Country Joe McDonald
at Woodstock 1969
Led the crowd in the infamous "F-I-S-H" cheer before performing "Fixin' to Die Rag," the anti-Vietnam War anthem captured in the Woodstock documentary.
Country Joe McDonald — Woodstock 1969
Joseph Allen McDonald, known as "Country Joe," has maintained a music career since the Woodstock era. He fronted the rock group Country Joe & the Fish and performed both as a solo artist and with his band at the original 1969 festival.
The band originated in Berkeley in 1965 with McDonald and Barry Melton. Starting in coffeehouses, they gained prominence in the San Francisco psychedelic scene and eventually reached Woodstock in 1969.
Country Joe & the Fish became famous for a participatory cheer that spelled out F-I-S-H, which audiences in the '60s transformed into an expletive. "This cheer sent the message of a defiant band" and symbolized the youth rebellion of the era. One festival organizer banned them permanently from the Schaefer Beer Festival over this routine.
Their Woodstock performance of "Fixin' to Die Rag" — the sardonic anti-Vietnam War anthem — appeared prominently in the documentary, featuring the notorious cheer. McDonald led 400,000 people in the "FISH" chant, which in the film appears as one of the most powerful anti-war moments captured on screen.
McDonald subsequently pursued a solo career, focusing on themes including antiwar activism, veterans' rights, and West Coast counterculture. He has remained an outspoken advocate for Vietnam veterans, working to ensure their proper recognition and care.
"Country Joe & the Fish symbolized part of an entire counterculture whose tie-dyed, bloodshot spirit still lives today."