Ever wonder who played at Woodstock? Satisfactory10. 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.". Chile07. rally in front of the Alamo. Five Musical Facts About Country Joe McDonald. He once wrote a tongue-in-cheek song titled Bring Back the 60s, Man, poking fun at his image as a lingering hippie. While working with and about military nurses Joe became increasingly aware of the figure who could have been the first military nurse -- Florence Nightingale. Ever wonder who played at Woodstock? The All Star Band and some of the songs from this period did not endear Joe to many of his fans. In 1990 this is commonplace, but in the early 70s it was quite outrageous. He went on to produce a musical rendition of the World War I poems of Robert Service, a collection of country and western standards, "Vietnam Experience" in 1985, "Superstitious Blues" in 1991 with Jerry Garcia, and an album of songs about nursing in 2002. There are going to be no speakers, no awards, no soap box, she promised. 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 . The band has performed ), Plaschke: Lakers live up to their legacy with a close-out win for the ages, L.A. Affairs: I had my reasons for not dating white men. Plans for a sprawling commemorative Woodstock 50 event elsewhere collapsed amid permitting and other problems . In the counterculture spirit, he started a magazine, Rag Baby, one of which was put out as an oral issue: A hundred copies of a seven-inch EP made and sold one by one. The "we" included performances by Jack Casady of the Jefferson Airplane and David Getz and Peter Albin from Big Brother and the Holding Company. Some sources state that he performed after Richie Havens on Friday, while others, including photos and recordings, seem to confirm that . So what a recording, some airplay and countless performance could not do, the film did instantly. 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. McDonald straddles the two polar events of the 60s -- Woodstock and the Vietnam War. Joe's last album for Vanguard was recorded in New York and later released as Country Joe. They appeared on Day 3 of the festival. After some abortive attempts at reuniting the original Country Joe and the Fish, he formed the "Country Joe Band" with original members David Bennett Cohen, Bruce Barthol, and Gary "Chicken" Hirsh; the Country Joe Band toured throughout 2004 and 2005. Meanwhile, four days of concerts and events are planned at the Woodstock site, now the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts. This series highlights the artists who performed at Woodstock August 15-18, 1969. Free shipping for many products! 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. 2023 The Arena Media Brands, LLC and respective content providers on this website. That spring along with wife Kathy and bass player Peter Walsh, he toured the US in a VW bus playing for vet groups and winding up at the vet camp-out cum convention (called Dewey Canyon IV) on the Mall in Washington. President Joe Biden announced a new permanent American base on Polish soil - pacing the country on the forefront of the push-back against Putin. Joe's participation was crucial as during the afternoon at least 250,000 people sang along to "Fixin' To Die Rag" and yelled the famous "cheer". They were the same songs our friends were listening to back home, but the music took on different, and often deeper, meanings in Vietnam. The label was intended as a vehicle to release records by West Coast artists; since there was renewed interest in Europe at the time. He has performed at various rallies and benefit concerts for environmentalism, anti-war activism, and workers' rights. Talley and McDonald characterized this as a first step in healing the wound left on the United States by the trauma of Vietnam. Much of the band's music was written by founding members Country Joe McDonald and Barry "The Fish" Melton, with lyrics pointedly addressing issues of importance to the counterculture . It included the first recording of the song that would go on to define Mr. McDonalds career. Kaili Bisson (author) from Canada on April 07, 2019: Hippie stuff for sure! Free shipping for many products! He has become a well-respected scholar on the subject of her life and recently traveled to Turkey to further research her activities there during and after the Crimean War, as well as visiting sites relevant to her life in England. He tours regularly as a solo performer in the US and abroad. I wonder where he is today if hes still alive. says Beatty Barnes, who became a Broadway actress and singer. Collection CountryJoeMcDonald Band/Artist Country Joe McDonald. The first, a solo effort On My Own, was referred to by San Francisco Chronicle critic Joel Selvin as "masterly" and the live effort Into The Fray was by and large his biggest seller overseas. Returning to the Bay Area after his discharge from the Navy, Joe threw himself into the growing counterculture. Before forming The Fish, McDonald played in a band with Barry Melton, who later became his band-mate in The Fish. Ever wonder who played at Woodstock? 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. Country Joe McDonald: Yeah, he did that! 01. They would have thought I was making a joke., When McDonald stands on the Forum stage tonight as a proud Navy veteran, the crowd will know its no joke. 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. Jay Graydon and David Foster teamed with singer Bill Champlin to write a string of 70s hits and drummer Steve Pocaro became LA's most in demand player. After his enlistment, he attended Los Angeles City College for a year. After his enlistment, he attended Los Angeles City College for a year. HubPages is a registered trademark of The Arena Platform, Inc. Other product and company names shown may be trademarks of their respective owners. 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. 1. His battles with the church arent over, The 10 best things we saw at Willie Nelsons 90th birthday concert, Aerosmith is saying farewell with Peace Out tour, which hits L.A. in December, Michelle Obama didnt just attend a Springsteen concert in Barcelona. 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. B. 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. 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. Anyone can read what you share. That got their attention. When Woodstock, the movie hit the theaters, "Fixin' To Die Rag" was in the middle of the film, with its lyrics spelled out, highlighted with a bouncing ball, including the "Cheer" and copious remarks about how many people seemed to be in the audience. His "Tribute to Florence Nightingale" website has become a valuable resource for grade-schoolers. Harkening back to his days as the high school band leader, Mr. McDonald included a call-and-response with the other four band members. King as she encouraged G.I.s to lay down their weapons. This was unusual in an era of short three-minute singles. McDonald was married to Kathe Werum from 1963 to 1966 and married Robin Menken a year after his divorce from Werum. Al Sharpton sent a letter to McDonald's as they face . While on tour in Scandinavia, he was asked by concert promoter and film producer Knud Thorbjorsen to write some songs for a film production of Henry Miller's classic book Quiet Days In Clichy. He started performing at folk clubs and coffeehouses, and even started his own magazine called "Rag Baby" which featured the San Francisco folk music scene. 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. The meaning of songs often changed for individual vets whose personal (and in several cases, political) perspectives underwent seismic shifts in the years during and after the war. See how this article appeared when it was originally published on NYTimes.com. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for COUNTRY JOE McDONALD 1970 original POSTER ADVERT HOLD ON ITS COMING & the fish at the best online prices at eBay! Neil Youngs Ohio resonated in ways political and personal, too, since many of us Vietnam-era soldiers were the same age as the students killed at Kent State and the National Guardsmen who fired at them. His "Tribute to Florence Nightingale" website has become a major resource for grade-schoolers. His first big audience was at a V.V.A.W. There are conflicting reports about when McDonald performed at Woodstock. Despite being handed a guitar tied to a rope instead of a strap, McDonald put on an impressive 30-minute set in his army shirt and sunglasses. NEW YORK (AP) It was the weekend that shaped the image of a Woodstock Generation. And that image would echo, appeal and provoke for generations to come. [2] Get our L.A. It became an underground favorite throughout Europe and the title track is still played on French radio. However, McDonald was determined to get the Woodstock audience pumped up and excited for the rest of the day. Notable for their arrangements and the players on them, they were all well crafted; Planet Earth, however, was the first recording Joe had done using Los Angeles studio musicians most of whom went on to achieve individual success in their own right. 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. Heres My Soundtrack. It can all feel a bit trite. 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! and one that would become his signature song, "I Feel Like I'm Fixin'-to-Die Rag.". He also started his work with military nurses. The New York City show, at the Cafe Au Go-Go was the first time a light show had been brought to New York. Childs Play contained mostly out-takes from the Fantasy era, but the 1984 release Peace On Earth with great production values was a critical success. He befriended members of Vietnam Veterans Against the War, including conscientious objectors who were sent over as unarmed medics, only to find themselves in the thick of combat. Joe spent most of 1974 living in Europe, mostly in Paris where he had friends he had met in Berkeley. This series highlights the artists who performed at Woodstock August 1518, 1969. Cabinet secretaries and military leaders performed well despite the lack of a fully engaged leader," Leonhardt concluded. : photo: Worden McDonald, 1943; Joe and Family: Florence, Billy, Joe, MAC, at Naval Basic Training, San Diego, CA; photo: Nancy McDonald, 1960; Berkeley String Quartet: Carl Shrager, Bob Cooper, Joe, Bill Steele; photographer unknown, 1965; The Lundbergs: Travis T. Hipp, Dierdre and Jon Lundberg; photographer unknown, 1965? The singer walked back out, alone, and called to the masses, Give me an F!. It inpsired his career as a singer-songwriter and progressive activist. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. 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. He found himself banned from appearing at most municipal buildings due to the "Fish Cheer" and a reputation of a performer with an "attitude," mostly due to outspoken political views, and his to the point, but off-color topical songs. Joe McDonald may have written the most in-your-face anti-war, anti-military song to come out of the '60s, but he was also one of the very few musicians on the San Francisco scene who'd served in uniform. Pleasin'08. Captured in Michael Wadleighs Oscar-winning 1970 documentary Woodstock, the three rousing minutes of Mr. McDonalds acoustic version of The Fish Cheer/I-Feel-Like-Im-Fixin-to-Die Rag became the premier Vietnam War protest anthem. Then something changed, Killer Mike goes off: Right now, in this country, your freedom of speech is at risk, Rihanna has Smurfs on the brain for her next movie: Hope this gives me cool points, Sexual assault began at 13, Runaways songwriter says; her suit names ex-KROQ DJ, band manager, Smokey Robinson on love, Motown and sex at 83: I feel as good as I felt when I was 40, Fugees rapper Pras found guilty of political conspiracy. His performance began with a polite applause for his rendition of "Janis," which was followed by eight more numbers. 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. After being discharged, Mr. McDonald tried college for a few semesters before dropping out and landing in Berkeley. Its going to be one big celebration. 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. Peace. Country Joe McDonald. McDonald wrote the song "Janis" about his former girlfriend Janis Joplin, who also performed at Woodstock on Day 2. February, 1968, Marine Cpl. ", A portion of the 400,000 concert goers who attended the Woodstock Music and Arts Festival held on a 600-acre pasture near Bethel, N.Y. in 1969. Later that year through a series of "Vet Tapes," provided to Veterans Administration Outreach Centers, he helped to bring the gap between the Vets "being home" and "coming home". Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Country Joe McDonald The Early Years Rare 1978 Picc-A-Dilly Records Vinyl LP at the best online prices at eBay! [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?" Performers included Country Joe McDonald, a Navy veteran who served mainly in Japan. Keep it Clean. In Worcester, Massachusetts, McDonald was arrested for obscenity and fined $500 for uttering "fuck" in public. Later in 2005, political commentator Bill O'Reilly compared McDonald to Cuban President Fidel Castro, remarking on McDonald's involvement in Cindy Sheehan's protests against the Iraq War.[13]. "Oh, Jamaica" conjured up images of lush lazy days in the Caribbean sun, but the song's pointed lyric highlighted the terrible conditions that faced most people living on the island. Superstitious Blues is an album by the American folk rock musician Country Joe McDonald, released in 1991. They skipped the chant that night, but according to a story Mr. McDonald told on a live album, he shouted the expletive at the cops right after the show. Historians of the 60s have recognized the importance of music as a lens for understanding movements, attitudes and opinions. Although McDonald had played then-recent anti-Gulf War rallies, the album is made up of personal, not political, songs.McDonald considered making Superstitious Blues his final album; it was his first album in 12 years to be distributed by a label other than his own. I wrote the song Who Am I? for a play I was working on, and after I was done, I literally paused, sat down, and banged out Fixin-to-Die in a half an hour, he said. He travels the world and continues to sell records. Don's son went to school with Seven, Don asked his son if she would be cool with him naming a character Seven, Seven said no, so it was either Six or Eight. Radio and the way music was performed was changing and the band was helping to change it. The whole thing.". . After serving in the Navy, McDonald moved to California and became heavily involved in the protest movement at Berkeley. Its not a pacifist song; its a soldiers song. The most radical line in the song, he added, is, Be the first one on your block to have your boy come home in a box. Its military humor that only a soldier could get away with. The familys middle-class life was upended when his father, a lineman for Pacific Bell, was called before the House Un-American Activities Committee and lost his job, just as his son was entering his teenage years. Its essentially punk before punk existed.. 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. After all these years, what Mr. McDonald holds closest about the song is the way it was received by Vietnam veterans. ", followed immediately by the song. But hey -- 2023 is going to be fabulous . The former Navy pilot would later earn the nomination. 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.. . Publication date 1971-06-26 (check for other copies) Topics Live concert. ; ED Denson: photo: Jeffrey Blankfort, 1968; Tom Weller: photo: Anna Belle O'Brien, 1969; Jabberwock Sign: photo: Campbell Coe, 1967; Electric Music: Jules Kliot, 1967; Fairfax Park:art, Van Krugel-Bower/Haffbadd, 1967; Joe at Woodstock: photo: Jim Marshall, 1969; Publicity still from Zachariah: Joe, Mark Kapner, Bary Melton, Greg Dewey, Doug Metzler; Ad for Quiet Days in Clichy; Allstar Band: Peter Albin, Tucky Bailey, Joe, Anna Rizzo, Dorothy Moskowitz; photo: Jeff Blankfort, 1971; 76 Tour: art: Phil Carroll, 1976; Bill Belmont: photo: Steve Murata, 1998 The more liberal European artist climate did not prepare him for the conditions he returned to. March 13, 2018 101 Navy veteran Country Joe McDonald, lower right, and his band Country Joe and The Fish. Nancy Sinatras These Boots Are Made for Walkin became an anthem to the grunts who humped endless miles on patrol in the jungles, adding layers of meaning to the story of a young woman turning the tables on her cheating boyfriend. Barry Sadlers The Ballad of the Green Berets, the No. By December 1966, they had a recording contract with Vanguard Records, the home to progressive acts like the Weavers and Joan Baez. 1.The Early Years McDonald, 44, never served in Vietnam. McDonald straddles the two polar events of the 60s -- Woodstock and the Vietnam War. While appearing in New York, Vanguard recorded a series of shows at the Bitter End nightclub in Greenwich Village. Country Joe McDonald, WWII Plaque Berkeley World War II Plaque The City of Berkeley plans to install a bronze plaque honoring all those citizens from Berkeley who died fighting in World War 2 on the Berkeley Veterans Memorial Building. McDonald's stage name included "Country Joe," which was Joseph Stalin's nickname. The altered Fish Cheer is what makes it real, keeps it from being misunderstood as a fluff piece because the song starts off with an expression of anger and frustration, the ultimate act of protest, Mr. McDonald said. 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. 2.Country Joe and the Fish Memories06. The show was part of the Harlem Cultural Festival, a concert series that would later be dubbed a "Black Woodstock.". See how this article appeared when it was originally published on NYTimes.com. The song's anti-war message seems more timely than ever, with its savagely satirical attack on the arms merchants, the military and the White House. 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. Joe had signed with Vanguard as a solo performer and went to Nashville with Sam Charters to record an album of Woody Guthrie songs. But Woodstock became an aspirational vision of what countercultural youth thought they could achieve in the United States., In this Aug. 16, 1969 photo, a young woman naps on top of her car while trying to reach the Woodstock Music and Art Festival in Bethel, N.Y. (AP). We can make some of it into a sociological thing, and some of it we can make into the fact 15-year-old boys like to curse.. They also had a penchant for self-promotion and printed up posters and calendars using the style of the times. McDonald's Woodstock performance was a momentous occasion for both him and the festival-goers. It became a cause celebre when the US distributor, Grove Films, attempting to import copies for movie theaters, found all of their prints confiscated by customs as "obscene." chorus part, as derived from the 1926 early jazz classic "Muskrat Ramble", co-written by Kid Ory. The fall of 1970 found him in Chile scoring the music for the Saul Landau film Que Hacer. Though he has no qualms about his veteran status now, he believes the climate has not improved significantly. Before Country Joe McDonald galvanized the '60s protest movement with his zany antiwar anthem "I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag" in . In the early 1960s, he began busking on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley, California.