''All the News That's Fit to Sing'' was Phil Ochs's first official album. Recorded in 1964 for

Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the ...

, it was full of many elements that would come back throughout his career. It was the album that defined his "singing journalist" phase, strewn with songs whose roots were allegedly pulled from ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...

'' magazine. It is one in a long line of folk albums used to tell stories about everyday struggles and hardships. Among these stories was that of William Worthy, an American journalist who traveled to Cuba in spite of an embargo on the country who was forbidden to return to the United States. Civil rights figures

Medgar Evers Medgar Wiley Evers (; July 2, 1925June 12, 1963) was an American civil rights activist and soldier who was the NAACP's first field secretary in Mississippi. Evers, a United States Army veteran who served in World War II, was engaged in efforts ...

and

Emmett Till Emmett Louis Till (July 25, 1941 – August 28, 1955) was an African American youth, who was 14 years old when he was abducted and Lynching in the United States, lynched in Mississippi in 1955 after being accused of offending a white woman, ...

were lionized in "Too Many Martyrs" (alternatively known as "The Ballad of Medgar Evers".) Two talking blues jabbed sarcastically at Vietnam and the

Cuban Missile Crisis The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis () in Cuba, or the Caribbean Crisis (), was a 13-day confrontation between the governments of the United States and the Soviet Union, when American deployments of Nuclear weapons d ...

. Even a poem by

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic who is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales involving mystery and the macabre. He is widely re ...

, " The Bells", was set to music. "The Thresher" was an ode to the sinking of the

nuclear-powered Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced b ...

American

submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...

: "And she'll always run silent/And she'll always run deep." The song "Celia" is about the long separation of William J. Pomeroy and his wife, Celia Mariano Pomeroy, because of their opposition to the colonial occupation of the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

by the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Also included was one of Ochs' most well-known songs, " Power and the Glory". The title references the motto of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', "All the news that's fit to print." The ''Times'' was founded by

Adolph Ochs Adolph Simon Ochs (March 12, 1858 – April 8, 1935) was an American newspaper publisher and former owner of ''The New York Times'' and ''The Chattanooga Times'', which is now the ''Chattanooga Times Free Press''. Through his only child, Iphigene ...

(no relation to Phil), so this may be a joke or

allusion Allusion, or alluding, is a figure of speech that makes a reference to someone or something by name (a person, object, location, etc.) without explaining how it relates to the given context, so that the audience must realize the connection in the ...

to the coincidence.

Track listing

All songs by Phil Ochs unless otherwise noted. # "One More Parade" (Ochs,

Bob Gibson Robert Gibson (November 9, 1935October 2, 2020), nicknamed "Gibby" and "Hoot", was an American baseball pitcher in Major League Baseball who played his entire career for the St. Louis Cardinals from 1959 to 1975. Known for his fiercely competi ...

) – 3:00 # "The Thresher" – 2:50 # " Talkin' Vietnam" – 3:38 # "Lou Marsh" – 4:04 # " Power and the Glory" – 2:15 # "Celia" – 3:08 # " The Bells" ( E. A. Poe, with musical adaptation by Phil Ochs) – 3:00 # "Automation Song" – 2:08 # "Ballad of William Worthy" – 2:15 # "Knock on the Door" – 2:47 # "Talkin' Cuban Crisis" – 2:40 # "Bound for Glory" – 3:15 # "Too Many Martyrs" (Ochs, Bob Gibson) – 2:46 # "What's That I Hear" – 2:00 # "Bullets of Mexico" – 2:34 - bonus track on CD

Personnel

* Phil Ochs – first guitar,

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

* Danny Kalb – second guitar *

John Sebastian John Benson Sebastian (born March 17, 1944) is an American singer, songwriter and musician who founded the rock band the Lovin' Spoonful in 1964 with Zal Yanovsky. During his time in the Lovin Spoonful, Sebastian wrote and sang some of the ban ...

–

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica incl ...

on "Bound for Glory" (uncredited) ;Technical * Paul A. Rothchild – recording director * Jac Holzman – production supervisor

References

External links

Liner notes
from CD reissue by Richie Unterberger {{Authority control Phil Ochs albums 1964 debut albums Albums produced by Paul A. Rothchild Albums produced by Jac Holzman Elektra Records albums