Country Joe And The Fish: Here We Are Again(Vanguard)
This article originally appeared on Fusion on October 3rd, 1969
COUNTRY JOE & THE FISH are certainly unique in American rock. By the time their first album came out they had really passed their peak as far as Berkeley (their spiritual birthplace) was concerned.
Legendary drummer John Francis Gunning had been replaced (judged too temperamental for a growing rock group) and the Fish were no longer performing everywhere all the time. Many Californians still claim that the privately produced E.P. with four of their early songs, the only record with Gunning on it, is the best thing that they ever did. For the already acid California, their first album Country Joe & the Fish may have been an afterstatement. But for us initiates back here in the East, it was a complete mind-blower. As a record it made history in a number of ways: it actually mentioned things like LSD and LBJ and the music was just something else. I remember listening to it on headphones, amazed at the explicit 'Porpoise Mouth', the fantastic lyric of 'Sweet Lorraine' and the incredible sounds that flowed out of the whole album. It was truly Electric Music For the Mind and Body and became one of the most beloved of the early psychedelic albums (surpassed only by the Airplane's Surrealistic Pillow). Country Joe & the Fish were at that time genuinely "underground" — unplayable on the AM radio (Although 'Lorraine' finally did become a medium sized hit reaching the charts when the California rage hit the nation). It was also one of the best records to listen to tripping.
By the time their second album came out, I Feel Like I'm Fixin To Die, everybody who was hip knew that the Fish weren't any good any more. The rest of the country hadn't found out though and the Fish went on what must have been some agonizing tours. Joe kept churning out songs but they weren't great any more, their funkiness got tiring as does any joke that you've heard a thousand times and the group was constantly surrounded by announcements that they were breaking up and getting back together again. What was once the freshest, most good-time group, the West Coast follow up to New York's Lovin Spoonful, became one of the worst performing acts around, grinding out their sets with the wince of anyone who hates his job. Their best song from that time was 'Rock Coast Blues' which reflected what a drag it was for California boys to be in the East ("Movin down that rock coast line — nothin but my woman on my mind"). They had missed a move, along the way becoming the messengers rather than the senders of an already obsolete telegram. If their records were unspectacular, their performances were lousy. The biggest thing that they had going for them was their spirit; none of them had been a particularly good musician. McDonald would preface his act by a rap like "You know I bet you think being a rock and roll star is a lot of fun — actually it's a drag" and then would launch into a 20 minute conglomerate of their better-known numbers. They made a disastrous attempt at soul which only occasionally came across in person as Joe would scream "Your love is like a rainbow". But he is no James Brown. Their last record Together was a disaster and it seemed as if the group had been destroyed by its success, strung out on the public's applause for their old and tired material, part of the artistic past.
Which brings me to their latest album. Surprise: it's a hell of an album. I just put on their first record as a comparison and it stands up pretty well. It is certainly their best thing since that time. Here We Are Again is one of the most aptly titled albums. I am a little defensive about praising this record since for some reason it has been damned by several critics who seem to have the same prejudice that led many to praise the Fish's last two failures. At this point the Fish are after all an easy target. But by no stretch of the imagination is this a bad album. In Here We Are Again McDonald has finally escaped from the pain in the hippy trip that he was on and emerged with a new and more or less successful style. This doesn't mean that he has abandoned his old self or "sold out"; but he has grown into a new outlook. Here they are again and they have regained that charm which makes it much easier to tolerate their imperfections. They have gotten over the blindness which is associated with speed and have come up with one of the best records of the year. 'Crystal Blues', which is the best cut on the album, is a hard rock tale of a chick who is strung out ("she used to be so pretty — now she can't remember her own name"). Most of the record, particularly McDonald's material, is slower ballad type with more elaborate arrangements than the Fish have previously been known for. But I think it's an improvement. I've gotten, with everyone else, somewhat tired of California psychedelic guitar riffs. McDonald's songs are as good as anything he's ever done. 'For No Reason' is my favorite. The music is original and very easy to get into. The first time I played the record I fell in love with it and it marks my biggest appointment (or whatever the opposite of disappointment is) of the year. Three of the ten songs are written and sung by Barry Melton who has always been the funky member of the Fish. His funkiness has developed into a kind of facetious ragtime which rounds out the album nicely. Anyone who heard the Fish at Woodstock knows they are still a major group. If you didn't, take my word for it. This is a good record.
