Today marks the 34th anniversary of Phil Ochs’ death, and while his musical impact has influenced some of today’s songwriters, such as Eddie Vedder and Billy Bragg, his voice is becoming quieter and his memory forgotten.

During the 1960s, and up into the mid 1970s, singer/songwriter, Phil Ochs, filled the American folk music scene with reflections upon race issues, workers’ rights, the atrocities of war, and host of other timely topics. But what set Ochs’ aside from other songwriters of this era—including Dylan—was the consistency of his message in his music: never did a record contain silly songs or nonsense lyrics.

Photo by Sweejak on Flickr

Poets from the early part of the twentieth century easily identify themselves by their style: T.S. Eliot has his highly academic voice, while Ezra Pound writes in uncomprehendable allusions; Carl Sandburg provides a voice for the working class, and William Carlos Williams, one for the simple-minds. As the list of poets from the Modern Era goes on, one poet who is often an after thought, if that at all, is Kenneth Patchen. Patchen’s poetry, from his first book to his last, encompass themes of spirituality, social justice, and peace. Patchen speaks plainly and humbly, in common vernacular, conveying his message that the goodness of humankind must acknowledge and overcome the atrocities of the world, lest the demise of society if this goodness continues to be ignored for the sake of self interest. Through upholding righteousness and change, Patchen hopes for a society that will embrace peace, before doom and destruction consume our world.

Dear Loyal Tango Echo Readers,

Tango Echo is proud to announce the launch of a new weekly column called “Lost & Found.” Contributor John Flagler has been researching long forgotten accounts of greatness to offer our readers educational and interesting content that digs up people, books, theories, and an array of other subjects that have become lost in history books. While education remains a primary reason for this column, we also hope the topics provide inspiration in the lives of our readers, with a promise to you that we’ll try to always keep the emphasis on important topics with themes relevant to today’s society. With so much going on in today’s world we feel that it’s our civil duty to offer a column such as this, that emphasizes the goodness in the world and beauty human kind has to offer.

Thank you all so much for your readership.

John Flagler & Tango Echo