Country Joe and The Fish - Death Sound Blues

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: I hear that death sound, baby,
Oh, like an echo in my brain.
I hear that death sound, baby,
Oh, like an echo in my brain, brain.
Well, there's a part of us dying,
You know that things will never be the same,
Ah, never be the same!
I feel the black nails a-poundin' now,
Yes, into the coffin of our love.
Hear the black nails a-poundin' now,
Yes, into the coffin of our love.
Well, like a black shrouded hunter now,
Don't you know that I have killed a snow white dove,
Oh, I've killed the dove.

Well, the time sands keep a-fallin' now
On towards our ending day.
Yeah, the time sands keep a-fallin'
Towards our ending day.
I see the minutes chasing the hours,
Yes, to the words that we should say,
Ah — we should say.

Category:

Music

Tags:

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

[bassist448]

I'm 16 and I am so fucking tired of everyone saying we should recreate this music. I FUCKING LOVE THIS MUSIC, but we can't recreate it man. It was amazing because it was original. We just have to learn from it and incorporate it into our time. Our generation is too plastic, there isn't creativity. We need to listen and love this type of music to learn from it. But not copy it.

[BlackKaweah]

Electric Music for the Mind and Body is one of the best rock albums ever recorded.

[FARXIFIED]

radical and beautiful! - a class act!...love it!....

[animascat]

@SMaCStudiosJM wow. sounds cool if i;m ever down that way. thanks

[SMaCStudiosJM]

@bassist448

If you dig this and wanna hear some new psychedelic music, lookup some of the bands that play at the Austin Psychedelic Festival every year! Tons of great bands that have a similar vibe!

[GrisGrisOnUrDoorStep]

@lovesrd1122 We can dream though 

[lovesrd1122]

i lived in the Haight during this time and don't believe they named band after some leftist agenda, joe mcdonald was country Joe Melton theyt called the Fish thus the name.thats it. aand as far as coping the music,ha ha good luck,theres no way you could recreate a night with Country Joe in the Fish, shows at the Avalon ball rm filmore, or in the park were once in a life time events, same with big brother mount rushmor quicksilver and the steve Miller blues band,the Jefferson airplane, bluecheer

[MrWildcountry]

@MrWildcountry ,WELLL,WELL,WELL, what shall we do? Forget the Indians? and VietNam, and the wars still going on?,,

[Django5198]

acid soaked blues

[kikzu]

BOMB IT.

napalm

[Substantive64]

Wonder if Joe regrets nicknaming himself after a dictator deliberately responsible for over 20 millions Russians, and the band regret being named "the Fish" from a saying from THE most murderous dictator of the 20th Century,responsible for at least 60 millions of his own Chinese citizens? Knowing '60s Leftists like these,not fucking likely....