McDonald was born in Washington, DC, and grew up in El Monte, California, where he was student conductor and president of his high school marching band. At the age of 17, he enlisted in the United States Navy for three years and was stationed in Japan. After his enlistment, he attended Los Angeles City College for a year. In the early 1960s, he began busking on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley, California. His father, Worden McDonald, from Oklahoma, was of Scottish Presbyterian heritage (the son of a minister); he worked for a telephone company. His mother, Florence Plotnick, was the daughter of Russian Jewish immigrants and served for many years on the Berkeley City Council. In their youth, both were Communist Party members before renouncing the cause, and named their son after Joseph Stalin.
McDonald has recorded 33 albums and has written hundreds of songs over a career spanning 40 years. In 1965, he and Barry Melton co-founded Country Joe & the Fish which became a pioneer psychedelic rock band with their eclectic performances at the Avalon Ballroom, the Fillmore, the Monterey Pop Festival, and both the original and 1979 reunion Woodstock Festivals.
In the fall of 2005, political commentator Bill O'Reilly compared McDonald to Cuban President Fidel Castro, remarking on McDonald's involvement in Cindy Sheehan's protests against the Iraq War.
In 2015, McDonald (with assistance from Alec Palao), formed The Electric Music Band; the intention of the group was to perform the early psychedelic material of the early career of Country Joe And The Fish. The band has performed 'Electric Music For The Mind And Body' in its entirety, and band members include Palao, The Rain Parade's Matt Piucci and Derek See of The Chocolate Watchband.
In 2017, McDonald released an album on his own Rag Baby label entitled "50".
McDonald was married to Kathe Werum from 1963 to 1966 and married Robin Menken a year after his divorce from Werum.[12] In 1968, Menken gave birth to the couple's first daughter, Seven Anne McDonald, in San Francisco. Seven, formerly a columnist for LA Weekly and now a movie producer and artist manager,[13] had a previous career as a TV child actor in the late 1970s and early 1980s, managed Johnny Depp's Viper Room nightclub and the alternative rock band Smashing Pumpkins in the 1990s, and wrote for Details, Elle and Harper's Bazaar magazines in the 1990s and 2000s. According to Ron Cabral's biography on Country Joe and the Fish, Seven was the subject of and inspiration behind the song Silver and Gold. McDonald has noted that his ex-girlfriend at the time, Janis Joplin, showed much anger for breaking up with her to be with Menken but asked him to write a song about her; the result was "Janis".
McDonald has four other children, Devin (b. 1976) and Tara (b. 1980) from his marriage to Janice Taylor, and Emily (b. 1988) and Ryan (b. 1991) from his marriage to Kathy Wright.
As of 2012, McDonald still lived in Berkeley, California.
Crossroads
Country Joe McDonald Lyrics
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And place it on the shelf
I'm savin' my love for you babe
And for no one else
Though miles may come between us
My love for you still lives on
The days gone by can never die
No matter how long I'm gone
Oh, I'm standin' at the crossroads
Just like a ship adrift at sea
The blues are like a bloodhound
Always comin' after me
Oh I'm standin' at the crossroads
Wonderin' which way to go
The blues are like my shadow
They're with me wherever I go
The times aren't always gentle
The people aren't always kind
But behind the bend might be a friend
There for you to find
But it seems like all good people
I meet as I'm travelin' through
Just sit down to talk and
Before we begin
They're off with their own things to do
The song Crossroads by Country Joe McDonald is a melancholic blues song that explores the themes of heartbreak, distance, and the vagaries of life. It starts with the singer expressing his undying love for someone and his commitment to keeping that love alive even in the face of physical separation. He explains that he has put his heart in a bottle, on a shelf, and that his love is for no one else. The lyrics are poignant and touch on the themes of loneliness and longing. The chorus of the song takes a different turn, with the singer likening himself to a ship adrift at sea, directionless and unsure of where to go. He is followed by the "blues," which are like a bloodhound always coming after him. The blues in this case act as a metaphor for his troubled state of mind, his anguish at being directionless.
In the second verse, the lyrics become more introspective, with the singer reflecting on life's hardships. He laments that the times aren't always gentle and that people aren't always kind. He acknowledges that there might be good people out there, but they seem hard to find. He maintains that he keeps meeting people while traveling, but they're never around long enough to form meaningful friendships. The song is both a love ballad and a melancholic exploration of the human condition, and the way it ebbs and flows.
Line by Line Meaning
Put my heart inside a bottle
I am keeping my heart safe and reserved
And place it on the shelf
I am keeping my heart safe away from harm
I'm savin' my love for you babe
My love is only for you
And for no one else
I have no love for anyone besides you
Though miles may come between us
Despite the distance between us
My love for you still lives on
My love for you never fades away
The days gone by can never die
The memories of our past won't ever fade away
No matter how long I'm gone
Regardless of the time spent apart
Oh, I'm standin' at the crossroads
I am at a turning point in my life
Just like a ship adrift at sea
Feeling lost and directionless
The blues are like a bloodhound
Depression is always following me around
Always comin' after me
Depression always catches up to me
Wonderin' which way to go
I am unsure of what path to take
The blues are like my shadow
Depression always follows me wherever I go
They're with me wherever I go
Depression is never far away from me
The times aren't always gentle
Life can be tough at times
The people aren't always kind
People can be cruel at times
But behind the bend might be a friend
There might be a friend waiting for you up ahead
There for you to find
You just need to look for them
But it seems like all good people
People who appear kind
I meet as I'm travelin' through
That I encounter as I travel
Just sit down to talk and
They seem happy to chat with me
Before we begin
Before we can really talk
They're off with their own things to do
They leave, seemingly having lost interest in me
Lyrics © ALKATRAZ CORNER MUSIC CO
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