“I’ve memorized Lerner and Golden / I feel like I’m almost a #Jew!” sang the late #protest #singer #PhilOchs. This might fall suspect on your ears, as he calls out noted #Jewish journalists of his era from a goyish philosemitic point of view.

What is not often discussed? #Ochs himself was Jewish, and this line was a bit of #political #satire. Perhaps you’ve never heard of him until now, but allow me to introduce you to this Jewish #protestsinger that more people should know about, especially in our current political climate.

His middle-class Jewish family moved around during his youth from #Texas to #NewYork and finally #Ohio. The young Ochs would turn out to be a clarinet prodigy who joined a university orchestra at age 15. Certainly talented enough to make your #bubbe’s upwardly-mobile #shtetl #neshume #kvell. But then his life would unwind, some say into madness, others would say into genius."

https://www.heyalma.com/the-jewish-protest-singer-more-people-should-know-about/

The Jewish Protest Singer More People Should Know About

“I’ve memorized Lerner and Golden / I feel like I’m almost a Jew!” sang the late protest singer Phil Ochs. This might fall suspect on your ears, as he calls out noted Jewish journalists of his era from a goyish philosemitic point of view. What is not often discussed? Ochs himself was Jewish, and this line […]

Hey Alma
Phil Ochs Wrote the Soundtrack to the New Left

The 1960s saw a stampede of lefty folk musicians, but none as politically engaged as Phil Ochs. A true activist-musician who thought of himself as a “singing journalist,” Ochs was as comfortable playing at a demonstration as at a concert hall.

#philochs 50 years gone. We miss you.
https://youtu.be/bD__sOXclXM
Celia by Phil Ochs (Cover)

YouTube
"Greatest Hits" by Phil Ochs was released in February 1970.
#PhilOchs #GreatestHits #VintageVinyl

Cover of #PhilOchs 1960s #KnockOnTheDoor - updated #ICEout song

Now there's many new words and many new names
Uniforms have changed but the knock is the same
The agents of ICE broadcast their raids
They’re trying to make the people afraid

Open your eyes. See what they do
When they knock for your neighbor they're knocking for you.

With their knock on the door, knock on the door
Here they come to take one more

#BenGrosscup live Jan 2026

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pt8JceZdITk

Anti-ICE Protest: "Knock on the Door" by Phil Ochs, updated by Ben Grosscup

YouTube
Phil Ochs - I Ain't Marching Anymore (Live)

YouTube
Phil Ochs' response to the 1968 Chicago DNC rally and police violence was strangely tangential, https://youtu.be/mLs8Q8rHyjM #PhilOchs
William Butler Yeats Visits Lincoln Park And Escapes Unscathed by Phil Ochs (Cover)

YouTube

I'm A Loner by Shawn Phillips, released on Columbia in 1964.

I'm a Loner Review by Richie Unterberger

Phillips was still in pretty much of a traditional early-'60s folk troubadour mode on his debut album, on which he's accompanied only by his 12-string acoustic guitar. He did stand out from much of the competition (certainly in Britain, where the American singer was based by the time of this mid-'60s release) by virtue of his eclectic repertoire, impassioned delivery, and imaginative arrangements. He wasn't as much of an innovator as peers such as Dino Valenti and Fred Neil were in this respect, but like them he was breaking away to some degree from hidebound, stiff folk deliveries. He wasn't recording much original material, though, and this set is largely devoted to covers of songs by the likes of Phil Ochs (including the obscure "I'm Tired";..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRy5oG30V_Q

#ShawnPhillips #Folk #PhilOchs #Music #12stringguitar

@stephanie
In the swamps of their bureaucracy they’re always boggin’ down
And criminals are posing as advisors to the Crown
And they hope that no-one sees the sights and no-one hears the sounds
And the speeches of the president are the ravings of a clown

Here’s to the land you’ve torn out the heart of
Donald Trump, find yourself another planet to be part of

I’ll take my chances on Phil Ochs’ literary executors.

#USPoli #PhilOchs #ElbowsUp