Country Joe McDonald

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Country Joe McDonald 2007

Country Joe McDonald (* 1. January 1942 in Washington, DC as Joseph McDonald ) is an American folk - and rock singer, guitarist and singer-songwriter . In 1965 he formed the group Country Joe and the Fish , and he was best known for his appearance at the Woodstock Festival with the Fish Cheer and the I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag . Today he can look back on a career as a musician spanning more than 50 years, during which he released over 30 music albums and wrote hundreds of songs.

Life

McDonald grew up in Los Angeles , California . At seventeen, he served as a marine for three years. In the early 1960s he moved to Berkeley , where he actually wanted to study, but mainly made music in various formations he founded and repaired guitars in a guitar shop. McDonald’s music is largely determined by politics and current affairs. In 1965, at the same time as the first regular American combat troops were sent to Vietnam, McDonald wrote and published the I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag , which would later make him famous. In the same year McDonald founded the group Country Joe and the Fish with Barry Melton and brought out the debut album Electric Music for the Mind and Body in early 1967 . The album was strongly psychedelic with electric guitar and keyboard, romantic love songs and folk were mixed with the protest against the Vietnam War . The debut album, which was placed in the American Top 40, was followed by the second album I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die in the same year . In addition to the Fish Cheer and the famous theme song that followed, many pieces were much more ballad-like, with the voice of McDonald and his acoustic guitar, for example the title Janis , which was dedicated to his past relationship with Janis Joplin .

The group became popular with their politically motivated rock songs before appearing at the legendary Woodstock Festival in 1969 , with McDonald also performing there as a solo act with his song, I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag , which was introduced by the Fuck Cheer , and which made both him and the group world famous.

With these first two albums from 1967, the group should have already reached its peak. However, McDonald soon became active as a solo artist. In 1969 he recorded two country music albums for the Vanguard Records label : Thinking of Woody Guthrie and Tonight I'm Singing Just for You .

In 1970 the film Woodstock came out, which significantly increased the worldwide popularity of the artist and his group. But almost at the same time the (for the time being) last album by Country Joe and the Fish ( CJ Fish ) was released, and the group broke up.

McDonald toured all over Europe as a solo artist, he gave concerts at festivals and in concert halls. While touring Scandinavia, McDonald was commissioned to create the soundtrack for the Danish erotic feature film Stille Tage in Clichy , which became part of the soundtrack Quiet Days in Clichy in 1970 . For this McDonald played on his guitar and sang along with it. His album Hold On It's Coming (1971), on which Peter Green can be heard among others , was made in London. Other notable solo performances were to follow.

From then on, an average of about one album was released per year. The albums covered a wide variety of genres, and each album had its own style: So there was, for example

  • War War War , a solo album with a very solemn mood, in which guitar sounds accompanied the powerful verses of Robert Service ,
  • Incredible! Live! , a cheeky live solo album by McDonald, where he sang anti-war songs with his guitar in front of a small audience,
  • the solo chanson album On My Own , which was recorded in just one night in a studio in Brackenheim , Germany,
  • Albums with rock chansons like Country Joe and Goodbye Blues ,
  • sentimental moods with love is a fire ,
  • Reunion , a revival album by Country Joe and the Fish seven years after they split up
  • and many other albums that contained a mixture of several elements.

The live album Into The Fray (1982) was written during a sold-out joint tour through southern Germany with the popular there wool Kriwanek & Schulz Bros . With Peace on Earth (1984) McDonald continued to campaign for nature and environmental protection, and with The Vietnam Experience (1986) he worked again on the consequences of the Vietnam War.

After that, things became quieter for McDonald, and he only released records sporadically. Superstitious Blues (1991), with Jerry García on guitar, and Carry On (1994) were successful folk albums. In 1999, together with the British neo- psychedelic band The Bevis Frond , he revived the old sound of Country Joe And The Fish for the live album Eat Flowers And Kiss Babies . McDonald sells newer publications only through the online shop of his website, which he set up in 2000. Here you can also find current articles on his music and on political and other topics.

In 2004 McDonald formed the Country Joe Band with David Bennett Cohen, Bruce Barthol and Chicken Hirsh (all three formerly with Country Joe and the Fish), which revived the sound of Country Joe and the Fish. The band released a live album and DVD in 2005.

In September 2012 he released the double CD Time Flies By , on which he reinterpreted pieces from the 45 years since 1967 and added some new titles.

engagement

The beginning of McDonald’s music career coincided with the Vietnam War, followed by student protests. And so his involvement in politics and society and especially the coming to terms with the Vietnam War runs like a red thread through his music, which is part of his commitment. In his music, the text and the music are balanced. Initially his albums and those of Country Joe and the Fish were heavily focused on "Peace and Love". Drugs (especially LSD ) were advertised in the debut album, but ironically advertised in the acid commercial in the second album of the same year, I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die , but in the music of the later albums as a disaster fights. In the 1970s, McDonald also dealt with the current topics of environmental and nature protection and social issues such as equal rights for women.

Discography

Albums with Country Joe and the Fish

Albums as Country Joe McDonald

  • 1969 - Thinking of Woody Guthrie (Vanguard)
  • 1970 - Tonight I'm Singing Just for You (Vanguard)
  • 1971 - Hold On It's Coming (Vanguard)
  • 1971 - War War War (Vanguard)
  • 1972 - Incredible! Live! (Vanguard)
  • 1973 - Paris Sessions (Vanguard)
  • 1974 - Country Joe (Vanguard)
  • 1975 - Paradise with an Ocean View (Fantasy)
  • 1976 Love Is a Fire (Fantasy)
  • 1977 - Goodbye Blues (Fantasy)
  • 1978 - Rock and Roll Music from Planet Earth (Fantasy)
  • 1979 Leisure Suite (Fantasy)
  • 1981 Into the Fray (Rag Baby)
  • 1981 - On My Own (Rag Baby)
  • 1983 - Child's Play (Rag Baby)
  • 1984 - Peace on Earth (Rag Baby)
  • 1986 - Vietnam Experience (Rag Baby)
  • 1991 - Superstitious Blues (Rag Baby / Rykodisc )
  • 1995 - Carry On (Rag Baby / Shanachie Records )
  • 1998 - Something Borrowed, Something New (Rag Baby / Big Beat)
  • 1999 - Eat Flowers and Kiss Babies (with The Bevis Frond) (Woronzov)
  • 2000 - www.countryjoe.com (Rag Baby)
  • 2000 - I Feel Like I'm Fixin 'to Sing Some Songs and Tell Some Stories (Rag Baby)
  • 2002 - Crossing Borders (with MLLiebler, Rag Baby)
  • 2002 - Thank the Nurse (4-track CD, Rag Baby)
  • 2005 - Live in Berkeley (with The Country Joe Band, Rag Baby)
  • 2005 - Natural Imperfections (with Bernie Krause, Rag Baby)
  • 2008 - War War War Live (Rag Baby)
  • 2008 - A Tribute to Woody Guthrie (Rag Baby)
  • 2012 - Time Flies By (Rag Baby / Globe Records)
  • 2017 - 50

Sampler

  • 1969 - Greatest Hits (Country Joe and the Fish - Vanguard)
  • 1971 - The Life and Times of Country Joe and the Fish (Vanguard)
  • 1981 - Collector's Items: The First Three EP's Plus (Rag Baby)
  • 1983 - Animal Tracks (Rag Baby)
  • 1988 - Collected Country Joe and the Fish (Vanguard)
  • 1989 - Classics - The Fantasy Years (Fantasy)
  • 1990 - The Best of Country Joe McDonald - The Vanguard Years (Vanguard)

Other albums

Web links

Commons : Country Joe McDonald  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME McDonald, Country Joe
ALTERNATIVE NAMES McDonald, Joseph (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American singer, guitarist and songwriter
DATE OF BIRTH January 1, 1942
PLACE OF BIRTH Washington, DC , USA