/ Country Joe And The Fish / Peter Krug & Country Joe McDonald Grootna - Collectors Items: The First Three EPs

This collection of songs represents the very first successful
American attempt to use a record as propaganda and promotion.
In 1965, Joe McDonald was to have performed at a demonstration
to protest the draft in Oakland, California; to politicize his
audience, he and his then (and sometimes current) associate
Barry Melton and Ed Denson (Kicking Mule Records) decided to
form a jug band to accompany them at this event. Along the way,
they also decided to make a record to sell at the demonstration.
They asked along some musicians they knew to Chris Strachwitz
(Arhoolie Records) to record two songs for this record;
as he had recording equipment and a way to get the records
pressed. They recorded 2 songs, "Superbird" and "I Feel Like
I'm Fixin' To Die Rag", a young songwriter from the Bay Area,
Peter Krug recorded "Fire In The City" and "Johnny's Gone To
The War" which were added as B-Side.
This record was conceived as a "talking" edition of Joe's
magazine RAG BABY. They called themselves Country Joe And
The Fish, a name which was arrived at as a compromise to
Country Mao and the Fish (as in the Mao saying regarding the
"fish that swims in the sea of the people") since they were in
effect conceived as an agit-prop group. This "record" and the
appearance in Oakland led to requests for them to appear as a
band and their emphasis slowly shifted from an acoustic jug
band to an electric "rock" band playing a brand of what later
came to be called "psychedelic music".
To promote themselves as an "electric band" and may be make
some money, they again formulated and recorded another EP.
This was recorded at Sierra Sound Studios in Berkeley, California
and formally established the existence of the RAG BABY Label.
This EP numbered 1002 with its distinctive cover (by Berkeley
artist Tom Weller) became one of the most identifiable of the
many locally produced items from the San Francisco Bay Area in
the late 1960's. It was released in June of 1966, sold for $1.00.
It certainly achieved notoriety as a collector's item, for it established
the band in New York long before they ever appeared
there and was available in record and "head shops" as far away as
London. It contained three songs: "Section 43", "Thing Called
Love" and "Bass Strings".
In 1971, Country Joe again decided to mix commerce with politics
and EP's. Then working with Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland
in a political musical revue they did shows for GI's to draw
attention to the war in Vietnam. This FTA (Free The Army) Show
was presented at "alternative" coffee houses (with names such
as "Oleo Strut") that became centers for anti-war activism.
One of these in Mountain Home, Idaho was burned to the ground
after their appearance there. Joe made another record that
would contain material relevant to this period and songs that he
performed in the show. The third EP (RAG 1003) contains "Tricky
Dicky", "Free Some Day" and "Kiss My Ass". They were recorded
at Jack Leahy's Funky Features Recording Studio in San Francisco.
The record was to have sold for $1.50 to raise money for the
show and the VVAW (Vietnam Veterans Against The War), but
some were burned, some were lost in transit and others just
disappeared. It was probably more political in tone than the first
one as it went directly to the point; it received considerable
airplay, however, on what were then known as "progressive"
FM radio stations. - Bill Belmont, August 1980 San Francisco.

Sleeve Design: WA Richard Müller
Cover Photo/Concept: Phil Bray
LP Remastered by David Turner
(p) 1980 Rag Baby Records

Tracks A1, A2, B1, B2 recorded 1965
Tracks A3, A4, A5 recorded 1966
Tracks B3, B4, B5 recorded 1971