73518 }} the plan has not yet come to fruition, although Penn expressed an interest in the project as recently as February 2009.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/news/sean-penn-the-story-behind-the-story-20090206 |title=Sean Penn: The Story Behind the Story |access-date=April 4, 2012 |last=Kreps |first=Daniel |date=February 6, 2009 |magazine=Rolling Stone |archive-date=November 16, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111116000652/http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/news/sean-penn-the-story-behind-the-story-20090206 |url-status=dead }}

Singer Harry Chapin's song "The Parade's Still Passing By" from his 1976 album On the Road to Kingdom Come is dedicated to Ochs and is a response to his dissatisfaction with his lack of chart success and suicide.

Author Jim Carroll's autobiography, The Basketball Diaries (1978), was dedicated in memory of Phil Ochs.{{cite book |last1=Carroll |first1=Jim |author-link=Jim Carroll |title=The Basketball Diaries |year=1978 |publisher=Penguin Books |location=New York |isbn=978-0-14-024999-6 |title-link=The Basketball Diaries (book) }}

Ochs is mentioned in the song "The Day" from the 1986 self-titled They Might Be Giants album.

On the cover of the Go-Betweens' The Lost Album (1999), Grant McLennan wore a shirt with the words "Get outta the car, Ochs", a reference to the limousine incident involving Ochs and Dylan.{{cite web |url=http://www.citypages.com/1999-06-09/music/entre-nous/ |title=Entre Nous |access-date=January 26, 2009 |last=Dolan |first=Jon |date=June 9, 1999 |work=City Pages |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090412020103/http://www.citypages.com/1999-06-09/music/entre-nous |archive-date=April 12, 2009 }}

The 1994 film Spanking the Monkey makes reference to Ochs and his suicide.{{cite web |url=http://www.dailynebraskan.com/woosters-stories-offer-cure-for-all-things-depressing/article_eb70f5cc-422a-5fd5-bd3e-67714814c9bf.html |title=Woosters Stories Offer Cure for All Things Depressing |access-date=March 18, 2015 |last=Lane |first=Zack |date=June 20, 2002 |work=Daily Nebraskan }}

Ochs is mentioned in the Stephen King novels The Tommyknockers (1987){{cite book |title=The Tommyknockers |first=Stephen |last=King |publisher=Signet |location=New York |year=1988 |isbn=978-0-451-15660-0 |page=[https://archive.org/details/tommyknockers00king/page/80 80] |url=https://archive.org/details/tommyknockers00king/page/80 }} and Hearts in Atlantis (1999).{{cite book |title=Hearts in Atlantis |first=Stephen |last=King |publisher=Pocket Books |year=2001 |location=New York |isbn=978-0-671-02424-6 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/heartsinatlantis00king_1/page/397 397–398, 401, 405, 407, 460, 511, 514, 516] |url=https://archive.org/details/heartsinatlantis00king_1/page/397 }}

In the 2019 novel Revolutionaries by Joshua Furst, based on the life of Abbie Hoffman, Ochs appears as a character under his own name.{{cite book |title=Revolutionaries |first=Joshua |last=Furst | publisher=Penguin Random House |year=2019|location= New York}} {{ISBN|9780307271143}}

Ochs is mentioned in David Bowie's 2013 song "(You Will) Set the World on Fire" on The Next Day album.{{cite web | url=https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/david-bowie-tribute-to-bob-dylan-final-masterpieces/ | title=David Bowie's tribute to Bob Dylan on one of his final songs|website=Faroutmagazine.co.uk | date=February 3, 2022 }}

Michael Korolenko directed the 1984 biographical film Chords of Fame, which featured Bill Burnett as Ochs. The film included interviews with people who had known Ochs, including Yippies Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin, manager Harold Leventhal, and Mike Porco, the owner of Gerde's Folk City. Chords of Fame also included performances of Ochs songs by folk musicians who knew him, including Bob Gibson, Pete Seeger, Tom Paxton, Dave Van Ronk, and Eric Andersen.{{cite web |url= https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9B00E5DE133BF935A25751C0A962948260 |title=Film: Phil Ochs, A Short Biography |last=Maslin |first=Janet |author-link=Janet Maslin |date=February 16, 1984 |work=The New York Times |access-date=May 17, 2010 }}

Filmmaker Ken Bowser directed the documentary film Phil Ochs: There but for Fortune, which premiered at the 2010 Woodstock Film Festival in Woodstock, New York.{{cite web |url=http://philochsthemovie.com/ |title= Phil Ochs: There But for Fortune |access-date=May 17, 2010 }}{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/26/movies/26ochs.html |title=Tracing the Arc of a Tragic Folk Singer |last=Baker |first=Bob |date=December 26, 2010 |work=The New York Times |access-date=December 26, 2010 }}{{cite web |url=http://www.filmthreat.com/festivals/25287/ |title=2010 Woodstock Film Festival Announces Lineup |last=Bell |first=Mark |date=September 1, 2010 |work=Film Threat |access-date=September 1, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100904072219/http://www.filmthreat.com/festivals/25287/ |archive-date=September 4, 2010 }} Its theatrical run began on January 5, 2011, at the IFC Theater in Greenwich Village, New York City, opening in cities around the US and Canada thereafter.{{cite web|url=http://firstrunfeatures.com/philochs_playdates.html|title=First Run Features: PHIL OCHS|publisher=First Run Features|access-date=January 24, 2011}} The film features extensive archival footage of Ochs and many pivotal events from the 1960s civil rights and peace movements, as well as interviews with friends, family and colleagues who knew Ochs through music and politics.{{cite news|url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/phil-ochs-fortune-film-review-67588|title=Phil Ochs: There But for Fortune – Film Review|last=Rooney |first=David |date=January 2, 2011|work=The Hollywood Reporter|access-date=January 24, 2011}}{{cite magazine|url=http://music-mix.ew.com/2010/12/10/phil-ochs-there-but-for-fortune/|title='Phil Ochs: There But for Fortune,' a great documentary about an underappreciated folk singer |last=Vozick-Levinson|first=Simon|date=December 10, 2010|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|access-date=January 24, 2011}} The PBS American Masters series opened its 2012 season with an edited version of the film.{{cite news|url=http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/blogsburger/53162293-53/ochs-american-calloway-masters.html.csp|title="American Masters" to feature Phil Ochs and Cab Calloway in 2012|last=Burger|first=David|date=December 21, 2011|work=The Salt Lake Tribune|access-date=January 20, 2012}}{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/phil-ochs-there-but-for-fortune/watch-the-full-documentary/1962/|title=Phil Ochs: But There For Fortune – Watch the Full Documentary|date=January 24, 2012|publisher=PBS|access-date=July 19, 2013}}

Experimental filmmaker Phil Solomon named his 2007 experimental film Rehearsals for Retirement after Ochs' 1969 song of the same name.{{Cite web|url=http://academichack.net/solomon.htm|title = Phil Solomon Visits San Andreas and Escapes, Not Unscathed|website=Academichack.net}}

In the 2011 film The Chicago 8 the role of Phil Ochs was played by the actor Steven Schub (lead singer of The Fenwicks and HaSkaLA.){{cite web |title=The Chicago 8 |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1511476/ |publisher=IMDb}}

• Ochs was a member of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, which is affiliated with the AFL–CIO.{{Cite AV media notes |author=Phil Ochs |year=1997 |title=Farewells & Fantasies |title-link=Farewells & Fantasies |page=35 |type=CD |publisher=Elektra |id=R2 73518}}{{cite web |url=http://www.aftra.com/aftra/whatis.htm |title=What Is AFTRA? |access-date=February 4, 2009 |publisher=American Federation of Television and Radio Artists |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070528043944/http://www.aftra.com/aftra/whatis.htm |archive-date=May 28, 2007}}
• The music publishing company Ochs formed with Arthur Gorson, Barricade Music, was an ASCAP company.Ochs (1978), passim.

{{Main|Phil Ochs discography|list of songs recorded by Phil Ochs}}

{{Div col}}

• All the News That's Fit to Sing (Elektra, 1964)
• I Ain't Marching Anymore (Elektra, 1965)
• Phil Ochs in Concert (Elektra, 1966)
• Pleasures of the Harbor (A&M, 1967)
• Tape from California (A&M, 1968)
• Rehearsals for Retirement (A&M, 1969)
• Greatest Hits (A&M, 1970)
• Gunfight at Carnegie Hall (A&M Canada, 1974)
• There and Now: Live in Vancouver 1968 (Rhino, 1991)
• Live at Newport (Vanguard, 1996)
• Amchitka (Greenpeace, 2009)
• On My Way (1963 Demo Session) (MicroWerks, 2010)
• Live Again! (RockBeat, 2014)
• Live in Montreal 10/22/66 (Rockbeat, 2017){{Div col end}}

• Counterculture of the 1960s
• List of anti-war songs
• List of peace activists
• Robyn Ochs, his niece and a bisexual activist

{{Reflist}}

{{Refbegin}}

• {{Cite book |last=Blair |first=Eric |year=2007 |title=Folk Singer for the FBI: The Phil Ochs FBI File |location=Morrisville, North Carolina |publisher=Lulu Press }}
• {{Cite book |last=Brend |first=Mark |year=2001 |title=American Troubadours: Groundbreaking Singer-Songwriters of the 60s |location=San Francisco |publisher=Backbeat Books |isbn=978-0-87930-641-0 |url=https://archive.org/details/americantroubado00bren |url-access=registration}}
• {{Cite book |last=Cohen |first=David |year=1999 |title=Phil Ochs: A Bio-Bibliography |publisher=Greenwood Press |location=Westport, Conn. |isbn=978-0-313-31029-4 }}
• {{Cite book |last=Eliot |first=Marc |year=1979 |title=Death of a Rebel: Starring Phil Ochs and a Small Circle of Friends |url=https://archive.org/details/deathofrebel00elio |url-access=registration |location=Garden City, N.Y. |publisher=Anchor Press |isbn=978-0-385-13610-5}}
• {{Cite book |last=Eliot |first=Marc |year=1989 |orig-year=1979 |title=Death of a Rebel: A Biography of Phil Ochs |location=New York |publisher=Franklin Watts |isbn=978-0-531-15111-2 }}
• {{Cite book |last=Ochs |first=Phil |year=1964 |title=Songs of Phil Ochs |location=New York |publisher=Appleseed Music |oclc=41480512 }}
• {{Cite book |last=Ochs |first=Phil |year=1968 |title=The War Is Over |location=New Yor |publisher=Collier Booksk |oclc=1384159 }}
• {{Cite book |last=Ochs |first=Phil |year=1978 |title=The Complete Phil Ochs |location=Hollywood, Calif. |publisher=Almo Publications |isbn=978-0-89705-010-4 }}
• {{Cite book |last=Schumacher |first=Michael |year=2018 |orig-year=1996 |title=There But for Fortune: The Life of Phil Ochs |location=New York; Minneapolis |publisher=Hyperion/Univ of Minnesota Press |isbn=978-1-5179-0354-1 }}
• {{Cite book |last=Stanton |first=Scott |year=2003 |title=The Tombstone Tourist: Musicians |location=New York |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-0-7434-6330-0 }}

{{Refend}}

• {{Cite web |last=Cohen |first=Mitchell |author-link=Mitchell Cohen |date=c. 2017 |title=Who Is ... Phil Ochs, Really? |url=https://web.musicaficionado.com/main.html#!/article/who_is_phil_ochs_really_by_mitchellcohen |publisher=Music Aficionado }}
• {{Cite web |last=Goldberg |first=J.J. |author-link=J.J. Goldberg |date=April 10, 2016 |title=Remembering Phil Ochs, the Other Great Jewish Folksinger of the '60s |url=http://forward.com/opinion/338253/remembering-phil-ochs-the-other-great-jewish-folksinger-of-the-60s/ |work=The Forward }}
• {{Cite book |last=Möhle |first=Christine |year=2017 |title=Trials and Tragedies: Phil Ochs and His Rehearsals for Retirement |location=Hamburg |publisher=Tredition |isbn=978-3-7439-3963-9 }}
• {{Cite web |last=Smith |first=Ryan |date=August 25, 2018 |title=How the 1968 DNC Protests in Chicago 'Killed' Protest Folk Singer Phil Ochs |url=https://www.chicagoreader.com/Bleader/archives/2018/08/25/how-the-1968-dnc-protests-in-chicago-killed-protest-folk-singer-phil-ochs |work=Chicago Reader }}
• {{Cite web |last=Sommer |first=Tim |author-link=Tim Sommer |date=August 27, 2015 |title=Phil Ochs Wrote 5 of the Best Concept Albums Ever in 3 Years |url=http://observer.com/2015/08/phil-ochs-wrote-5-of-the-best-concept-albums-ever-in-3-years/ |work=New York Observer }}
• {{Cite web |title=Folk Singer Ochs' Songs Live On |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=rnxOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=XUsDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4897%2C651863 |work=Victoria Advocate |date=August 3, 1997 |agency=Associated Press}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20080510150402/http://www.cosmicbaseball.com/ochs8.html Phil Ochs Page]—Cosmic Baseball Association, March 9, 1998

{{Wikiquote}}

{{Commons category}}

• [http://woodyguthriecenter.org/archives/collection/the-phil-ochs-papers/ The Phil Ochs Papers] at the Woody Guthrie Center
• [http://www.cs.pdx.edu/~trent/ochs Phil Ochs web pages] includes lyrics, discography, images, &c.
• [http://www.celebratingphilochs.com/ Celebrating Phil Ochs] includes lyrics, chords, personal recollections, and much more
• [http://famous-trials.com/chicago8/1331-ochsl Excerpts from the Testimony of Phil Ochs at the Chicago Eight Trial]
• Vic Sadot, [http://www.last.fm/user/broadsideballad/journal/2009/08/07/2x74fo_phil_ochs_fbi_file Phil Ochs' FBI File], Broadside Magazine
• [http://www.democracynow.org/2011/1/6/phil_ochs_the_life_and_legacy Phil Ochs: The Life and Legacy of a Legendary American Folk Singer] – video report by Democracy Now!
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20180215083635/http://www.cultureshocks.com/shows/2011/03/23/sonny-ochs/ Sonny Ochs], interviewed about Phil Ochs, Culture Shocks with Barry Lynn, March 23, 2011.
• {{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p2096|label=Phil Ochs}}
• {{IMDb name|643794}}
• Phil Ochs Memorial Celebration (Philadelphia, May 31, 1977) [https://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/sfc/id/68608/rec/1 (video part 1)]; [https://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/sfc/id/68607/rec/1 (video part 2)]

{{Phil Ochs|state=uncollapsed}}

{{Chicago Seven}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ochs, Phil}}

Category:1940 births

Category:1976 deaths

Category:1976 suicides

Category:20th-century American guitarists

Category:20th-century American male singers

Category:20th-century American singer-songwriters

Category:A&M Records artists

Category:American acoustic guitarists

Category:American anti–Vietnam War activists

Category:American civil rights activists

Category:American folk guitarists

Category:American folk singers

Category:American male guitarists

Category:American male singer-songwriters

Category:American pacifists

Category:American people of Scottish descent

Category:American socialists

Category:Counterculture of the 1960s

Category:Elektra Records artists

Category:Folkways Records artists

Category:Jewish American songwriters

Category:Jewish folk singers

Category:Jewish pacifists

Category:Jewish socialists

Category:Ohio State University alumni

Category:Musicians from El Paso, Texas

Category:People from Far Rockaway, Queens

Category:Musicians from Manhattan

Category:People from Greenwich Village

Category:People from Perrysburg, New York

Category:People with bipolar disorder

Category:American political music artists

Category:Singer-songwriters from New York (state)

Category:Singer-songwriters from Texas

Category:Staunton Military Academy alumni

Category:Suicides by hanging in New York City

Category:Vanguard Records artists

Category:Yippies