attention to me,” McDonald recalled. “I
was just Muzak or something. I knew
my job was just to go up and kill time.
But after [a while] I got more confi-
dent.” With that, McDonald pulled out
one of his group’s signatures, the “Fish
Cheer,” a call-and-response in which
the audience is asked to spell out fish
one letter at a time. Except the f-word
in this case had little to do with gilled
aquatic animals.
“I said, ‘Give me an F.’ And every-
body turned and looked at me and said,
‘F.’ Then I said, ‘Give me a U.’ And they
yelled back ‘U.’ And it went on... ”
McDonald then finished up with
another fan favorite, the sly antiwar
ditty, “I Feel Like I’m Fixin’ to Die Rag.”
Now came one of Woodstock’s galva-
nizing moments, as 400,000 mud-
caked souls sang along to the chorus:
And, it’s one, two, three, what are we
fightin’ for?
Don’t ask me, I don’t give a damn
Next stop is Vietnam;
And it’s five, six, seven,
Open up the pearly gates,
Well, ain’t no time to wonder why,
Whoopee! We’re all gonna die.Country Joe McDonald
1–1:30 PM
There were some classic performances
at Woodstock, others lost to history,
and a few that became iconic, thanks
in large part to Wadleigh’s documen-
tary. One of the iconic ones came cour-
tesy of a 27-year-old rocker whose
onetime Communist parents had
named him for Joseph Stalin. Known
as Country Joe McDonald, he had,
in 1965, formed the psychedelic rock
band Country Joe and the Fish with
his partner Barry “Fish” Melton—and
had been scheduled to perform later
in the festival. However, at this junc-
ture on day two, a relatively unknown
band named for its front man and gui-
tarist, Carlos Santana, was slated to go
on—but the whole group hadn’t arrived
yet. McDonald, who was just hanging
out at the time, was asked to go up and
keep the audience entertained. Ready
to oblige, he grabbed a guitar and sang
a folkie set, opening with “Janis,” his
ode to ex-girlfriend Janis Joplin. After
a few more tunes, the crowd response
was tepid at best.
“Not too many people were payingTHE IMPROMPTU SATURDAY
performance by Country Joe
McDonald (above) served as
a wake-up call. The gentle
feeling of the day (opposite)
was thoroughly roiled
by Country Joe when he
launched into his popular ditty
protesting the war. Sang Joe,
“Come on mothers throughout
the land / Pack your boys off to
Vietnam... Be the first one on
your block / To have your boy
come home in a box.” The crowd
joined in and sang along.
49