"I Ain't Marching Anymore" Phil Ochs - ZeroGsounds

 AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY

A classic of protest song the radical Phil Ochs despite a tragic life beset by alcoholism that coupled with his deteriorating mental health (suffering what we then called manic depression or now bipolar disorder, he resorted to drinking to self medicate which triggered his alcoholism, a truly terrifying combination in my experience and his delusional behaviour in the end resulted in his brother trying to have him sectioned as he had begun to sleep rough and taken on an alter-ego called Tom Butler Train) his fragile mental condition resulted in his suicide by hanging at a mere 35. 

This is Ochs at his clearest and angriest. Master of alliteration and a sardonic wit with an over arching political activism made way for a deep paranoia and he was attacked on tour of Africa in 1973 where robbers tried to strangle him permanently affecting his voice box where he lost a considerable vocal range. Ochs believed it was planned by the American security services. At the end he believed he had been 'killed' and replaced by his alter ego Butler Train and friends and family became increasingly worried as he claimed the CIA and FBI were after him. A common delusion of the manic. It was only after his death it was discovered the FBI had indeed monitored him closely and had a dossier on him some 500 pages long. His classic anti-war song 'I ain't marching anymore' set a standard for many a folk musician and influenced all who came after him. A favourite of my beloved brother, Steve this lead us via Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, Tom Paxton and the like to fellow Brits like Jimmy Miller (Ewan MacColl) and Leon Rosselson. 

Zero Sounds has more by Ochs and as we have said and linked to before a wealth of Guthrie works to boot

Phil Ochs - I Ain't Marching Anymore - Zerosounds

There But for Fortune

I bought this song by Joan Baez on a single and it haunted me since so checked out who had written it!

I Ain't Marching Anymore

Long out of print amongst his most well known of works there is some suggestion it is available as an MP3 but I cannot find it (less you know otherwise in which case please have the courtesy to let me know and I will take it down)