And on many a weary war night, Hanoi Hannah, the North Vietnamese equivalent of World War IIs Tokyo Rose, would play classic tunes by Ray Charles and B. Over six summer Sundays, an estimated 300,000 people in total gathered to see acts including Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight & the Pips and like the upstate Woodstock crowd Sly and the Family Stone. The man (repeat: man) has written feminist songs that are both catchy and sensible. I wonder where he is today if hes still alive. Their best-known song is his "The "Fish" Cheer/I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag" (1965), a black comedy novelty song about the Vietnam War, whose familiar chorus ("One, two, three, what are we fighting for? [19], McDonald has four other children, Devin (b. In 1990 this is commonplace, but in the early 70s it was quite outrageous. He decided to play "The Fish Cheer/I Feel Like I'm Fixin' to Die Rag," a song that was already planned for his set with The Fish the following day. I had wished for a great virus-free year in 2022, but it's not looking so good. After being discharged, Mr. McDonald tried college for a few semesters before dropping out and landing in Berkeley. He once wrote a tongue-in-cheek song titled Bring Back the 60s, Man, poking fun at his image as a lingering hippie. Born: 1-Jan-1942 Birthplace: Washington, DC Gender: Male Race or Ethnicity: White Sexual orientation: Straight Occupation: Musician Nationality: United States Executive summary: Country Joe and the Fish Military service: US Navy (1962-65) Reportedly named after Josef Stalin.. Father: Worden (Presbyterian minister) Mother: Florence In 1982, McDonald began working with organizations such as the Vietnam Veterans of America to raise awareness about issues affecting veterans and their families. Jay Graydon and David Foster teamed with singer Bill Champlin to write a string of 70s hits and drummer Steve Pocaro became LA's most in demand player. The combination of the obscenity and the sneeringly rebellious vibe of the lyrics hurt Mr. McDonald career-wise, but of that song, he has no regrets. The songs profane introductory cheer is an expression of our anger and frustration over the Vietnam War, which was killing us, literally killing us, said the singer, who helped spearhead the creation of the Vietnam veterans memorial in Berkeley, California, in the 1990s. Since the players on the session made few mistakes and worked at this all the time, the recording was over very quickly; there was time left over so some country standards were tracked and both albums released the following year as Thinking Of Woody Guthrie and Tonight I'm Singing Just For You. Her mother wouldn't let her go to Woodstock. Billboard magazine in 1967 referred to the Country Joe EP as "unique," and the airplay it received brought them to the attention of New York City in general and the music business in particular. The band worked regularly in Berkeley at the Jabberwock coffee house on Telegraph, and became familiar faces at the two San Francisco ballrooms, the Avalon and the Fillmore Auditorium. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for COUNTRY JOE McDONALD 1970 original POSTER ADVERT HOLD ON ITS COMING & the fish at the best online prices at eBay! The hits were our hits: I Feel-Like-Im-Fixin-to-Die Rag, Fortunate Son and the song more than one Vietnam veteran has called our national anthem, the Animals We Gotta Get Out of This Place.. He also started his work with military nurses. [Part 2]", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Country_Joe_McDonald&oldid=1142008307, This page was last edited on 28 February 2023, at 01:20. A $300-million (minimum) gondola to Dodger Stadium? But Woodstock became an aspirational vision of what countercultural youth thought they could achieve in the United States., In this Aug. 16, 1969 photo, a young woman naps on top of her car while trying to reach the Woodstock Music and Art Festival in Bethel, N.Y. (AP). [4][5][6] In their youth, both were Communist Party members and named their son after Joseph Stalin, before renouncing the cause. This lead to the 1988 Rag Baby release, Vietnam Experience which along with the film and video of the same name were to be Joe's "bookends" on the war in Vietnam. [11], McDonald subsequently embarked on a solo career. Music was more than just background for us. Find album reviews, track lists, credits, awards and more at AllMusic. Tonights show is the first fund-raising event sponsored by Welcome Home Inc., a nonprofit organization supporting various Vietnam veteran outreach and counseling programs and public consciousness-raising projects, including Gov. The cheer became popular and the crowd would spell out F-I-S-H when the band performed live. Both LPs contained novel approaches to music -- the first, "Rock and Soul Music" Joe's paean to James Brown and the second, a dry, cutting, almost minstrel-show-like song about Harlem, "The Harlem Song." As a high school dropout, Mr. Earle played a coffeehouse near Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio. Then something changed, Killer Mike goes off: Right now, in this country, your freedom of speech is at risk, Rihanna has Smurfs on the brain for her next movie: Hope this gives me cool points, Sexual assault began at 13, Runaways songwriter says; her suit names ex-KROQ DJ, band manager, Smokey Robinson on love, Motown and sex at 83: I feel as good as I felt when I was 40, Fugees rapper Pras found guilty of political conspiracy. Some of the artists also appeared at Woodstock: Neil Young, Graham Nash, John Sebastian, Richie Havens and Sha Na Na. Its going to be one big celebration. "The music spoke for us. Childs Play contained mostly out-takes from the Fantasy era, but the 1984 release Peace On Earth with great production values was a critical success. After serving in the Navy, McDonald moved to California and became heavily involved in the protest movement at Berkeley. They would have thought I was making a joke., When McDonald stands on the Forum stage tonight as a proud Navy veteran, the crowd will know its no joke. Country Joe McDonald - IMDb McDonald wrote the song "Janis" about his former girlfriend Janis Joplin, who also performed at Woodstock on Day 2. Woweven today, that gives me chills. It was an early lesson about how powerful music can be.. I remember the big hype Woodstock was at the time. Since decades had already passed from the time McDonald composed his song in 1965, Ory based her suit on a new version of it recorded by McDonald in 1999. Its a soldiers song from a soldiers background and point of view. The first, a solo effort On My Own, was referred to by San Francisco Chronicle critic Joel Selvin as "masterly" and the live effort Into The Fray was by and large his biggest seller overseas. A folk rock flavored album, it featured songs from the Chile film and "Memories," a long introspective song about growing up in the 60s. Talley and McDonald characterized this as a first step in healing the wound left on the United States by the trauma of Vietnam. Country Joe McDonald, Biography McCain, Country Joe McDonald, the VFW and Woodstock - Navy Times Country Joe McDonald composed one of the most acclaimed peace anthems of the Vietnam era, "I Feel Like I'm Fixin' to Die Rag," a rebellious and uproarious blast against the war machine. Imagine this scenario: Woodstock, 1969. ED, who also wrote for the weekly Berkeley Barb, concocted with Joe the idea of letting the audience know what was happening at all times; so they took out a 52 week 1/4 page ad in the Barb informing their audience where they were going to be in the coming week -- even if it was in Canada. Though he has no qualms about his veteran status now, he believes the climate has not improved significantly. Countryjoe_79.jpg: Rtsandersonderivative work: SilkTork, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. McDonald's work on behalf of veterans has been widely recognized and appreciated, and he remains an advocate for their rights and well-being. She sang backup, Live from Willie Nelson 90 tribute: Keith Richards joins Willie at the Bowl, At Willie Nelson 90, country, rock and rap stars pay tribute, but Willie and Trigger steal the show. Im sure it was a cultural and pharmaceutical event. During the summer of 1968 the band played on the Schaefer Music Festival tour. At 17, seeing the world and meeting girls took priority, and he figured the best option was enlisting in the Navy. humor in which people can bitch in a way that will not get them in trouble and that also keeps them from insanity that can be experienced during war., As the war ground on and the casualties mounted, music became even more essential for troops and veterans struggling to express their feelings and understand the politics of the war, and politics in general. [20], For discography of Country Joe and the Fish, see that entry. For the men and women like me who served in Southeast Asia, music was what inexorably linked us to my generation. We sang along to the Beatles, Nancy Sinatra, Marty Robbins and the Temptations before we went to war, and we listened to them after we came back home. Ironically, he noted, he appeared at Woodstock wearing a military shirt. So what a recording, some airplay and countless performance could not do, the film did instantly. . Don't Threaten. Its been impossible for the mainstream to treat it in a noncontroversial way, even now, which is odd when you think of rap and grunge, but the cheer and the song married together made it art., By the time Mr. McDonald got to Woodstock, the cheer was well known among Manhattan hippie circles through the Central Park performance, bootleg recordings and underground radio, and thousands of his fans in New York made the trek to the festival. Mostly as a vehicle for raising money for Vietnam Veterans Against The War, it featured members of local band Grootna and pointed political songs included the anti-draft "Kiss My Ass." Jefferson Airplane had finished their set just after 08:00 a.m., allowing the crowd to finally get some shut-eye. While on tour in Scandinavia, he was asked by concert promoter and film producer Knud Thorbjorsen to write some songs for a film production of Henry Miller's classic book Quiet Days In Clichy. It inpsired his career as a singer-songwriter and progressive activist. Country Joe McDonald, "Rag" Lawsuit Electric Music For The Mind And Body in its entirety, and band members include Palao, the Rain Parade's Matt Piucci and Derek See of the Chocolate Watchband. That Woodstock generation takes care of its own, McDonald quipped. Its his legacy, one that both provided him with financial stability and quashed his chances at Top 40 stardom. Old Joe Corey03. The altered Fish Cheer is what makes it real, keeps it from being misunderstood as a fluff piece because the song starts off with an expression of anger and frustration, the ultimate act of protest, Mr. McDonald said. Publication date 1971-06-26 (check for other copies) Topics Live concert. Little did he know that this impromptu set would include one of the most iconic anthems of the festival. Thirty years after his appearance at Woodstock, Country Joe McDonald has settled down as a family man. Sam Charters, noted blues writer, producer and poet, was in charge of the record which was entitled Electric Music For The Mind and Body. The "we" included performances by Jack Casady of the Jefferson Airplane and David Getz and Peter Albin from Big Brother and the Holding Company. It blames leaders and parents, not soldiers. Navy veteran Country Joe McDonald, lower right, and his band Country Joe and The Fish. He said on his show that me doing a Veteran's Day event in Berkeley was like having Fidel Castro in charge of it, after we got publicity because we wanted to have a Gold Star father speak in one of our Veteran's Day events. [8][18], Seven's name was the inspiration behind the character Six on Blossom, cited by Don Reo on PeopleTV special Blossom Cast Reunion aired 2017, timestamp 10:07-10:33. But he says hes more or less retired. McDonald's slashes the price of one popular item for Bank Holiday It was the mid-1960s, just as the Free Speech movement on campus was morphing into the antiwar movement. The band recorded and released two albums over the following year. Associated Press writer Michael Hill contributed from Albany, New York. 01. His first big audience was at a V.V.A.W. AKA Joseph Allen McDonald. McDonald, 44, never served in Vietnam. The suit was brought by Ory's daughter Babette, who held the copyright at the time. By the next year Joe and his wife Robin had agreed to take part in an agit-prop theater group The F.T.A. Seven had a career as a TV child actor in the late 1970s and early 1980s,[15] managed Johnny Depp's Viper Room nightclub and the alternative rock band Smashing Pumpkins in the 1990s,[16][17] and wrote for Details, Elle, LA Weekly and Harper's Bazaar magazines in the 1990s and 2000s. Sometimes the music was live: soldiers strumming out Bob Dylan and Curtis Mayfield songs at base camps; Filipino bands pounding out Proud Mary and Soul Man at enlisted-mens clubs and Saigon bars; touring acts from Bob Hope and Ann-Margret to Nancy Sinatra and James Brown granting momentary calm. Although his parents would later renounce Communism, Mr. McDonald had already seen firsthand how people could pay a price for their beliefs. I was inspired to write a folk song about how soldiers have no choice in the matter but to follow orders, but with the irreverence of rock n roll. Among the four more albums delivered during these years were Love Is A Fire, Goodbye Blues, Rock And Roll Music From The Planet Earth and Leisure Suite. Soldiers played it in their hooches on top-of-the-line tape decks theyd purchase cheap at the PX or via mail order from Japan; they listened to it over headphones in helicopters and planes. This series highlights the artists who performed at Woodstock August 15-18, 1969. That was a revelation to me., https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/10/opinion/country-joe-vietnam-woodstock.html. 4. Its part of Future X Sounds, a socially conscious concert series. Later that year through a series of "Vet Tapes," provided to Veterans Administration Outreach Centers, he helped to bring the gap between the Vets "being home" and "coming home". Its a sentiment he has heard repeatedly. After all these years, what Mr. McDonald holds closest about the song is the way it was received by Vietnam veterans. 3.The Famous Cheer Were all going to die capper. In fact, McDonald and a host of other musicians, actors and athletes will be cheered as they lead an event billed as the official welcome home celebration for our Vietnam veterans.. Best of Country Joe McDonald - AllMusic 2. During the recording session, Mr. McDonald made a spur-of-the-moment decision to kick off the song, and thus the album, with a bit of the old rah-rah. It was about helping out someone that needed something," says Breda, now a nursing professor at the University of Hartford in Connecticut. This series of articles32 in allcovers each of the artists who performed at the original Woodstock festival August 1518, 1969. In 2017, McDonald released an album on his own Rag Baby label entitled 50. Some other Americans saw Woodstock as an outrageous display of indulgence and insouciance in a time of war. In 1969, a warrant was issued for Mr. McDonalds arrest for inciting an audience to lewd behavior in Worcester, Mass. The All Star Band and some of the songs from this period did not endear Joe to many of his fans. Read another biography by Joel Selvin. His remark an allusion to his 5 1/2 years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam got a standing ovation from a Republican presidential primary debate audience. Barry Sadlers The Ballad of the Green Berets, the No. . He found himself banned from appearing at most municipal buildings due to the "Fish Cheer" and a reputation of a performer with an "attitude," mostly due to outspoken political views, and his to the point, but off-color topical songs. An Unlikely Hero / Anti-war anthem gives Country Joe a - SFGATE His anti-war "I Feel Like I'm Fixin' To Die Rag" became a memorable Woodstock moment. Country Joe McDonald, Soundtrack: Taking Woodstock. That spring along with wife Kathy and bass player Peter Walsh, he toured the US in a VW bus playing for vet groups and winding up at the vet camp-out cum convention (called Dewey Canyon IV) on the Mall in Washington. McDonald's involvement in social and political causes has continued throughout his career. Free shipping for many products! Peace. By 1979 Joe and Bill Belmont had re-started Rag Baby records and released, in Europe through various licensing arrangements, Barry Melton's Level With Me. There were no reports of violence, and a local police chief called the crowd "the most courteous, considerate and well-behaved group of kids" he'd encountered in his career. FlourishAnyway from USA on April 06, 2019: Wow, someone named after Stalin. I was only a young teen back then but I imagine some of the performers were amazing and made history. Love. "Patriots: the Vietnam War Remembered from All Sides", Christian G. Appy, p. 199. Nancy Sinatras These Boots Are Made for Walkin became an anthem to the grunts who humped endless miles on patrol in the jungles, adding layers of meaning to the story of a young woman turning the tables on her cheating boyfriend. "Oh, Jamaica" conjured up images of lush lazy days in the Caribbean sun, but the song's pointed lyric highlighted the terrible conditions that faced most people living on the island. So the M.C. According to Welcome Home co-founder Joie Talley, some surprise guests are also expected, since many big-name stars are in town for Tuesdays Grammy Awards. His mother, Florence Plotnick, was the daughter of Russian Jewish immigrants and served for many years on the Berkeley City Council. It was a trek to get near the stage. People can correct me if Im wrong, McDonald continued, but I thought that military service to your country was an honorable thing to do and recognition of those who served is also an honorable thing.. Born on January 1, 1942 to a leftist-oriented family, McDonald was named in honor of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. While researching our book, my co-author, Craig Werner, and I heard poignant stories from Vietnam veterans about listening to a fellow soldier play Masters of War or Where Have All the Flowers Gone in Vietnam. Its not a pacifist song; its a soldiers song. The most radical line in the song, he added, is, Be the first one on your block to have your boy come home in a box. Its military humor that only a soldier could get away with. Interview with Country Joe McDonald, Part 3 - Street Spirit It was time for the second act on the second day of a 1969 music festival in upstate New York, but the band, Santana, was having trouble getting it together. We can make some of it into a sociological thing, and some of it we can make into the fact 15-year-old boys like to curse.. However, McDonald was determined to get the Woodstock audience pumped up and excited for the rest of the day. Despite the real/honest prison poem and the silly, outdated record fan routines, his best in about five years."[12]. He learned to play the guitar and trombone, but his father's loss of employment due to suspected communist ties before the House Un-American Activities Committee changed his world view forever. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. By now he had decided that his records were to come out on his label, and a series of them did. His upcoming album is titled The Vietnam Experience, and the latest issue of Tape Talk, Rag Babys audio cassette magazine, features music of Vietnam veterans. During the second Rag Baby heyday, Joe started a tape cassette magazine, Tape Talk, that reviewed the San Francisco Blues Festival, the current status of women's music and songs from and by Vietnam veterans. The film of the Woodstock Festival was prepared for release in the spring of 1970, and almost coincided with the Fish's last LP for Vanguard C. J. [3] At the age of 17, he enlisted in the United States Navy for three years and was stationed in Japan. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Country Joe McDonald The Early Years Rare 1978 Picc-A-Dilly Records Vinyl LP at the best online prices at eBay! With the crucial exception of combat, music was ubiquitous in Vietnam, reaching soldiers via albums, cassettes and tapes of radio shows sent from home; on the Armed Forces Vietnam Network, featuring songs from stateside Top 40 stations; and on the legendary, if short-lived, underground broadcasts of Radio First Termer, a pirate station operated out of Saigon. The song "Making A Movie In Chile" was released on Joe's last album for Vanguard Country Joe later on in 1974. That got their attention. In 1965, he and Barry Melton co-founded Country Joe & the Fish which became a pioneer psychedelic rock band with their eclectic performances at the Avalon Ballroom, the Fillmore Auditorium, the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, and both the 1969 original and 1979 reunion Woodstock Festivals. Likewise, For What Its Worth by Buffalo Springfield, the song frequently played to accompany film depictions of antiwar protests, had nothing to do with Vietnam per se Stephen Stills wrote it about a riot on the Sunset Strip yet it was as treasured by scores of Vietnam soldiers as it was by protesters in America. McDonald's Woodstock performance was a momentous occasion for both him and the festival-goers. 2023 The Arena Media Brands, LLC and respective content providers on this website. I wrote the song Who Am I? for a play I was working on, and after I was done, I literally paused, sat down, and banged out Fixin-to-Die in a half an hour, he said. McDonald straddles the two polar events of the 60s -- Woodstock and the Vietnam War. And here I got to send out this shocking antiwar message to a couple hundred guys singing along. culminating with a song originally written for the TV documentary Secret Agent -- "The Girl Next Door".