Country Joe & the Fish 4-LP Box + Reissues Due

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During 1967, the Berkeley band that called itself Country Joe and the Fish released two albums for Vanguard Records that would be recognized as psychedelic classics: their debut LP, Electric Music for the Mind and Body, and I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-To-Die. Craft Recordings, the catalog division of Concord Music, is celebrating the band’s prolific year with a limited-edition, deluxe vinyl boxed set, The Wave of Electrical Sound, as well as standalone, high-end LP reissues, both due out Jan. 26, while a remastered digital collection, offering both albums as well as two exclusive bonus tracks, hits digital retailers and streaming services today (Dec. 8).

Limited to 2,000 copies worldwide, the deluxe 4-LP box set, The Wave of Electrical Sound, will offer both mono and stereo versions of Electric Music for the Mind and Body and I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-To-Die. All four remastered LPs will be pressed on audiophile quality, 180-gram vinyl, and housed in old-school-style, tip-on jackets—the mono Electric Music for the Mind and Body LP will feature rare, alternate cover artwork, while the other titles will be in replicas of their original packaging.

The Wave of Electrical Sound also contains band ephemera from 1967, including replicas of the Fish Game, a Fish Fan Club book and a Fish calendar designed by Tom Weller. Also included is a DVD of How We Stopped the War, a 30-minute documentary, filming the band on its way to an anti-Vietnam War rally, directed by David Peoples (writer of Blade Runner, Twelve Monkeys, Unforgiven), as well as a 24-page book, which features rare photos, artwork and new liner notes from writer, producer and musician Alec Palao. The collection offers what’s described in a press release as “a deep look into the band’s sonic progression, and innovative uses of electronic instrumentation and distortion, all of which helped to usher in the genre of psychedelia.”

Country Joe and the Fish (Photo by Joel Brodsky, courtesy of Vanguard Records)

Country Joe and the Fish formed as a duo in 1965 with “Country” Joe McDonald and guitarist Barry “The Fish” Melton, before expanding into a full band with the additions of Bruce Barthol on bass, David Cohen on guitar and keyboards and John Francis Gunning on drums (replaced by Gary “Chicken” Hirsh a year later). Paul Armstrong on bass, tambourine and other percussion instruments was also an early member but dropped out shortly into in the band’s career. Country Joe and the Fish played the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967 and later played Woodstock as well.

Pre-order The Wave of Electrical Sound Deluxe box set here.

Pre-order Electric Music for the Mind & Body LP here.

Pre-order I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-To-Die LP here.

Track Lists

The Wave of Electrical Sound
Disc 1 and 2 (stereo & mono) Electric Music for the Mind and Body
A1. Flying High 2:48
A2. Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine 4:27
A3. Death Sound 4:28
A4. Porpoise Mouth 2:53
A5. Section 43 7:26
B1. Super Bird 2:09
B2. Sad and Lonely Times 2:23
B3. Love 2:27
B4. Bass Strings 5:10
B5. The Masked Marauder3:13
B6. Grace 7:04

Disc 3 and 4 (stereo & mono) I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-To-Die
A1. The Fish Cheer & I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-To-Die Rag 3:47
A2. Who Am I 4:06
A3. Pat’s Song 5:27
A4. Rock Coast Blues 3:56
A5. Magoo 4:48
B1. Janis 2:36
B2. Thought Dream 7:06
B3. Thursday 2:45
B4. Eastern Jam 4:39
B5. Colors For Susan 5:57

**Digital version includes both albums in mono and stereo formats, plus the following mono bonus tracks:
Janis (Instrumental) 2:38
I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-To-Die Rag (Alternate Mix) 3:03

Watch Country Joe and the Fish perform “Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine” at the Monterey Po[ Festival in 1967