Country Joe and the Fish was a rock music/folk music band known for musical protests against the Vietnam War, from 1965 to 1970.
The lead singer was "Country" Joe McDonald (born 1942 in Washington, D.C.). The lead guitarist was Barry "The Fish" Melton (born 1947 in New York City).
The band was an early example of Psychedelic music. The LP "Electric Music for the Mind and Body" was very influential on early FM Radio in 1967. Long sets of psychedelic tunes like Section 43, Bass Strings, Sweet Lorraine, Janis and Grace were often played back to back on KSAN and KMPX in San Francisco and progressive rock stations around the country. Country Joe and The Fish were regulars at Fillmore West and East and of course the Family Dog at the Avalon. Country Joe and The Fish were billed with such groups as The Jefferson Airplane, Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Led Zeppelin, and Iron Butterfly. They played at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967 and at Woodstock in 1969. In 1971 the band appeared in a Western film starring Don Johnson as a outlaw gang called the Crackers...
Their biggest hit was the anti-war "I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag", which debuted the same year of the band, but became best known after Country Joe's performance of it at Woodstock. Country Joe was involved with legal disputes with the family of Kid Ory due to the tune's similarity to Ory's Dixieland jazz standard "Muskrat Ramble". In August of 2003, the court case was decided in Joe's favor due to the long time between the debut of "Fixin' to Die" and the first legal claim against it by Ory's family.
Barry Melton, now the Public Defender of Yolo Country California, was the co-founder of Country Joe and The Fish. Barry and Joe McDonald founded the group as just the two of them in 1965 and then they added musicians as needed over the life of the band. Melton, founded another band called The Dinosaurs and has released newly found recordings - recording members include Peter Albin from Big Brother and The Holding Company and John Cippolina from Quicksilver Messenger Service and Copperhead. Melton still performs in Northern California and occasionally tours in Europe.
External links
