Country Joe McDonald, born in 1942 in Washington D.C., began his musical journey
as a folk guitarist and political activist in the early 1960s, performing at
local coffeehouses and contributing to the underground magazine Rag Baby. In
1965 he formed Country Joe & The Fish with Barry “The Fish” Melton, and the duo
released the self‑produced EP Rag Baby Talking Issue No. 1, which introduced
their protest‑oriented style. The band signed with Vanguard Records in
December 1966 and released their debut album Electric Music for the Mind and
Body in May 1967, reaching number 39 on the Bi...