The Princeton Folk Music Society To Honor Tragic Folksinger Phil Ochs
There are those who swear the spirit of the 1960s finally ended at the end of a rope in 1976 Far Rockaway, New York, when Phil Ochs hung himself at his sister’s house. He was 35. Unlike Dylan, who has admitted he used folk-music to become a rock star, Ochs truly believed in his role as generational spokesman. He preferred “topical singer” to “protest singer” but he protested long and loud at racism, war and apathy. In his “Outside Of A Small Circle Of Friends,” he once wrote, “look outside your window/there’s a woman being grabbed/They’ve dragged her to the bushes and now she’s being stabbed/Maybe we should call the cops and try to stop the pain but Monopoly is so much fun/I’d hate to blow the game.”
When we were all laboring under the fear of our own country kidnapping us against our will and sending us to fight an illegal and immoral war in Southeast Asia, Ochs came out with “Draft Dodger Rag.” He also wrote a song for a slain Civil Rights leader (“The Ballad Of Medger Evers”) that never failed to make us cry and “Love Me I’m A Liberal” (which never failed to make us laugh). “I Ain’t Marching Anymore” was our anthem. But as the politically revolutionary ‘60s morphed into the “me-decade” of the ‘70s with emphasis on health, hygiene and fulfilling one’s own promise, Ochs found nothing to rage against anymore. So he lost himself in the bottle and raged against everyone he met on the street. Homeless, his sister rescued him and brought him home with her.
Next year is the 60th year of the Princeton Folk Music Society (https://princetonfolk.org/). The PFMS has presented folksingers and sponsored informal sing-outs since its first concert in ’66: Doc Watson. They’ve presented Muddy Waters, the New Lost City Ramblers, Elizabeth Cotton, Malvina Reynolds, Jean Ritchie, Christine Lavin, Tom Chapin, Peggy and Mike Seeger and 500+ others. Shows used to be held at the Princeton University auditorium but now take place at the church on Walnut Lane within the campus. Here is the 2025 schedule.
Jan. 17: Mari Black
Feb. 21: Chris Smither
March 21: Poor Man’s Gambit
April 25: John McCutcheon
May 16: Ensemble Sangineto
Sept. 19: The Ebony Hillbillies
Oct. 17: Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer
Nov. 21: Phil Ochs Song Night featuring Greg Greenway, Reggie Harris, Louise Mosrie and Pat Wictor
Dec. 12: Michael Gabriele (“New Jersey Folk Revival Music: History & Tradition”) and Spook Handy (“Remembering Pete Seeger”)
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