Country Joe McDonald, the singer and activist who fronted the ‘60s psychedelic rock group Country Joe and the Fish, has died at the age of 84.
“We are deeply saddened to report the passing of Country Joe McDonald, who died yesterday, March 7th, at the age of 84, in Berkeley, California, due to complications from Parkinson’s Disease,” noted an official statement on the band’s Facebook page, adding that “he was surrounded by his family.”
Joseph Allen McDonald was born in Washington, D.C. but raised in Southern California. After a stint in the navy, he moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1965 where his music career really took off.
McDonald co-founded Country Joe and the Fish alongside guitarist Barry “The Fish” Melton. Together, they created a distinctive psychedelic folk sound that championed counterculture causes. Country Joe and the Fish used politically-charged lyrics to protest the Vietnam War, support the hippie belief of free love and advocate for recreational drug use.
Their debut album, Electric Music for the Mind and Body, arrived in May of 1967. Six months later, they put out their sophomore LP, I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-to-Die. Two songs from the latter album — “I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-to-Die Rag” and “The Fish Cheer” — became part of music history when Country Joe and the Fish performed them at Woodstock in 1969.
Country Joe’s Legendary Woodstock Performance
During the rendition, McDonald famously led the audience in a call-and-respond, spelling out each letter of the f-word. “What does that spell?” the singer repeatedly declared, only to have the thousands in attendance yell back “F—!”
Watch Country Joe McDonald Performing at Woodstock
“I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-to-Die Rag,” with it’s memorable chorus “One, two, three, what are we fighting for?,” became one of the best-known songs of ‘60s counterculture. McDonald once explained to the New York Times that he was “inspired to write a song about how soldiers have no choice in the matter, but to follow orders, but with the irreverence of rock n’ roll. It was essentially punk rock before punk existed.”
READ MORE: Top 10 Woodstock Performances
Country Joe and the Fish broke up in 1971, just two years after their Woodstock performance. The group occasionally reunited, and recorded a sixth and final album, Reunion, in 1977. Meanwhile, McDonald enjoyed a long career as a solo artist, releasing 20 studio albums and a wide array of live material across a career spanning over 50 years. According to setlist.fm, his final concert took place in 2019 at San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park.
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