On My Way (1963 Demo Session)

Recorded on a friend's reel-to-reel tape recorder on April 4, 1963—a year before the release of his debut album, All the News That's Fit to Sing—these 25 songs are a time capsule of that era, before The Beatles or JFK's assassination. Ochs is clearly enthralled with the topical folk-protest movement. And as one of its most devout and prolific writers, he's saving everything he can for future posterity. (Sometimes he verbally runs through the chord changes along with explaining the circumstances surrounding the songs.) The fidelity is obviously challenged in spots, and Ochs' guitar isn't always exactly in key. He's still a young writer here, and some of these topics have long been filed in the dustbins of history. Still, "Paul Crump" has a melody that's for the ages. "How Long" is played with desperation and fury. Ochs even acknowledges that "The Power and the Glory" has received the best reception of his songs, and it (along with several others here) would appear on his debut. "New Town" would be covered by The Four Seasons.