Editing Phil Ochs (section)

===Traveling: 1971–1975===
[[File:Phil Ochs rewrite of his song.jpg|thumb|Phil Ochs rewrite of his song "[[Here's to the State of Mississippi]]" 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 [[Marxism|Marxist]], had been democratically elected in the [[1970 Chilean presidential election|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.<ref name="auto">Schumacher, pp. 239–253.</ref>

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.<ref name="auto"/>

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.<ref>Schumacher, p. 255.</ref><ref>Eliot, p. 216.</ref><ref>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.</ref>

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 (poet)|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 (musician)|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]].<ref>Schumacher, pp. 256–259.</ref>

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 [[1972 United States presidential election|Presidential bid in 1972]].<ref>Schumacher, pp. 262–263.</ref>

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 [[Kansas City Bomber (song)|his song]] was not used in the soundtrack, it was released as a single.<ref>Schumacher, pp. 263–264, 269, 271.</ref>

[[File:Mackay296.jpg|thumb|Phil Ochs performing at Stables in [[East Lansing, Michigan]], May 1973]]

In mid-1972, Ochs traveled to Australia and New Zealand<ref>Schumacher, pp. 264–271.</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|title=Phil Ochs Biography|url=http://www.sonnyochs.com/philbio.html | publisher=SonnyOchs.com| access-date=April 17, 2009}}</ref> 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]]".<ref>Schumacher, pp. 279–285.</ref>

On September 11, 1973, the Allende government of Chile was [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|overthrown in a ''coup d'état'']]. Allende committed suicide during the bombing of the presidential palace,<ref>{{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}}</ref> and singer Victor Jara was rounded up with other professors and students, tortured and murdered.<ref>{{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}}</ref> 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 [[United States Attorney General|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.<ref>Schumacher, pp. 287–297.</ref>

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]].<ref>Schumacher, pp. 298–299.</ref>

The Vietnam War ended on April 30, 1975.<ref>{{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 }}</ref> 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 (Phil Ochs song)|The War Is Over]]".<ref>Schumacher, pp. 304–306.</ref>