Country Joe and The Fish - Flying High

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'm stuck on the L.A. freeway,
Got rain water in my boots,
My thumbs done froze, can't feel my toes,
I feel a little destitute.
Wheels throwing water all over my axe
And Mr. Jones won't lend me a hand.
Up come two cats in a Cadillac
And they say, "Won't you hop in, man ?"
I went flying high
All the way all the way.
The one that's driving's got a bowler hat,
The other's got a fez on his head.
They turn around and grin and I grin back
But not a word was said.
So I took out my harp and I played 'em a tune,
I could see they were diggin' it,
Then the one with the fez, well he turns and he sez,
"We'd like to help you make your trip."
And I went flying high
All the way all the way.

He said, "We can't leave him out in the rain,
He just might freeze and die,
So why not put him on a plane
And send him home in the sky ?"
So they took me to the L.A. airport,
Laid twenty dollars in my hand.
Well, I paid my fare, I'm in the air
Flying back home again.
And I went flying high
All the way, yeah, all the way, all the way,
You know I went flying high all the way,
Don't you know I went flying high all the...

Category:

Music

Tags:

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

[califbaby1969]

1967: $3 for a concert.... saw them many times in San Diego; rebels with only a few causes: peace, love & feeling good....

[historyoflove]

i love this band ...they are always flying high in thier songs ja... all the way ! :D pleasure to find good stoner music instead of crapy reaggae or rap...ja

[gerundive]

@AbsoloutlyZimtstern

That's what I was wondering.

[gerundive]

@historyoflove

They were, and still are one of my favorites from 1967 til now, and it in no way diminishes my love of reggae--nothing did, until reggae started sounding much like rap, in the mid-80s.

[gerundive]

@califbaby1969 It was $1.25 at the Avalon Ballroom in 1967, but then again, we were much closer to the center of the vortex.

[AbsoloutlyZimtstern]

@historyoflove what is bad about reaggae?

[Django5198]

reggae is awesome!!!!! rap sucks

[Django5198]

Barry melton is such an underrated guitarist!!!!!!!!!!

[THRASHEDTILLDEATH]

Man I love country Joe bands back in the day used there minds not the minds of some mediocre producer.