What's That I Hear?: The Songs of Phil Ochs
Various Artists
Engineer: Pete Humphries,
Producer: Gene Shay
Sliced Bread Records, 1998
2 CD
Catalogue #: 71176
EAN: 0714577117626
UPC: 714577117626
You save: 20%
Includes liner notes by Michael Schumacher.
Well, if everybody else and their brother is getting a tribute album, Phil Ochs should certainly get his slice of the reverential pie. The late, great '60s folk/protest singer-songwriter, despite his early death, was around long enough to leave a substantial legacy of songs that mesh the political with the personal in a daring, innovative manner. Those songs are performed here by a wide-ranging crop of contemporary folkies, both well-known (at least for folkies) and obscure. Unsung legend/onetime Ochs protege Sammy Walker honors his mentor with a faithful take on the piano ballad "Jim Dean of Indiana." Ochs contemporary Dave Van Ronk weighs in with the classic "Oustide of a Small Circle of Friends." Elsewhere John Gorka, David Massengill, Steve Gillette and others lend their voices in service to the Ochs canon. Kudos to PA folk DJ/impresario Gene Shay for putting this 2-disc piece of history together.
