For those unaware, Phil Ochs is known primarily as a songwriter, but his talents extended far beyond that, including short stories, poetry, and satire. Songs poured out of Ochs so quickly that not all were able to find their place on his albums, many only emerged decades later. His Warner/Chappell demos - which make up the main portion of this double LP - were recorded during the same period as his final two albums for Elektra. Originally released on CD in 2020, this 20-song collection makes its vinyl debut on two LPs packaged in a gatefold sleeve with liner notes by Ochs biographer David Cohen.

1. In the Heat of the Summer
2. That’s What I Want to Hear
3. The Men Behind the Guns
4. Days of Decision
5. Here’s to the State of Mississippi
6. Sailors and Soldiers
7. City Boy
8. I’m Tired
9. I Wish I Could Have Been Along
10. I’m Gonna Say It Now
11. Canons of Christianity
12. Song of a Soldier
13. Colored Town
14. The Confession
15. Love Me, I’m a Liberal
16. Take It Out of My Youth
17. Bracero
18. War Is Over (WBAI broadcast, November 20, 1967)
19. All Quiet on the Western Front (1969)
20. No More Songs (rehearsal take, 1970)

This ambient flashback to a time more calm, more relaxed, more enjoyable, opens on the emphatically-charged storytelling within In the Heat of the Summer and then comes the gently rambunctious That’s What I Want to Hear and then comes the high seas tale within The Men Behind the Guns, the quieter balladry fair of Days of Decision, the thoughtfully descriptive Here’s to the State of Mississippi, the free flowing Sailors and Soldiers, and then we get the piano-led City Boy, the emotive I’m Tired, the dutifully superfluous I Wish I Could Have Been Along, and the upbeat I’m Gonna Say It Now.

Along next we are lovingly brought the veritably shimmering balladry within Canons of Christianity and the poetically-spun Song of a Soldier and they are in turn followed by the still very relevant today Colored Town, the poignant, painful, and absolutely true The Confession, the gently divisive Love Me, I’m a Liberal, and then we are given the beautiful aesthetic found within Take It Out of My Youth, the breathtaking folk-imbibed Bracero, the recording rounding out on a timeless War Is Over (WBAI broadcast, November 20, 1967), a heartfelt All Quiet on the Western Front (1969), coming to a close on the effectual No More Songs (rehearsal take, 1970).

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