Country Joe and the Fish is a quintessential late 60s psychedelic rock band, and Country Joe McDonald usually made some pretty strong lyrics about the times, often speaking out against the war in Vietnam. I’ve checked out some of his live music for free on Archive.org, and I figured it’d be a good time to check out a studio album of his solo work. Honestly I chose a pretty random album to start with, but I’m looking forward to this listening experience.
“Hold on It’s Coming NO. 1 (feat. Spencer Dais” starts out some folky sounding acoustic guitar, some claps for the rhythm, and slowly introduces an electric guitar and some vocals to the mix. It sounds like it’s building up to something big, and feels like a train picking up steam. This song really suits my ears well; I’m really digging the vibe in this one. There’s a little twangy guitar adding little things here and there, but that acoustic guitar is the one that keeps the song chugging along. I’m super excited for the rest of this album based on this song. Oh wow, that harmonica has great flavor to it.
“Air Algiers (feat. Peter Green)” has some really bluesy, country style acoustic guitar that opens up the tune. It kind of has an early 70s Grateful Dead vibe. That acoustic guitar really starts and keeps this train of a song rolling. I’m really digging that electric guitar that is sort of playing some melty licks over top of the whole thing. Awesome little tune.
“Only Love Is Worth This Pain (feat. Peter Green)” has a sort of wandering through the desert at night vibe. The acoustic guitar and electric guitar sort of meld together in a medley that is both jangling and shimmering at the same time. This song has an almost pleading feeling to it – I’m really into it. There’s also a sort of psychedelicness to the whole bit with the manner in which the electric guitar sounds in the whole mix. It’s almost like the song is setting out on a quest – I’m digging it.
“Playing with Fire” has some super upbeat drums to the beginning. Wow, this feels like a classic country rock and roll tune, with some really rollicking piano and the back beat of drums, and the almost percussive approach to the strumming of the acoustic guitar, while the bass kind of melts everything together in the background. Wow, that piano solo is super sweet. I really dig the overall feel of this album so far – it feels both introspective and about a story at the same time, and really reminds me of Bob Dylan a bit in that respect.
“Travelling” has a really gentle, solemn, spaced out feel to it. The strumming of the acoustic guitar takes the role of the percussion in this song, and really reminds me of The Neutral Milk Hotel’s In the Aeroplane Over the Sea (1998) in terms of tone. There’s a hopeful optimism that sort of wanders through the unknown, and very sweet overall feel to it. Wow, the vocals are really nice with the subtle layers to them in this one. I’m super glad I’m listening to this album tonight – this is some really great music.
“Joe’s Blues” starts out like a song that doesn’t really know where to start, but finds somewhat of a melodic line that the song sort of plays around with in a bluesy way. Honestly it reminds me of some old jug band blues/delta blues music, and feels like it’s paying respects to that sort of area of music while bringing a sort of meandering country folk feeling to it. Dang, this bluesy tune hits some super tasty notes, and the humming from Country Joe really makes it feel like he’s definitely feeling it. Honestly I’m very much looking forward to listening to more Country Joe soon, this album is great.
Oh wow, “Mr Big Pig” brings in some tasty blues rock feeling to it, with a great storytelling feel that once again feels somewhat introspective. I feel like you can hear some psychedelic influence from his days with Country Joe and the Fish. Wow, this piano and electric guitar is dripping with tone and flavor that feels soaked in a subtle layer of psychedelia. Wow, this electric guitar and piano is absolutely an awesome combination. The drums really serve up this song and a platform that really keeps it all rolling. Great song.
“Balancing on the Edge of Time” has a really bright acoustic guitar with the intro, and is another song that feels like it brings some hopeful optimism to it. I’m really digging the lyrics to this one. Oh wow, there’s some vocal effects/quick line that really sort of brushes things together really nicely. There’s a couple different acoustic guitar parts that really bring some depth to the song at points that brings a lot of dynamic feeling to the track.
“Jamila” has a great flavor to it. The song has a great groove with the piano and guitars, and feels like it keeps grooving down harder and harder as the song progresses, with the piano begging to resolve at some point, but it just keeps rolling further down the line – I’m really digging it. I’m really enjoying the flavor of this one, hitting so many great notes that keep piling on top of one another. Oh wow, when the refrain comes on the vocals seem to bring some resolution, or at least teases one, while the song keeps rolling along. Really sweet song.
“Hold on It’s Coming NO. 2” picks back up where the very first track left off – this is awesome. It almost reminds me of Spiritualized a bit, in a very roundabout fashion. This song really hits all the notes that really resolves the tension from the previous track, and really lets them breathe and create a super tasty groove. It’s as if you went on a huge journey and ended up exactly where you started, which is super awesome in my opinion. This is a great way to end this fantastic album. Awesome.
Wow, this album is absolutely awesome. Fans of folk rock and folk music will probably get a lot of mileage out of this one. This is an awesome singer/songwriter album too. Honestly, I’m probably going to look for this one on vinyl pretty soon, because it’s a great album in my opinion. I sincerely hope that if you do decide to take a listen that you enjoy it at least as much as I did.
-A