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This is the archive of the combined Barking Spider and Andy Broad Portsmouth Blues Site mailing lists.
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The leader of the legendary psychedelic band Country Joe and The Fish - Woodstock veteran Country Joe MacDonald - is back in Southsea from San Francisco He's at South Parade Pier for not one, but two solo gigs, during his 2006 solo U.K Tour.. This Wednesday (12th April) sees Country Joe open the show for The Frank Zappa tribute band, The Muffin Men, which feature Joe's old friend Jimmy Carl Black, an original member of Zappa's band The Mothers Of Invention, and I can reveal that Joe and Jimmy have planned something special for this gig! The Muffin Men have always drawn a loyal following in Southsea, and are an awesome band in their own right. Put together 15 years ago by bassist and sometime vocalist Roddie Gilliard, The Muffin Men are a highly talented and experienced outfit. Carl Bowry (lead guitar) Andy Friz (flute, saxes and vocal) and Martin Smith (trumpet and horn) were once members of The Wizards Of Twiddly, and Friz & Carl also toured with Kevin Ayers. Friz also played with Viv Stanshall of the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band) and Super Furry Animals and Gorkys Zygotic Mynci. German born drummer Tilo Pirnbaum completes the lne up. The following Wednesday(19th April) Country Joe performs again at the Pier, a benefit in aid of Portsmouth's Preventing Youth Offending Project. This gig will be the last gig on Joe's U.K.solo tour, before he flies out to Italy, to tour with Jefferson Starship. Country Joe - with the Fish - first appeared at South Parade Pier back in 1969, shortly before Woodstock, when he appeared with Country Joe and The Fish - but it wasn't until 2001 that he returned, to perform a gig with P ortsmouth's Reet Petite and Gone, as part of a tour put together by Barking Spider Promotions. Since then Barking Spider has exclusively organised tours for Country Joe MacDonald and The Country Joe Band. In 1966 Country Joe and the Fish recorded their debut album, “Electric Music For The Mind and Body”, widely acknowledged as the finest psychedelic album of all time. The late great British d.j. John Peel, in his last ever interview, said “My favourite album of that era, really, was, and remains Country Joe and the Fish’s “Electric Music For The Mind and Body”. “Electric Music For The Mind and Body” and the follow-up album, “I Feel Like I'm Fixin' To Die”, remained on Billboard's album charts for nearly two years, In 1967, Country Joe and the Fish appeared at the Monterey Pop Festival, probably the best line-up of any of the festivals of the sixties - amongst others, Country Joe and The Fish appeared with Janis Joplin (Joe's girlfriend), Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Otis Redding, Jefferson Airplane, Simon & Garfunkel, The Byrds, Canned Heat and Buffalo Springfield. In 2004 and 2005, Joe toured The Country Joe Band, with the classic Monterey line-up of Country Joe and The Fish - only guitarist Barry Melton was missing. The DVD “Turned Up and Turned On”, covering The Country Joe Band’ s 2004 gig at South Parade Pier was released last year, hot on the heels of the CD “Live In Berkeley” recorded live in the U.S.A. the same year. Highlights of the Country Joe Band’s 2005 U.K tour included headlining the opening night of Fairport Convention’s Cropredy Festival, before an audience of 20,000. However, Country Joe McDonald’s solo career took off at the massive Woodstock Festival in 1969, before an estimated half a million strong audience, when he performed an impromptu solo set, after the scheduled artiste failed to appear. During the set Joe performed “"I Feel Like I'm Fixin' To Die Rag”, one of the most classic segments of the “Woodstock” film. Shortly after Woodstock , the band broke up, and Joe started his career as a solo performer. He continues to the perform solo to the present day, having released in excess of thirty solo albums since 1969. One of his first solo U.K appearances was the Bath Festival in 1970, when he played on a stellar bill including Frank Zappa and The Mothers Of Invention, Santana, Led Zeppelin, The Byrds, Pink Floyd and many more. Since 2001, Country Joe has always made sure that he plays at least one gig in Southsea - "The fans down here are great" says Joe, "I can't imagine doing a U.K tour without taking in Southsea!" The benefit gig on 19th April will be opened by up and coming young Portsmouth singer/gutarist and songwriter, Chris Ricketts, followed by Ferris Wheel, featuring Dave Allen and Denis Reeve-Baker - half of one of the South's greatest ever acoustic blues bands - Reet Petite and Gone. Tickets (withThe Muffin Men £10, benefit gig £8) from Wedgewood Rooms Box Office (023)92 863911, Reflex Records, or on the door, subject to availablity. Doors open 8 p.m both nights.