And this week's Friday night movie has been.....Phil Ochs: There but for Fortune!
Anyone heard of this? It's a 2010 documentary about the 1960s folk/protest singer Phil Ochs.
I came across Phil Ochs in an interesting way: I have a big book on popular music and, while making my way through the 'O' section, I came across this name. What stood out for me was the story of himself: He made a name for himself as a folk singer, was unfairly pegged as 'second best' to Bob Dylan, was written off the critics and sadly met a tragic end - only to be acknowledged years later for his songwriting and willingness to stand for cause. Indeed, a tale worthy of Hollywood.
And so we come to this: a documentary on Phil and his life, with contributions from admirers such as Joan Baez, Van Dyke Parks, Billy Bragg, Jello Biafra, Sean Penn and Christopher Hitchens. Certainly prior I had never heard of Ochs' music but clearly he's a big deal.
It's a given that this is a documentary takes us through Phil's tumultuous life. What is fascinating is how it parallels with the events in the world around him. As such, we see Phil make a name of himself with his songs based on what he sees at the time, his sense of humour and willingness to stand for many a cause, his belief his song-writing could make a difference, his gradual disillusionment with Kennedy's passing and Nixon's election, and his gradual decline professionally and mentally.
Needles to say, this documentary goes a long way in explaining Phil as a person and what he stood for. True we know how the story ends and his decline is tough to watch, but in the end, his music endures as does his passion to stand for what he believes in.
We can all learn a lot from that.
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