Chicken Hirsh
Acting
Biography
Gary "Chicken" Hirsh (March 9, 1940 – August 17, 2021) was an American drummer, best known for his work with the rock group Country Joe and the Fish. Hirsh was born in Chicago, Illinois. In December 1966, he replaced John Francis Gunning, but left the band in 1969. He then opened an art supply shop called Abraxas in Oakland, and later went to New York, before returning to Berkeley. He is said to be the one who altered the FISH cheer at a concert at New York's Central Park. He also played with the group Blackburn & Snow, and with the Cleanliness and Godliness Skiffle Band. In 1972 he played and recorded with Touchstone, with one of his paintings appearing on the inside of the album. He was latterly an artist, T-shirt manufacturer, and jazz musician living in Ashland, Oregon, and had reunited with the Country Joe Band. Hirsh was married to Susan L. Solomon in 1968 and they had a son, Tree Adams. They later divorced. He went on to become a jazz drummer and painter. He married Terry Rhorer in 1975 and fathered two more children. He died in Ashland, Oregon, on August 17, 2021, at the age of 81.
Known For
Featuring performances by popular artists of the 1960s, this concert film highlights the music of the 1967 California festival. Although not all musicians who performed at the Monterey Pop Festival are on film, some of the notable acts include the Mamas and the Papas, Simon & Garfunkel, Jefferson Airplane, the Who, Otis Redding, and the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Hendrix's post-performance antics -- lighting a guitar on fire, breaking it and tossing a part into the audience -- are captured.
Monterey Pop
This short film follows Country Joe and the Fish on their way to an anti-Vietnam War rally.
How We Stopped the War
Directed by Robert Zagone, an approximate 30 minute U.S. documentary film on the San Francisco rock band Country Joe And The Fish, first shown on TV.