Editing Phil Ochs (section)

=== New York City: 1962–1966 ===
{{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 (song)|I Ain't Marching Anymore]]" became a rallying cry for the [[Opposition to the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War|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<ref>{{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 }}</ref> }}

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.<ref>Schumacher, p. 53.</ref> He emerged as an unpolished but passionate vocalist who wrote pointed songs about current events: war, [[civil rights]], [[labour movement|labor struggles]] and other topics. While others described his music as "protest songs", Ochs preferred the term "topical songs".<ref>Brend, pp. 101–102.</ref>

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).<ref>{{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}}</ref> In 1963, [[Cameo Records]] released this budget LP.<ref>{{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}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{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}}</ref><ref>Cohen, David. "Another Side of Phil Ochs". 2000.</ref>

Ochs described himself as a "singing journalist",<ref>{{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 }}</ref> saying he built his songs from stories he read in ''[[Newsweek]]''.<ref>Schumacher, p. 54.</ref> 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]].<ref>Schumacher, pp. 59–63.</ref> Ochs' return appearance at Newport in 1964, where he performed "Draft Dodger Rag," "Talking Vietnam Blues," and other songs, was widely praised.<ref>Schumacher, p. 84.</ref> 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.<ref>Schumacher, pp. 98, 101–104.</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Phil |last=Ochs |title=It Ain't Me, Babe |work=[[The Village Voice]] |date=August 12, 1967 }}</ref>

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

Ochs contributed many songs and articles to the influential ''[[Broadside Magazine]]''.<ref>Schumacher, pp. 54–55.</ref><ref name="smithsonian">{{cite web |url=https://folkways.si.edu/search?query=Phil+Ochs |title=Smithsonian Folkways Recordings |publisher=Folkways.si.edu |access-date=March 24, 2018 }}</ref> 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).<ref>Cohen (1999), pp. 189–191.</ref> Critics wrote that each album was better than its predecessors, and fans seemed to agree; record sales increased with each new release.<ref>Schumacher, pp. 91–92, 117.</ref>

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 (song)|I Ain't Marching Anymore]]", and "Draft Dodger Rag"; and some musical reinterpretation of older poetry, such as "[[The Highwayman (poem)|The Highwayman]]" (poem by [[Alfred Noyes]]) and "[[The Bells (poem)|The Bells]]" (poem by [[Edgar Allan Poe]]). ''Phil Ochs in Concert'' includes some more introspective songs, such as "Changes" and "When I'm Gone".<ref>Eliot (1989), pp. 77, 86–89, 99–103.</ref><ref>Schumacher, pp. 76–77, 90–91, 116–117.</ref>

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".<ref>{{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 }}</ref> 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."<ref>Schumacher, p. 106.</ref>

In 1962, Ochs married Alice Skinner, who was pregnant with their daughter Meegan, in a [[civil marriage|City Hall ceremony]] with [[Jim Glover]] as best man and [[Jim and Jean|Jean Ray]] as bridesmaid, and witnessed by Dylan's girlfriend at the time, [[Suze Rotolo]].<ref name="Rotolo2008">{{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}}</ref><ref>Eliot (1979), pp. 61-63.</ref> Phil and Alice separated in 1965, but they never divorced.<ref>Schumacher, pp. 58, 67, 92.</ref><ref>Eliot (1989), p. 148.</ref>

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 [[Role of the United States in the Vietnam War|involvement of the United States in the Vietnamese civil war]]. When Kennedy [[Assassination of John F. 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.<ref>Schumacher, p. 68.</ref><ref>Schumacher, pp. 68–69.</ref>

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]].<ref>Eliot (1989), p. 64, 94.</ref> Gorson had close ties with such groups as [[Americans For Democratic Action]], the [[Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee]], and [[Students for a Democratic Society (1960 organization)|Students for a Democratic Society]].<ref>Eliot (1989), pp. 66–67.</ref>

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.<ref>Schumacher, pp. 118, 149.</ref>