Country Joe and The Fish - Superbird

About The Band: The group's name is derived from leftist politics; "Country Joe" was a popular name for Joseph Stalin in the 1940s, while "the fish" refers to Mao Tse Dung's statement that the true revolutionary must "swim among the people as a fish." The group began with the nucleus of "Country Joe" McDonald (lead vocals) and Barry "The Fish" Melton (lead guitar), recording and performing for the "Teach-In" protests against the Vietnam War in 1965. Co-founders McDonald and Melton added musicians as needed over the life of the band. By 1967, the group included Gary "Chicken" Hirsh (drums) (born in 1940, in Chicago, Illinois); David Cohen (keyboards) (born 8 April 1942, in Brooklyn, New York) and Bruce Barthol (bass) (born 11 November 1947 in Berkeley, California). The 1967 lineup lasted only two years, and by the 1969 music festival Woodstock, the lineup included Greg 'Duke' Dewey (drums), Mark Kapner (keyboards) and Doug Metzler (bass).

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, 1967, their 2nd album at #67 on February 3, 1968, and their third at #23 on August 31, 1968. Country Joe and The Fish were regulars at Fillmore West and East and Chet Helms' 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.

Electric Music For The Mind And Body, Country Joe and The Fish's debut album, was one of the first psychedelic albums to come out of San Francisco in 1967. Many timed their acid trips to peak during Country Joe and The Fish performances at The Avalon or The Fillmore, where they were frequent performers.

Tracks from the LP, especially "Section 43", "Grace", and "Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine" were played on progressive FM rock stations like KSAN and KMPX in San Francisco, often back-to-back. A famous version of the song "Love" was performed at the 1969 Woodstock Festival

Lyrics: Look, up yonder in the sky, now, what is that I pray ?
It's a bird it's a plane, it's a man insane, it's my President LBJ
He's flying high way up in the sky just like Superman,
But I have got a little piece of kryptonite,
Yes, I'll bring him back to land.
Said come out Lyndon with your hands held high,
Drop your guns, baby, and reach for the sky.
I've got you surrounded and you ain't got a chance,
Gonna send you back to Texas, make you work on your ranch,
Yeah, yeah, oh yeah.

He can call Super Woman and his Super Dogs,
But it sure won't do him no good,
Yeah, I found out why from a Russian spy
That he ain't nothing but a comic book.

We'll pull him off the stands and clean up the land,
Yes, we'll have us a brand new day.
What is more I got the Fantastic Four
And Doctor Strange to help him on his way.

Said come out Lyndon with your hands held high,
Drop your guns, baby, and reach for the sky.
We got you surrounded and you ain't got a chance,
Gonna send you back to Texas make you work on your ranch,
Yeah yeah, oh yeah.

Yeah, gonna make him eat flowers.
Yeah, make him drop some acid ...

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Leftist
• Politics
• Country
• Joe
• The
• Fish
• Summer
• Of
• Love
• Organ
• Electric
• McDonald
• Bary
• Melton
• LSD
• Marijuana
• Woodstock

[Jenscool]

This should be done today with Bush instead of LBJ! Send him back to Texas and work on his ranch..and make him drop some acid!

[harmonicaman2008]

OH SHIT,last night we were playin some blues and this record came up! So many memories tied to this record. How did I ever survive all the drugs I ingested? SOoooo COOOoooool !!

[TheOneartist]

@Django5198 Listen to it again. The first track is slower and quite different than this.

[TheOneartist]

@MrDeadhead32 Yeah, listen to "Bass Strings" and how they whisper LSD at the end. I was pleasantly surprised with how blatant they were in their music. This album kicks ass.

[MrDeadhead32]

this song was banned after its release in 67, they returned to the studio and recorded "I feel like im fixin to die rag." Just thought it was cool they were saying whats on their mind, even if its going to be censored.

[freebymagick]

Who's next in Line to take the Acid Test? Shouldn't that be a condition of taking office? Wish....

[stevwert]

Country Joe and the Fish, the best!!

[MrDrewlips]

yeah gonna make him eat flowers...make him drop some acid.

[foxijim]

kin awesome

[borneo215]

@Jenscool obama now lol this shit really does last generations ahahha

[MrLiam65]

What a shame these guys didn't quite make it into the 70's conscience. It seems like bands that did are remembered today but the musicians that slipped away in the 60's are forgotten mostly. We started out with these guys, a joint or 2, a couch or floor, and it all began from there. They really were about the first consciousness-altering band I can remember, along with J.A. of course. The music history books need to be updated to bring these guys in. And what an example of the SF guitar sound!