Thursday, April 17, 2025

Country Joe And The Fish - Reunion (1977 us, fine folk psych rock, 2018 remaster)



“Reunion,” released in 1977, constituted a reunion of the 1967 version of Country Joe and the Fish. They wisely didn’t just dip into the old psychedelic well, because that really wasn’t likely to go over in 1977. Instead, they served up a bunch of country rock, some of it quite good (“Stateline Nevada” and “Insufficient Funds” stand out), and one of my favorite Christmas songs ever, “Dirty Claus Rag,” in which Santa steals a Christmas tree because they just don’t grow at the North Pole. The album is fun, and playable, and like most band reunion albums, it fails to capture the magic the band once had. I like it, I’ve had it since about 1979, sometimes I’ll play it — but this is a bunch of guys getting together for old times’ sake, not a rejuvenation. It would be their last album as a group of any sort. Country Joe went on to a long and continuing solo career, Barry Melton became a public defender; sometimes the band still gets together.
Tracks
1. Come to the Reunion (Gary Hirsh) - 3:03
2. Time Flies By (Joe McDonald) - 4:09
3. Stateline, Nevada (Barry Melton) - 2:03
4. Love Is a Mystery (Barry Melton) - 2:04
5. Dirty Claus Rag (Joe McDonald, Barry Melton, Sam Charters, Phil Marsh) - 2:04
6. Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine (Joe McDonald) - 3:25
7. Thunderbird (Joe McDonald) - 3:42
8. Gibson's Song (Instrumental) (David Bennett Cohen) - 3:37
9. No One Can Teach You How to Live (Barry Melton) - 3:16
10.Insufficient Funds (Bruce Barthol, Phil Marsh) - 2:36
11.Dreams (David Bennett Cohen, Richardson) - 2:55

Country Joe And The Fish
*Country Joe McDonald - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Trombone (Track 3), Harmonica (Track 10)
*Barry Melton - Vocals, Electric, Acoustic Guitars, Mandolin, Dobro, Synthesizer (Track 9)
*David Bennett Cohen - Keyboards, Acoustic, Electric Guitars
*Bruce Barthol - Bass, Vocals (Track 10)
*Gary "Chicken" Hirsh - Drums, Percussion, Sandblocks (Track 5)
With
*John Otis - Congas
*Jim Price - Horns
*Bobby Keys - Horns
*Trevor Lawrence - Horns
*Steve Madaio - Horns
*Sam Charters - Jug (Track 5)


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