Joseph Allen "Country Joe" McDonald (born January 1, 1942) is an American singer, songwriter and musician who was the lead vocalist of the 1960s

psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...

group

Country Joe and the Fish Country Joe and the Fish was an American psychedelic rock band formed in Berkeley, California, in 1965. The band was among the influential groups in the San Francisco music scene during the mid-to-late 1960s. Much of the band's music was writ ...

.Richard Brenneman
"Country Joe McDonald Revives Anti-War Anthem"
, ''

Berkeley Daily Planet ''The Berkeley Daily Planet'' was a free weekly newspaper published in Berkeley, California, which continues today as an internet-based news publication. The ''Daily Planet'' is politically progressive, and offers endorsements of progressive ...

'', April 16, 2004, accessed July 18, 2007.

Early life and early career

McDonald was born in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, and grew up in

El Monte, California El Monte is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city lies in the San Gabriel Valley, east of the city of Los Angeles. El Monte's slogan is "Welcome to Friendly El Monte" and is historically known as "The End of the San ...

, in the Los Angeles area. His father, Worden McDonald, worked for a telephone company. He was from

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

, the son of a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

minister of Scottish heritage. His mother, Florence Plotnick, was the daughter of

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

Jewish immigrants and served for many years as the City Auditor of

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

. In their youth, both were Communist Party members and named their son after

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

, before renouncing the cause. In high school McDonald was student conductor and president of the marching band. At the age of 17, he enlisted in the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

for three years and was stationed in Japan. After his enlistment, he attended

Los Angeles City College Los Angeles City College (LACC) is a public community college in East Hollywood, California. A part of the Los Angeles Community College District, it is located on Vermont Avenue south of Santa Monica Boulevard on the former campus of the U ...

for a year. In the early 1960s, he began

busking Street performance or busking is the act of performing in public places for gratuity, gratuities. In many countries, the rewards are generally in the form of money but other gratuities such as food, drink or gifts may be given. Street performa ...

Telegraph Avenue Telegraph Avenue is a street that begins, at its southernmost point, in the midst of the historic Downtown Oakland, downtown district of Oakland, California, and ends, at its northernmost point, at the southern edge of the University of Califo ...

Music career

McDonald has recorded 33 albums and has written hundreds of songs over a career spanning 60 years. In 1965, he and Barry "The Fish" Melton co-founded

Country Joe & the Fish Country Joe and the Fish was an American psychedelic rock band formed in Berkeley, California, in 1965. The band was among the influential groups in the San Francisco music scene during the mid-to-late 1960s. Much of the band's music was writt ...

which became a pioneer

band with their eclectic performances at the

Avalon Ballroom The Avalon Ballroom was a music venue in the Polk Gulch neighborhood of San Francisco, California, at 1244 Sutter Street (or 1268 Sutter, depending on the entrance). The space is known as the location of many concerts of the counterculture mov ...

, the Fillmore Auditorium, the 1967

Monterey Pop Festival The Monterey International Pop Festival was a three-day music festival held June 16-18, 1967, at the Monterey County Fairgrounds in Monterey, California. The festival is remembered for the first major American appearances by the Jimi Hendrix Ex ...

, and both the 1969 original and 1979 reunion Woodstock Festivals. SF Sounds - AES Historical session 2012

Their best-known song is his "

The "Fish" Cheer/I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag "I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag" is a song by the American psychedelic rock band Country Joe and the Fish, written by Country Joe McDonald, and first released as the opening track on the extended play ''Rag Baby Talking Issue No. 1'', in Octobe ...

" (1965), a

black comedy Black comedy, also known as black humor, bleak comedy, dark comedy, dark humor, gallows humor or morbid humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally ...

novelty song A novelty song is a type of song built upon some form of novel concept, such as a gimmick, a piece of humor, or a sample of popular culture. Novelty songs partially overlap with comedy songs, which are more explicitly based on humor, and w ...

about the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

, whose familiar chorus ("One, two, three, what are we fighting for?") is well known to the

Woodstock The Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held from August 15 to 18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. Billed as "a ...

generation and

Vietnam veteran A Vietnam veteran is an individual who performed active Army, ground, Navy, naval, or Air force, air service in the South Vietnam, Republic of Vietnam during the Vietnam War. The term has been used to describe veterans who served in the armed fo ...

s of the 1960s and '70s. McDonald wrote the song in about 20 minutes for an anti-Vietnam War play. The "Fish Cheer" was the band performing a

call-and-response Call and response is a form of interaction between a speaker and an audience in which the speaker's statements ("calls") are punctuated by responses from the listeners. This form is also used in music, where it falls under the general category of ...

with the audience, spelling the word "fish", followed by Country Joe yelling, "What's that spell?" twice, with the audience responding, and then, the third time, "What's that spell?", followed immediately by the song. The "Fish Cheer" evolved into the "Fuck Cheer" after the Berkeley Free Speech Movement. The cheer was on the original recording of "I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die Rag", being played right before the song on the LP of the same name. The cheer became popular and the crowd would spell out F-I-S-H when the band performed live. During the summer of 1968 the band played on the

Schaefer Music Festival The Schaefer Music Festival in Central Park was a recurring music festival held in the summer between 1967 and 1976 at Wollman Rink in New York City's Central Park. It featured a number of notable performances. The sponsorship was taken over by ...

tour.Country Joe McDonald
"That Notorious Cheer"
accessed October 10, 2007. Gary "Chicken" Hirsh suggested before one of the shows to spell the word "

fuck ''Fuck'' () is profanity in the English language that often refers to the act of sexual intercourse, but is also commonly used as an intensifier or to convey disdain. While its origin is obscure, it is usually considered to be first attested ...

" instead of "fish". Although the crowd loved it, the management of the

Schaefer Beer Schaefer Beer is a brand of American beer first produced in New York City during 1842 by the F. & M. Schaefer Brewing Company.The Schaefer Beer Stor The company relocated to Brooklyn in the early 20th century. It went public in 1968 with a $1 ...

Festival did not and kicked the band off the tour for life. ''

The Ed Sullivan Show ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York City, New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in September 1971 by the ''CB ...

'' then canceled a previously scheduled appearance by the band, telling them to keep the money they had already been paid in exchange for never playing on the show. The modified cheer continued at most of the band's live shows throughout the years, including Woodstock and elsewhere. In

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engl ...

, Massachusetts, McDonald was arrested for obscenity and fined $500 for uttering "fuck" in public. McDonald subsequently embarked on a solo career. One of his solo albums, the 1973

Vanguard The vanguard (sometimes abbreviated to van and also called the advance guard) is the leading part of an advancing military formation. It has a number of functions, including seeking out the enemy and securing ground in advance of the main force. ...

LP ''Paris Sessions'', was reviewed by

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...

in '' Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies'' (1981), in which he said: "Amazing. The man (repeat: man) has written

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

songs that are both catchy and sensible. Despite the real/honest prison poem and the silly, outdated record fan routines, his best in about five years." DIG13875 jjg-062

In 2003 McDonald was sued for

copyright infringement Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of Copyright#Scope, works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the c ...

over his signature song, specifically the "One, two, three, what are we fighting for?" chorus part, as derived from the 1926 early

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

classic "

Muskrat Ramble "Muskrat Ramble" is a jazz composition written by Kid Ory in 1926. It was first recorded on February 26, 1926, by Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five, and became the group's most frequently recorded piece. It was paired on the flip side with another ...

", co-written by

Kid Ory Edward "Kid" Ory (December 25, 1886 – January 23, 1973) was an American jazz composer, Trombone, trombonist and bandleader. One of the early users of the glissando technique, he helped establish it as a central element of Music of New Orle ...

. The suit was brought by Ory's daughter Babette, who held the copyright 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. 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. In 2006, Ory was ordered to pay McDonald $395,000 for attorney fees and had to sell her copyrights to do so. In 2004, McDonald regrouped with three of the original members of Country Joe and the Fish (

Bruce Barthol Bruce Barthol (November 11, 1947 – February 20, 2023) was an American musician, singer and songwriter. Born at Alta Bates Hospital, Berkeley, California, he was the original bass player for the psychedelic rock band Country Joe and the Fish, ...

David Bennett Cohen David Bennett Cohen (born August 4, 1942) is an American musician best known as the original keyboardist and one of the guitar players for the late-1960s psychedelic rock and blues band Country Joe and the Fish. Early life and influences C ...

, and Gary "Chicken" Hirsh) and they toured the United States and the United Kingdom as the "Country Joe Band". In 2005, McDonald joined a larger protest against California Governor

Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, businessman, former politician, and former professional bodybuilder, known for his roles in high-profile action films. Governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger, ...

's proposed budget cuts at the California State Capitol Building. Later in 2005, political commentator Bill O'Reilly compared McDonald to Cuban President

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President of Cuba, president ...

, remarking on McDonald's involvement in

Cindy Sheehan Cindy Lee Sheehan ( Miller; born July 10, 1957) is an American anti-war activist,Geraghty, Jim (2011-05-02)Cindy Sheehan: ‘If you believe the newest death of OBL, you’re stupid.’''National Review''. Retrieved May 2, 2011. whose son, U.S. Ar ...

's protests against the

Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...

. In 2015, McDonald (with assistance from

Alec Palao Alejandro "Alec" Palao (born 1962) is a British musician, music historian, writer, and reissue producer. In addition to his musical output with groups like the Sting-rays, the Sneetches (band), the Sneetches, and Mushroom (band), Mushroom, his wo ...

), formed The Electric Music Band; the intention of the group was to perform the early psychedelic material of the early career of

Country Joe And The Fish Country Joe and the Fish was an American psychedelic rock band formed in Berkeley, California, in 1965. The band was among the influential groups in the San Francisco music scene during the mid-to-late 1960s. Much of the band's music was writ ...

. The band has performed 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 The Chocolate Watchband is an American garage rock band that formed in 1965 in Los Altos, California. The band went through several lineup changes during its existence. Combining psychedelic and garage rock components, their sound was marked by ...

. In 2017, McDonald released an album on his own Rag Baby label entitled ''50''. In 2019, McDonald was scheduled to play on Woodstock's 50th Anniversary festival, which was cancelled after negotiations between partners failed.

Personal life

McDonald was married to Kathe Werum from 1963 to 1966. McDonald has noted that his girlfriend at the time,

Janis Joplin Janis Lyn Joplin (January 19, 1943 – October 4, 1970) was an American singer and songwriter. One of the most iconic and successful Rock music, rock performers of her era, she was noted for her powerful mezzo-soprano vocals and her "electric" ...

, showed much anger for breaking up with her to be with Robin Menken but asked him to write a song about her; the result was "Janis". On 31 March 1968, McDonald married Robin Menken, a year after his divorce from Werum. In 1968, Menken gave birth to the couple's first daughter, Seven Anne McDonald, in San Francisco. Seven had a career as a TV

child actor The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting on stage, television, or in film, movies. An adult who began their acting career as a child may also be called a child actor, or a "former child actor". Closely associa ...

in the late 1970s and early 1980s, managed

Johnny Depp John Christopher Depp II (born June 9, 1963) is an American actor and musician. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Johnny Depp, multiple accolades, including a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for ...

Viper Room The Viper Room is a nightclub and live music venue located on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, California, United States. It was established under that name on August 14, 1993, co-owned by actors and ''21 Jump Street'' co-stars Johnny Depp a ...

nightclub and the

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

band

Smashing Pumpkins The Smashing Pumpkins (also simply known as Smashing Pumpkins) are an American alternative rock band formed in Chicago in 1988 by frontman and guitarist Billy Corgan, guitarist James Iha, bassist D'arcy Wretzky and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin. ...

in the 1990s, and wrote for '' Details'', ''

Elle Elle may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Elle (magazine), ''Elle'' (magazine), a fashion publication ** Elle Style Awards * Elle (India), ''Elle'' (India), the Indian edition * Elle (film), ''Elle'' (film), a 2016 French film * ''Elle: ...

'', ''

LA Weekly ''LA Weekly'' is a free weekly alternative newspaper in Los Angeles, California. The paper covers music, arts, film, theater, culture, and other local news in the Los Angeles area. ''LA Weekly'' was founded in 1978 by Jay Levin (among others), ...

'' and ''

Harper's Bazaar ''Harper's Bazaar'' (stylized as ''Harper's BAZAAR'') is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. Bazaar has been published in New York City since November 2, 1867, originally as a weekly publication entitled ''Harper's Bazar''."Corporat ...

'' magazines in the 1990s and 2000s. Seven was the subject of and inspiration behind the song "Silver and Gold". 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. Don's son went to school with Seven, Don asked his son if she would be cool with his naming a character Seven, Seven said no, so it was either Six or Eight. McDonald has four other children, Devin (b. 1976) and Tara (b. 1980) from his marriage to Janice Taylor, and Emily (b. 1988) and Ryan (b. 1991) from his marriage to Kathy Wright. McDonald lives in

Discography

Studio albums

*'' Thinking of Woody Guthrie'' (1969, Vanguard 6546) *''Tonight I'm Singing Just for You'' (1970, Vanguard 6557) *''Hold On It's Coming'' (1971, Vanguard 79314) *'' War War War'' (1971, Vanguard 79315) *''Paris Sessions'' (1973, Vanguard 79328) *'' Country Joe'' (1974, Vanguard 79348) *''Paradise with an Ocean View'' (1975, Fantasy 9495) *''Love Is a Fire'' (1976, Fantasy 9511) *''Goodbye Blues'' (1977, Fantasy 9525) *''Rock N Roll from Planet Earth'' (1978, Fantasy 9544) *''Leisure Suite'' (1979, Fantasy 9586) *''On My Own'' (1981, Rag Baby 1012) *''Child's Play'' (1983, Rag Baby 1018) *''Peace on Earth'' (1984, Rag Baby 1019) *''Vietnam Experience'' (1986, Rag Baby 1024/25) *'' Superstitious Blues'' (1991, Rag Baby 1028) *''Carry On'' (1995, Rag Baby 1029) *''www.countryjoe.com'' (2000, Rag Baby 1032) *''

Time Flies By ''Time Flies By'' is a double album by Country Joe McDonald. The 25 songs are covering 45 years of his songwriter activity. The singer and guitarist is accompanied by the Woodstock drummer Greg Dewey of Country Joe and the Fish, the bassist Ti ...

'' (2012, Rag Baby 1041) *''50'' (2017, Rag Baby 1042)

Live albums

*''Incredible! Live!'' (1972, Vanguard 79316) Live album *''Into the Fray'' (1981, Rag Baby 2001) Live in Germany *''Eat Flowers and Kiss Babies'' Live with Bevis Frond (1999, Woronzow 33) *''Country Joe Live at the Borderline'' (2007, Rag Baby 1038) *''War, War, War (Live)'' (2008, Rag Baby 1040) *''A Tribute to Woody Guthrie'' (2008, Rag Baby 1039)

Soundtracks

*'' Quiet Days in Clichy'' (Soundtrack) (1970, Vanguard 79303) 5 original songs

Collaborative albums

*''Crossing Borders'' with M.L. Liebler (2002, Rag Baby 1034) *''Natural Imperfections'' with Bernie Krause (2005, Rag Baby 1037) *'' Bear's Sonic Journals: Sing Out!'' (2024, Owsley Stanley Foundation) – includes a live solo performance by McDonald

Compilation albums

*''Essential Country Joe McDonald'' (1976, Vanguard 85/86) *''Animal Tracks'' (1983, Animus UK FEEL 1) *''Classics'' (1989, Fantasy 7709) *''Best of Country Joe McDonald: The Vanguard Years (1969–1975)'' (1990, Vanguard 119/20) *''Something Borrowed, Something New (The Best Of)'' (1998, Rag Baby 1030) *''A Reflection on Changing Times'' (2003) Italy-only rerelease of early Vanguard albums *''Vanguard Visionaries: Country Joe McDonald'' (2007, Vanguard 73171)

Filmography

Actor

* '' ¡Qué hacer!'' (1970) as Country * '' Gas-s-s-s! -Or- It Became Necessary to Destroy the World in Order to Save It'' (1970) as AM Radio * '' Zachariah'' (1971) as a band member, Cracker * ''

More American Graffiti ''More American Graffiti'' is a 1979 American coming-of-age comedy film written and directed by Bill L. Norton, produced by Howard Kazanjian. The film, shot in multiple aspect ratios for comedic and dramatic emphasis, is the sequel to the 1973 ...

'' (1979) as Country Joe and the Fish * Armistead Maupin's ''

Tales of the City ''Tales of the City'' is a series of ten novels written by American author Armistead Maupin from 1978 to 2024, depicting the life of a group of friends in San Francisco, many of whom are LGBTQ. The stories from ''Tales'' were originally seri ...

'' (TV series) (1993) as Joaquin

Documentary

McDonald is featured in the 2024 documentary '' Cover Your Ears'' produced by '' Prairie Coast Films'' and directed by ''

Sean Patrick Shaul Sean, also spelled Seán or Séan in Hiberno-English, is a male given name of Irish origin. It comes from the Irish versions of the Biblical Hebrew name ''Yohanan'' (), Seán (anglicized as ''Shaun/Shawn/ Shon'') and Séan (Ulster variant; angli ...

'', discussing music censorship.

References

External links

*
CJFishlegacy.comLive Music Archive
Country Joe's section of archive.org's free live concert recordings. * {{DEFAULTSORT:McDonald, Country Joe Living people 1942 births 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians American anti–Iraq War activists American anti–Vietnam War activists American acoustic guitarists American folk guitarists American folk singers American male guitarists American male singers American people of Russian-Jewish descent American people of Scottish descent American street performers Country Joe and the Fish members Guitarists from San Francisco Guitarists from Washington, D.C. Jewish American military personnel Jewish folk singers Jewish American rock musicians Military personnel from Washington, D.C. Singer-songwriters from California Singer-songwriters from Washington, D.C. The Dinosaurs members United States Navy sailors