Tape From California – PHIL OCHS****

Tape From California/White Boots Marching In A Yellow Land/Half A Century High/Joe Hill/The War Is Over/The Harder They Fall/When In Rome/Floods Of Florence

Tape From California found folk singer songwriter Phil Ochs at the apogee of his social and political protest concerns, linking his fears of a disintegrating society with his own sense of personal failure.

“Whether it was the lyrical lilt of his voice or the tremendous passion of his articulate poetry, Phils Ochs had a profound impact on listeners. He could be politically outlandish but more often incredibly insightful. His lyrics are some of the most intelligent written by a modern day folk artist or songwriter of any ilk.”

"This album creates an intriguing portrayal of the songwriter and where he was at this time. Collectively, this album is about the apocalypse. As Phil saw the country falling apart in 1968, he wrote about it. And Tape From California is the result of that portrait. The instrumentation is again a different direction for Ochs, turning to an eclectic mixture of rock and roll, traditional folk and orchestral arrangements.”

“Tape From Califonia is a wonderful record that is not nearly known enough. With ambitious structures and arrangements, essay like protest lyrics, this music was tailor made for FM progressive radio. The problem is that people now may see this music as dated; these are masterpieces that did not survive the purge, when FM became AOR and music selection was handed to demographic consultants.”

“Only eight songs, but they all had very intelligently written and insightful lyrics, and the music sounds great as well. Those were the days where every song on an album was intended to be good, not just one or two purposely manufactured 'hits' and the rest mere filler.”

“There's desperation and a sense that he's casting off his boat into a sea of depression. A lot of this is ravings about the state of society, and though Phil's earlier music had a 'movement' message to it, by this point he sounds defeated.”

“The lyrics are thought provoking, his gentle voice belying their often sardonic, sometimes cutting nature. The musical backing is spare but the embellishments are diverse and appropriate. Every song and performance seems just right, they're all superb in different ways. Put bluntly this is a classic album.”