The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

music I by Nadine Davenport A Celebratio P h i l O c h s w a s a s i n g e r / s o n g w r i t e r w h o h a d h i s h e y d a y d u r i n g t h e 1 9 6 0 ' s . B o r n i n El P a s o , T e x a s i n 1 9 4 0 , h e w a s a p r o l i f i c w r i t e r o f p r o t e s t s o n g s s u c h a s I Ain't Marchin' Anymore a n d Outside Of A Small Circle Of Friends. Y o u m i g h t n o t r e m e m b e r Phil O c h s -- h e ' s b e e n d e a d f o r 2 8 years. B u t his m u s i c c o n t i n u e s t o inspire established fans a l o n g s i d e n e w m i n d s & generations, year year. after O c h s ' g r e a t e s t s t r e n g t h s w e r e h i s wry, h e a r t f e l t lyrics a n d u n c l u t t e r e d m e l o d i e s ; more than South his t e n o r v o i c e w a s u n a s s u m i n g , a n d his g u i t a r p l a y i n g w a s n e v e r r u d i m e n t a r y . W h e t h e r h e w a s p l a y i n g a t v o t e r r e g i s t r a t i o n drives in t h e D e e p d u r i n g t h e early days o f t h e Civil Rights m o v e m e n t o r l e a d i n g d e m o n s t r a t o r s p r o t e s t i n g t h e V i e t n a m W a r , O c h s e m b r a c e d p r o g r e s s i v e s t r u g g l e s , a n d a t t i m e s (like t h e ' 6 8 C h i c a g o c o n v e n t i o n ) , s e e m e d t o c o n s i d e r his musical career s e c o n d a r y t o his political activism. O n e of Ochs' m o s t i n s p i r e d r e c o r d i n g s There & Now happened to be r e c o r d e d here in V a n c o u v e r just after t h e C h i c a g o ' 6 8 p o l i c e riots. In t h e l a t e 6 0 ' s , l i k e t h e rest o f t h e w o r l d , P h i l s e a r c h e d f o r a n e w i d e n t i t y . H i s m u s i c and message became what would be called today 'performance art' - albeit s o m e w h a t a h e a d o f its t i m e . H i s i n f a m o u s live a p p e a r a n c e i n a g o l d l a m é s u i t , s i n g i n g s o n g s b y B u d d y H o l l y a n d c h a n n e l i n g t h e s p i r i t o f t h e still-living Elvis P r e s l e y w e n t " W h e n I listened to When I'm Gone I o f O c h s l a s t f u l l l e n g t h LP's Gunfight At w e p t . I felt that this music had so aTM*TM*TM 1 9 7 0 much value that is being overlooked- A f t e r 1 9 7 0 h e r e l e a s e d a c o u p l e o f s i n g l e s b u t n o m o r e LP's. S o o n after, O c h s ' career w h a t else d o y o u need in a songe e m e d t o slip a w a y as h e lost c o n t r o l o v e r great melodies, p o i g n a n t lyrics, biting shis d r i n k i n g . Less t h a n a y e a r a f t e r o r g a n i z i n g political commentary, and an ability to a 1 9 7 5 War Is Over c o n c e r t , O c h s h a n g e d make y o u feel the story, the message. h i m s e l f , l e a v i n g b e h i n d a l e g a c y o f p a s s i o n a n d m u s i c that w o u l d survive d e s p i t e his I w a s forever c h a n g e d . " self-destruction. - Zachary Stevenson, Songwriter S i n c e 1 9 8 2 S o n n y O c h s , P h i l ' s sister, h a s p r o d u c e d a s e r i e s o f P h i l O c h s n i g h t s . S h e d o e s it n o t o n l y t o k e e p h e r b r o t h e r ' s m u s i c a l i v e , b u t t o k e e p o n w i t h t h e w o r k h e started a n d t h e m e s s a g e o f his w o r d s . S h e d o e s n ' t profit financially, preferring these s h o w s t o b e n e f i t v a r i o u s c a u s e s in c o m m u n i t i e s . O v e r t h e years t h e s h o w h a s e v o l v e d f r o m a l l O c h s c o m p o s i t i o n s t o a s h o w c a s e t h a t splits t h e b i l l : o n e O c h s a n d o n e o r i g i n a l from each act. That way, fans of Ochs' w o r k will be introduced to the original m a t e r i a l o f m u s i c i a n s w h o still c a r r y t h e f l a m e o f s o c i a l p r o t e s t t o d a y . S e p t e m b e r I O c t o b e r over everyone's heads but did produce one