Together (Country Joe and the Fish album)

Together is the third album by the San Francisco psychedelic rock band, Country Joe and the Fish, released in 1968. Before recording, Country Joe McDonald briefly left, so for developments with the band, they were addressed just as "The Fish". McDonald would return in time for recording sessions so the name change was relatively brief. Although it was not considered their strongest work, especially since McDonald's superior songwriting presence was absent, Together still was the most financially successful output from the band.[1]

Together
Studio album by Country Joe and the Fish
Released	August 1968
Recorded	November 1967
Studio	Sierra Sound Laboratories, Berkeley, California and February 1968 Vanguard Studios, 71 West 23rd Street, New York City, NY
Genre	Psychedelic rock folk rock
Length	34:31
Label	Vanguard VSD-79277
Producer	Samuel Charters
Country Joe and the Fish chronology
I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die (1967) Together (1968) Here We Are Again (1969)

Melton and "Chicken" Hirsh take the role as main songwriters, creating variously different tracks in regard to style. The album begins with a tribute to James Brown with the track "Rock and Soul Music". From there, the band continues its development of psychedelic music with the theme of love and life for their songs.[2] Evidently, the band were still against the Vietnam War as the track "Untitled Protest" suggest. The organ played on the song was called "Death Mantra", the name bestowed upon by McDonald. With the success of the album, the band embarked on a national tour that was also dubbed a success thanks, in part, to their light shows.[3]

Country Joe would not be involved in tracks two and five and would be filled in by studio musicians. This is a beginning of the personnel changes involved with the band's next two albums. Barthol would leave in the following month and Cohen and Hirsh would follow out in January 1969.[2]

Track listing

1. "Rock and Soul Music" (McDonald, Melton, Cohen, Barthol, Hirsh) – 6:51
2. "Susan" (Hirsh) - 3:28
3. "Mojo Navigator" (Denson, Melton, McDonald) - 2:23
4. "Bright Suburban Mr. & Mrs. Clean Machine" (Hirsh, Melton) - 2:19
5. "Good Guys/Bad Guys Cheer / The Streets of Your Town" (Melton) - 3:43
6. "The Fish Moan" - 0:27
7. "The Harlem Song" (McDonald) - 4:19
8. "Waltzing in the Moonlight" (Hirsh, Melton) - 2:13
9. "Away Bounce My Bubbles" (Hirsh) - 2:25
10. "Cetacean" (Barthol) - 3:38
11. "An Untitled Protest" (McDonald) - 2:45

Personnel

Country Joe and the Fish

• Country Joe McDonald – lead vocals (tracks 1, 7-11), rap (track 7), acoustic 12-string guitar (track 7), electric 12-string guitar (tracks 9, 10), noises (track 10)
• Barry Melton – lead guitar (tracks 1, 5, 10), lead vocals (tracks 1, 3, 4, 5, 7), rhythm guitar (tracks 2, 3, 8), acoustic guitar (track 4), noises (track 10)
• David Cohen – organ (tracks 1-5, 9, 10), rhythm guitar (track 1), lead guitar (tracks 2, 3, 7, 8), piano (track 4), backing vocals (track 4), spoken word (track 7), bells (track 9), harpsichord (track 10), noises (track 10)
• Bruce Barthol - bass (tracks 1-3, 5, 7-10), backing vocals (tracks 4, 7), acoustic guitar (track 10), organ (track 11), noises (track 10)
• Gary "Chicken" Hirsh - drums (tracks 1-3, 5, 8, 10), lead vocals (tracks 2, 9, 10), backing vocals (tracks 4, 7), percussion (track 4), bells (track 5), sand blocks (track 7), harmony vocals (track 8), castanets (track 8), noises (track 10), music box (track 10)

Additional personnel

• Robin McDonald – finger cymbals (track 11)

Chart positions

Billboard 200 - No. 23

References

1. William Ruhlmamn. "Together - Review". allmusic.com. Retrieved March 2, 2015.
2. "Together - Vinyl". acerecords.co.uk.
3. "Country Joe". countryjoe.com.