Country Joe Mcdonald, Fish - Electric Music for the Mind & Body

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Free Music Notes for Electric Music for the Mind & Body

Free Music Review: Both darkly moody and good time listening music
Hit: 5 Stars

You definitely didn't/don't need to be a druggie to be/get into this music, it is so stimulating mentally, emotionally and even viscerally, so to speak. The lyrics are usually very easy to hear/decipher, and the playing and the blending of instruments is crystal clear [and on the trippy numbers, as smooth as the finest silk]. It also winds deeply into the imaginative realm: each song is a mood and/or story unto itself; some of the songs open up [new?] worlds for the listener to enter into.

On the songs that contain humor (musical &/or in the lyrics), there's way more wit than you can shake a stick at; it's not always blatant, ranging the gamut from double entendre to the subtle and the beautiful. A number of the more satirical moments evidence multiple meanings.

"Flying High" [5+ stars] is a gem of a story tune, in which wit abounds. CJ really shows how to turn a phrase on this one: the lyrics are so good it's baffling. Musically, you can pretty much hear the rain pouring down, without the Fish having had to resort to any imitative sound effects. The drug double-entendres are possibly intentional, but the song really isn't about drugs per se (when these guys used drug references, they were really obvious: see "Bass Strings" and Superbird" below). CJ likely were giving a nod to the Byrds' "Eight Miles High", perceived as a drug song and thus banned from radio airplay as it was rising rapidly up the charts [according to the Byrds it was really about flying on an airplane]. Truthfully speaking, this is primarily a protest song, and includes mention of [Dylan's] Mr. Jones from his "Ballad of a Thin Man" on the 'Highway 61 Revisited' album.

"Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine" [5 stars] presents four verses, with chorus and bridges, about a femme fatale figure. I wish I could quote it at length, but there are copyright restrictions, and plus, where would I start and end, it being too organic to slice and dice. Darkly poetic.

"Death Sound Blues" [4½ stars] is straight up acid blues, with a long guitar solo on the intro/chorus that is to die for. I find myself waiting for the instrumental breaks, as the lyrics are a little flat, even though Joe's singing remains superb.

"Happiness is a Porpoise Mouth" [5 stars], is the first love song on the album, a darkly moody paean to the experience of the beloved as symbolizing and being symbolized by all of nature. The imagery and the sound here together are almost chilling, then comes the ending, "the sun burns up the winter sky, and all the earth is love". Definitely not your average hippie teenybopper moment . . .

"Section 43" [5+ stars] is a long instrumental, never lagging in mood, interest, inventiveness, or passion. With its tightly organized formal structure [not your average aimless acid jam here], it varies its textures such that when a section recurs, the altered melody/accompaniment comes back in with a vengeance of a different flavor/attitude. Darkly brooding throughout, except for a short discordant, slightly comical section 2/3 of the way through which is almost conversational, it maps out its long, winding "story" without the benefit of lyrical content.

"Super Bird" [unrated] President LBJ in hilarious juxtaposition with various Marvel Comics superheroes. Very well executed satire, if you can dig it. Fades out with the spoken 'threats': "yeah, gonna make him eat flowers" and "yeah, make him drop some acid", which were expunged from LP re-issues in the early 80's.

"Sad & Lonely Times" [5 stars] a very pretty, mellow country rock love song. Probably ahead of its time [if not outside of time entirely]. Elements of humor abound, but are mostly unspoken. Did CJ meant this straight, or is there was a wee bit of a snicker in here? CJ might not be sure himself, but you can bet he's smiling.

"Love" is raucous sounding and to some extent breaks the mood of the album. [1½ stars]

"Bass Stings" the trip song. The music and lyrics take listeners to the seashore and the desert, presenting a depiction of the drug experience in concert with the power and magic of these places. Fades out with Joe whispering "L . . . S . . . D . . ." three times [also expunged from early 80's LP re-issues]. [5+ stars]

"The Masked Marauder" is a song which uses only the title and the band's usual instruments, plus a couple of vocal interludes without words [only "la la's"] to tell a story, and tell it exceedingly well. This is amazingly poetic and powerful despite the economy of its means. [5+ stars]

"Grace", the final love song, written by Joe for/about Grace Slick, liberally employs guitar distortion plus a wealth of unusual percussive sounds including wind chimes (the sound of which was not that familiar yet early in 1967) at various junctures, to produce a dark trippy mood throughout. But the main things at work here are probably the melody (which includes some unusual interval jumps, and which is quite haunting), the acid-laced lyrics, and the vocals (both sung and spoken, their performance is full of urgency and conviction). This is an amazing way to close a first album, or any album, for that matter. "Your silver wings flash, across the tiny door of my eye."
"I love you . . . I love you . . . I love you . . ."[5+ stars]

Electric Music for the Mind & Body Poster