🎵 AotW Classics Phil Ochs TAPE FROM CALIFORNIA SP-4148

[Harry]

Phil Ochs
TAPE FROM CALIFORNIA
A&M SP-4148

Released on CD by Collectors' Choice as CCM-138-2 in 2000

Track list:

Side 1
1. Tape From California 6:45
2. White Boots Marching In A Yellow Land 3:35
3. Half A Century High 2:53
4. Joe Hill 7:18
5. The War Is Over *4:25

Side 2
1. The Harder They Fall **3:52
2. When In Rome 13:15
3. Floods Of Florence ***4:52

*Arranged by: Bob Thompson
**Arranged by: Larry Marks
***Arranged by: Ian Freebairn-Smith
Heroes of the Revolution:
Van Dyke Parks - Courtesy of Warner Brothers-7 Arts Records
Jack Elliott - Courtesy of Reprise Records
Lincoln Mayorga

PRODUCED BY: Larry Marks / Engineered
by: Ray Gerhardt / All compositions by: Phil
Ochs, Barricade Music, Inc. ASCAP / Album
Design: By Corporate Head / Art Director: Tom
Wilkes / Photography: By Guy Webster / This
album is Also Available on Stereo Tapes / Write
for a Free 4 Color A&M Record Catalogue A&M
Records, 1414 N. La Brea, Hollywood, Cali-
fornia 90028

 

[Mike]

Looks like a great album. I'M ready to buy it!

Mike

 

[Harry]

Sealed Japanese A&M CD on eBay for $150!

Harry

 

[Mike Blakesley]

Well, this is one of the few A&M artists I have never heard and really know nothing about! (Except that he died, I know that.)

 

[Harry]

Well, this is one of the few A&M artists I have never heard and really know nothing about! (Except that he died, I know that.)

I was the same way a few years ago, until I was making a needle-drop of the FAMILY PORTRAIT album onto CD-R. I was grabbing digital versions to string together for those tracks that I owned CDs of, and using the actual FAMILY PORTRAIT vinyl to fill in the ones I didn't.

When I got to "Cross My Heart" by Phil Ochs, previously a skip-over track whenever I'd play the album, I was amazed at how good it was and how much I really liked the song, the arrangement, and Och's vocal talents, too.

So I went out looking for whatever I could find on CD. That particular day, all I could find was the 20th Century Masters comp which at least had "Cross My Heart" on it. I looked for PLEASURES OF THE HARBOR, but couldn't find it at that moment in time.

So I made due with the 20th Century Masters version, which also had several songs from TAPE FROM CALIFORNIA, so I figured it to be a good sampler. I was right - it's actually a good listen, even if it's not a full album on a CD. It also sounded good, technically - and at least I had my new favorite song, "Cross My Heart" in CD form.

Since then I've acquired the Collectors' Choice albums that were released, containing most of the other A&M albums. While I've yet to fully explore them, at least I know I'll probably like them when I do.

I'd always thought of Phil Ochs as a guitar-strumming twangy folkie, sort of A&M's version of Bopb Dylan. And while that may be partially true, the sumptuous orchestral arrangements provided by Larry Marks, Ian Freebairn-Smith, and Joseph Byrd, really keep things interesting.

Ochs songs tend to be repetitive in nature, and it's the arrangements that make these recordings special IMHO.

Favorite on this album is the title track, "Tape From California".

Harry

 

[Dave]

Last edited by Dave on Thu 12/24/09 03:56 am; edited 2 times in total

 

[Mr Bill]

I read Dave's post three times and am not sure what he's trying to say... Anyway...

I voted for "When In Rome" one of Ochs' two "magnum opuses" (or is that "opi"???). Just Ochs and his guitar telling a 13 minute story. Awesome, chilling and entertaining all at the same time.

"Crucifixion" from Pleasures is his other opus -- I'm undecided on which version of that tune I prefer; the PotH version with all the special audio FX and sound design quirkiness or the "live" version from Chords Of Fame which, like "Rome," is just Ochs and his guitar...

--Mr Bill