Chords for Phil Ochs - Phil Ochs Interview
Tempo:
99.625 bpm
Chords used:
C
Tuning:Standard Tuning (EADGBE)Capo:+0fret
Start Jamming...
who hangs out all the time at the club is Phil Oakes, a great folk singer.
Well, [N] listen.
You've been writing and performing for several years, and you've been at the club maybe 55 times,
but you've never performed there.
Why?
Well, because you never asked me to perform when I needed the break.
When you needed the breath?
You know, when I needed the break and the exposure, you know.
It was a commercial club then, and I wasn't commercial.
You're now what?
Now I'm commercial by default.
By default?
Because I'm still alive and performing after all these years.
How does that make you all of a sudden commercial?
Well, because most folk singers are gone someplace else.
You started to say most think.
No, well, that was a force of habit.
Okay, go ahead.
And most folk singers, most thinks have disappeared.
All folk singers?
Yeah, and they've joined rock and roll groups, you know, and so I'm still here.
That's true.
And I haven't changed over the years.
I'm just as dull as ever, so.
Oh, come on.
Listen, just recently I was on the coast, right?
We were both there together, and you were doing a great promotion.
With posters all over the place.
You even enlisted me to paste them all over Malibu.
What was that all about?
Why don't you tell everybody?
Oh, well, I got involved with the politics of the absurd in California,
which was a theater demonstration in which we declared the war over in Vietnam
and celebrated the end of the war on June 23rd in Los Angeles.
We celebrated the end of the war, and we're going to probably do that in New York
sometime soon also, just as a theater piece.
And we have a poster which says that, a picture of the sailor kissing the girl from Times Square, VE Day.
It's one of your protest ideas.
I mean, you're basically
Are you known as a protest folk singer?
Yeah, I am.
I know, that's great.
Which is a dirty lie.
I've never protested.
I think it's great.
You write always about current things, I know.
For instance, did anything happen yesterday that you wrote about today?
Well, let's see.
I wrote about the ballad of Louise Day Hicks.
I finished late last night.
Late last night, right?
That's great.
Listen, what are you going to sing tonight?
Because there's so many great songs you have.
Well, I've got a couple.
I'll do one oldie but goodie from the old days,
which is called my dropped flap pig.
Your dropped flap pig, that's wonderful.
Otherwise known as there but for fortune.
And then the other one will be a song I wrote after I saw you in California,
a song written after a demonstration.
It's a song which declares the war over.
It's a new kind of song.
It's not a protest song.
It's a different kind.
Last thing about it.
Before you sing the songs,
I noticed lately you've been singing with a lot of orchestration.
You've really got, you know, no longer as a simple folk singer with just a guitar.
Are you happy with the way your latest album turned out?
Yeah, well, for the album only, not for stage, but for the album,
we orchestrated every song, sometimes symphony.
You got along fine without it.
Why all of a sudden?
I wanted to extend my musical boundaries.
You think this does it?
Yeah, I think the lyrics are, are, are, are, are scoring.
What about the folk singers who were turning rock,
like the Mamas and Papas and the Lovin' Spoonfuls?
Uh, well, no, you can, you can turn any way you want.
I, I, I thought I was much more interested in counterpoint, countermelody,
and, and, you know, orchestral, textural sounds
rather than just putting a rock band in back of me.
You're one of my favorite folk singers.
I gotta tell you.
Listen, there's no, you know, there's no question about it.
So let's sing.
Thank you.
You're one of [C] my favorite club
Well, [N] listen.
You've been writing and performing for several years, and you've been at the club maybe 55 times,
but you've never performed there.
Why?
Well, because you never asked me to perform when I needed the break.
When you needed the breath?
You know, when I needed the break and the exposure, you know.
It was a commercial club then, and I wasn't commercial.
You're now what?
Now I'm commercial by default.
By default?
Because I'm still alive and performing after all these years.
How does that make you all of a sudden commercial?
Well, because most folk singers are gone someplace else.
You started to say most think.
No, well, that was a force of habit.
Okay, go ahead.
And most folk singers, most thinks have disappeared.
All folk singers?
Yeah, and they've joined rock and roll groups, you know, and so I'm still here.
That's true.
And I haven't changed over the years.
I'm just as dull as ever, so.
Oh, come on.
Listen, just recently I was on the coast, right?
We were both there together, and you were doing a great promotion.
With posters all over the place.
You even enlisted me to paste them all over Malibu.
What was that all about?
Why don't you tell everybody?
Oh, well, I got involved with the politics of the absurd in California,
which was a theater demonstration in which we declared the war over in Vietnam
and celebrated the end of the war on June 23rd in Los Angeles.
We celebrated the end of the war, and we're going to probably do that in New York
sometime soon also, just as a theater piece.
And we have a poster which says that, a picture of the sailor kissing the girl from Times Square, VE Day.
It's one of your protest ideas.
I mean, you're basically
Are you known as a protest folk singer?
Yeah, I am.
I know, that's great.
Which is a dirty lie.
I've never protested.
I think it's great.
You write always about current things, I know.
For instance, did anything happen yesterday that you wrote about today?
Well, let's see.
I wrote about the ballad of Louise Day Hicks.
I finished late last night.
Late last night, right?
That's great.
Listen, what are you going to sing tonight?
Because there's so many great songs you have.
Well, I've got a couple.
I'll do one oldie but goodie from the old days,
which is called my dropped flap pig.
Your dropped flap pig, that's wonderful.
Otherwise known as there but for fortune.
And then the other one will be a song I wrote after I saw you in California,
a song written after a demonstration.
It's a song which declares the war over.
It's a new kind of song.
It's not a protest song.
It's a different kind.
Last thing about it.
Before you sing the songs,
I noticed lately you've been singing with a lot of orchestration.
You've really got, you know, no longer as a simple folk singer with just a guitar.
Are you happy with the way your latest album turned out?
Yeah, well, for the album only, not for stage, but for the album,
we orchestrated every song, sometimes symphony.
You got along fine without it.
Why all of a sudden?
I wanted to extend my musical boundaries.
You think this does it?
Yeah, I think the lyrics are, are, are, are, are scoring.
What about the folk singers who were turning rock,
like the Mamas and Papas and the Lovin' Spoonfuls?
Uh, well, no, you can, you can turn any way you want.
I, I, I thought I was much more interested in counterpoint, countermelody,
and, and, you know, orchestral, textural sounds
rather than just putting a rock band in back of me.
You're one of my favorite folk singers.
I gotta tell you.
Listen, there's no, you know, there's no question about it.
So let's sing.
Thank you.
You're one of [C] my favorite club
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who hangs out all the time at the club is Phil Oakes, a great folk singer. _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Well, [N] listen.
You've been writing and performing for several years, and you've been at the club maybe 55 times,
but you've never performed there.
Why?
Well, because you never asked me to perform when I needed the break.
When you needed the breath?
You know, when I needed the break and the exposure, you know.
It was a commercial club then, and I wasn't commercial. _
You're now what?
Now I'm commercial by default.
By default?
Because I'm still alive and performing after all these years.
How does that make you all of a sudden commercial?
Well, because most folk singers are gone someplace else.
You started to say most think.
No, well, that was a force of habit.
Okay, go ahead.
And most folk singers, most thinks have disappeared.
All folk singers?
Yeah, and they've joined rock and roll groups, you know, and so I'm still here.
That's true.
And I haven't changed over the years.
I'm just as dull as ever, so.
Oh, come on.
Listen, just recently I was on the coast, right?
We were both there together, and you were doing a great _ promotion.
With posters all over the place.
You even enlisted me to paste them all over Malibu.
What was that all about?
Why don't you tell everybody?
Oh, well, I got involved with the politics of the absurd in California,
which was a theater demonstration in which we declared the war over in Vietnam
and celebrated the end of the war on June 23rd in Los Angeles.
We celebrated the end of the war, and we're going to probably do that in New York
sometime soon also, just as a theater piece.
And we have a poster _ which says that, a picture of the sailor kissing the girl from Times Square, VE Day.
It's one of your protest ideas.
I mean, you're basically_
Are you known as a protest folk singer?
Yeah, I am.
I know, that's great.
Which is a dirty lie.
I've never protested.
I think it's great.
You write always about current things, I know.
For instance, did anything happen yesterday that you wrote about today?
Well, let's see.
I wrote about the ballad of Louise Day Hicks.
I finished late last night.
Late last night, right?
That's great.
Listen, what are you going to sing tonight?
Because there's so many great songs you have.
Well, I've got a couple.
I'll do one oldie but goodie from the old days,
which is called my dropped flap pig.
Your dropped flap pig, that's wonderful.
Otherwise known as there but for fortune.
And then the other one will be a song I wrote after I saw you in California,
a song _ _ written after a demonstration.
It's a song which declares the war over.
It's a new kind of song.
It's not a protest song.
It's a different kind.
Last thing about it.
Before you sing the songs,
I noticed lately you've been singing with a lot of orchestration.
You've really got, you know, no longer as a simple folk singer with just a guitar.
Are you happy with the way your latest album turned out?
Yeah, well, for the album only, not for stage, but for the album,
we orchestrated every song, sometimes symphony.
You got along fine without it.
Why all of a sudden?
I wanted to extend my musical boundaries.
You think this does it?
Yeah, I think the lyrics are, are, are, are, are scoring.
What about the folk singers who were turning rock,
like the Mamas and Papas and the Lovin' Spoonfuls?
Uh, well, no, you can, you can turn any way you want.
I, I, I thought I was much more interested in counterpoint, countermelody,
and, and, you know, orchestral, textural sounds
rather than just putting a rock band in back of me.
You're one of my favorite folk singers.
I gotta tell you.
Listen, there's no, you know, there's no question about it.
So let's sing.
Thank you.
You're one of [C] my favorite club
Well, [N] listen.
You've been writing and performing for several years, and you've been at the club maybe 55 times,
but you've never performed there.
Why?
Well, because you never asked me to perform when I needed the break.
When you needed the breath?
You know, when I needed the break and the exposure, you know.
It was a commercial club then, and I wasn't commercial. _
You're now what?
Now I'm commercial by default.
By default?
Because I'm still alive and performing after all these years.
How does that make you all of a sudden commercial?
Well, because most folk singers are gone someplace else.
You started to say most think.
No, well, that was a force of habit.
Okay, go ahead.
And most folk singers, most thinks have disappeared.
All folk singers?
Yeah, and they've joined rock and roll groups, you know, and so I'm still here.
That's true.
And I haven't changed over the years.
I'm just as dull as ever, so.
Oh, come on.
Listen, just recently I was on the coast, right?
We were both there together, and you were doing a great _ promotion.
With posters all over the place.
You even enlisted me to paste them all over Malibu.
What was that all about?
Why don't you tell everybody?
Oh, well, I got involved with the politics of the absurd in California,
which was a theater demonstration in which we declared the war over in Vietnam
and celebrated the end of the war on June 23rd in Los Angeles.
We celebrated the end of the war, and we're going to probably do that in New York
sometime soon also, just as a theater piece.
And we have a poster _ which says that, a picture of the sailor kissing the girl from Times Square, VE Day.
It's one of your protest ideas.
I mean, you're basically_
Are you known as a protest folk singer?
Yeah, I am.
I know, that's great.
Which is a dirty lie.
I've never protested.
I think it's great.
You write always about current things, I know.
For instance, did anything happen yesterday that you wrote about today?
Well, let's see.
I wrote about the ballad of Louise Day Hicks.
I finished late last night.
Late last night, right?
That's great.
Listen, what are you going to sing tonight?
Because there's so many great songs you have.
Well, I've got a couple.
I'll do one oldie but goodie from the old days,
which is called my dropped flap pig.
Your dropped flap pig, that's wonderful.
Otherwise known as there but for fortune.
And then the other one will be a song I wrote after I saw you in California,
a song _ _ written after a demonstration.
It's a song which declares the war over.
It's a new kind of song.
It's not a protest song.
It's a different kind.
Last thing about it.
Before you sing the songs,
I noticed lately you've been singing with a lot of orchestration.
You've really got, you know, no longer as a simple folk singer with just a guitar.
Are you happy with the way your latest album turned out?
Yeah, well, for the album only, not for stage, but for the album,
we orchestrated every song, sometimes symphony.
You got along fine without it.
Why all of a sudden?
I wanted to extend my musical boundaries.
You think this does it?
Yeah, I think the lyrics are, are, are, are, are scoring.
What about the folk singers who were turning rock,
like the Mamas and Papas and the Lovin' Spoonfuls?
Uh, well, no, you can, you can turn any way you want.
I, I, I thought I was much more interested in counterpoint, countermelody,
and, and, you know, orchestral, textural sounds
rather than just putting a rock band in back of me.
You're one of my favorite folk singers.
I gotta tell you.
Listen, there's no, you know, there's no question about it.
So let's sing.
Thank you.
You're one of [C] my favorite club