Gunfight At Carnegie Hall (Live)

The chaos that surrounded Phil Ochs' performances at Carnegie Hall on March 27, 1970, included unruly audience members (who didn't understanding why their folk-protest hero was performing Buddy Holly and Elvis Presley medleys in a gold lamé Nudie suit) and a telephone bomb threat that ended the first concert prematurely. A second set went overtime and the sound was cut, which led to the protesting heard on this release. The songs here, however, are all from the abbreviated first set; the album also includes between-song banter that explains Ochs' state of mind. With a small band featuring Bob Rafkin on guitar, Kenny Kaufman on bass, Lincoln Mayorga on piano, and Kevin Kelley on drums, Ochs sails through several key originals and the unlikely Merle Haggard cover of "Okie from Muskogee," which ends with a few disgruntled audience members making their presence felt. Despite the controversy following this release—it was originally only issued in Canada—Gunfight at Carnegie Hall is a powerful and unfortunately final statement from a major artist of the '60s.