Barry Melton

Guitarist Barry Melton launched his musical pursuits during his teenage years in San Francisco by joining the Instant Action Jug Band, an affiliation that introduced him to singer and guitarist Country Joe McDonald, who was simultaneously issuing the underground newspaper Rag Baby. The pair collaborated on several of McDonald’s recordings tied to his political journal, and from that association they resolved to assemble a group that took the name Country Joe & the Fish. Melton’s lead guitar, distinguished by its searing psychedelic assault on the strings, proved every bit as central to the trio of classic albums as McDonald’s vocals. Despite repeated lineup shifts that intensified following the third release, Together, Melton and McDonald remained the consistent foundation of the ensemble through the late ’60s. When McDonald stepped back from full-time involvement to marry, Melton sustained the unit’s continuity and recruited former Big Brother & the Holding Company members Peter Albin and David Getz after they found themselves without a band following Janis Joplin’s departure. Performing under the name Barry “The Fish” Melton, he maintained a solo career across the 1970s and into the 1980s while also leading the Barry “The Fish” Melton Band. Since the early ’80s he has worked as a practicing attorney, a vocation that in later years has limited his musical appearances relative to those of his onetime colleagues.