Songs from the LPs ALL THE NEWS THAT'S FIT TO SING, I AIN'T MARCHIN' ANYMORE, PHIL OCHS IN CONCERT.
Personnel: Phil Ochs (vocals, guitar).
Liner Note Author: Lenny Kaye.
Photographer: David Gahr.
Unknown Contributor Role: Carol Shadford.
THERE BUT FOR FORTUNE is an excellent complement to the other single-disc Phil Ochs compilation, THE WAR IS OVER. Where that album covers the singer/songwriter's later, more pop-oriented A&M albums, THERE BUT FOR FORTUNE anthologizes Ochs' three Elektra releases, 1964's ALL THE NEWS THAT'S FIT TO SING, 1965's I AIN'T MARCHIN' ANYMORE, and 1966's IN CONCERT. At this time, Ochs was a Greenwich Village-based topical folksinger, somewhere between the sometimes strident declamatory style of early Bob Dylan and the sly, ironic humor of Ochs' contemporary Richard Farina. The caustic "Love Me, I'm a Liberal" and the haunting title track, perhaps better known in Joan Baez's rendition, are particular highlights, but by eliminating the albums' weaker or more dated tracks and sequencing the songs with thoughtful care, THERE BUT FOR FORTUNE provides an excellent introduction to the early work of one of folk's most gifted performers.
