Most folks remember Country Joe McDonald for his 'Fish' cheer which, most assuredly, has been memorialized on audio and video in his performance at Woodstock in August, 1969, however, in the summer of 1968, during the tumultous Democratic National Convention in Chicago, is the happening where it actually became the 'f - - -' cheer during a performance at the Schaefer Beer Music Festival. Earlier the group had been signed for The Ed Sullivan Show and paid in advance but it would never happen as word got out of the bedlam the 'cheer' had caused, they were told to keep the money. But Country Joe and the Fish had so many good performances, one of their best on video was at the Monterey International Pop Festival. Their performance of 'Section 43', included on this album, was quite inspirational in a very psychedelic way. 'Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine' recounts the story of a lady who read stories from the I Ching. Country Joe McDonald had a political agenda and you will hear it in most of his music. However this album, is slightly different, its psychedelicized, with songs like Flying High, Death Sound, Porpoise Mouth, Love, Bass Strings, The Masked Marauder and Grace. Exceptionally psychedelic. There is one political song on the album, Super Bird, about LBJ, '...it's a bird, it's a plane, it's a man insane,it's my President LBJ.'
The group was: Joe McDonald, one time lover of Janis and the enigmatic lead guitar and vocalist, guitarist Barry Melton, Bruce Barthol on bass, and drummer Gary (Chicken) Hirsh who altered the 'Fish' cheer in Chicago, and Farfisa on the keys.
If you happen to be so inclined to fancy Vietnam era protest music or just a fan of early Country Joe and the Fish music, you might want to also check out the Collectors Items, The First Three EP'S available through the link below.
