In remembrance of an American legend, we’ve taken a deep dive into the vault and pulled together some performances from Country Joe McDonald’s career. The protest singer, Vietnam veteran advocate, and leader of Country Joe and the Fish passed away on March 7 due to complications from Parkinson’s Disease, his band announced on social media.
“McDonald was widely recognized as one of the defining voices of the 1960s counterculture movement,” an official obituary wrote. “His music blended folk, rock, and political commentary, capturing the spirit of a generation deeply affected by social upheaval, civil rights struggles, and the Vietnam War.” During his life, McDonald rallied for the Free Speech Movement, attended anti-Vietnam War demonstrations at UC Berkeley, and ran Rag Baby magazine.
“I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixing-To-Die-Rag” became his signature tune, as he and the Fish performed it at Woodstock in 1969 (where he memorably led the crowd in an “f-u-c-k” chant that made the concert’s accompanying film). The novelty song about the war’s escalation and America’s involvement spent 28 weeks on the Billboard charts and has lived on as one of the great protest anthems of its time. McDonald recorded 33 albums in his 60-year career, and Country Joe and the Fish became a Bay Area fixture, doing shows with the Grateful Dead, Buffalo Springfield, Big Brother and the Holding Company.
See below for videos footage from some of McDonald’s concerts, including Winterland in 1973, the Moscone Center in 1982, Woodstock in 1994, and the Fillmore in 1998.
Winterland, 1973
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Moscone Center, 1982
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Woodstock, 1994
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Fillmore Auditorium, 1998
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