Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Film Pick of the Day: Phil Ochs: There But for Fortune at Belcourt
Posted by Jim Ridley on Tue, Mar 15, 2011 at 5:07 AM
Phil Ochs: There But for Fortune
Where: The Belcourt
When: March 15-17
Too prickly and ironic a truth-teller to be fully embraced by the same wide audience that warmed to Dylan, Joan Baez and Peter, Paul & Mary — his “Love Me, I’m a Liberal” pissed acid all over bleeding-heart hypocrisy — Phil Ochs chafed at his relative lack of success all the way to his suicide by hanging at age 35. Yet his topical (don’t call them “protest”) songs retain their fury, excitement and scalpel wit, perhaps best exemplified by the still-rousing “I Ain’t Marching Anymore.”
Kenneth Bowser’s long-awaited doc gathers archival footage as well as interviews with admirers and contemporaries ranging from Baez and Pete Seeger to Sean Penn and Christopher Hitchens, creating the richest portrait yet of the man who longed to be “part Elvis Presley and part Che Guevara,” but had to settle for being fully unique.
Comments (2)
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I first became aware of Phil Ochs when I saw a much earlier documentary about him and fell instantly in love with his music. That's not surprising since "protest music." dated as much of it is now, was always among my favorite genres from the time I first heard The Weavers, Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, The Kingston Trio, Joan Baez, Buffy St. Marie, Barry McGurie, P.F. Sloan and all of the rest.
I hope this newest Ochs documentary finds its way to PBS (and that PBS has/lands the rights to the one mentioned that I haven't seen in decades)-- assuming PBS retains its funding "from viewers like you."
Back to Ochs: There is no hypocrisy in anyone espousing true liberalism (such as that which Hubert Humphrey not only preached but practiced). If liberalism's leader went astray (i.e., Ted Kennedy sending his children to public schools and virtually espousing pacifism as a sound foreign policy strategy) then, in my mind, they ceased to be true liberals.
I am a true liberal who does not recognize myself in the dogma of today's "progressives." Liberal is not a dirty word to me, but, if by claiming and embracing the designation, it or I will be misunderstood, then I am fine if someone want to define me politically as a liberal Republican or a conservative Democrat.
After all, I believe most Americans today are socially liberal and economically conservative. Does this tend to suggest we are (horrors!) in the mainstream?
Stacy Harris
Publisher/Executive Editor/Media Critic
Stacy's Music Row Report
http://stacyharris.com
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