Ochs, Phil

Ochs, (Philip David) Phil

(1940–76) folksinger, songwriter; born in El Paso, Texas. Inspired by folk legends Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger, he dropped out of college to perform in coffee houses in New York's Greenwich Village. Such albums as I Ain't Marchin' Anymore (1965), with the songs "Talking Vietnam" and "Draft Dodger Rag," established him as an important protest singer of the period. He committed suicide.

The Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography, by John S. Bowman. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995. Reproduced with permission.