As a kid in the 1950s, Phil Ochs cut class and spent afternoons at the local movie house. The Searchers and Rebel Without a Cause were two of his favourites. Always a dreamer, Ochs fantasised that one day he could be a stoic cowboy like John Wayne, a teenage rebel like James Dean, or a rockabilly sex symbol like Elvis Presley. He took his early love of Hollywood with him to New York, where he became one of the most celebrated folk singers in the world, culminating in an album that has just turned 50: Greatest Hits, titled with a savage, knowing irony.
Phil Ochs: the doomed folk singer who woke up from the American dream
The Guardian / March 2020
In 1970, Phil Ochs released ‘Greatest Hits’, an album titled with savage irony as his career fell apart. But 50 years on, it remains a powerful indictment of an America losing its way.
