Electric Music For The Mind And Body

Legit, charming, and I can't remember much else of it two days later.

I was not thrilled by the prospect of spending the weekend with these dirty hippies - the Reading lineups for either 1991 or 1992 knock Woodstock into a cocked hat, in my opinion. However, I was lowkey impressed, presented with a fascinating set full of bluesy weirdness and mild mysticism (along with era-appropriate cliches; meekly complaining about LBJ in "Super Bird", conspiratorially whispering "LSD" in "Bass Strings"). Closer to Beefheart than to The Grateful Dead, pretty good.

#262 Heard Before? Not at all. Notes: - vocals sound like a parody of the hippie sixties. yikes. i guess it really was like that. - my absolute favorite thing about this album is the chintzy too-loud organ parts. - the mix sounds like someone hit random faders. Verdict: Best left behind at Woodstock, where it clearly belonged. Listen Again? Nope. But I have a soft spot for Section 43.

nonsense

Feels like one of those band names/albums you'd see in a cutaway gag from Arrested Development depicting Tobias' early music career Nice early psychedelia, but very little to latch onto and enjoy, feels more like a historical artifact in a sense, especially since they played Woodstock Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine did stick out in a good way on a first listen, yet I know I'm going to forget about this album in a ridiculously short amount of time

Pretty fun, didn’t particularly enjoy much of the electronic organ though 3

another classic rock band i've never actually listened to. the interesting songs on here are the instrumentals or the near instrumentals. this album is nigh unlistenable when there's singing.

2.55

Some cool jams and a nice one to learn of, may come back to some of these - cool piece of psychedelic history

This was fun. It certainly had a unique flavor to it to separate them from other rock bands of the era. Surprised I had never heard of them before.

This was fine, didn't really feel very into it at any point. Didn't love ending on a weird jam session

It meanders a lot, and the version on streaming sites is a primitive stereo mix which is awful in headphones, but I'm not mad at the album. I'll probably go back to it, perhaps while re-reading Peter Doggett's There's a Riot Going On so I can better appreciate the context.

Wait ... which one's Hootie and which one's the Blowfish? This list really gets me sometimes. Let's look at albums that came out in 1967 and aren't on the list. - The Supremes Sing Holland-Dozier-Holland - Miles Smiles (Miles Davis) - Nina Simone Sings the Blues - Leonard Nimoy Presents Mr. Spock's Music from Outer Space - Reach Out (The Four Tops) - Symphony for Improvisers (Don Cherry) - Wave (AC Jobim) - Magical Mystery Tour (maybe the most underrated Beatles album) All of these would have been more deserving than another psychedelic rock album, which basically translates to 20 something white American discovers drugs and 12 bar blues.

Listening to this you extremely early (maybe even first) example of psych rock we a fan of lots of modern psych rock is kind of like watching early horror films, they seem adorably quaint in comparison. There are some cool ideas on here, and like a lot of the best 60s freak out albums the extended acid trip soundtracks are buffeted by neat little blues and pop numbers. One thing that does drag it down though is the lead guitar sound. Holy moly it is absolute ass. Yikes.

Was a good album

Really just didn't get down with a lower rent CCR? Just too aped? Not for me.

I get it, it’s a groovy group effort, and some of these licks are pretty creative, but overall my mind kept wandering and nothing grabbed me and made me stand up and take notice

I really have to question the judging of this list if this album is included on it, this was painful to listen to. This is some shit ass hippy music that reminds me of some movie dream scene of the 60s. With all that said, I did really like the last song, because I KNEW MY PAIN WAS OVER! Good riddance Country Joe. 0.1

It is really for the body and all above for the mind … I have read a bit more about this rock / country rock band… Their music and lyrics have catched me.

Not my type…

not a fan but not horribl +3

No sir e 2.2/5

3.5

it was ok

Faut que j’y retourne pr être sur

I'm guessing it was pretty fundamental when it came out; I think since then it's been superseded by many other records that have done a better job of the sound.

60s music just rocks, inherently

2.5

Trippy and decent

для любителей психоделии.

it was okay, the last songs instrumentals are amazing, but the rest of the album was a bit repetitive

Great licks and lyrics

A lot reminded me of iron butterfly. The only thing that made this stand out to me was the blatant anti LBJ song.

You know, when it's actually been a while since we've heard one, I don't mind getting a 60s British Pop album. This one had a laidback feel, like a rhythmic looseness, that I liked (or, maybe the players are just not all that great and aren't playing In a super tight pocket, or you could be generous and say it's a stylistic choice, etc). And this album wasn't just straight rock or blues, there was a lot of variation and creativity. That really has to be the appealing point when it comes to a band like this, right? The songwriting, the personality, and the vibe. Because none of the band members are particularly virtuosic at their instrument, or as technically proficient as, I don't know, African-American musicians during this time, for example? So you come to hear the rawness, and the creative songwriting. Not to say that the musicians are bad. I actually found the singer more palatable and tone conscious than many others we've heard in this space. I'm feeling a strong 3 to a light 4

Another one I'm glad to see pop up! Musically, this isn't all that special, but as an artifact of its time and place? Priceless! Which raises an interesting (maybe?) question: maybe I've been wrong to think of '1001' albums solely in terms of (rating) the quality of the music itself: maybe it also allows for some recognition of albums that document/reflect/contribute to the fabric of our culture (musical and otherwise), over the past 60 or 70 years? Anyway, I think I'll use at least a bit of that in rating this (actually, I seem to recall doing something similar, with a few previous albums), and give this a nudge up to a solid (even high?) 3, based not only on the music (might only be a 2?), but also how perfectly this album, and its music (lyrics, too) captures the zeitgeist, and announced the commencement of the Summer of Love in San Francisco, in the summer of 1967. (The band -- with somewhat different personnel, but definitely with Country Joe -- also performed at Woodstock, a couple of years later.) Update after 2nd listen: liked the music a bit better, the 2nd time, so a high 3 rating, overall.

I think this found me at the right time. Because it's certainly rough around the edges, even annoying in some ways (the mixing, primarily). But I enjoyed the free-flowing styles and loose execution. Some of the lyrics had me rolling my eyes, but the psychedelic theme was a benefit more often than not. I think they captured the trippy picture better than a lot of other psychedelic bands

This will leave you Flying High. You will probably Love it.

always known the name, never listened. Sounds like a product of its time, enjoyed

Feels like if the Grateful Dead had a little bit more structure. A musical time warp.

forgettable fun float away on clouds of smoke with trails of laughter

A sort of Doors sound but more laid back

Seems an odd pick. Doesn’t seem like it breaks ground nor does it seem like it did any of the 60’s sounds better than the other albums we already got. It’s fine, I just don’t understand why it’s here.

I’d only know of this band from watching the Woodstock movie years ago. From that, I wasn’t too interested in listening to their music. For the most part, I’m not a fan of psychedelic music aside from a few select bands. When I started listening to this record I was mostly disinterested, but not bothered. As it progressed, I found that every song had parts I just didn’t like. A music flourish here or a bad harmony vocal there. However, the final few songs annoyed the crap out of me and led me to disliking it as a whole. The second day in a row of an unnecessary album, IMO.

It was interesting but ultimately just didn't grab me.

Album #296 Country Joe and the Fish: Electric Music for the Mind and Body After one minute of the first song, I knew exactly what I was getting. The more 60s psychedelic music I listen to, the more I determine that a lot of it sounds pretty damn similar, and unfortunately most of it is boring. This is the kind of album that your uncle listened to while tripping balls one time and swore that it changed his life, then you put it on, and it seems all too normal. That isn’t to say it’s bad, though; I actually did end up enjoying it more than I thought, just a little predictable and ultimately nothing special. Best Songs: Porpoise Mouth, Super Bird, Love Worst Song: Grace Score out of 10: 6

Every other review already hit the point that this is a thoroughly forgettable psych rock album so I'll just take a moment to complain about the panning. I know stereo audio was still pretty new at the time but why do you keep putting lead guitar surely in one ear and the rhythm section exclusively in the other? Super weird.

this started out charming, took some detours into Every Dingus Who Did LSD And Owned A Guitar Decided To Make It My Problem, then got kind of charming again I don’t love it and I’m never going to love when they pretend to leave a mistake in the final recording, but it’s better than most similar bands. Low three? High two? maybe I’ll be generous. The guitar and bass here really are good

Amazing and funny loved the LBJ song

Tsja, dit is voor mij een vrij standaard psych rock album. Merk wel dat er wat meer blues invloeden in lijken te zitten? Ook al heb ik veel te veel over deze band gelezen om er achter te komen dat Country Joe niet op de muziek slaat, het gaat over Stalin. Oprecht, zoek maar op. De gitaarsolo's vallen wel echt op, waarschijnlijk dat ik daar de blues associaties vandaan haal, maar verder? Dit is een album dat ik voor mn gevoel al meerdere keren heb gehoord en ik bied hierbij mijn excuses aan de Beatles aan. Want als dit de grote bijzondere muziek was uit de tijd, dan zijn ze zo ontzettend veel beter dat het lijkt alsof je pro's en amateurs vergelijkt. Excuus knullen, bij dezen krijg je voor de meeste van je albums 3 sterren of hoger. FAVO: Death sound

I like how the album and band name are both just so wild. Good listen

60’s rock. Psych/folk mix.

More psychedelic rock! I feel like I've gotten a lot of that to start so far. As I've said with almost every psychedelic album I've gotten, I think I need to be high to fully appreciate it. However, this is quite obviously one of the prototypes of the genre. Not exactly my thing, but I did enjoy a lot of it!

I would have had the time of my life jamming out to this if I'd been a teenager in the 60s.

2.68 / 5 stars for the hippies. This group sounds like if I ordered The Doors from Temu. I didn't really get into their music, but I get that they were a big influence on the 60's hippies and maybe I'm just not hearing their better works, which is pretty common for this list (wrong albums selected). I get why this album is on the list, but it doesn't mean I have to enjoy it.

I thought this would be just another boring late 60s folk/psychedelic album but I actually enjoyed it. I’ll give it a 4 for now but that may change on a later listen. Section 43 was a really interesting song

As I began the album, I was thinking about giving it 4 stars! This is my kind of vibe. I’m sure that annoying tambourine and high pitched instrumental bit was a one-off. As the tracks progressed and the incessant drawn out whining sounds would not stop, I got angrier and angrier with Country Joe (surely The Fish are innocent). I began skipping around through the remaining tracks. Ladies and gentlemen, my first one star.

This album should be the soundtrack of 60s counterculture, because it’s such a strong reflection of that era. It was definitely an influential release for psychedelic and acid rock, with a strong bluesy edge that gives the music a raw, unpolished sound.

I don't think I was familiar with Country Joe & The Fish before, so “Electric Music For The Mind And Body” is a really nice new discovery for me. Basically, the guys play a jazzy kind of blues rock - and as the album progresses, the psychedelic elements become more prominent. In that regard, I find the last track, “Grace,” very impressive (and at the same time comical). So, in that sense: yes, Country Joe & The Fish is definitely worth checking out.

They have other albums I enjoyed more but from a historical standpoint I get this album. If I remember right this is the first San Francisco psychedelic album. Nationally I mean. There were other bands but this one had the largest splash so to speak. It's not bad I enjoy this but I've liked them since I first heard the Fixin to Die Rag by them. Hearing an anti-war song with that tone and level of weirdness just got me to fall in love. This album is good and you get a great feel for them as a whole. A lot of first albums you get a seed of what's later. They showed up and hung out fully formed. Good album. It's dated now and compared to modern psychedelic doesn't hold up. Still I enjoy this one.

Decent.

There’s literally a song where he just sings la la la the whole time & I’m actually kinda digging it Idk I don’t hate it but nothing I’d be rushing back to

Better than expected though I didn’t have high expectations.

Country Joe & The Fish’s Electric Music for the Mind and Body was a refreshing change of pace from the seemingly endless parade of late-’60s psychedelic rock we’ve been subjected to over the last few years of this 1001 list. I was expecting more of the usual psychedelic weirdness, but this turned out to be much more bluesy rock and jam band than I anticipated. Aside from the closing track, this was a surprisingly fun listen.

Good old mono recording panning techniques. Nothing quite like a guitar that sounds like it's off in another room assaulting your right or left ear during solos. This was neither good nor bad. It exists.

Not for me

I enjoyed the psychedelic rock. I am Country Joe paired up with the Fish.

I always end up liking acid rock more than I expect

This is nowhere near as shit as I thought it would be, or even what I thought it would be. It's a diffuse, sprawling psych-rock album heading into some wildly experimental territories and with some thrilling Hammond organ playing to be witnessed. This is way ahead of its time in more ways than one. It's got a thick murky low-end and swirling atmosphere which demands to be heard either on a good pair of headphones or speaker system. The guitar work on here is great, with a real bluesy bite to it that weaves spectacularly well with the aforementioned Hammond organ. There are also hints of the developments which would follow in ambient music and space rock in the engulfing seven minute "Section 43", which shares that same drone-heavy experimentation of later acts. This is a genuinely fascinating and fearlessly ambitious album.

oi

Mainly important for historical reasons, but some OK songs.

it was fine but actively forgot about it as i was listening

Really really fun! I love psychedelic rock and have basically no awareness of the genre - how exciting!

This is such a time capsule record. Let’s smoke up drop a tab and listen to Country Joe on the way to Woodstock. It’s well crafted for the most part but is of a time that is not this time.

Never really listened to Country Joe. When I first learned of his existence, in the early-mid 80s, he seemed to me to be hopelessly a relic of the Sixties and not tenable in our modern world. Listening to this album, expecting that to be only more the case ... I still said "Oh, good lord" out loud as I was listening to the first couple of tracks. The wacky LBJ song is sort of fun, and connects to the Fixin To Die Rag about the Vietnam War, the song that Country Joe is best known for. I don't think anyone ever needed to listen to this, but we certainly don't need to in the 21st century. I think Woodstock nostalgia alone can account for this album's inclusion in The Book.

I had not heard this before. pleasant but unexciting

Another nail in the coffin for any lingering sixties nostalgia. I'm not sure if Helter Skelter killed the sixties, no matter what Joan Didion said. It might have been this record and others like it. Each song seemed worse than the last, honestly.

Bizarrely unsettled. Like listening to a group of strangers speak over each other.

Never heard this before today. Really enjoyed it and put it on for a second listen when I was in the car. Very chilled out different but still distinctly 60's sound. Relaxing but upbeat. Good music and vocals. Probably something I would listen to again.

Lionel core

I liked the Blues parts

Another 60s psych-fest

Blues-Psychedelic rock. I liked the first three quarters, in the end it is a little too psychedelic for me which prevents it from receiving 4 stars.

Honestly very vibey groovy bluesy easy on the ears listening to it

I just don’t care about this album. I didn’t finish. I tried. It’s not interesting and I don’t think it’s that good.

No

Have you noticed that many of the bands in the so-called "Psychedelic Rock" genre had blues as their fundamental base? Well, that explains a lot. Great album. 4 stars.

Nons

Some of these songs were great, but then the other half made me feel like I needed to be on a lot of drugs to understand what was happening.

This one had a bit of a debuff going in considering the last few albums I've been dealing with were also pretty mediocre psychedelic 60's albums, but I managed not to hold that against them here. A little bluesy-er than the other ones, only one or two stood out to me here. I do appreciate that they call out LBJ directly in this. I feel like more artists need to directly talk shit about individual politicians by name more often.

Day 24 I don't wanna know what the fuck San Fran put in their water in 1967 Fav track: Martha Lorraine

I listened to it, it was ok

Trippy fun, enjoyed this

3 stars

Blues rock of the most annoying kind.

There’s enough late 60s psychedelia that this didn’t really add anything to the equation.

This is really good and probably better if you're on acid.

I didn't know much of Country Joe outside of his Woodstock performance, but I was impressed with this. Less highs than the Woodstock performance, but no real lowpoints.

for the most part this was underwhelming. I found it a chore to listen to and nothing really stood out for. It was unmemorable and very generic for the time. No real standout song. 2.5 stars

That song with LBJ and some Marvel superheroes is kinda wild.

4 keepers in 11 (36%). 1 klunker (9%). This album smells like Otto's jacket. 2 stars.