“Country” Joe McDonald (born Joseph McDonald, on January 1, 1942 in El Monte, California) was the leader and lead singer of the 1960s rock & roll group Country Joe and the Fish. He started his career busking on Berkeley, California’s famous Telegraph Avenue in the early 1960’s
Country Joe has recorded 33 albums and has written hundreds of songs over a career spanning 40 years. He and Barry Melton co-founded Country Joe and The Fish which became a pioneer psychedelic band with their eclectic performances at The Avalon, Fillmore, Monterey Pop Festival and Woodstock. Their best-known song is his “I Feel Like I’m Fixin’ to Die Rag”, a black comedy novelty song about the Vietnam War, whose familiar chorus (“One, two, three, what are we fighting for?”) is well known to the Woodstock generation and Vietnam Vets of the 1960s and 1970s. He is also known for “The Fish Cheer” which was a cheerleader-style call-and-response with the audience where Joe spelled out “fish”. (“Give me an F!”) At Woodstock, he altered the cheer to spell out the word “fuck” instead.
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