Tape From California is Phil Ochs

Phil Ochs

Philip David Ochs was an American protest singer and songwriter who was known for his sharp wit, sardonic humor, earnest humanism, political activism, insightful and alliterative lyrics, and haunting voice...

' fifth album, released in mid-1968 on A&M Records

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:...

. A step back from its predecessor 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...

, a sort of cross between that album and 1966's Phil Ochs In Concert

Phil Ochs in Concert

Phil Ochs in Concert was Phil Ochs' third long player, released in 1966 on Elektra Records. Contrary to its title, it was not entirely live, as several tracks were actually recorded in the studio, owing to flaws in the live recordings made in Boston and New York City in late 1965 and early 1966,...

, it features folk with shades of rock, bluegrass and baroque music.

The best-known track is the epic "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...

", a portrait of the ridiculousness of war released at a time when Vietnam

Vietnam War

The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...

 seemed as if it would never end. Its upbeat, military-style backing is as ironic as the backing for "Outside of a Small Circle of Friends

Outside of a Small Circle of Friends

"Outside of a Small Circle of Friends" is a song by Phil Ochs, a U.S. protest singer from the 1960s. "Outside of a Small Circle of Friends", which was originally released on Ochs' 1967 album Pleasures of the Harbor, became one of Ochs' most popular songs....

" had been one year prior. The opening track, written as he was moving from New York City to Los Angeles, is the first truly rocking song in Ochs' catalogue, an aural comment on Ochs' own life circa 1968. "The Harder They Fall" is a reworking of nursery rhyme characters into a somewhat menacing and bewildering tale, including lines about Mother Goose stealing lines from Lenny Bruce

Lenny Bruce

Leonard Alfred Schneider , better known by the stage name Lenny Bruce, was a Jewish-American comedian, social critic and satirist...

 and "killing Jews". "White Boots Marching in a Yellow Land", in line with his earlier anti-war songs, is one of the more poetic songs on the album.

Ochs' longest song, "When In Rome," calls to mind Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...

's "Desolation Row

Desolation Row

"Desolation Row" is a 1965 song written and sung by Bob Dylan. It was recorded on August 4, 1965, and was released as the closing track of Dylan's sixth studio album, Highway 61 Revisited...

," owing to the former song's length (thirteen minutes), acoustic guitar backing, and abstract lyrics. However, the content of the two songs is significantly different, as Ochs' more socially conscious song refers overtly to war crimes and a hypocritical glee taken in punishing the perpetrators of the same.

Track listing

All songs by Phil Ochs.

1. "Tape From California" – 6:45
2. "White Boots Marching in a Yellow Land" – 3:35
3. "Half A Century High" – 2:53
4. "Joe Hill" – 7:18
5. "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...
   
   " – 4:25
6. "The Harder They Fall" – 3:52
7. "When In Rome" – 13:13
8. "The Floods of Florence" – 4:52

Participants

• Phil Ochs - guitar, vocals
• Larry Marks - producer
• Joe Osborn
  Joe Osborn
  Joe Osborn is an American bass guitar virtuoso, notable for his work as a session musician in Los Angeles and Nashville during the period from the 1960s through the 1980s. Osborn's work is widely admired by fellow musicians.Osborn began his career working in local clubs, then played on a hit...
  
   - bass guitar on "Tape From California"
• Lincoln Mayorga
  Lincoln Mayorga
  Lincoln Mayorga is an American pianist, arranger, conductor and composer who has worked in rock and roll, pop, jazz and classical music.-Pop music in the 1950s and 60s:...
  
   - piano, keyboards
• 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....
  
   - piano, keyboards on "Tape From California"
• Ramblin' Jack Elliott
  Ramblin' Jack Elliott
  Ramblin' Jack Elliott is an American folk singer and performer.-Life and career:Elliot Charles Adnopoz was born in Brooklyn, New York to Jewish parents in 1931. Elliott grew up inspired by the rodeos at Madison Square Garden, and wanted to be a cowboy...
  
  - flat-picked guitar on "Joe Hill"
• Ian Freebairn-Smith - arrangements