The leader and lead singer was "Country" Joe McDonald (born 1942 in Washington, D.C.)
Their biggest hit was the anti-war I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag, which debuted the same year of the band but became best known after the group's performance of it at Woodstock. Country Joe has been involved with legal disputes with the family of Kid Ory due to the tune's similarity to Ory's Dixieland jazz standard "Muskrat Ramble".