Country Joe and the Fish

I Feel Like I'm Fixin' to Die

VG++/VG++

US 1969 (original US 1967)  

Vanguard Records - VSD-79266

Joe McDonald was part of the Free Speech Movement at the University of California campus in Berkeley, California. He was the editor of a liberal underground magazine called Rag Baby and ran out of material to write about. The folk music scene in San Francisco was turning into rock and bands were starting to pop up everywhere.

Ed Denson was the publisher for Rag Baby magazine and developed the Pretentious Folk Front administered by the University and was able to obtain funding for his musical ventures through the College. Joe decided to take his editorial beliefs into a musical format and found musical cohorts to help him present a talking Rag Baby.

The members for this venture were Joe (guitar, vocals), Barry Melton (guitar), Mike Beardsley (vocals), Carl Schrager (washboard) and Richard Saunders (bass). Ed Denson became their manager and named them Country Joe and the Fish. A homemade private EP recording was made at the home of Chris Stratchwitz in Berkeley. This was a short lived project with no plans for further adventures.

Joe and Barry lived in a small apartment complex that was behind and part of the same building with a club called The Jabberwock in Berkeley. Joe and Barry would perform there on occasion with members of The Instant Action Jug Band which was a freewheeling ensemble of players.

Barry decided to put an official band together with Joe McDonald (guitar, vocals), himself Barry Melton (guitars), Paul Armstrong (tambourine, other instruments), David Cohen (organ, piano, guitar), Bruce Barthol (bass) and John Francis Gunning (drums). Honing their skills together at The Jabberwock, they got good enough to play The Avalon and The Fillmore. Ed Denson also worked for the Berkeley Bard, another underground magazine, that advertised the concerts for The Fish that he would schedule. The band printed up posters to advertise their shows as well.

A second self-titled recording called The White EP was released that had frequent radio airplay on what was then being called “progressive” FM radio. San Francisco was being discovered and the band gained interest in New York City. Vanguard Records liked Country Joe and the Fish enough to sign them to a record deal. Funding was provided for recording sessions at Sierra Sound Laboratories in Berkeley for their first album, Electric Music for the Mind and Body. But Paul Armstrong departed and John Gunning was replaced by Gary ‘Chicken’ Hirsch on (drums) before the sessions started.

The underground FM radio stations were growing and mostly funded and sponsored through the Colleges and University’s throughout the country. Songs from their first album were frequent staples on the college stations nationally. The critics found the album unique. Released six months before The Summer of Love, it was the first music with strange and unusual psychedelic effects and echoes setting the tone for what was coming.

A second album, I Feel Like I’m Fixin’ to Die, was recorded and they were invited to New York City. They brought a “first of its kind” light show to The Café Au Go Go complete with background movie screen size pictures and colored oil and water through an opaque projector bouncing around the full stage, mesmerizing the audience. A third album, Together, was recorded and they toured Europe to glowing reviews.

By the time of their fourth recording, Here We Are Again, recorded at Pacific High Studios, Bruce Barthol had left the band and Chicken Hirsch with David Cohen departed halfway through the sessions. Jack Cassidy (bass), from The Jefferson Airplane and Peter Albin (bass) with David Getz (drums), both from Big Brother and the Holding Company, came in to complete the album. Barry and Country Joe added new players Mark Kapner (keyboards, vocals), Doug Metzler (bass) and Greg Dewey (drums) for another road tour.

They were featured at the famous Woodstock Festival in Bethel, New York but Country Joe was the only one featured in the film about the event. Showing up early before the band schedule, he burst on stage by himself just after the Richie Havens performance. As an introduction to the "I Feel Like I’m Fixin’ To Die Rag" on the second LP, the band shouts in high school cheerleader fashion, "Gimmie an F, gimmie an I ..." then "What's that spell? What's that spell?" etc. and the audience yells "FISH." All very innocent, but at Woodstock he screamed F-U-(-K in the same cheer pattern to the adorning 500,000 plus spectators with a complete and loud echoing response.

After the movie came out, the music industry found some distain over this incident and some of the scheduled performances were being canceled. Ed Sullivan paid the Fish in full before their TV appearance but told them NOT to show. One final album, C.J. Fish, was recorded at The Record Plant in Los Angeles before the band fell apart for good with Country Joe McDonald and Barry Melton pursuing solo careers.

Musically mysterious sounding sounds with psychedelic meanderings, echoes and some studio effects. Lyrics are very anti-Vietnam and somewhat political. Barry Melton shows his magic on guitar. Way underrated.

This was the second LP. A 1969 Vanguard label second pressing. Includes the game board.

Cover is clean but has a yellow sticker upper left on the front and a printed label upper right on the back. Record has a couple light marks that DNAP. Record plays clean with NO unusual noises or ticks. Proper Vanguard logo inner sleeve. Includes the full game board.

An early repress that is 58 years old.

Long time buyer from E-bay and other record websites since the 90's.

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A long and arduous task. Lots of gems and rare stuff.

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All records are Graded to the best of my ability and are rated VINYL FIRST / THEN COVER. For Double LPs Vinyl / Vinyl / Cover. 

GRADING DETAILS – Everything I list will be at least VG+ or better, both visually and audibly, unless I state otherwise. 95% of what is offered and up for bid is very clean with maybe 1 or 2 minor flaws. If it’s very rare, it may be offered with obvious visual marks, scratches, warps and might make some low-level noise. But this would be a rare instance. I’ll describe any flaws as best I can. I ASK THAT YOU READ THE FULL DETAILS AS DESCRIBED BY ME ABOUT THE LOOKS AND SOUND OF THE RECORD. Don’t base everything on a simple grading rate M, EX, VG++, etc. I’m not that good at it.

AUDIBLE GRADING – All vinyl records are played before they are listed. Some records look bad and play good. Others look perfect but play badly. Any visual flaws that I see will be described and I will let you know if they make an audible noise. 95% of the records up for bid are very clean sounding. You may hear a minor tick or click as its spinning but typically light hairline scratches and sleeve marks Do Not Affect Play (DNAP) and should not detract from your overall listening pleasure.

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COVERS - I'm a 73-year-old guy with Strabismus (an eye disorder). I try to visually describe every flaw that I can see, but sometimes I miss a small tear or a tiny seam split.

SHELF WEAR generally means that the cellophane was removed when the LP was new and it sat on a shelf or in a box without a plastic sleeve, before they were available, for several years, so there can be some rub blemishes, sticker residue if it was purchased used, tiny tears, slight seam splits and other defects.

EDGE WEAR usually means the picture wrap around the edge has been worn, sometimes into the cardboard itself. This usually happens on the top or bottom edge.

SPLITS are usually caused by heavy edge wear when the picture wrap is worn through severely and the seams split.

CORNER WEAR is the same as edge wear but sometimes there will be a dent or ding at the corner. All 4 sides are suspect for this occurrence.

RING WEAR occurs when a record was not stored in a protective sleeve for a very long time. Back in the day, plastic sleeves were not easily available. Most of us as teenagers, ripped off the cellophane and didn’t consider how the record cover was being stored. Most of the record covers laid on the floor or were stored in the closet or on a shelf for easy access. If they sat for a long time, earth movement, that nobody feels, caused vibration and the record sleeves would rub together and wear on the cover picture or illustration causing the ring wear and other flaws. How bad the sleeve wear became was determined on darkness of the cover illustration and quality of the cover picture. The big record companies usually had a very durable illustration that could take a lot of rubbing without too much damage. But the small record labels usually tried to save on costs with cheap packaging and ink and were more susceptible to ring wear and cover damage due to rubbing if the record was not stored properly in the plastic cover sleeve.

THE VINYL RECORD ITSELF - I will try to visually grade both sides of the vinyl record. There might be some sleeve rubs or marks on some of these. All of my records were played more than once, unless they are sealed. If I mention ticks and or clicks in the description, that means that you can visually see and sometimes hear the imperfection. Most of these Do Not Affect the Play (DNAP). I try my best to see any flaws but understand I don’t Inspect these LPs with a High Lumens Tactical Light and a Magnifying Glass. If the visual flaws are obvious or severe, I try and describe these as best as I can. If there are a lot of visual scratches, it won’t be listed. The exception is if the LP is very rare. I will list a rare record that looks bad but plays pretty good without skips.

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INNER SLEEVES - Most of the inner sleeves are simple paper sleeves and have slight splits, bends and tears on older LPs. If they’re really bad or split in half, I replace them with a newer paper or plastic sleeve. Sometimes I'll tape a small tear. GENERIC means a blank paper sleeve.

WARPED RECORDS normally occur when they are stored near high heat. I will never send a warped record unless it is very slight and doesn't affect play. If you live somewhere in the world that has high temperatures that could affect package delivery. Insurance is a must to guarantee no loss on the item you bought. You are responsible for this request and there is an additional charge for insurance. Let me know. There is NO REFUND for a record that was sent not warped when packed but was delivered as warped and unplayable. I cannot put records on ice for delivery to high heat areas of the world. Buy package insurance so there won't be any $$$$$ loss in case this happens.

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DAMAGES DURING DELIVERY CAUSED BY THE POSTAL SERVICE - Any damages that are caused due to unfortunate circumstances during the delivery process, broken records, scrapes, heavy package dents caused by something heavy set on the box, warpage caused by excessive heat during delivery, etc. should be handled through E-Bay. They guarantee that packages arrive in the condition as described when sent. If there are obvious damages to the package and the record is unplayable, email me with pictures of the record and the package as delivered and let me know. I mark all packages with "Fragile. Do Not Bend" notices marked in RED, so they should be careful. But $&#t happens. I will not be responsible for damages that were not incurred by me. But E-Bay can and does refund the transaction with proof. Pictures speak a thousand words.

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