All language subtitles for Chords of Fame- Phil Ochs documentary, Part 3 of 3

He's now in South America with Jerry
Rubin. Any travel status in Chile?

Nothing here, but find out. And locate
the operating outpost of Camelot down

there. Check with Central Intelligence.

Read me in on Camelot. Allende's
successor.

Didn't know he was due for one so soon.

The Pentagon thinks so. They're
upgrading the South American armies, to

be sure.

I was very taken by the idea of Allende,
and so I remember I suggested, Phil,

let's go to Chile for two months.

And Phil and I went.

And, you know, Phil was a complex
person.

He drank a lot. We got in a lot of
fights. We got more fights over the fact

that he would drink than anything else
because it's boring for a non-drinker to

go have supper with someone and have
them drink a bottle of wine before the

meal begins and then to get very
aggressive and weird, you know. And Phil

was amazing because he has this very
sensitive side of his personality that's

almost feminine.

And then in a second he'll turn into the
most incredible male chauvinist, angry

person, and then he'll go right back to
being so sensitive and shy you want to

just embrace him like a little child.

The heaviest thing I ever did in my life
was organizing the Chile show. I was

doing a lot of world traveling, and I
met Victor Jara, and I told him in

public that on October 11th of this
year, Barricade Records' first release

is Victor Jara.

Victor was a folk hero, a folk singer in
Chile.

Phil had met him on a trip to Chile that
he took with Jerry Rubin several years

earlier.

Tremendously admired his music, loved
his music.

Victor was captured right after the
coup.

was taken to the stadium and was very
severely tortured.

And this really spurred Phil on to doing
something in honor of Victor.

About a week before the event, we were
losing $18,000.

Sales were terrible, and it was partly
because the advertising was very poor.

We spent money on advertising, but there
was nothing very sexy. And even with

Salvador Allende, they didn't invite a
lot of crowds.

When the rumors started that Dylan was
probably going to show up, the garden

saw that. Okay, okay, we can cut the
star-fucking-excitement now.

We're here for a political purpose.

We're here for a political purpose.

We're not here to see Bob Dylan.

We're here to see Salvador Allende.

Salvador Allende was overthrown and
murdered in a military coup in Chile

headed up by General Augusto Pinochet.

Salvador Allende dared to unleash a
torrent of reforms in Chile, including

the nationalization of several of the
American-run copper mines.

Now he's slaughtered.

Victor Jara, the most famous folk singer
in Chile, who was loved by all the

people in Chile, was tortured to death
in the San Diego Stadium.

Ten years ago, we had a semi-military
coup right here in the United States

when JFK was killed by a right-wing
paramilitary squad.

Well, the same people who were in charge
then are still in charge now.

I guess they're just going to keep
killing everybody.

surely had a big effect on Phil because
he really identified with Allende and I

think that when the coup happened it
really motivated Phil and deepened his

very wrong view that life doesn't work
because near his death Phil was an

advocate of suicide I mean he advocated
suicide and I remember saying to him a

number of times I said Phil do you want
generations of young people to remember

you as Phil Oakes the great singer or
Phil Oakes the alcoholic who killed

himself because life didn't work out for
him

After the Chile concert, Phil was at a
loss for really what to do with his

life. At this point, the war was dying.

It was no longer a platform for him on
the war.

He had done his Chilean benefit, and he
was no longer committed to his music. He

had sort of given up on his music. He
wasn't writing. He felt he had lost his

voice. And we all tried to find a place
for Phil, to find something that Phil

felt that he could put all his energies
in, and he had a lot of energies.

So I started working for Ramsey Clark,
setting up concerts around the state,

and I got Phil to do most of them. Each
event, it was a little nerve-wracking.

You were never quite sure if Phil was
going to make it to the concert and then

if he would make it through the concert,
but he did, invariably. And most of the

people that he was performing to were
kids in college who had not grown up

listening to Phil. They were listening
to heavy rock.

And the passion, which they had not
experienced in college, because we had

all grown up with that in the 60s, but
it wasn't there in the 70s.

I can see them coming. They're training
in the mountains and they speak Chinese

and they spread disease. They want to
hurt me.

They want to get me.

They want to break me down.

Oh, and sometime later when I feel a
little safer, I'll assassinate

the president and take over the
government.

The last time we...

we met was at Max's Kansas City and he
was drunk as a skunk there and we were

bloated and everything and a bit burned
out I was about to take off I knew I was

going underground very very few people
maybe four or five people in the whole

country knew and I was headed to LA and
I knew he had an apartment there so I

was going to ask him if I could use his
apartment for two weeks while I

recovered from surgery

So I tried to approach him sort of
delicately and I said, Phil, I'm going

to go away.

And I didn't say, I didn't come out and
say it. And he drifted off and I'd say

something. As soon as he understood, he
threw the glass of beer on the floor and

started jumping up and down on the
glass. And I didn't exactly think he was

the best person to kind of have in an
underground network and everything. It

was kind of a sad image I had of him as
I was the last.

you know, image I had of him, I took off
a couple weeks later.

always play with that idea of suicide.

You can see it in the songs all the way
back to the beginning. There's constant

mentions of suicide throughout.

I know with the last conversations we
had, I think the biggest reason was the

fact that Phil felt he no longer
belonged. That when Nixon resigned, that

was like the last hate object. That was
the last cause.

He lost sight of tomorrow.

He was depressed today, and therefore
he'd be depressed tomorrow.

His constant, repeated statement was, oh
my God, Denny, what am I going to do?

I'm going to die.

Hey, listen. Bobby says he doesn't want
you to come along on the Rolling Thunder

tour. Stay home, Phil.

As you know, this is my final
performance.

Once I knew a sage who sang upon the
stage.

He told about the world.

I first met Phil in 1975.

I had just came up from Georgia.

He put on a couple of nights of concerts
down at Folk City. It was called his

Farewell Performances, which he invited
me to sing at that. It was kind of like

my debut in New York. And everyone tried
to keep him from drinking during his

first set.

And it went very well, actually.

But by the second set, he had started
drinking, and it was pretty much a

disaster. I think many people in the
audience were disappointed.

He was having trouble remembering some
of the words to his songs, and he was

doing a lot of songs that people didn't
want to hear him do. People wanted to

hear Phil do Phil Oak's songs, and he
wasn't giving them that. He was

promoting suicide.

He was saying, I want to die. He was
telling us that.

But when somebody wants to die, what can
you do for that person? He came in one

day, and as far as I know, there was no
place in the village that could have

served him. But if he felt that he
wanted to have a drink, he would come in

and bang on it.

On the bar and he says Mike they don't
want to give him nothing to drink. Give

me a drink So as a rule, I never did
refuse him. So that's why many times I

just give him a little watered-down
drinks not to make him get too high and

I give him a drink then he wanted
another one then he thought I talked

very loud and I said so say you're here
you You're supposed to be my but my

buddy

He says, oh, Mike, I'm sorry. He says,
but Donna, you're cheaper.

Why you don't want to give him another
drink? He started getting very

belligerent. So he sort of cursed me
out, and he grabbed him by my shirt, and

he ripped a part of my shirt. I got a
little peeve, and I said, Phil, now I'm

going to do the same thing as everybody
else did.

You just stay out of here, and don't
feel that I'm afraid of you. So I

grabbed him by his arm, and I pushed him
right out of the door.

I said, don't come in here, because I
said, you...

I've been treating you like a gentleman.
I said, but you do not like one now.

So he got through the street here,
through the door, and he came back near

the window. The window here was open.

And he looked at me and he says,

Mike Poco, he says, one of these days if
I catch you outside.

So I look at him, what?

So he says, he started smiling, he says,
I'll buy you a drink.

So as he said that.

I felt so emotional, and I said, the
guys are really, you know, some of it,

you know, I can't do nothing. I keep
being mean to him on the day.

And a few minutes later, come in and we
had a drink together again.

I saw Phil probably in the early winter
of 76.

He seemed to be getting much worse,
appeared to be like a schizophrenia.

something much more serious than just uh
drinking you know it was a much more

deep deep rooted problem oaks was an
amateur he never made a good record well

he was also smart to make bad records on
purpose so they have their excuse and

they wouldn't kill him but see he knew
that if he shouldn't he couldn't become

the beetle because if he ever became the
beetle then they would kill him because

he'd be strong he could stop the war but
if the war is over so now the real phil

oaks can emerge safely and his name is
train he uh claimed to that he

was uh first he was luke train and i
think later on he became john train or

vice versa i don't remember he claimed
the mafia was after him so train killed

us and he did it painlessly split second
he was dead by phil oaks

good riddance still around of course the
sale from train he walked around

needing help and everybody saw it and
nobody could get him to go for it people

tried there were a lot of people who
tried to help him jerry rubin went out

of his way and he was terrific we went
to see him one time and he offered to

take phil out to california to a friend
of his who was a psychiatrist to have

him stay at the guy's house and let the
guy help him free and no charge

Phil turned it down. And Jerry even
offered to go with him. He said, if you

don't want to go along, I'll stop what
I'm doing in New York and I'll go with

you.

And he said no. And Jerry even got him
once as far as the door of Bellevue.

And then he chickened out and he walked
away.

Couldn't handle it.

At that time, he was very manic. He was
running around New York doing all kinds

of crazy things.

But there was no way to stop him. It was
almost like he had a, it sounds crazy,

like a demon in him. He just had to get
it out.

He was running like a wild person.

And then all of a sudden, I mean, he was
getting thrown out of places and nobody

wanted to talk to him.

Not that I blame the people. I mean, he
was in such a crazy way, I wouldn't have

wanted him out of my house at that time
because he was acting so irrationally. I

wouldn't have wanted him around the
children.

Came up to my place about a month before
he died.

And he was in really, really bad shape.

Fell out.

And he was murdered.

And off he went, and that was the last I
ever saw him.

I remember the last time I really saw
Phil, he was walking down Hudson.

We'd gotten him out of jail that
weekend, and he had a hoe for some

reason. He had a hoe and a spade, a
great big old long-handled spade.

He was walking down the street, dragging
the hoe, and had the spade over his

shoulder.

And he was kind of disheveled. He left
his guitar with us that time. It was

five or six months before he picked it
up. I was out of the country when he

picked it up.

He needed help, and he had always helped
others.

He was hard to help.

But the tragedy is that there wasn't
enough compassion of his kind to reach

him when he needed it.

And that's an indictment of...

All of us, I guess.

Finally, when it all blew over and he
calmed down, then that's when he came

out to us. And at that point, it was as
though the storm was over and the calm

had begun.

And the calm just became too calm.

I don't know if he was ashamed of what
he had done, because he claimed that

he'd lost a lot of friends.

But his friends were still around.

The thing he kept repeating in the last
conversations was...

that he felt that basically he always
stood for a very tasteful career. It was

always like the only way to get results
was to do it tastefully, you know, that

protest should never be ugly. In fact,
one of my favorite expressions of his

was that in such an ugly time, the true
protest is beauty.

And then he thought in the last year
that he had become a very ugly,

despicable person. And he felt that he
had really ruined everything with that

manic binge. And he felt that he had
done things that were the antithesis of

what he had stood for all the years
preceding.

But I think the main thing was that he
didn't have control over his mind. He

was so depressed that he couldn't come
up with a decision.

He had no opinions.

For somebody as opinionated as Phil,
that was it.

I was in Woodstock. I think I picked it
up in the New York Times, which is, Phil

would have liked that.

I was very shocked. I guess the saddest
thing, I missed the guy. I wish he were

here now. He'd have a lot of material to
be writing about. He'd have so much fun

writing about all the stuff going on
now.

That's the worst part.

I was in Montreal, I guess, in 76, when
I heard the news. So I

wrote a song, I wrote a song about it,
because they asked me to participate in

the benefit, the memorial.

They were going to have to fill in New
York, and I came. I was actually there.

I was scared out of my wits and got all
disguised up.

Everybody recognized me, though, and
knew it was me, and paid a tribute to

Phil.

Now he's gone, left us here to sing a
song. What can I say?

The battle goes on.

I saw him there on Freedom's Trail.

Singing songs and making bail. We walked
along through Georgia's mud.

Shouting out a racist grunt.

And left us here to sing a song.

Can't remember it all, you know.

It's all right.

In the green fields of turning, a baby
is born.

His cries crease the wind and mingle
with the morn.

An assault upon the order, the changing
of the guard.

Chosen for a challenge that is
hopelessly hard.

But the only single sign is the sighing
of the stars.

But to the silence of distance they are
sworn.

Then this overflow of life is crushed
into a lie.

The devil's soul is ripped apart and
tossed into the fire.

A smile of rejection at the nearness of
the night.

Truth becomes a tragedy, lifting from
the light.

The heavens are horrified, they stagger
from the sight.

And the cross is trembling with desire.

They say they can't believe it. It's a
sacrilegious shame.

Now who would want to hurt such a hero
of the game?

But you know I predicted it. I knew he
had to fall.

How did it happen? I hope his suffering
was small.

Tell me every detail.

I've got to know.

picture of the pain.

So dance, dance, dance, teach us to be
true.

Come dance, dance, dance, cause we love

you.

And the night comes again to the circles
that it's

explodes as the falling stars rain. The
planets are paralyzed, the mountains are

made, but they all glow brighter from
the brilliance of the blade.

With the speed of insanity, then he
died.

Now, in case there are any doubts about
my position in the war,

I've just been informed by KPFK

that the war is not over yet.

So we'll sing it again.

At the risk of being facetious to say
sing along, but we better not.

Might look like a party meeting.

After this song, there will be a
recruiting sergeant out there.

For those of you that are tired of
anti-war songs, here we go again.

I must have killed a million men and now
they want me back again.

in song.

Walking down an Alabama road,
remembering what the Bible told.

Walking with a letter in his hand,
dreaming of another southern land.

Walking down an Alabama road, and he
went by the name of William Moore.

Now what are you doing, William Moore?

Why the letter in your hand?

There's only one southern land And he
went by the name of William Moore

What price the glory of one man What
price the glory of one

man What price the hopes What price the
dreams And what price the glory of one

man Remembering what his grandfather

done

For the South in 61 A hundred years have
passed by since then Now Moore is

fighting for the South again Remembering
what his grandfather done

Remembering the time of World War II And
the South

Pacific island that he knew Remembering
the young men that he killed And the

praying that the guns of hate be still

Remembering the time in World War II
What price the glory of one man

What price the glory of one man What
price the hopes What

price the dreams And what price the
glory of one man And they shot him

on the Alabama roll Forgot about what
the Bible told They shot him

with that letter in his hand

he were a dog and not a man they shot
him on the Alabama road

did you say it was a shame when he died
did you say he was a fool

because he tried did you wonder who had
fired the gun did you know that it was

you that fired the gun did you say it
was a shame when he died what price

the glory of one man