Country Joe and The Fish 7" Vinyl EP Rag Baby 1966 Wes Wilson
$
60
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Description
This three-song vinyl EP was the first release from the pioneering psychedelic rock band Country Joe & The Fish, which formed from the folk duo Country Joe McDonald and Barry “The Fish” Melton. It was recorded on 6/6/66 on the makeshift Rag Baby label, a side project of a lefty underground magazine by that name.
The disk features the tunes "Bass Strings" and "(Thing Called) Love" on the A-side, with the six-minute "Section 43" on the B-side. Music historian Richie Unterberger said Section 43 “rivaled the Paul Butterfield Blues Band's East West as the finest psychedelic instrumental ever."
The record for sale here was bought in San Francisco shortly after its release and sent to me at that time. After a very few plays, it has been in storage ever since. The vinyl is in excellent condition, and other than two small splits along its top edge and a little wear on its front cover and lower left corner, you're not likely to find this cardboard sleeve in better condition.
There was another version of the sleeve with simpler lettering for the band name. But I believe the version on this sleeve was designed for the band by an uncredited Wes Wilson, who went on to fame as one of the greatest designers of psychedelic posters for shows at the Fillmore Auditorium and Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco. The word “Fish” on the sleeve is in an early version of a font created by Wilson and pictured here.
A year after this EP was released, the band went into Vanguard Studios in New York to record what would be their second full LP. While East they played the weekend of August 25-26 at The Boston Tea Party. That was my first weekend as the new manager of the club. Read more about it in my memoir Gettin’ Home: An Odyssey Through The ‘60s. (Steve Nelson)
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