Vietnam Talking Blues Explained

Vietnam Talking Blues
Artist:Phil Ochs
Album:All the News That's Fit to Sing
Genre:Protest song
Label:Elektra
Producer:Jac Holzman

"Vietnam Talking Blues" (sometimes titled " Vietnam Talkin’ Blues") is an American folk-style song by Phil Ochs, a U.S folk singer specializing in protest songs. His career began in the 1960s with his outspoken resistance to the Vietnam War. Formally released in his debut album, All the News That’s Fit to Sing, "Vietnam Talking Blues" held the third position on the album, coming in at 3 minutes and 38 seconds long.

"Vietnam Talking Blues" was relevant and timely, being “the first protest song to directly refer to Vietnam by name.”[1] [2] Ochs released the album All the News That’s Fit to Sing[3] in April 1964, “a full four months before the Gulf of Tonkin Incident and the first major escalation of the American presence in Vietnam.”

Notes and References

  1. Auslander. Ben H.. Summer 1981. If You Wanna End War And Stuff, You Gotta Sing Loud. Journal of American Culture. 4. 108. 10.1111/j.1542-734X.1981.0402_108.x.
  2. Web site: Antiwar Songs (AWS) - Talking Vietnam Blues. www.antiwarsongs.org. en. 2018-02-21.
  3. Web site: Celebrating Phil Ochs. 15 August 2015 .