While researching our book, my co-author, Craig Werner, and I heard poignant stories from Vietnam veterans about listening to a fellow soldier play Masters of War or Where Have All the Flowers Gone in Vietnam. The war was coming to an end, and those of us still there, and the veterans who were already back home, understood that it would be music that helped us reintegrate into civilian life. His work with military nurses led him to become a respected scholar on the life of Florence Nightingale, the first military nurse. In 1966, Mr. McDonald and his partner Barry Melton, whose nickname was the Fish, decided to move away from their folk music style and form a full-time rock band. I remember the big hype Woodstock was at the time. The Arena Media Brands, LLC and respective content providers to this website may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. In the summer of 1965 he wrote the song that even today is an anthem of the antiwar movement, yet holds a special resonance for Vietnam veterans, a point we heard again and again from the hundreds of Vietnam veterans weve interviewed. Born a red-diaper baby he was named after Joseph Stalin he grew up in a Communist. Billboard magazine in 1967 referred to the Country Joe EP as "unique," and the airplay it received brought them to the attention of New York City in general and the music business in particular. This series highlights the artists who performed at Woodstock August 1518, 1969. B. Woweven today, that gives me chills. 195196. The title song, though un-playable on radio in most English speaking countries became a chart hit in Scandinavia, Germany and Holland. ED, who also wrote for the weekly Berkeley Barb, concocted with Joe the idea of letting the audience know what was happening at all times; so they took out a 52 week 1/4 page ad in the Barb informing their audience where they were going to be in the coming week -- even if it was in Canada. In short, all of a sudden 5 years after its debut at a demonstration in Oakland it became an anthem. "Coyote" also from this LP was a 12" dance club hit in France and Germany when it was released there in 1978. Country Joe McDonald Live at Celebration Of Life Festival on 1971-06-26. by Country Joe McDonald. For Vietnam veterans and those who listen to their stories, the iconic music of the 1960s and early 70s provides access to a truer, deeper story of what Vietnam meant, and continues to mean. That got their attention. The second featuring on the cover a picture of Joe and his wife of a year Robin and his daughter Seven Ann. The fall of 1970 found him in Chile scoring the music for the Saul Landau film Que Hacer. Free shipping for many products! The song "Making A Movie In Chile" was released on Joe's last album for Vanguard Country Joe later on in 1974. In the early 1960s, he began busking on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley, California. Peace. Both LPs contained novel approaches to music -- the first, "Rock and Soul Music" Joe's paean to James Brown and the second, a dry, cutting, almost minstrel-show-like song about Harlem, "The Harlem Song." Country Joe and the Fish sounded a political note. Countryjoe_79.jpg: Rtsandersonderivative work: SilkTork, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. At the age of 17, he enlisted in the United States Navy for three years and was stationed in Japan. [14] McDonald has noted that his girlfriend at the time, Janis Joplin, showed much anger for breaking up with her to be with Menken but asked him to write a song about her; the result was "Janis". Their best-known song is his "The "Fish" Cheer/I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag" (1965), a black comedy novelty song about the Vietnam War, whose familiar chorus ("One, two, three, what are we fighting for? Day 2 at Woodstock meant the rock acts were up, and the 11th act to appear on Saturday (actually Sunday a.m.) was already a legend. The "Fish Cheer" evolved into the "Fuck Cheer" after the Berkeley Free Speech Movement. The same reaction took place across the country when the documentary and its accompanying three-L.P. soundtrack were released in 1970. That Barry McGuires hit song Eve of Destruction, which railed against injustice and nuclear war in 1965, was quickly countered by Sgt. It was haunted by military intelligence and the FBI though curiously not to the point of actually disrupting its activities -- just a subtle presence, and one which rewarded Joe with a spot on President Richard Nixon's enemies list. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. The cheer was on the original recording of "I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die Rag", being played right before the song on the LP of the same name. The cheer became popular and the crowd would spell out F-I-S-H when the band performed live. Country Joe performing at the 1979 Woodstock reunion. The band worked regularly in Berkeley at the Jabberwock coffee house on Telegraph, and became familiar faces at the two San Francisco ballrooms, the Avalon and the Fillmore Auditorium. It's Finally Over ; In a video, Biden framed next year's . McDonald was known for his vocal opposition to the Vietnam War, and many of his songs from that era reflected his anti-war views. . They also had a penchant for self-promotion and printed up posters and calendars using the style of the times. He learned to play the guitar and trombone, but his father's loss of employment due to suspected communist ties before the House Un-American Activities Committee changed his world view forever. Like some of his earlier material, the songs he performed and wrote were a reflection of changing times. And once we returned home, music became essential to our healing. When Craig and I met Joe at the North Berkeley BART station in 2008 to interview him for our book, he introduced himself by saying, I consider myself a veteran first and a hippie second., Although the pro-war hawks who flooded him with hate mail he still receives it were unaware of the crucial fact that Joe McDonald was a Navy veteran, one whod realized that, as he put it, all military experience, all combat experience universally is the same not good/bad, moral/immoral. In 2015, McDonald (with assistance from Alec Palao), formed The Electric Music Band; the intention of the group was to perform the early psychedelic material of the early career of Country Joe And The Fish. ", But, she says: "It feels like something that could never happen again.". Were all going to die capper. Im sure it was a cultural and pharmaceutical event. At a time of bitter protests over the Vietnam War, Woodstock "seemed to transcend the anger that clearly a lot of people were feeling. First off, my dad couldnt believe he had to spend all this money on three records for his son, and then I put it on on Christmas morning, cranked it up, and I still remember when the Fish Cheer came on and he comes sprinting down the hall just horrified, said Mr. Earle, now 62. He decided to play "The Fish Cheer/I Feel Like I'm Fixin' to Die Rag," a song that was already planned for his set with The Fish the following day. One of his solo albums, the 1973 Vanguard LP Paris Sessions, was reviewed by Robert Christgau in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981), in which he said: "Amazing. Country Joe McDonald is an American singer/songwriter and a Navy veteran. The more liberal European artist climate did not prepare him for the conditions he returned to. [10] Gary "Chicken" Hirsh suggested before one of the shows to spell the word "fuck" instead of "fish". Since his performance at Woodstock, Country Joe McDonald has remained an outspoken activist for social and political causes that he believes in. Music was the key to survival and a path to healing, the center of a human story thats too often lost in the haze of politics and myth that surrounds Vietnam. [9] The "Fish Cheer" was the band performing a call-and-response with the audience, spelling the word "fish", followed by Country Joe yelling, "What's that spell?" He travels the world and continues to sell records. To many who went or wished they did, the pivotal festival of "peace and music" 50 years ago remains an inspiring moment of counterculture community and youthful freethinking. They toured Europe in the fall of 1968 and recorded a fourth LP, Here We Are Again, in the late spring of 1969. During the summer of 1968 the band played on the Schaefer Music Festival tour. Its his legacy, one that both provided him with financial stability and quashed his chances at Top 40 stardom. By Joe McDonald, AP Thursday, Apr 27 FILE - China's President Xi Jinping arrives to attend the APEC Economic Leaders Meeting during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, APEC summit, Nov. 19 . However, McDonald was determined to get the Woodstock audience pumped up and excited for the rest of the day. In the 2008 HBO mini-series Generation Kill, a group of Marines on Humvee patrol belt it out in unison. Electric Music For The Mind And Body in its entirety, and band members include Palao, the Rain Parade's Matt Piucci and Derek See of the Chocolate Watchband. "Bass Strings" became one of the most popular songs played on the new up-and-coming radio format then simply called "progressive" radio. President Joe Biden announced a new permanent American base on Polish soil - pacing the country on the forefront of the push-back against Putin. McDonald makes it clear, though, that the veterans issue is not just one of a long list of causes for him, and that it is vitally linked to his first cause: peace. Keep it Clean. McDonald was born in Washington, D.C. in 1942 to parents who were once members of the Communist party. A scheduled, prepaid appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show was canceled, and they were banned for life (although they got to keep the money). Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated. "Some people alluded. He played Fixin-to-Die from the back of a flatbed trailer. The dynamic was complicated by musics peculiar status as both a center of political or cultural resistance and a manifestation of Americas high-tech supremacy. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Country Joe McDonald - Best of Country Joe McDonald The Vanguard Yea - J7427A at the best online prices at eBay! A raw direct release, it remains a favorite of many of Joe's fans notably for the feminist (or maybe not feminist) song "Sexist Pig." I was kind of their mascot. The band recorded and released two albums over the following year. Joe left the troupe in late 1971 feeling that Fonda had missed the point; she did not seem to understand the problems the GIs and the returning Vietnam veterans were going through, and perhaps never would. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Concertgoer lets out a loud full body orgasm while L.A. Phil plays Tchaikovskys 5th, Mars Voltas lead singer broke with Scientology and reunited with the band. McDonald straddles the two polar events of the 60s -- Woodstock and the Vietnam War. Country Joe McDonald sits in the kitchen of his Berkeley home, a few miles and more than four decades removed where he got he got his start in the music business, hawking self-released EPs on the University of California campus. For the men and women like me who served in Southeast Asia, music was what inexorably linked us to my generation. We sang along to the Beatles, Nancy Sinatra, Marty Robbins and the Temptations before we went to war, and we listened to them after we came back home. Also recorded with this group was Joe's 1973 Vanguard album Paris Sessions. This series highlights the artists who performed at Woodstock August 15-18, 1969. I was inspired to write a folk song about how soldiers have no choice in the matter but to follow orders, but with the irreverence of rock n roll. If I had known what the end result of that clip being in the film would have been, I dont know if I would have done it, McDonald said. This last song appeared at a time of growing national awareness of the plight of whales worldwide spurred by the efforts of the Canadian activist group Greenpeace to whom the song was dedicated. He has performed at various rallies and benefit concerts for environmentalism, anti-war activism, and workers' rights. George Deukmejians drive to build a Vietnam memorial in California. Joseph Allen McDonald had been steeped in progressive politics long before he took the Woodstock stage. 2.Country Joe and the Fish This group was recorded live at the Fete and a recording of "Sweet Marie" appeared on the 1990 Vanguard release The Best Of Country Joe: The Vanguard Years. Ever wonder who played at Woodstock? His "Tribute to Florence Nightingale" website has become a major resource for grade-schoolers. The most noteworthy releases were Joe's. Music was more than just background for us. Their song I Feel Like Im Fixin To Die Rag holds a special resonance for Vietnam veterans as well as the antiwar movement. "It was embarking onto 'what do we have already here where we can have people gather?'" The lineup includes 1969 performers Santana and John Fogerty, but the arts center has made clear it isn't hosting a freewheeling festival: Spectators will need tickets and checkpoint travel passes to get to the site. Thirty years after his appearance at Woodstock, Country Joe McDonald has settled down as a family man. 3.The Famous Cheer Free shipping for many products! "Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine," released as the band's first 45, only made it to #98 on Billboard's "Top 100," but became a staple of American college radio. In 2007, he put together a song-and-spoken-word one-man show about Woody Guthrie, and followed it up with another about Florence Nightingale. He once wrote a tongue-in-cheek song titled Bring Back the 60s, Man, poking fun at his image as a lingering hippie. This series highlights the artists who performed at Woodstock August 15-18, 1969. Though he continues to perform and support a broad array of progressive causes, if you didn't know anything about his past, you'd think McDonald was just another middle-aged man enjoying life. By December 1966, they had a recording contract with Vanguard Records, the home to progressive acts like the Weavers and Joan Baez. Their song "I Feel Like I'm Fixin' To Die Rag" holds a special resonance for. Goes Out newsletter, with the week's best events, to help you explore and experience our city. Some of the artists also appeared at Woodstock: Neil Young, Graham Nash, John Sebastian, Richie Havens and Sha Na Na. [16] Seven was the subject of and inspiration behind the song "Silver and Gold". By 1979 Joe and Bill Belmont had re-started Rag Baby records and released, in Europe through various licensing arrangements, Barry Melton's Level With Me. [14] In 1968, Menken gave birth to the couple's first daughter, Seven Anne McDonald, in San Francisco. Read another biography by Joel Selvin. McDonald has recorded 33 albums and has written hundreds of songs over a career spanning 60 years. 1976) and Tara (b. McDonald's stage name included "Country Joe," which was Joseph Stalin's nickname. This was unusual in an era of short three-minute singles. Ring of Fire, Nowhere to Run, Riders on the Storm all of them shifted shape in relation to the war. This demonstration, the beginning of what was to be a week of protests throughout the Capitol, proved to be one of the pivotal popular manifestations of disenchantment with the Nixon administration's conduct of the war. He tours regularly as a solo performer in the US and abroad. Its strictly a show., (Tickets--priced at $16.50 and $17.50--are still available through TicketMaster and the Forum box office. Among its many fans was the singer-songwriter Steve Earle, then a teenager in San Antonio. Relatively unknown, Santana was a festival hit. As Michael Kramer observes in The Republic of Rock, the music of the 1960s and early 70s gave the generation a sonic framework for thinking, feeling, discussing and dancing out the vexing problems of democratic togetherness and individual liberation.. Her mother wouldn't let her go to Woodstock. It, along with "Masked Marauder" and the other instrumental added to the album "Section 43," were notable in that they were instrumentals and were not only played on the radio, but played in performance as well. The suit was brought by Ory's daughter Babette, who held the copyright at the time. Tom Weller, "artist in residence," created these images. By 1968 they had released a third album Together and were touring successfully around the world. Harkening back to his days as the high school band leader, Mr. McDonald included a call-and-response with the other four band members. [2], McDonald was born in Washington, D.C., and grew up in El Monte, California, where he was student conductor and president of his high school marching band. Max Yasgur, the dairy farmer who leased his land to the festival, said meeting them "forced me to open my eyes. McDonald wrote the song in about 20 minutes for an anti-Vietnam War play. The crowd at Woodstock, half a million strong, rose to their feet and joined in Country Joe McDonalds antiwar war cry, chanting along from the opening expletive all the way to the Whoopee! 4. He began his solo career with a collection of Woody Guthrie songs. 2023 The Arena Media Brands, LLC and respective content providers on this website. This series highlights the artists who performed at Woodstock August 15-18, 1969. Headliner Nina Simone delivered a set infused with songs of black empowerment and a militant poem that asked black people are you ready to instigate social change. Last edited on 28 February 2023, at 01:20, The "Fish" Cheer/I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag, Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies, The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music, "Country Joe McDonald Revives Anti-War Anthem", "Country Joe McDonald, The Country Joe Band", "Show 42 The Acid Test: Psychedelics and a sub-culture emerge in San Francisco. Joseph Allen "Country Joe" McDonald (born January 1, 1942) [1] is an American musician, singer and political activist. According to Welcome Home co-founder Joie Talley, some surprise guests are also expected, since many big-name stars are in town for Tuesdays Grammy Awards. Starting in 1982 Joe began actively working with and for Vietnam Veterans Against The War, Swords To Plowshares and Vietnam Veterans Of America to further the cause of the thousands of veterans who had become disenfranchised by the system's neglect. The combination of the obscenity and the sneeringly rebellious vibe of the lyrics hurt Mr. McDonald career-wise, but of that song, he has no regrets. [4][5][6] In their youth, both were Communist Party members and named their son after Joseph Stalin, before renouncing the cause. See how this article appeared when it was originally published on NYTimes.com. 1991) from his marriage to Kathy Wright. In 1982, McDonald began working with organizations such as the Vietnam Veterans of America to raise awareness about issues affecting veterans and their families. Since then, titles such as Superstitious Blues and Thank the Nurse have emerged from the Rag Baby label. McDonald's Woodstock performance was a momentous occasion for both him and the festival-goers. Two years later, the Veterans of Foreign Wars' magazine marked Woodstock's 40th anniversary with a cover story spotlighting some 109 service members who died in Vietnam during the festival and "are never lauded by the illustrious spokesmen for the 'Sixties Generation.'". 1980) from his marriage to Janice Taylor, and Emily (b. 6.Recent Work, The origin of the name appears to have come from the band's manager, ED Denson, who coined the phrase drawing from Mao's saying about "the fish who swim in the sea of the people;" the Country Joe part has numerous variants, the most oft-told refers to Joe's parents having named Joe for Joseph Stalin, whose nickname during World War II was "Country Joe.". In 2005, McDonald joined a larger protest against California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed budget cuts at the California State Capitol Building. He considers the song to be essentially punk before punk existed. His "Tribute to Florence Nightingale" website has become a valuable resource for grade-schoolers. During the second Rag Baby heyday, Joe started a tape cassette magazine, Tape Talk, that reviewed the San Francisco Blues Festival, the current status of women's music and songs from and by Vietnam veterans. Discover Best of Country Joe McDonald by Country Joe & the Fish, Country Joe McDonald released in 1998. Some other Americans saw Woodstock as an outrageous display of indulgence and insouciance in a time of war. [20], For discography of Country Joe and the Fish, see that entry. This album was a production collaboration of Fantasy's Chief Engineer Jim Stern, Joe and Bill Belmont. Love. 2. They were ready to go nuts when he called out for an F.. 5.Back in Berkeley Naturally, this is reflected in McDonalds music. Despite the real/honest prison poem and the silly, outdated record fan routines, his best in about five years."[12]. McDonald's music spans a broad range of style and content. The man (repeat: man) has written feminist songs that are both catchy and sensible. "Patriots: the Vietnam War Remembered from All Sides", Christian G. Appy, p. 196. After lying to her parents about her destination, Breda arrived from Boston to find a mind-boggling mass of people, tents, blankets, pot smoke, patchouli and under-preparedness. It was time for the second act on the second day of a 1969 music festival in upstate New York, but the band, Santana, was having trouble getting it together. She was fresh out of high school and liked rock concerts, and the three-day lineup was packed with acts including The Who, Jimi Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. rally in front of the Alamo. This was later released in 1972 as Incredible Live. Superstitious Blues is an album by the American folk rock musician Country Joe McDonald, released in 1991. Country Joe McDonald was born on January 1, 1942 in Washington, District of Columbia, USA. Fish which with a new keyboard player and rhythm section was produced by Tom Wilson. Radio and the way music was performed was changing and the band was helping to change it. It was a trek to get near the stage. February, 1968, Marine Cpl. Breda and her friends slept in their car after getting separated from another vehicle carrying their camping supplies. I believe if we had the music of all these different armies, all the infantries everywhere, youd have the same attitude expressed within their songs that we expressed in ours.. The Guthrie album won him critical acclaim and a spot the following year at the Hollywood Bowl celebration in honor of Guthrie featuring Joan Baez, Arlo Guthrie and many who had worked with him while he was alive. Little did he know that this impromptu set would include one of the most iconic anthems of the festival. 1988) and Ryan (b. So they saved it for the second album that year, I-Feel-Like-Im-Fixin-to-Die.. The F-I-S-H Cheer was lighthearted, as was the sound behind the pitch-black lyrics of Fixin-to-Die. Country Joe & the Fish played up the songs soldier-as-carnival-barker aspects, putting a hurdy-gurdy organ front and center, dropping kazoo bits throughout and capping it off with sounds of machine guns and a bomb dropping. Sometimes the music was live: soldiers strumming out Bob Dylan and Curtis Mayfield songs at base camps; Filipino bands pounding out Proud Mary and Soul Man at enlisted-mens clubs and Saigon bars; touring acts from Bob Hope and Ann-Margret to Nancy Sinatra and James Brown granting momentary calm. Its a soldiers song from a soldiers background and point of view. An unusual move by the company that staged the Weavers' reunion concert at Carnegie hall during the height of anti-left sentiment in the United States. Concertgoers werent the only ones struck by the fellow-feeling and calm in the crowd despite scores of drug arrests, medical problems ranging from cut-up bare feet to LSD freakouts, and two deaths, one from a heroin overdose and another when a teen was run over, according to The Associated Press reporting from the time. McDonald straddles the two polar events of the 60s -- Woodstock and the Vietnam War. In April of 1971, Joe agreed to take part in coast-to-coast anti war demonstrations. This lead to the 1988 Rag Baby release, Vietnam Experience which along with the film and video of the same name were to be Joe's "bookends" on the war in Vietnam. Country Joe McDonald was a military veteran, a seasoned folk and blues artist, and the editor of an underground newspaper when he decided to cut a record of political tunes in 1966 that led to the formation of one of the leading bands of the San Francisco psychedelic explosion, Country Joe & the Fish.While the group's day in the sun would prove to be short-lived -- they broke up in 1970 . 1. Plans for a sprawling commemorative Woodstock 50 event elsewhere collapsed amid permitting and other problems . Talley and McDonald characterized this as a first step in healing the wound left on the United States by the trauma of Vietnam. "Patriots: the Vietnam War Remembered from All Sides", Christian G. Appy, p. 199. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language. At its best during the Fete de L'Humanite in Paris it had eight members but for most of its life it was a quartet. They also appeared in and performed music for underground cult film Zachariah where Joe is the leader of a band of outlaws in the old west, carrying amplifiers on their horses and calling themselves "The Crackers.". 1. Ironically, he noted, he appeared at Woodstock wearing a military shirt. . Historians of the 60s have recognized the importance of music as a lens for understanding movements, attitudes and opinions. Its going to be one big celebration. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/13/opinion/vietnam-war-rock-music.html. Every time he heard Fixin-to-Die, it boosted his morale. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. [14], McDonald lives in Berkeley, California. They appeared on Day 3 of the festival. Since the players on the session made few mistakes and worked at this all the time, the recording was over very quickly; there was time left over so some country standards were tracked and both albums released the following year as Thinking Of Woody Guthrie and Tonight I'm Singing Just For You. He did say that! The New York City show, at the Cafe Au Go-Go was the first time a light show had been brought to New York. This series of articles32 in allcovers each of the artists who performed at the original Woodstock festival August 1518, 1969. Just out of the Navy, he left us a lasting record of Woodstock, Army Special Ops Command welcomes first female command sergeant major, UN envoy says Sudans warring sides agree to negotiate, Russia missile attack on Ukraine injures 34, damages homes, Turkey claims its forces killed ISIS chief in Syria, Committee votes on major defense policy bill expected in May, Your next tech and incoming AI | Defense News Weekly Full Episode 4.28.2023, Home Improvement Loans What are my options? On the same day his band, Country Joe & the Fish, played at Woodstock, another audience of thousands was in a Harlem park for a concert with its own sense of community and yearnings to challenge the status quo. Navy veteran Country Joe McDonald, lower right, and his band Country Joe and The Fish. It was the mid-1960s, just as the Free Speech movement on campus was morphing into the antiwar movement. A half-century later, the Harlem Cultural Festivals anniversary is being marked with events including a concert in the same park, hosted by rapper and activist Talib Kweli.