The group later electrified its sound, moved to San Francisco and was signed by Vanguard Records, which released its debut album, “Electric Music for the Mind and Body,” in 1967. The album’s producer, Samuel Charters (best known as a blues historian), refused to let it include “Fixin’” or “The Fish Cheer” on the debut, fearing it would lead to a boycott by radio stations.
But because no one complained about the anti-Johnson song “Superbird,” which was included on the debut, they were allowed to include it on their second album — as its title track no less.
At a show in Central Park in 1968, the band’s drummer, Gary Hirsh, suggested they change the word “fish” to the epithet to make a free speech statement. While the crowd deliriously cheered the change, Ed Sullivan immediately canceled the group’s scheduled appearance on his popular Sunday night variety show.
After performing the augmented “Cheer” in Worcester, Mass., Mr. McDonald was charged with inciting an audience to lewd behavior, resulting in a $500 fine and lots of publicity. By the time he performed the provocative version of the song at Woodstock, listeners were primed for it.
At the festival, Mr. McDonald played two sets, one with the band and the other solo, a reflection of long-simmering internal tensions that brought the group to an end by the next year. By then Mr. McDonald had already begun recording solo, having released a set under his own name in late 1969 titled “Thinking of Woody Guthrie,” which consisted entirely of songs associated with that folk legend.
While his solo work tended to be less quirky than his recordings with the Fish, his lyrics remained as imaginative: His 1973 album “Paris Sessions” explored feminism, and “War War War” used original lyrics based on the work of Canadian poet Robert William Service. In 2017, he celebrated half a century of his career with an album titled “50.”
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