Cross My Heart: An Introduction to Phil Ochs is a British best-of compilation of the U.S. folk singer's A&M

A&M Records

A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates under the mantle of its Interscope-Geffen-A&M division.-Beginnings:...

 recordings. The CD features three tracks each from Pleasures Of The Harbor

Pleasures of the Harbor

Pleasures of the Harbor was Phil Ochs' fourth full-length album and his first for A&M Records, released in 1967. It is one of Ochs's most somber albums...

, Tape From California

Tape from California

Tape From California is Phil Ochs' fifth album, released in mid-1968 on A&M Records. A step back from its predecessor Pleasures of the Harbor, a sort of cross between that album and 1966's Phil Ochs In Concert, it features folk with shades of rock, bluegrass and baroque music.The best-known track...

, and Rehearsals For Retirement

Rehearsals for Retirement

Rehearsals For Retirement was Phil Ochs' sixth album, released in 1969 on A&M Records. Recorded in the aftermath of Ochs' presence at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago , it is the darkest of Ochs' albums, a fact exemplified by its cover, a tombstone...

as well as two from Greatest Hits and one from Gunfight At Carnegie Hall

Gunfight at Carnegie Hall

Gunfight At Carnegie Hall was Phil Ochs' final album, comprising songs recorded at the infamous, gold-suited, bomb-threat shortened first set at Carnegie Hall in New York City on March 27, 1970, though it contains less than half of the actual concert...

, with the thirteenth track the B-side to his 1973 Africa-only single, "Niko Mchumba Ngobe." Overall, this is a more diverse collection than 2002's 20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection: The Best of Phil Ochs, which tips the balance more heavily toward Pleasures of the Harbor

Pleasures of the Harbor

Pleasures of the Harbor was Phil Ochs' fourth full-length album and his first for A&M Records, released in 1967. It is one of Ochs's most somber albums...

.

Track listing

All songs by Phil Ochs unless otherwise noted.

1. "Chords of Fame" – 3:32
2. "Cross My Heart
   Cross My Heart (Phil Ochs song)
   "Cross My Heart" is a 1966 song by Phil Ochs, an American singer-songwriter best known for the protest songs he wrote in the 1960s."Cross My Heart" is the first song on Pleasures of the Harbor , Ochs's first album for A&M Records and his first foray into orchestral instrumentation, or "baroque-folk"...
   
   " – 3:18
3. "Rehearsals for Retirement" – 4:12
4. "Crucifixion
   Crucifixion (song)
   "Crucifixion" is a 1966 song by Phil Ochs, a U.S. singer-songwriter. Ochs described the song as "the greatest song I've ever written".-The song:...
   
   " – 8:44
5. "White Boots Marching in a Yellow Land" – 3:31
6. "The Scorpion Departs But Never Returns" – 4:16
7. "The War Is Over
   The War Is Over (song)
   "The War Is Over" is an anti-war song by Phil Ochs, a U.S. protest singer from the 1960s known for being a harsh critic of the American military-industrial establishment. The song, which was originally released on Tape from California , has been described as "one of the most potent antiwar songs of...
   
   " – 4:23
8. "Niko Mchumba Ngobe" (P. Ochs and Dijiba-Bukasa) – 3:03
9. "Joe Hill" – 7:20
10. "Jim Dean of Indiana" – 5:02
11. "Pretty Smart on My Part" – 3:18
12. "Pleasures of the Harbor" – 8:07
13. "I Ain't Marchin' Anymore
    I Ain't Marching Anymore (song)
    "I Ain't Marching Anymore" is an anti-war song by Phil Ochs, a U.S. protest singer from the 1960s known for being a harsh critic of the American military industrial complex...
    
    " – 3:49)

Personnel

• Robert Altman – Cover Photo
• Joe Black – Project Coordinator
• Sid Griffin – Sleeve Notes
• Larry Marks – Producer
• Keiron McGarry – Remastering
• Phil Ochs – Producer
• Van Dyke Parks
  Van Dyke Parks
  Van Dyke Parks is an American composer, arranger, producer, musician, singer, author and actor. Parks is perhaps best known for his contributions as a lyricist on the Beach Boys album Smile....
  
   – Producer

Source listing

• Tracks 1 and 10 from Greatest Hits (1970)
• Tracks 2, 4 and 12 from Pleasures Of The Harbor
  Pleasures of the Harbor
  Pleasures of the Harbor was Phil Ochs' fourth full-length album and his first for A&M Records, released in 1967. It is one of Ochs's most somber albums...
  
  (1967)
• Tracks 3, 6 and 11 from Rehearsals For Retirement
  Rehearsals for Retirement
  Rehearsals For Retirement was Phil Ochs' sixth album, released in 1969 on A&M Records. Recorded in the aftermath of Ochs' presence at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago , it is the darkest of Ochs' albums, a fact exemplified by its cover, a tombstone...
  
  (1969)
• Tracks 5, 7 and 9 from Tape From California
  Tape from California
  Tape From California is Phil Ochs' fifth album, released in mid-1968 on A&M Records. A step back from its predecessor Pleasures of the Harbor, a sort of cross between that album and 1966's Phil Ochs In Concert, it features folk with shades of rock, bluegrass and baroque music.The best-known track...
  
  (1968)
• Track 8 from the 1973 single
• Track 13 from Gunfight At Carnegie Hall
  Gunfight at Carnegie Hall
  Gunfight At Carnegie Hall was Phil Ochs' final album, comprising songs recorded at the infamous, gold-suited, bomb-threat shortened first set at Carnegie Hall in New York City on March 27, 1970, though it contains less than half of the actual concert...
  
  (1974)