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“Country Joe” McDonald, who fronted the band Country Joe and the Fish and became an emblem of the 1960s antiwar counterculture through a prominent appearance at the Woodstock festival, died Saturday at age 84. The singer, born Joseph Allen McDonald, died of Parkinson’s in Berkeley, according to a statement on the group’s social media and reported sources close to his wife. McDonald’s best known song was “I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-to-Die Rag,” a Vietnam protest song he performed at the 1969 Woodstock Festival. The performance included the infamous call-and-response “Fish Cheer,” which had the audience spelling out the F-word at McDonald’s behest. Born on...

Bruce Johnston, longtime member of the Beach Boys, has announced his departure from the group after more than 60 years. “It’s time for Part Three of my lengthy musical career!” Johnston explained in a statement shared with Rolling Stone. “I can write songs forever and wait until you hear what’s coming!!! As my major talent beyond singing is songwriting, now is the time to get serious again. In addition, I’m currently working on developing a speaking-engagement chapter of my career—inspired in part by Cary Grant, who long ago made a similar move after his movie career. With a ton of...

Len Garry, who played in the Quarrymen alongside John Lennon and Paul McCartney before the band evolved into the Beatles, has died at the age of 84. His daughter, Jane Garry, shared the news in a social media post. "My Dad 'Len Garry' passed away at home in the early hours this morning," she wrote. "The doctor told us he had hours to live and I said straight away 'he has to come home.' Which the doctor allowed. I travelled with dad in the ambulance and got him home. My mum, my sister, my brother in law and myself stayed...

The Beach Boys ‘Fun, Fun, Fun’ is one of their best-loved numbers, and a highlight of their live shows since it was released.The Beach Boys’ “Fun, Fun, Fun” is one of their best-loved numbers, and a highlight of their live shows for the past 50 years. Released on February 3, 1964, it entered the Billboard Hot 100 on February 15 at No.69 and on the week of March 21, it climbed to No.5 on the charts. It was kept from climbing any higher by three Beatles singles, “She Loves You,” “I Want To Hold Your Hand,” and “Please Please...

‘(Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay,’ co-written with his great friend Steve Cropper, was released on January 8, 1968, a month after Otis’ death at just 26.It’s a cruel twist in an already tragic story that the biggest song in Otis Redding’s entire catalog is the one that he never saw become a crossover anthem. His posthumous No.1 “(Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay,” co-written with his great friend Steve Cropper, was released on January 8, 1968, a month after his death in a plane crash at the age of just 26. Of course, it was partly the...

Among its countless achievements, the song was named the 20th century’s most-played song on American radio and television by the BMI.Only the most momentous songs in pop history make it into the Grammy Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Top 40 of Rolling Stone’s 2004 list of the 500 greatest songs of all time, and the Top 10 of the RIAA’s Top 365 Songs of the Century. But only one could achieve all that and be named the most-played song on American radio and television during the 20th century by the BMI. Its title? “You’ve...

In late 1965, the irresistible single became the Godfather’s second big crossover hit in a row.By late 1965, James Brown was nearly ten years into his R&B chart career in the US. But as far as the majority of the pop audience was concerned, he had only been on the radar for a few months. On November 13 that year, he hit the Billboard Hot 100 with the song that would become his second big crossover single in a row, “I Got You (I Feel Good).” Brown was now reaping the rewards from his stunning performance on the T.A.M.I....

Fuller and his group’s version of ‘I Fought The Law’ is a classic rock’n’roll record, but always risks being upstaged by the macabre circumstances of his death.No matter how memorable was Bobby Fuller’s signature hit – and his version of “I Fought The Law” is inarguably a classic rock’n’roll record of any era – it always risks being upstaged by the macabre and never-explained circumstances of his death. Born on October 22, 1942 in Baytown, Texas, Fuller became a noted performer in the El Paso, Texas area to which he and his family relocated. His first appeared on disc came...

The powerful song was the second single from the group’s ‘Puzzle People’ albumIt’s October 18, 1969. The Russian Soyuz 8 spacecraft returns to Earth with cosmonauts Shatalov and Yeliseyev. Jefferson Airplane’s Paul Kantner is arrested for marijuana possession. Wyclef Jean and golfer Ernie Els are each one day old; Led Zeppelin are preparing to release their second album. Gas costs 35c a gallon in America and 6s 2d (31p) in Britain. And America’s new favorite pop single is “I Can’t Get Next To You” by the Temptations. Another triumph in the ongoing collaboration between the vocal group, producer Norman Whitfield...

Our experiences walking to and from school were similar to those of most of our classmates. Their parents did not drive them to school or put them on a bus. They let them walk. That was not unusual in America in the 1960s and early '70s. But it is today. An article published in 2011 in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine noted that 47.7% of students in kindergarten through eighth grade walked or biked to school in 1969. By 2009, that had dropped to just 12.7% of students. A survey published in this same journal in 2019 reported that...

The woman born Virginia Hensley, in Winchester, Virginia on September 8, 1932, came to be loved around the world.Virginia Hensley, born in Winchester, Virginia on September 8, 1932, came to be loved around the world as Patsy Cline. Patsy’s mainstream career, in what became her speciality of effortlessly stylish, crossover country, really only lasted six years, from when she hit No.2 on the country chart with “Walkin’ After Midnight” until her tragic death from multiple injuries in a plane crash at the age of 30 in 1963. But her music endures, as it always will. Young Virginia grew up...

Mark Volman, a cofounder of the Turtles and the cosinger on several of their hit songs, has died. He was 78. Over his five-decade career, Volman also performed with fellow Turtles cofounder and singer Howard Kaylan as Flo & Eddie, who released albums as a duo and also performed on songs by Bruce Springsteen, T. Rex and Frank Zappa. According to Variety, Volman died in his home in Nashville on Friday after a sudden illness. In 2023, Volman revealed he had dementia. He noted at that time that he was diagnosed in 2020, but did not discuss his illness as...

Authorities in Tennessee announced Friday that they believe a sheriff who inspired the movie "Walking Tall" is responsible for his wife's death in 1967. During a news conference Friday, officials with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said there were "inconsistencies" in statements from Sheriff Buford Pusser following the 1967 murder of his wife, Pauline. “It’s been said that the dead can’t cry out for justice. It is the duty of the living to do so. In this case, that duty has been carried out 58 years later,” said District Attorney General Mark Davidson for the 25th Judicial District. Blood splatter...

Written in Rishikesh, ‘Dear Prudence’ has transcended its original inspiration to become one of The Beatles’ best-loved songs.Over the end of the Esher demo of “Dear Prudence,” John Lennon can be heard explaining the origin of the song: “No one was to know that sooner or later she was to go completely berserk under the care of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. All the people around her were very worried about the girl because she was going insane. So we sang to her.” The girl in question was Prudence Farrow, the 19-year-old sister of American actress Mia Farrow. During the stay, Prudence...

The summer of 1969 saw the world united in hope, but by the end of the year, the death of the 60s dream left the world asking: What’s next? The summer of 1969 saw the world united in hope. By the end of the year, however, the death of the 60s brought with it the end of the hippie dream of a brighter future. But the music that united hundreds of thousands of people at mass gatherings throughout 1969 lives on today. So what happened to make 1969 such a beautiful yet shocking climax to the 60s? The answer...

Yesterday’s classic song of the day was the 5th Dimension’s recording of “Puppet Man.” Sticking with the puppet theme, today’s classic song of the day is “I’m Your Puppet” by James & Bobby Purify. Released in September of 1966, the single went to #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #5 on Billboard’s R&B chart. It was also nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rhythm & Blues Group Performance, losing to the now-forgotten “Hold It Right There” by Ramsey Lewis. James & Bobby Purify were a pair of singing cousins from Florida, James Purify and Robert Lee Dickey. They...

Chubby Checker will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on Nov. 8, but the singer has made clear he won't be in attendance. And interestingly, the Rock Hall is on board with that. At Checker's July 27 concert in Des Plaines, Illinois, the organization presented him with his induction trophy early. Additionally, Checker then explained from the stage in an interview that he purposely had his manager book him a concert for the evening of Nov. 8. "I told my manager, 'Make sure when we go to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the...

The group followed ‘Surfin’ Safari’ with the first song Brian Wilson ever wrote.The Beach Boys caught a wave and rode it into the US Top 10 for the first time in May 1963, when “Surfin’ U.S.A.” reached No.3. After an earlier Top 20 single with “Surfin’ Safari,” Brian Wilson’s adaptation of Chuck Berry’s melody really established the group as nationwide names. But the choice of follow-up single was going to be crucial. By August, following some singles co-written with Mike Love, it was time for Brian to get his initial credit as a solo writer, and for the first time...

Based on a childhood memory, the song became one of the most popular pop country tracks of the late 1960s.Laying the foundations for Westward expansion through dangerous, highly skilled labor, the lineman – a gender-inclusive term within the industry – fills a similar cultural role to that of the cowboy. With a small band of brothers (and now sisters), linemen do what needs to be done to keep the lights on and the phones ringing in their communities. The position isolates this expert technician from family and friends, forcing them to take risks to complete the job, doing so...

The group’s self-titled album represented the antithesis of 60s protest rock.The Bloomington, Illinois, quintet Spanky And Our Gang took their name from Hal Roach’s 30s comedies Our Gang, known in latter-day times as Little Rascals. That escapist implication suited their music, which was commonly referred to as “sunshine pop”: a hybrid of close-control harmony singing with elements of nostalgic show tunes and a whiff of sweet bubblegum pop. Step forward Elaine “Spanky” McFarlane, Nigel Pickering, Paul “Oz” Bach, Malcolm Hale, and John “The Chief” Seiter. In a way they represented the antithesis of 60s protest rock: at a time when...