Master Index of Archived Threads


There but for Fortune (2011)

Frayed Knot Aug 09 2011 09:30 PM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Aug 10 2011 07:43 AM

In keeping with the string of recent documentaries for industry-respected but under-appreciated by the public and ultimately self-destructive singer/songwriters: Townes Van Zandt (Be Here to Love Me); Harry Nilsson (Who is Harry Nilsson), comes There But for Fortune, a family-authorized docu on the all-too-short life and career of 1960's socially conscious fokie Phil Ochs. (I think I just set a record for hyphens used in one sentence) Certainly not bad as you did get a sense of what made Phil tick. But I think the family authorized part (produced by his brother and obviously had the cooperation of sister, ex-wife, daughter) might have sanitized things a bit. Also there was heavy concentration on the political part of the era accompanied on-screen with numerous contemporaries (along with some more recent vintage like-minded types) as talking heads reminding us how the Vietnam war was controversial (gee, thanks) and how they were there on the front lines (Chicago in '68 etc.) all of which had the effect of shoving the music to the background - both literally and as part of the story. Call it peace or call it treason call it love or call it reason but I ain't marchin' anymore [youtube]SVCJC5wIFbA[/youtube]

Edgy MD Aug 09 2011 09:45 PM Re: There but for Fortune (2011)

Can you imagine what it was like, if you had any ambition, to be a contemporary of Dylan? He was good enough to set an impossibly high standard. He was prolific enough to set a pace nobody could keep up with. He was prankster enough to push his goofiest songs so hard they came out as profound and outdid your best. And he was mean enough that if you briefly were able to reach his air, he'd cut you dead for the transgression.

Frayed Knot Aug 10 2011 06:48 AM Re: There but for Fortune (2011)

Yeah, the specter of Dylan is in the movie on a few occasions, particularly early on. The two were both rivals and, for a time at least, somewhat friendly although tales of Dylan using Ochs as a punching bag to promote himself came out as well; "he [Dylan] was such a prick", I believe was a quote from one of the Ochs-ian commentators. Several of the voices from the Ochs camp also seemed determined to preach to the camera about how it was Phil who was the true committed protest singer of the era as if there exists a need to remind everyone that Dylan was only briefly an in-your-face social issues writer/singer and combat the occasional broad media portraits that still pigeonhole him as such to the detriment of the likes of Ochs and others.

MFS62 Aug 11 2011 09:17 AM Re: There but for Fortune (2011)

Back in the 60's, there was folk (Leadbelly), Pseudo-folk (Chad Mitchell Trio), protest (The Weavers, Dylan, Ochs) and there was one group I really liked who were good at all three, The Limelighters. A friend and I went to see Ochs perform in Washington D.C. (Should there be a second period there?) We were in the Army, and to say our clothing and haircuts made us stand out in the crowd was an understatement. I hadn't heard about this movie, but now will try to find it. Later

Edgy MD Aug 11 2011 09:27 AM Re: There but for Fortune (2011)

DC was a folk hub, with the scene thriving after the war until fading about the time the Beatles hit (and played their first concert in DC) --- situated at an odd crossroads between the Appalachian sources of the music and the northern sophisticates popularizing and consuming it. They also had this Jewish population of families established well before the war, who acted as dedicated sponsors for the movement. Before becoming America's favorite crooning yokel, John Denver was a DC coffeehouse folkie:

MFS62 Aug 12 2011 07:57 AM Re: There but for Fortune (2011)

Phil "Ochs" was an answer in yesterday's USA Today crossword puzzle. I hadn't thought about him in years, then this thread yesterday. Then the puzzle. Things come in threes. I wonder .... Later

Edgy MD Aug 12 2011 08:10 AM Re: There but for Fortune (2011)

It's a shame the title of the movie is a whine. I mean, "There but for fortune..." It's true of all of us, to different extents. In "I Ain't Marching Anymore," he sings "I was there at Little Big Horn." I call bullshit on that one.