Nation Joe McDonald, the singer and activist who fronted the ‘60s psychedelic rock group Nation Joe and the Fish, has died on the age of 84.
“We’re deeply saddened to report the passing of Nation Joe McDonald, who died yesterday, March seventh, on the age of 84, in Berkeley, California, because of issues from Parkinson’s Illness,” famous an official assertion on the band’s Fb web page, including that “he was surrounded by his household.”
Joseph Allen McDonald was born in Washington, D.C. however raised in Southern California. After a stint within the navy, he moved to the San Francisco Bay Space in 1965 the place his music profession actually took off.
McDonald co-founded Nation Joe and the Fish alongside guitarist Barry “The Fish” Melton. Collectively, they created a distinctive psychedelic folks sound that championed counterculture causes. Nation Joe and the Fish used politically-charged lyrics to protest the Vietnam Warfare, help the hippie perception of free love and advocate for leisure drug use.
Their debut album, Electrical Music for the Thoughts and Physique, arrived in Might of 1967. Six months later, they put out their sophomore LP, I-Really feel-Like-I am-Fixin’-to-Die. Two songs from the latter album — “I-Really feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-to-Die Rag” and “The Fish Cheer” — grew to become a part of music historical past when Nation Joe and the Fish carried out them at Woodstock in 1969.
Nation Joe’s Legendary Woodstock Efficiency
Throughout the rendition, McDonald famously led the viewers in a call-and-respond, spelling out every letter of the f-word. “What does that spell?” the singer repeatedly declared, solely to have the 1000’s in attendance yell again “F—!”
Watch Nation Joe McDonald Acting at Woodstock
“I-Really feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-to-Die Rag,” with it’s memorable refrain “One, two, three, what are we combating for?,” grew to become one of many best-known songs of ‘60s counterculture. McDonald as soon as defined to the New York Occasions that he was “impressed to jot down a track about how troopers don’t have any selection within the matter, however to observe orders, however with the irreverence of rock n’ roll. It was primarily punk rock earlier than punk existed.”
READ MORE: Prime 10 Woodstock Performances
Nation Joe and the Fish broke up in 1971, simply two years after their Woodstock efficiency. The group sometimes reunited, and recorded a sixth and closing album, Reunion, in 1977. In the meantime, McDonald loved a protracted profession as a solo artist, releasing 20 studio albums and a wide selection of reside materials throughout a profession spanning over 50 years. In keeping with setlist.fm, his closing live performance happened in 2019 at San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park.
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