Gig - Country Joe McDonald

Veteran singer/ songwriter Country Joe McDonald recently tried to get an entry in the Guinness book of records for 'the person who got the most people ever to say "Fuck" at the same time'. It’s no surprise that he thought he was in with a chance - his statistic was 500,000. It was the first day of the 1969 Woodstock Festival and the scheduled act had unexpectedly dropped out. (The line-up that year is frequently eulogized as being the best ever including the likes of Joe’s then girlfriend Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Otis Redding, Jefferson Airplane, Simon & Garfunkel, and The Byrds). Suddenly, Country Joe (who was then known for playing with his band Country Joe and the Fish) found himself in the position of fill-in. Armed with a borrowed guitar, he decided to warm up the audience for his anti-Vietnam ditty, “I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-To-Die Rag” with the now infamous ‘F’ cheer. ‘Give me an f’, he yelled. Half a million people yelled back… letter by letter, all the way to ‘fuck’. It was the episode that was to launch his career. (He didn't get it into the record books though, despite the overwhelming video evidence. Too difficult to count apparently).

Tonight Country Joe comes to the canvas setting of the Anchor, almost forty years and several hundred gigs after the Woodstock incident, and two days before he plays the Isle of Wight Festival supporting the Rolling Stones. So who knows, maybe the tranquil riverside tent will become the unlikely setting to go for that record again. An ‘F’ anyone? ER