Live at Newport is a compilation of performances from the Newport Folk Festival in 1963, 1964, and 1966. (Several years after this release came another compilation, The Early Years, which included everything here plus seven additional studio tracks.) Although Ochs was synonymous with the '60s folk movement, only four songs here had been previously released, and those were on obscure anthologies. Ochs is in his environment, with the audience laughing at his punchlines and absorbing his every word. "The Ballad of Medgar Evers" would become "Too Many Martyrs," while the version here of "Half a Century High" includes several verses that never made it to the studio version. The greatest revelations are with Ochs' later works; his lonely voice and solo guitar carry the weight of these richly allegorical tunes, which would be given far grander arrangements on their albums.