Editing Country Joe and the Fish (section)

===Formation (1965)===
The first lineup of Country Joe and the Fish formed in mid-1965, when [[Country Joe McDonald]] ([[vocals]], [[acoustic guitar]]) and [[Barry Melton|Barry "The Fish" Melton]] ([[lead guitar]], vocals) came together as a [[musical ensemble|duo]].<ref name=dyk1 /> The two musicians had a background rooted in [[folk music]], were enamored with the recordings of [[Woody Guthrie]], and worked on the local acoustic [[coffeehouse]] circuit in the early 1960s.<ref name=dyk1>{{cite AV media notes|title=[[I Feel Like I'm Fixin' to Die]]|others=Country Joe and the Fish|year=2013|type=CD booklet|publisher=Ace Vanguard Masters}}</ref> Melton honed his political protest prowess as a [[guitarist]] in Los Angeles, at venues such as the [[Ash Grove (music club)|Ash Grove]], before relocating to Berkeley, California, where he was a regular at the [[The Jabberwock (club)|Jabberwock cafe]].<ref name=all>{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/country-joe-the-fish-mn0000128266|title=Country Joe and the Fish – Biography|work=allmusic.com|author=Eder, Bruce|access-date=June 27, 2015}}</ref> Prior to the group, McDonald set up two folk and [[jug (instrument)|jug]] bands, the Berkeley String Quartet and the Instant Jug Band, both of which served as outlets for his original material, and with the latter group including Melton.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.countryjoe.com/bsq.htm|title=The Berkeley String Quartet|work=countryjoe.com|access-date=June 27, 2015}}</ref> In addition, McDonald was a publisher of the [[left-wing]] [[underground press|underground]] magazine ''Et Tu Brute'', which later became ''Rag Baby'', containing poetry, drawings, and political messages.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.classicbands.com/CountryJoeMcDonaldInterview.html|title=Gary James' Interview With "Country" Joe McDonald|work=classicbands.com|author=James, Gary|access-date=June 27, 2015}}</ref> By early 1965, McDonald had become involved in the burgeoning folk scene in Berkeley, and the [[Free Speech Movement]] that was organizing demonstrations in [[University of California, Berkeley]], which opposed [[Vietnam War|the war in Vietnam]]. Not long afterwards, McDonald was inspired to record a "talking issue" of his magazine, and organized Country Joe and the Fish with Melton and fellow musicians Carl Schrager ([[washboard (musical instrument)|washboard]], [[kazoo]]), Bill Steele ([[bass guitar]]), and Mike Beardslee (vocals), out of both necessity of a recording alias and political device, to self-produce an [[extended play]].<ref name=rag>{{cite AV media notes|title=Collectors Items: The First Three EP's|others=Country Joe and the Fish|year=1994|type=CD booklet|publisher=One Way Records}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cincygroove.com/?p=5922|title=Interview with Country Joe McDonald|work=cincygroove.com|date=24 July 2008 |access-date=July 15, 2015}}</ref>

[[ED Denson]], the co-publisher of ''Rag Baby'', introduced McDonald to [[Chris Strachwitz]], who owned [[Arhoolie Records|Arhoolie Recording]] Studios, to self-produce the EP.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/ed-denson-mn0000174581|title=ED Denson – Biography|work=allmusic.com|author=Unterberger, Richie|access-date=June 29, 2015}}</ref> Sensing the band's potential, Denson assumed management control, and was responsible for coining the group's name—a reference to [[Josef Stalin]] and to [[Mao Zedong]]'s description of revolutionaries as "the fish who swim in the sea of the people".<ref name=all/> McDonald, who had recording experience, began utilizing Arhoolie Recording Studios to record four songs split equally between the band and a local folk musician, Peter Krug. It was during this time at Arhoolie Records that Country Joe and the Fish's folk sound and political protest prowess—an amalgam of their own Guthrie-influenced material and their folk music roots—began to emerge. The band's side of the EP featured two originals by McDonald, an acoustic version of "[[I Feel Like I'm Fixin' to Die Rag]]", and "Superbird".<ref name=rag/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/country-joe-mcdonald-mn0000131285|title=Country Joe McDonald – Biography|work=allmusic.com|author=Harris, Craig|access-date=July 3, 2015}}</ref> According to McDonald, "The Fish Cheer" was written in 30 minutes, with a purpose of expressing satiric and [[dark humor|dark]] commentary on the US's involvement in the [[Vietnam War]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.countryjoe.com/howrag.htm|title=How I Wrote the Rag|work=countryjoe.com|access-date=July 4, 2015}}</ref> In October 1965, 100 copies of the EP, titled ''Rag Baby Talking Issue No. 1'', were distributed on McDonald's independent label at a [[Teach-in]] in UC Berkeley and [[underground music|underground]] shops selling ''Rag Baby'' magazine.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.deaddisc.com/ot/Talking_Issue_EP.htm|title=Rag Baby EP 1: Talking Issue|work=deaddisc.com|access-date=July 4, 2015}}</ref>

For a brief period, McDonald and Melton performed together as a duo at college campuses in the Northwest on behalf of [[Students for a Democratic Society]] before returning as regulars at the Jabberwock cafe.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chickenonaunicycle.com/Country%20Joe%20Shows.htm|title=Country Joe Shows|work=chickenonaunicycle.com|access-date=July 6, 2015}}</ref> The two were joined by local jug band musicians, including Melton's roommates, [[bass player]] [[Bruce Barthol]] and guitarist Paul Armstrong, and blues guitarist [[David Bennett Cohen]], with whom Melton played in another jug band. The addition of [[drummer]] John Francis-Gunning rounded out the six-piece ensemble.<ref name=sixties>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qwOyZukEwD4C&q=country+joe+and+the+fish&pg=PT465|title=''Echoes of the Sixties''|author1=Childs, Marti|author2=March, Jeff|publisher=EditPros LLC|year=2011|isbn=9781937317027}}</ref> It was during their residency at the Jabberwock that Country Joe and the Fish learned to play as a group and expand their repertoire. Within months, based on McDonald and Melton's interest in the live performances of the [[the Paul Butterfield Blues Band|Paul Butterfield Blues Band]], the recordings on [[Bob Dylan]]'s [[album]], ''[[Highway 61 Revisited]]'', and their use of the mind-altering drug [[LSD]], the group began equipping themselves with electric instruments and delving more into [[psychedelia]].<ref name=folk>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/eightmileshighfo00sanf|url-access=registration|quote=country joe and the fish i feel like i'm fixin to die.|title=''Eight Miles High: Folk-rock's Flight from Haight-Ashbury to Woodstock''|author=Unterberger, Richie|pages=[https://archive.org/details/eightmileshighfo00sanf/page/26 26]–30|publisher=Backbeat Books|isbn=0879307439|year=2003}}</ref> As a result, Cohen was moved over to the [[organ (music)|organ]]. Cohen's experience with [[keyboard instrument|keyboards]] was limited to having played [[piano]] at a semiprofessional capacity at the Jabberwock, but, nonetheless, he quickly adapted to the qualities of the instrument.<ref name="psych">{{cite web|last=Breznikar|first=Klemen|author-link=Klemen Breznikar |date=October 14, 2012|title=Country Joe & The Fish interview with David Bennett Cohen|url=https://www.psychedelicbabymag.com/2012/10/country-joe-fish-interview-with-david.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160728044332/http://www.psychedelicbabymag.com/2012/10/country-joe-fish-interview-with-david.html|archive-date=July 28, 2016|access-date=July 7, 2015|website=[[It's Psychedelic Baby! Magazine]]}}</ref> Melton describes the change of the group: "Once we hit into the electric medium and into the rock medium, we were pandering to the public taste. We became extraordinarily popular. The little folk club where we used to play once every two weeks, we played every single night for a month, or something like that, and filled it. And after a while we filled ''two'' shows every single night".<ref name=folk/>

Incidentally, the song "Who Am I" was written by McDonald for a play called ''Change Over'', written by Fred Hayden. Each of the three verses was to be considered as sung by a different character.