was country joe mcdonald in the military

He sang one of the great anthems of the era, "I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag," to an audience of half-million at the Woodstock Arts and Music Festival in 1969. Country Joe entertaining the crowd at Woodstock. Country Joe McDonald is an American singer/songwriter and a Navy veteran. In this Aug. 17, 1969 photo, workers carry medical supplies that arrived by helicopter on the grounds of the Woodstock Music and Art Festival in Bethel, N.Y. (AP). Country Joe McDonald Live at Celebration Of Life Festival on - Archive 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 Naturally, this is reflected in McDonalds music. After some abortive attempts at reuniting the original Country Joe and the Fish, he formed the "Country Joe Band" with original members David Bennett Cohen, Bruce Barthol, and Gary "Chicken" Hirsh; the Country Joe Band toured throughout 2004 and 2005. Country Joe Band, Country Joe McDonald - AllMusic That got their attention. Bruce Lint (L) of Meriden, Connecticut and another Marine (unidentified) provide a little musical entertainment for fellow leathernecks at a fortress in northwestern south Vietnam. McDonald makes it clear, though, that the veterans issue is not just one of a long list of causes for him, and that it is vitally linked to his first cause: peace. How Palm Springs ran out Black and Latino families to build a fantasy for rich, white people, 17 SoCal hiking trails that are blooming with wildflowers (but probably not for long! Were all going to die capper. However, McDonald was determined to get the Woodstock audience pumped up and excited for the rest of the day. 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." George Deukmejians drive to build a Vietnam memorial in California. 1980) from his marriage to Janice Taylor, and Emily (b. Country Joe McDonald live at Woodstock - YouTube HI 1001 (PD, copyright has expired or ineligible for copyright.). C ountry Joe McDonald was born in Washington, D. C., in 1942, but grew up in the Los Angeles suburb of El Monte, California. Joe's parents, Florence and Worden, had moved there after the War, World War II that is, when they began to have difficulties of a political kind. 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. (In the context of World War . It was our lifeline, a link to our existence back in the world, connecting us with the things that enabled us, as the Impressions urged us, to keep on pushing. From the peaks of the Central Highlands and the rice paddies of the Mekong Delta to the air-conditioned jungles of Danang and Long Binh (where I served as an information specialist in 1970-71), soldiers used music to build community, stay connected to the home front and hold on to the humanity the war was trying to take away. He once wrote a tongue-in-cheek song titled Bring Back the 60s, Man, poking fun at his image as a lingering hippie. Ironically two records released later that year -- The Doors' 45, "Touch Me," and the Rolling Stones' LP Let It Bleed, also made use of horns and strings. It included the first recording of the song that would go on to define Mr. McDonalds career. Among its many fans was the singer-songwriter Steve Earle, then a teenager in San Antonio. The song was irreverent but not political, Joe explained. Country Joe McDonald - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia By Joe McDonald, AP Thursday, Apr 27 FILE - China's President Xi Jinping arrives to attend the APEC Economic Leaders Meeting during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, APEC summit, Nov. 19 . [14] McDonald has noted that his girlfriend at the time, Janis Joplin, showed much anger for breaking up with her to be with Menken but asked him to write a song about her; the result was "Janis". Superstitious Blues - Wikipedia So what a recording, some airplay and countless performance could not do, the film did instantly. and one that would become his signature song, "I Feel Like I'm Fixin'-to-Die Rag.". Rain and mud abounded. Although McDonald had played then-recent anti-Gulf War rallies, the album is made up of personal, not political, songs.McDonald considered making Superstitious Blues his final album; it was his first album in 12 years to be distributed by a label other than his own. Performers included Country Joe McDonald, a Navy veteran who served mainly in Japan. It was certainly the biggest. It features liner notes by Studs Terkel and Joe's parody of Nixon "Tricky Dicky". Biden Has to Be Bailed Out by Small Child When He Can't Remember Answer [10] The modified cheer continued at most of the band's live shows throughout the years, including Woodstock and elsewhere. Street Spirit Interview with Country Joe McDonald Part 1 (April 2016 . But hey -- 2023 is going to be fabulous . At that point, red, white and blue balloons and confetti will be released as if it were a ticker-tape parade that the Vietnam veterans never had, Talley said. On Saturday, Santana was set to take the stage, but the organizers were still working to set it up. 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. One for sure was Hendrix and his version of "The Star Spangled Banner." Vietnam. The word comes camouflaged in music. [16] Seven was the subject of and inspiration behind the song "Silver and Gold". "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. There was no one approach to what Woodstock meant, says David Farber, a University of Kansas professor of American history. The Arena Media Brands, LLC and respective content providers to this website may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Since then, titles such as Superstitious Blues and Thank the Nurse have emerged from the Rag Baby label. Captured in Michael Wadleighs Oscar-winning 1970 documentary Woodstock, the three rousing minutes of Mr. McDonalds acoustic version of The Fish Cheer/I-Feel-Like-Im-Fixin-to-Die Rag became the premier Vietnam War protest anthem. The women's movement had become viable and by adding women to his band, he hoped it would at least indicate to others that they were no different as musicians than men. The court, however, upheld McDonald's laches defense, noting that Ory and her father were aware of the original version of the song, with the same questionable section, for some three decades without bringing a suit. It worked the other way, too Vietnam and the dizzying changes accompanying it in America altered the music, the musicians and the messages. The picture dealt with the intrigue and drama surrounding the election of Salvador Allende as President of Chile and the forces attempting to prevent it. Breda didnt go to Woodstock looking for a societal vision. 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.. And some didn't look to Woodstock to celebrate their own sense of music and identity. March 13, 2018 101 Navy veteran Country Joe McDonald, lower right, and his band Country Joe and The Fish. Anyone can read what you share. However, she stressed that the Welcome Home event will not be a look back at tragedy, but rather a positive step forward. News; . Starting in 1982 Joe began actively working with and for Vietnam Veterans Against The War, Swords To Plowshares and Vietnam Veterans Of America to further the cause of the thousands of veterans who had become disenfranchised by the system's neglect. There are conflicting reports about when McDonald performed at Woodstock. 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. A raw direct release, it remains a favorite of many of Joe's fans notably for the feminist (or maybe not feminist) song "Sexist Pig." They liked I was a kid doing Fixin-to-Die, Mr. Earle said. 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. 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. In 1990 this is commonplace, but in the early 70s it was quite outrageous. Political and ecological issues were set to musical accompaniment by Country Joe McDonald, who co-founded and led the psychedelic folk-rock band Country Joe & the Fish, the leading left-wing band of the '60s. Security was thin. Joe at 18 mos. This series highlights the artists who performed at Woodstock August 15-18, 1969. Their song "I Feel Like I'm Fixin' To Die Rag" holds a special resonance for. He tours regularly as a solo performer in the US and abroad. In 2007 he perfected his "Tribute to Woody Guthrie" show, a mix of music and spoken word, and has since taken it around the country to great acclaim. 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. His anti-war "I Feel Like I'm Fixin' To Die Rag" became a memorable Woodstock moment. His tour manager said that since nobody was paying attention, why not do the number he was saving for tomorrow night? Country Joe McDonald - Wikipedia McDonald's slashes the price of one popular item for Bank Holiday The whole thing.". Country Joe: Singing Louder Than the Guns - Street Spirit The first Country Joe and the Fish record was released in 1965, in time for the Vietnam Day Teach-In anti-war protest in Berkeley, California. 1991) from his marriage to Kathy Wright. McDonald straddles the two polar events of the 60s -- Woodstock and the Vietnam War. Jefferson Airplane had finished their set just after 08:00 a.m., allowing the crowd to finally get some shut-eye. For those born after the last helicopters sank beneath the waves of the South China Sea, movies, documentaries and TV shows have repeatedly used music as a sonic background for depicting Vietnam as a tug of war between pro-war hawks and pro-peace doves. Kaili Bisson (author) from Canada on April 08, 2019: Absolutely, some of the performances are legendary. McDonald wrote the song "Janis" about his former girlfriend Janis Joplin, who also performed at Woodstock on Day 2. Thinking back, Breda rues that "subsequent generations didn't have the opportunity to experience something that I consider to have been so beautiful. This album was a production collaboration of Fantasy's Chief Engineer Jim Stern, Joe and Bill Belmont. Its essentially punk before punk existed.. The All Star Band and some of the songs from this period did not endear Joe to many of his fans. His anti-war I Feel Like Im Fixin To Die Rag became a memorable Woodstock moment. Her mother wouldn't let her go to Woodstock. And for some, Woodstock would serve as an enduring symbol of the divides of the Vietnam War on one side a throng of young people gathered for "peace and music," on the other more than a half-million of their peers fighting in Vietnam. "It was a really great thing.". I was proud to be a veteran, the connection I had with the other soldiers, but I also understood the military dysfunction of capitalism combined with a large bureaucracy.. [2] McDonald's involvement in social and political causes has continued throughout his career. Superstitious Blues is an album by the American folk rock musician Country Joe McDonald, released in 1991. twice, with the audience responding, and then, the third time, "What's that spell? chorus part, as derived from the 1926 early jazz classic "Muskrat Ramble", co-written by Kid Ory. Dr. Hip02. "The music spoke for us. His "Tribute to Florence Nightingale" website has become a major resource for grade-schoolers. He was the lead singer of the 1960s psychedelic rock group Country Joe and the Fish. A scheduled, prepaid appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show was canceled, and they were banned for life (although they got to keep the money). This series highlights the artists who performed at Woodstock August 15-18, 1969. In Worcester, Massachusetts, McDonald was arrested for obscenity and fined $500 for uttering "fuck" in public. 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. Notable for their arrangements and the players on them, they were all well crafted; Planet Earth, however, was the first recording Joe had done using Los Angeles studio musicians most of whom went on to achieve individual success in their own right. 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. But having enlisted in the Navy at 17 and been stationed as an air traffic controller at the Atsugi, Japan, air facility until his honorable discharge in 1962, he refers to himself as a Vietnam era veteran.. "The Fish Cheer" had already gained popularity among kids in the New York City area due to McDonald's earlier Central Park performance and underground radio play. 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. 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. As for McDonalds involvement in the issue, Talley said simply, Joe is definitely Mr. Vietnam--an assessment with which the singer concurs. "It was like a mini-Woodstock to a lot of people," says Ethel Beatty Barnes, who saw the Sly and the Family Stone concert that July, when she was an 18-year-old New Yorker. One of his solo albums, the 1973 Vanguard LP Paris Sessions, was reviewed by Robert Christgau in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981), in which he said: "Amazing. Just about all the guys I served with in Vietnam in 1970 and 1971 laughed at Edwin Starrs War because we knew better than he did that it was good for absolutely nothin., Many of those tensions and crosscurrents came to a head around Country Joe McDonald, the guiding spirit of Country Joe and the Fish, whose unplanned, slightly reluctant performance of I-Feel-Like-Im-Fixin-to-Die Rag at Woodstock in August 1969 placed a veterans perspective on Vietnam at the center of musical protest. Find album reviews, track lists, credits, awards and more at AllMusic. McDonald, 44, never served in Vietnam. The label released albums by Terry and The Pirates, featuring most of Quicksilver Messenger Service, Woody's youngest son Joady Guthrie, Rocky Sullivan and a solo piano effort by Fish keyboardist David Bennet Cohen. In 2006, Ory was ordered to pay McDonald $395,000 for attorney fees and had to sell her copyrights to do so. They led prayer rallies against the building of new U.S. military facilities in the country. [11], McDonald subsequently embarked on a solo career. And once we returned home, music became essential to our healing. McDonald's stage name included "Country Joe," which was Joseph Stalin's nickname. They appeared at and in the film of the Monterey Pop Festival and the film Revolution. The same reaction took place across the country when the documentary and its accompanying three-L.P. soundtrack were released in 1970. Its going to be one big celebration. King as she encouraged G.I.s to lay down their weapons. "Some people alluded. The most noteworthy releases were Joe's. I never had a plan for a career in music, so Woodstock changed my life, Mr. McDonald, now 75, said in an interview from his home in Berkeley, Calif. An accidental performance of Fixin-to-Die, a work of dark humor that helps people deal with the realities of the Vietnam War, established me as an international solo performer, then the movie came out and the song went on to become what it still is today.. After being discharged, Mr. McDonald tried college for a few semesters before dropping out and landing in Berkeley. For Vietnam veterans and those who listen to their stories, the iconic music of the 1960s and early 70s provides access to a truer, deeper story of what Vietnam meant, and continues to mean. His performance began with a polite applause for his rendition of "Janis," which was followed by eight more numbers. [2] His father, Worden McDonald, from Oklahoma, was of Scottish Presbyterian heritage (the son of a minister) and worked for a telephone company. Country Joe McDonald - NNDB . Joe McDonald may have written the most in-your-face anti-war, anti-military song to come out of the '60s, but he was also one of the very few musicians on the San Francisco scene who'd served in uniform. On the same day his band, Country Joe & the Fish, played at Woodstock, another audience of thousands was in a Harlem park for a concert with its own sense of community and yearnings to challenge the status quo. It was a trek to get near the stage. "It was embarking onto 'what do we have already here where we can have people gather?'" 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! The song's anti-war message seems more timely than ever, with its savagely satirical attack on the arms merchants, the military and the White House. Peter Fonda will serve as emcee, with Whoopi Goldberg and John Voight hosting. "Some people alluded to peace and stuff, but I was talking about Vietnam," McDonald said in a phone interview. The second featuring on the cover a picture of Joe and his wife of a year Robin and his daughter Seven Ann. But having enlisted in the Navy at 17 and been stationed as an air traffic controller at the Atsugi, Japan, air facility until his honorable discharge in. McDonald was known for his vocal opposition to the Vietnam War, and many of his songs from that era reflected his anti-war views. The climax of the evening will see all the participants singing Welcome Home, a song McDonald wrote for the occasion. Joe's participation was crucial as during the afternoon at least 250,000 people sang along to "Fixin' To Die Rag" and yelled the famous "cheer". It comes out of a tradition of G.I. Goes Out newsletter, with the week's best events, to help you explore and experience our city. Joe Cocker had just finished his set about 3:30 p.m. when the skies had opened up, causing yet another delay. ", followed immediately by the song. Country Joe & the Fish had their moment in the sun Led Zeppelin, still mostly unknown, opened up for them at the Fillmore West in 1969 but they fought constantly, and the band was effectively finished by 1970. And here I got to send out this shocking antiwar message to a couple hundred guys singing along. That Barry McGuires hit song Eve of Destruction, which railed against injustice and nuclear war in 1965, was quickly countered by Sgt. 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". You could hear it in the difference between I Get Around and Good Vibrations; between She Loves You and Happiness Is a Warm Gun; between Please Please Please and Say It Loud Im Black and Im Proud; between the Shangri-Las and Grace Slick. The fantasy Rambo is in, but the reality of what it means to be soldiering is not in. NEW YORK (AP) It was the weekend that shaped the image of a Woodstock Generation. And that image would echo, appeal and provoke for generations to come. Radio and the way music was performed was changing and the band was helping to change it. Likewise, the Jimi Hendrix Experiences Purple Haze meant one thing in an LSD-friendly dorm room and another to troops who associated it with the color of the smoke grenades used to guide helicopters into landing zones. The former Navy pilot would later earn the nomination. His leading of the F . Grove won its fight to gain the film's entry and the film opened in New York in 1971. Also recorded with this group was Joe's 1973 Vanguard album Paris Sessions. Ever wonder who played at Woodstock? 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! Sam Charters, noted blues writer, producer and poet, was in charge of the record which was entitled Electric Music For The Mind and Body. It was the mid-1960s, just as the Free Speech movement on campus was morphing into the antiwar movement. Some sources state that he performed after Richie Havens on Friday, while others, including photos and recordings, seem to confirm that he performed at about 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, right after Quill. 5. Country Joe and the Fish sounded a political note. 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. . Every time he heard Fixin-to-Die, it boosted his morale. 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. Although his parents would later renounce Communism, Mr. McDonald had already seen firsthand how people could pay a price for their beliefs. To many who went or wished they did, the pivotal festival of "peace and music" 50 years ago remains an inspiring moment of counterculture community and youthful freethinking. A half-century later, the Harlem Cultural Festivals anniversary is being marked with events including a concert in the same park, hosted by rapper and activist Talib Kweli. In 1982, McDonald began working with organizations such as the Vietnam Veterans of America to raise awareness about issues affecting veterans and their families. SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court has rejected a lawsuit charging 1960s psychedelic rocker Country Joe McDonald with copyright infringement for his 1965 protest song "Fixin' to Die Rag," which became a rallying cry for opposition to the Vietnam War. McDonald wrote the song in about 20 minutes for an anti-Vietnam War play. 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. Header image: LBJ Library photo, C2491-14A. I believe if we had the music of all these different armies, all the infantries everywhere, youd have the same attitude expressed within their songs that we expressed in ours.. 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. 2023 The Arena Media Brands, LLC and respective content providers on this website. He travels the world and continues to sell records. They also appeared in and performed music for underground cult film Zachariah where Joe is the leader of a band of outlaws in the old west, carrying amplifiers on their horses and calling themselves "The Crackers.". See how this article appeared when it was originally published on NYTimes.com. Keep it Clean. Mr. McDonald considered putting Fixin-to-Die on the first, Electric Music for the Mind and Body, but Vanguards president, Maynard Solomon, believed the songs anti-establishment bent would prevent the band from getting radio play. Opinion | Country Joe's Obscene Truths - The New York Times 5.Back in Berkeley 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. [10] Gary "Chicken" Hirsh suggested before one of the shows to spell the word "fuck" instead of "fish". Before forming The Fish, McDonald played in a band with Barry Melton, who later became his band-mate in The Fish. Country Joe & the Fish Biography, Songs, & Albums | AllMusic The "Fish Cheer" evolved into the "Fuck Cheer" after the Berkeley Free Speech Movement. McDonald's stage name included "Country Joe," which was Joseph Stalin's nickname. Rag Baby Online Magazine: June 12, 1999 Space, water and toilets were in short supply. Harkening back to his days as the high school band leader, Mr. McDonald included a call-and-response with the other four band members. Five Musical Facts About Country Joe McDonald. "The Queen of Psychedelic Soul," Janis Joplin. Local Leaders Question Expanded US Military Presence in the Philippines Pleasin'08. Their best known single, an anti-Vietnam War song called Feel Like I'm Fixin to Die Rag, was recorded and released in late 1967. President Joe Biden announced a new permanent American base on Polish soil - pacing the country on the forefront of the push-back against Putin. The first official act on Day 3 was the mad Englishman, Joe Cocker. This was later released in 1972 as Incredible Live. Not recorded under the best of circumstances, it was produced by Vanguard president Maynard Solomon who after various attempts to find someone to work on the record (including an ill-fated trip to New Orleans to see Allan Toussaint) did it himself. I'm a singer and songwriter, I used to be in Country Joe & the Fish, and I live in Berkeley, California, Planet Earth. PHOTO AND ART CREDITS McDonald's work on behalf of veterans has been widely recognized and appreciated, and he remains an advocate for their rights and well-being. While working with and about military nurses Joe became increasingly aware of the figure who could have been the first military nurse -- Florence Nightingale. Day 2 at Woodstock meant the rock bands were up, and the third act to appear at Woodstock on Saturday August 16, 1969 was Santana. 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