Post by cofi on Aug 21, 2007 19:37:48 GMT
Country Joe and the Fish.
Another great act from the 60s
I couldn't believe it, at the time, it was in the late 60s, when Country Joe & fish where touring the UK,
That i saw advertised that he was playing in a small town in Wales
which wasn't more than 10 miles from where i used to live then 
It was in the town's cinema, this was unheard of then, as about 10 miles from the town, there was an University city, and that is where all the touring bands played at, anyway, as expected the place was full, with hundreds more wanting to get to see him,
It turned out that the University didn't think he could pull the crowds in to see him, so they refused to book him, he proved them wrong
by the numbers of people that turned up to see him
Country Joe and the Fish
Country Joe and the Fish was a rock music/folk music band known for musical protests against the Vietnam War, from 1965 to 1970.
At first, the band membership was open and fluid but by 1967 the group was as follows: "Chicken" Hirsh, (drums) (born Gary Hirsh, in 1940, in Chicago, Illinois, USA); David Cohen (keyboards) (born David Bennett Cohen, 8 April 1942, in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA) and Bruce Barthol (bass) (born 11 November 1947, at Alta Bates Hospital, Berkeley, California, USA).
The lead singer was "Country" Joe McDonald. The lead guitarist was Barry "The Fish" Melton. Co-founders McDonald and Melton added musicians as needed over the life of the band.
The band came to perform 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", "Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine", "Janis" (for and about Janis Joplin) and "Grace" (for singer Grace Slick) (all released on Vanguard Records) were often played back to back on KSAN and KMPX in San Francisco and progressive rock stations around the country. Their first album charted at #39 on September 23 of 1967, their 2nd album at #67 on 2/3/68 and their third at #23 on 8/31/68. Country Joe and The Fish were regulars at Fillmore West and East and Chet Helms's Avalon Ballroom. They were billed with such groups as Jefferson Airplane, Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Led Zeppelin, and Iron Butterfly. They played at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967 and at the Woodstock Festival in 1969. In 1971 the band appeared in a Western film starring Don Johnson as an outlaw gang called the Crackers. The film, entitled Zachariah, was written by the Firesign Theatre and was billed as "The First Electric Western". They also appeared in the George Lucas film More American Graffiti and in the 1971 Roger Corman film Gas-s-s-s.
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 solo acoustic performance of it at Woodstock. Country Joe was sued in 2001 by Kid Ory's daughter, Babette Ory, who claimed Joe's "Fixin" Rag infringed her copyright to Kid Ory's Dixieland jazz standard "Muskrat Ramble". In August of 2003, the court case was decided in Joe's favor, since Kid Ory, Babette Ory, and the Muskat Ramble publisher had all known of Joe's song in the late 1960s but no complaint was made for decades. Finding the complaint objectively unreasonable, the court awarded McDonald some of his attorney's fees and costs. Due to the long delay and prejudice, including death of key witnesses, the court did not even reach the lack of substantial similarity issue. Babette Ory and her attorney appealed, and the appellate court affirmed the decision in favor of Joe McDonald.
Barry Melton was later a founding member of The Dinosaurs and has recently released new recordings of that band whose members included Peter Albin from Big Brother and The Holding Company and John Cipollina from Quicksilver Messenger Service and Copperhead. Melton returned to school and obtained his law degree in 1982. He is currently a public defender in Yolo County, California.
Jeff Taylor played with the band in mid-July.
One-Two-Three-What are we fighting for
Another great act from the 60s
I couldn't believe it, at the time, it was in the late 60s, when Country Joe & fish where touring the UK,
That i saw advertised that he was playing in a small town in Wales
which wasn't more than 10 miles from where i used to live then It was in the town's cinema, this was unheard of then, as about 10 miles from the town, there was an University city, and that is where all the touring bands played at, anyway, as expected the place was full, with hundreds more wanting to get to see him,
It turned out that the University didn't think he could pull the crowds in to see him, so they refused to book him, he proved them wrong
by the numbers of people that turned up to see him Country Joe and the Fish
Country Joe and the Fish was a rock music/folk music band known for musical protests against the Vietnam War, from 1965 to 1970.
At first, the band membership was open and fluid but by 1967 the group was as follows: "Chicken" Hirsh, (drums) (born Gary Hirsh, in 1940, in Chicago, Illinois, USA); David Cohen (keyboards) (born David Bennett Cohen, 8 April 1942, in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA) and Bruce Barthol (bass) (born 11 November 1947, at Alta Bates Hospital, Berkeley, California, USA).
The lead singer was "Country" Joe McDonald. The lead guitarist was Barry "The Fish" Melton. Co-founders McDonald and Melton added musicians as needed over the life of the band.
The band came to perform 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", "Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine", "Janis" (for and about Janis Joplin) and "Grace" (for singer Grace Slick) (all released on Vanguard Records) were often played back to back on KSAN and KMPX in San Francisco and progressive rock stations around the country. Their first album charted at #39 on September 23 of 1967, their 2nd album at #67 on 2/3/68 and their third at #23 on 8/31/68. Country Joe and The Fish were regulars at Fillmore West and East and Chet Helms's Avalon Ballroom. They were billed with such groups as Jefferson Airplane, Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Led Zeppelin, and Iron Butterfly. They played at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967 and at the Woodstock Festival in 1969. In 1971 the band appeared in a Western film starring Don Johnson as an outlaw gang called the Crackers. The film, entitled Zachariah, was written by the Firesign Theatre and was billed as "The First Electric Western". They also appeared in the George Lucas film More American Graffiti and in the 1971 Roger Corman film Gas-s-s-s.
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 solo acoustic performance of it at Woodstock. Country Joe was sued in 2001 by Kid Ory's daughter, Babette Ory, who claimed Joe's "Fixin" Rag infringed her copyright to Kid Ory's Dixieland jazz standard "Muskrat Ramble". In August of 2003, the court case was decided in Joe's favor, since Kid Ory, Babette Ory, and the Muskat Ramble publisher had all known of Joe's song in the late 1960s but no complaint was made for decades. Finding the complaint objectively unreasonable, the court awarded McDonald some of his attorney's fees and costs. Due to the long delay and prejudice, including death of key witnesses, the court did not even reach the lack of substantial similarity issue. Babette Ory and her attorney appealed, and the appellate court affirmed the decision in favor of Joe McDonald.
Barry Melton was later a founding member of The Dinosaurs and has recently released new recordings of that band whose members included Peter Albin from Big Brother and The Holding Company and John Cipollina from Quicksilver Messenger Service and Copperhead. Melton returned to school and obtained his law degree in 1982. He is currently a public defender in Yolo County, California.
Jeff Taylor played with the band in mid-July.
One-Two-Three-What are we fighting for
