Phil Ochs

Taken from radio broadcast tapes of a concert given in late 1965, Hero of the Game sees the already legendary political folk singer Phil Ochs running through a set of almost completely unreleased material, with all but one of the tracks performed here already put to tape at the time of this concert. Among the bevy of tunes being heard by the audience for the first time in their rawest form, many stand out. In particular is a stunning version of "Crucifixion," a harrowing tune that was only a month old at the time of this recording, but wouldn't see a proper studio rendition until the 1967 release of Pleasures of the Harbour, an album many considered Ochs' finest moment.

All the News That's Fit to Sing was a fit title for the debut album by a 1960s folk protest singer who some liked to call a "singing journalist." Recorded and released in early 1964, it was done at a time when Ochs's generation of young adults was getting more socially conscious and politicized. The Cold War had almost brought the world to the brink of nuclear war in the Cuban missile crisis, the Civil Rights Movement was heating up, and American military intervention in Vietnam was starting to rise from a grumble to a roar. Ochs addressed all these subjects and more on his first LP, which immediately established him as one of the foremost authors of topical song in American folk music. - Richie Unterberger