I\u2019m not sure what was going through the minds of Country Joe McDonald and Barry \u201cThe Fish\u201d Melton when they decided to form a band during the mid-1960s, but the result was one of the more unusual and ultimately influential bands of their era. Today, many remember Country Joe and The Fish for their ringing fish cheer with 400,000 people at Woodstock and forget about their outstanding body of work.<\/p>\n
McDonald and Melton would be the band\u2019s constants, but the best known configuration also included drummer Gary \u201cChicken\u201d Hirsh, keyboardist David Cohen, and bassist Dave Barthol. Their four albums together (1967-1969) were some of the better, if somewhat forgotten, albums of the late 1960s.<\/p>\n
Their debut album, Electric Music For The Body And Mind<\/i> may not have been the first psychedelic rock album, but it set the standard for much of what would follow. Their fusion of rock, country, folk, and blues was unique, as were the constant tempo changes and chord sequencing. Add in a not always serious attitude \u2013 after all, they named the band after Joseph Stalin, who was called Country Joe during the 1940s \u2013 and you have one of the more unique and interesting albums in rock history.<\/p>\n
The sound tended to center around Melton\u2019s expert lead guitar, a tiny organ sound, and McDonald\u2019s humorous, biting, and incisive lyrics. Their music bordered on the weird and unusual without crossing the line. \u201cNot So Sweet Martha Lorraine\u201d was a good example of their sound as hidden beneath the music was one of the more unusual anti-romantic love songs on record.<\/p>\n
They would become known for their political commentary and anti-Vietnam War stance, of which \u201cSuper Bird\u201d was an early example. It was basically a trashing of the Johnson administration complete with Marvel Comics superhero imagery. They just don\u2019t create them like that anymore.<\/p>\n
There were a number of other memorable tracks. \u201cDeath Sound Blues,\u201d as the name implies, incorporated blues elements and featured a searing guitar solo that proved Melton was one of the best kept guitar secrets of the late 1960s. \u201cBass Strings\u201d was a musical drug experience that traveled from the concert stage to the desert to the sea shore. \u201cSection 43\u201d was a tightly structured instrumental that allowed all the band members to shine. \u201cGrace,\u201d a tribute to Grace Slick of the Jefferson Airplane, was a trip in and of itself, complete with some early guitar reverb.<\/p>\n
Electric Music For The Body And Mind<\/i> may sound a little dated today, but there can be no denying its influence and place in the American psychedelic music movement. It\u2019s still good for a listen now and then. So turn on the black lights, hunker down, and have at it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":30870,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[8794],"rating":[5613],"class_list":["post-42547","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-country-joe-the-fish","rating-rating-a-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/42547","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42547"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/42547\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30870"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42547"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=42547"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=42547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}