Formation (1965) The first lineup of Country Joe and the Fish formed in mid-1965, when
Country Joe McDonald (
vocals,
acoustic guitar) and
Barry "The Fish" Melton (
lead guitar, vocals) came together as a
duo. Melton honed his political protest prowess as a
guitarist in Los Angeles, at venues such as the
Ash Grove, before relocating to Berkeley, California, where he was a regular at the
Jabberwock cafe. Prior to the group, McDonald set up two folk and
jug bands, the Berkeley String Quartet and the Instant Jug Band, both of which served as outlets for his original material, and with the latter group including Melton. In addition, McDonald was a publisher of the
left-wing underground magazine
Et Tu, which later became
Rag Baby, containing poetry, drawings, and political messages. By early 1965, McDonald had become involved in the burgeoning folk scene in Berkeley, and the
Free Speech Movement that was organizing demonstrations in
University of California, Berkeley, which opposed
the war in Vietnam. Not long afterwards, McDonald was inspired to record a "talking issue" of his magazine, and organized Country Joe and the Fish with Melton and fellow musicians Carl Schrager (
washboard,
kazoo), Bill Steele (
bass guitar), and Mike Beardslee (vocals), out of both necessity of a recording alias and political device, to self-produce an
extended play.
ED Denson, the co-publisher of
Rag Baby, introduced McDonald to
Chris Strachwitz, who owned
Arhoolie Recording Studios, to self-produce the EP. Sensing the band's potential, Denson assumed management control, and was responsible for coining the group's name—a reference to
Josef Stalin and to
Mao Zedong's description of revolutionaries as "the fish who swim in the sea of the people". According to McDonald, "The Fish Cheer" was written in 30 minutes, with a purpose of expressing satiric and
dark commentary on the US's involvement in the
Vietnam War. In October 1965, 100 copies of the EP, titled
Rag Baby Talking Issue No. 1, were distributed on McDonald's independent label at a
Teach-in in UC Berkeley and
underground shops selling
Rag Baby magazine. For a brief period, McDonald and Melton performed together as a duo at college campuses in the Northwest on behalf of
Students for a Democratic Society before returning as regulars at the Jabberwock cafe. The two were joined by local jug band musicians, including Melton's roommates,
bass player Bruce Barthol and guitarist Paul Armstrong, and blues guitarist
David Bennett Cohen, with whom Melton played in another jug band. The addition of
drummer John Francis-Gunning rounded out the six-piece ensemble. It was during their residency at the Jabberwock that Country Joe and the Fish learned to play as a group and expand their repertoire. Within months, based on McDonald and Melton's interest in the live performances of the
Paul Butterfield Blues Band, the recordings on
Bob Dylan's
album,
Highway 61 Revisited, and their use of the mind-altering drug
LSD, the group began equipping themselves with electric instruments and delving more into
psychedelia. As a result, Cohen was moved over to the
organ. Cohen's experience with
keyboards was limited to having played
piano at a semiprofessional capacity at the Jabberwock, but, nonetheless, he quickly adapted to the qualities of the instrument. Melton describes the change of the group: "Once we hit into the electric medium and into the rock medium, we were pandering to the public taste. We became extraordinarily popular. The little folk club where we used to play once every two weeks, we played every single night for a month, or something like that, and filled it. And after a while we filled
two shows every single night". The EP fulfilled the band's ambitions to incorporate electric instruments into their music, effectively melding the instrumentals and pioneering an early template for the musical subgenre of
acid rock. It included McDonald's compositions "(Thing Called) Love" and "Bass Strings" on the
A-side and the six-minute "Section 43" on the B-side. Music historian
Richie Unterberger praised "Section 43", saying its "Asiatic guitar, tribal maracas, devious organ, floating harmonica, and ethereal mid-sections of delicate
koto-like guitar picking rivaled the Paul Butterfield Blues Band's
East West as the finest psychedelic instrumental ever". Through connections that Cohen had with
record producer Samuel Charters, the group signed a
recording contract with
Vanguard Records in December 1966, just as the label, which had primarily released
folk music, was attempting to branch out into the growing psychedelic rock scene. In February 1967, Country Joe and the Fish entered Sierra Sound Laboratories to record their debut album,
Electric Music for the Mind and Body, with Charters and Denson overseeing the process. Prior to their studio work, Armstrong left the group and began a two-year alternative assignment as a
conscientious objector, driving a truck for
Goodwill Industries. Hirsh's abilities were immediately distinguishable on the album, as he demonstrated an acute and articulate drum beat that
music critic Bruce Eder praised as "some of the best drumming on a psychedelic record this side of the late
Spencer Dryden". ''.
Electric Music for the Mind and Body was released on May 11, 1967. Much of the album's material continued to expand upon the band's new psychedelic medium, with it embracing all facets of the members' influences, which ranged from their folk roots,
blues,
raga rock and
hard rock. The album also saw Cohen coming forward in a larger role with inventive distorted-organ melodies. In addition, McDonald's lyrical content, which brazenly pronounced topics of
political protest,
recreational drug use, and love, augmented by satirical humor, clearly introduced the band's orientation and message. The compositional structures followed discrete movement patterns emulating the style of
John Fahey, whom McDonald admired.
Electric Music for the Mind and Body was a success upon release, charting at number 39 on the
Billboard 200, and remains one of the most enduring psychedelic works of the counterculture era. A
single, "Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine", was distributed a month prior to the release of the album and became the only Country Joe and the Fish single to chart, peaking at number 98 on the
Billboard Hot 100, in large part a culmination of its airplay on
FM broadcasting and college stations. A reworked version of "The Fish Cheer" was intended to be released as a track on the album. However, Charters vetoed the decision to see whether the controversial song "Superbird" would face a radio ban. Nonetheless, the band was considered a forerunner in the emerging
music scene in San Francisco, exhibiting one of the more polished debuts, just as its contemporaries were still refining their own sound. Melton attributes the album's success, particularly in San Francisco, to the band's appearance at the
Monterey Pop Festival in June 1967. Subsequently, the group toured the East Coast with an elaborate psychedelic
light show. The band returned to the studio, this time at Vanguard Studios in New York City, between July and September 1967. When "Superbird", a tune mocking
President Lyndon Johnson, was not banned from radio promotion, the band was given the go-ahead to record "The Fish Cheer", which saw the group moving away from the original folk composition toward electric instrumentals more synthesized toward psychedelia. The song became the title track of the band's second album, ''
I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die'', released in November 1967. The album was not as successful as its predecessor, but still charted at number 67. The composition represented growing anti-war sentiment expressed by
those opposing the Vietnam War, and is often considered one of the most recognized and celebrated protest songs of the era. "The Fish Cheer" was also pivotal in communicating the attitude against the war, but was set apart from other anti-war songs for its use of sarcastic humor and satire on the controversial conflict. Writer Lee Andresen reflects on the song's meaning, saying, "the happy beat and insouciance of the vocalist are in odd juxtaposition to the lyrics that reinforce the sad fact that the American public was being forced into realizing that Vietnam was no longer a remote place on the other side of the world, and the damage it was doing to the country could no longer be considered collateral, involving someone else." The song met unprecedented exposure among the band's young audience after a performance at the
Schaefer Music Festival in New York City, in the summer of 1968.
Lineup changes and Woodstock (1969–1970) In September 1968, Barthol left the band, just prior to their fourth album. His departure was due to the rest of the band's unwillingness to partake in the Festival for Life, an event established by the
Youth International Party in Chicago that was intended to have the participation of several well-known musicians attract thousands of spectators for the
1968 Democratic National Convention. After the festival resulted in riots and violent clashes between demonstrators and the police, Barthol's conviction that Country Joe and the Fish should have held a larger role precipitated his departure from the group and move to England. Hirsh and Cohen left soon after recording the group's next album,
Here We Are Again, and a new lineup was configured with Casady and David Getz, who formerly played drums with Big Brother and the Holding Company. The group released
Here We Are Again in July 1969. It charted at number 48, and saw Country Joe and the Fish moving to a
pop-oriented approach. Country Joe and the Fish's personnel remained relatively stable for the next six months, though Peter S. Albin, also an alumnus of Big Brother and the Holding Company, replaced Casady at bass. The audience receptively responded by chanting along with McDonald. McDonald's rendition of "The Fuck Cheer" propelled the song into the mainstream culture in the U.S., and was featured on the
Woodstock film, which was released on March 26, 1970. Radio stations regularly played both versions of the cheer, though the opposition to "The Fuck Cheer" limited its exposure to underground stations. In December 1969, McDonald began his own career outside the band, releasing
cover versions of Guthrie-penned songs on
Thinking of Woody Guthrie, and
country standards on ''Tonight I'm Singing Just For You
. All the while, the group looked to capitalize on the momentum from Woodstock and their appearance in the film, Zachariah, by releasing their fifth album, CJ Fish, in May 1970. The album was a moderate success, reaching number 111 nationally. However the band members lacked the motivation for touring and recording, which led to their disbandment in mid-1970. Melton performed solo as well, under the moniker "The Fish" and later became a member of the Bay Area supergroup, Dinosaurs, in the 1980s. Since 1982, Melton was able to practice law in California and became a Public Defender of Yolo County, California until his retirement in June 2009. Country Joe and the Fish members sporadically reconvene, most notably when the classic 1967 lineup recorded Reunion in 1977. The lineup, except Melton, came together again as the Country Joe Band in 2004. In the same year, the group resumed touring, released the Barthol-penned single, "Cakewalk to Baghdad", and the live album Live in Berkeley''. Though the Country Joe Band disbanded in 2006, some of the members still occasionally tour together. Hirsh died on August 17, 2021, at age 81. Barthol died on February 20, 2023, at age 75. McDonald died on March 7, 2026, at age 84. ==Discography==