Country Joe and the Fish - I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die (1967) [24bit FLAC]

This second album from Country Joe & The Fish followed hot on the heels of their debut 1967 release, but it represented a major step forward with both material and the overall sound achieved by Vanguard Records' key producer Sam Charters. It quickly became one of the corner stones of the new 'psychedelic rock' of that wonderful period of musical expansion. Its key was that it was accessible in a number of ways and very much in tune with the alternative culture of those mid-sixties years, starting with the anti-Vietnam rant of the title track. Based in Country Joe's earlier folk rock/jug band days, the song had first seen light of day on their first privately produced and now very collectable EP that had only limited release in California. It was their second EP that garnered much bigger and wider sales and got them the attention of Vanguard, with whom they quickly forged ahead with their career. Yet this album hardly qualified as what is now referred to as psychedelic, as it features a number of blues songs and quieter reflective works that would now be more likely called come-down songs.