more Tributes to Joe: ‘Country’ Joe McDonald, ’60s rock star, proud protest counterculture icon, dies at 84

from other sources mourning the passing of a legend of the counter-culture so called

"Country" Joe McDonald, a prominent hippie rock star from the 1960s, whose song "I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-To-Die Rag" served as a four-lettered condemnation of the Vietnam War, became an anthem for demonstrators and a significant feature of the Woodstock music festival, passed away on Sunday. He was 84.

McDonald, who was a member of the band Country Joe and the Fish, died in Berkeley, California. His death, attributed to complications from Parkinson’s disease, was confirmed by his wife of 43 years, Kathy McDonald, in a statement released by his publicist.

McDonald was a longstanding figure in the Bay Area music scene, where he shared the stage with notable peers such as the Grateful Dead, the Jefferson Airplane, and his former girlfriend, Janis Joplin. He composed or co-composed hundreds of songs, ranging from psychedelic jams to soul-influenced rock tracks, and produced numerous albums. However, he is most famously recognized for a talking blues he finished in under an hour in 1965 – the same year President Lyndon Johnson began deploying ground troops to Vietnam – which was recorded in the Berkeley home of Chris Strachwitz, the founder of Arhoolie Records.

Top Hat Crew's "Live Music Archives"

From Gary Lucas!

Good Guys/Bad Guys Cheer/The Streets Of Your Town

Country Joe and the Fish - Topic

https://www.tumblr.com/1264doghouse

Album purchase of the month (Feb 2026) WARCHILD 2 “ PULP, WET LEG, ARCTIC MONKEYS, BAT FOR LASHES, GRAHAM COXON and more

 

HELP(2)

by War Child Records

HELP(2) is a brand new collaborative album, inspired by the landmark 1995 release 'HELP', which brings music lovers together in support of War Child's vital work delivering immediate aid, education, specialist mental health support, and protection to children affected by conflict around the world. 

HELP(2) carries forward the spirit of the original ‘HELP’ album and was brought to life through a close collaboration with Abbey Road Studios, recorded predominantly across one extraordinary week in November 2025. Under the stewardship of acclaimed producer James Ford as Executive Producer, HELP(2) features an incredible line-up of contributors including Anna Calvi, Arctic Monkeys, Arlo Parks, Arooj Aftab, Bat For Lashes, Beabadoobee, Beck, Beth Gibbons, Big Thief, Black Country, New Road, Cameron Winter, Damon Albarn, Depeche Mode, Dove Ellis, Ellie Rowsell, English Teacher, Ezra Collective, Foals, Fontaines D.C., Graham Coxon, Greentea Peng, Grian Chatten, Kae Tempest, King Krule, Nilüfer Yanya, Olivia Rodrigo, Pulp, Sampha, The Last Dinner Party, Wet Leg and Young Fathers…amongst other musicians, engineers, mixers and producers. 


In addition to the stellar cast of musicians involved, renowned filmmaker and Academy Award Winner Jonathan Glazer acted as Creative Director for ‘HELP(2)’, working with Academy Films to assemble a team of brilliant creatives and overseeing the filming and art direction for the project. 


All proceeds from this album support War Child UK to protect, educate, and stand up for the rights of children living through conflict around the world. 


HELP(2) represents hope for children whose lives have been torn apart by war. It is a testament to the generosity of artists and the music industry for making a positive difference towards securing a safer, brighter future for those children. Because no child should be part of war. Ever.  

credits

released March 6, 2026 

2026, War Child Records

 

J.J. Cale - In Session At The Paradise Los Angeles | Plain & Fancy

 J.J. Cale - In Session At The Paradise Los Angeles 

Featuring Leon Russell (1979 - 2003 remaster)

Almost like a fly on the wall, we are witness to the young J.J. Cale and Leon Russell, stretching out among friends in Russell’s Paradise Studios in Los Angeles, in June of 1979. In a 21 song set, they are having the time of their lives, and we are left to watch in wonder. Joining Cale and Russell are his wife, Christine Lakeland, along with Marty Green, Nick Rather, Jimmy Karstein, Bill Boatman and Ambrose Campbell.

by Keith Hannaleck

There isn't a bad track on this album. The playing is way more muscular than on his records. The band just lays right into it from the opening track Nowhere to Run and never lets up. You will not believe the bass pouring out of your speakers. The beat is big thumping tremendous and propels the whole album. The drums and guitars are crisp. The solos are tasty. The mood is very relaxed and the band is having a great time. 

The standout track for me is Going Down  where they, ahem, take it up a notch. The energy on that track is just phenomenal, which is saying something since we've already heard the band in a rip-snorting version of JJ's signature song Cocaine. Studio owner, Leon Russell, lets it rip on piano and kinda snarls out of the side of his mouth. Then the saxes take over with a wailing chorus the whole backed up with fer-ro-cious rhythm guitar. It ain't all up-tempo though, JJ can sing a ballad with the best of ‘em viz Sensitive Kind.

by Ray Chowkwanyun

Tracks
1. Nowhere To Run - 2:43
2. Cocaine - 2:58
3. Ten Easy Lessons - 4:20
4. Sensitive Kind - 3:33
5. Hands Off Her - 3:39
6. Louisiana - 2:38
7. Going Down (Don Nix) - 5:14
8. Roll On - 2:51
9. No Sweat - 3:13
10.Crazy Mama - 3:13
11.Fate Of A Fool - 2:55
12.Boilin' Pot - 3:36
13.After Midnight - 4:13
14.Same Old Blues - 2:55
15.Don't Cry Sister - 3:05
16.Call Me The Breeze - 3:22
17.Ever Lovin' Woman - 2:34
18.Katy Kool Lady - 2:39
19.Lies - 3:19
20.Don't Wait (Christine Lakeland Cale) - 3:31

 

All songs written by J.J. Cale except where stated

  

Personnel
*J.J. Cale - Guitar, Vocals
*Leon Russell - Piano, Organ, Vocals
*Christine Lakeland - Guitar, Harmonica, Backing Vocals
*Larry Bell - Piano
*Marty Grebb - Horn
*Nick Rather - Bass
*Jimmy Karstein - Percussion, Drums
*Bill Boatman - Guitar
*Ambrose Campbell - Percussion, Drums
*Pat ‘Taco’ Ryan - Brass *Shamsi Sarumi - Percussion 

Pulp - Dogs Are Everywhere | jt1674

 

https://www.tumblr.com/jt1674/810547674293141504/pulp-dogs-are-everywhere

Wire - French Film Blurred [Chairs Missing] | jt1674

 

https://www.tumblr.com/jt1674/810610942216994819/wire-french-film-blurred

Cocteau Twins - Feet Like Fins [Victorialand] | jt1674

 

https://www.tumblr.com/jt1674/810605546162077696/cocteau-twins-feet-like-fins

ADVERT BREAK | Johnny Flynn comes to Bandcamp

 

Johnny's music is now available digitally on Bandcamp. VISIT BANDCAMP

Copyright © 2025 Johnny Flynn. All rights reserved.

https://johnny-flynn.bandcamp.com

Leonard on The Muse . . . . .

 

Leonard Cohen reflects on the origins of poetry 

Art of the Day | DON VAN VLIET

 From Gary Lucas’Facebook page,  who says:

Don Van Vliet

 “Chinese Fisherman”

1980

signed, ink, watercolour, graphite and coloured pencil on paper

"A gift from Don in 1980, while he was visiting NYC for the mastering of the Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band album “Doc at the Radar Station” (Virgin Records). Throughout his career, Don was intrigued by Chinese art and culture, and lyrically this was first reflected in his composition “Hobo Chang Ba” on 1969’s landmark Captain Beefheart double album “Trout Mask Replica” (Straight), which concerns the inner thoughts of an itinerant immigrant Chinese laborer in the American West riding the rails as a hobo. In fact, Don Van Vliet’s radical music of this period inspired the naively innocent comment from his mother Sue Vliet: “Your music sounds kind of Chinese-y, Don”(!) 

Don was later very much taken by the music of Zhou Xuan and Bai Guang, the famous 30’s pop divas from Shanghai, when I first played it for him in 1979, and when we performed at the Beacon Theater in NYC in Nov. 1980 he requested their songs be played over the PA before we went on. 

The apotheosis of Don Van Vliet’s love of Chinese culture was reached musically on the “Doc at the Radar Station” album on the composition “Sheriff of Hong Kong”, wherein he performs on a pair of antique Chinese opera gongs given to him by myself and my then wife Ling Ling Lee, and also intones the phrase “Woh ai ni shaujieh” (I love you, young lady), which I taught him to say phonetically. 

When he presented this watercolor to me, Don pointed out the arched blackened contours of what he described as a “Chinese fisherman” thrusting a fishing rod held in his right hand into the white waters of the center lower left of the drawing. Note the profile of the tear-eyed wolf on the lower right side of the drawing, a typical Van Vliet trope of embedding animal (and sometimes human, insectile, and microbial) faces in the recesses of his artwork." 

@don.van.vliet @captain.beefheart.replica

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So sad to hear of the passing of Country Joe MacDonald . . . . .

 Joe MacDonald of Country Joe and The Fish stalwart of the Woodstock festival and generation to follow has died aged 84

An early almost childhood hero renowned for the Fish Cheer from Fixin’ To Die Rag at Woodstock ‘69, my old pal and sterling drummer par excellence, Johnny Marter I recall tripping the lights with me across the fields and meadows where we grew up bashing guitars and bellowing the Cheer at the tops of our lungs!

He was more than that and a sensitive songwriter to boot from the first two Fish albums and then Quiet Days in Clichy soundtrack to his solo efforts he meant a lot to me

Let your freak flag fly Joe!

Country Joe & the Fish - VietNam Song - Live Woodstock 1969

Country Joe & the Fish - Rock and Soul Music - Live Woodstock 1969

Country Joe & the Fish - Colours for Susan - Feel Like I’m Fixin’ To Die

(yes bought when it came out . . . . )

Country Joe & the Fish - Sad and Lonely Times - Music For The Mind & Body

-------------------

Joe MacDonald  - Quiet Days in Clichy! 😉