The house that Country Joe built
Chris Strachwitz credits counter-culture folk-rock singer Country Joe McDonald for helping him get Arhoolie Records and Down Home Music off the ground.
Strachwitz, who has owned and operated the prestigious Arhoolie Records and its Down Home Music store for the past 50 years, recounted how he recorded McDonald performing his famed anti-war song "I Feel Like I'm Fixin" to Die Rag" in Strachwitz's living room in the early '60s.
When they were finished recording, McDonald asked Strachwitz how much he owed him for the recording session. Strachwitz said it was on the house, but added, "Do you have a publisher for the song?" McDonald didn't, but gave Strachwitz half of the publishing rights because Strachwitz knew more about those things.
It's the folksy ditty that goes "1-2-3, what are we fighting for? Don't ask me I don't give a damn, next stop is Viet-Nam" and it became a huge hit, primarily from the blockbuster concert film and recording "Woodstock."
The royalties for the recording poured in, and Strachwitz used his half wisely.
"Thank God I put some money down back when Country Joe and I published that song," said Strachwitz, who put a down payment on a building that still houses Arhoolie and Down Home Music in El Cerrito, just north of Berkeley. "At least I own the building."
But the story doesn't end there.
"About 15 years ago he came to me and said, "Chris, don't you think you've made enough money off of me?" I said, "Joe, I think you're a good socialist, do you want it back?" So I gave it back to him, it was the only decent thing to do," recalled Strachwitz. "But I was lucky, too, because he was sued about five years ago by Kid Ory's daughter (who claimed McDonald stole her father's song "Muskrat Ramble" and turned it into "Fixin" to Die Rag.). If I had kept that copyright the Ory family may have thought I had deep pockets and could have given me all kinds of static."
McDonald beat the lawsuit, but told Strachwitz he was happy that he shared the royalties 50/50 all those years, otherwise he would have had to split them with all the members of his band, the great San Francisco folk-rock band Country Joe & The Fish.
"I was lucky to do the right thing and get rewarded for it," said Strachwitz.
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Chris Strachwitz is something of an institution: was a time John Forgerty and Jerry Garcia would be rubbing elbows going through Chris' extraordinary 'private' collection of 78's at Arhoolie Records; trades appreciated, cash, not so much. And that ain't no mouse music! Today his collection is part of Smithsonian folkways music, with the exception of his Frontera Collection of Mexican and Mexican American Recordings which is still being cataloged by UCLA and is available somewhere online.
Country Joe is discussed around 11:15
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