The decision to retire came easily for attorney Barry Melton. After all, he had retired from legal practice before.
For musician Barry Melton, however — well, he explained, “they don’t let you retire from music.”
Not that the former Lake County criminal defense lawyer and — in his guise as “The Fish — lead guitar player for the legendary psychedelic rock band Country Joe and The Fish would ever retire from the stage. He refers to music as a second language, one he is thoroughly fluent in after decades of touring.
Melton, who is now 70 and living in the Sacramento area, refers to others of his generation who must perform perched on chairs or stools. But he still revels in a dynamic stage presence, tearing through impromptu guitar solos with ease.
“It’s not my legs that will give out, but my brain,” Melton said with a laugh.
Melton returns to Lake County and the Soper Reese Theatre March 11 with his all-star Barry Melton Band to perform a benefit concert for KPFZ 88.1, the county’s FM community radio station.
The band is a who’s who of the San Francisco rock scene that fueled the rebellious 1960s, including Peter Albin from Big Brother and The Holding Company, Lowell “Banana” Levinger from the Youngbloods, Roy Blumenfeld from the Blues Project, and David Aguilar from the Norton Buffalo Band.
Melton said two local legends will sit in — well, stand — with the band, as well. Keith Crosson adds his saxophone sound and Larry “Mojo” Platz joins on guitar.
“We’re all committed to having a good time,” he pointed out.
It may seem as if he was born with a six string at his hip, but Melton insists he always wanted to practice law. His parents gave him a guitar and encouraged him to learn, in part because of his father’s love of folk music.
“I remember resenting my mom because I was out playing baseball and she’d yell ‘Barry, come in,’” Melton recalled in a 2015 interview with the Lake County Record-Bee. “They made me practice. Of course, they had a different idea of what would happen.”
But he remained drawn to law. He passed the bar and began practice in San Francisco in 1982. He also served as a public defender in Mendocino and Yolo counties before retiring in 2009. That retirement didn’t take, however. He moved to Lake County and served as a public defender until last year.
“Being a lawyer — because you’re using your intellectual skills — it’s more work than music,” Melton said.
Taking on a case committed Melton to weeks of preparation for court, although on most occasions the matter was settled before meeting a jury. It is work he took quite seriously. Yet he continued to perform around the world, including stops in Lake County in 2014 and 2015, the latter a sold out KPFZ benefit.
“I have a comfort zone with music,” he pointed out.
Melton was a teenager in the Bay Area when he met Country Joe McDonald and 17 when Country Joe and the Fish first recorded together. After electrifying the San Francisco counterculture, they put together an LP. “Electric Music for the Mind and Body” pointedly challenged the political and popular norm through satirical barbs and the advocacy of recreational drug use.
It was also an impressive album, drawing upon Melton’s folk influences. It remained on the Billboard top 200 for two years. The band followed up with one of the most pointed and effective Vietnam War protest songs, the “I feel like I’m fixin’ to die rag.”
Comparing the cultural and political turmoil of the ‘60s with today’s fierce polarization, Melton observed that popular music still has a role in social protest, despite the harmless beat of modern teen hits.
“But,” he added, “I don’t think the audience is 14-year-olds, unless there is some unifying movement.”
Melton explains that in the 1960s two large movements eventually brought the country through all the spite and bloodshed. Both — the Civil Rights and the anti-war movements — developed a single and compelling message that galvanized a majority of the population.
“The country came together,” he said.
Although popular discontent is evident today, Melton remains optimistic that the people of this country will find a solution, even while dragging through the rancor. He observed that Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump articulated aspects of the same problems — jobs, security, hope for the future and the need to change.
“Somehow I feel this polarization will end,” he said. “I actually think there’s a unifying theme out there.”
The popular voice will find the right instrument.
On stage Melton and his longtime bandmates rekindle the spirit of purpose — and the rollicking good time of youth. But the Lake County performance will have a bit more intimacy.
“I will personally know half of the audience,” he said. “There aren’t a lot of places like that. I miss Lake County.”
The Barry “The Fish” Melton Band takes the stage at Soper Reese at 7 p.m. on Saturday, March 11. Reserved seat tickets are $15, $20 and $25, with funds benefitting KPFZ.
Tickets are available online at www.soperreesetheatre.com, at the Soper Reese box office on Fridays or at the Travel Center in Lakeport near Grocery Outlet. The Soper Reese Theatre is located at 275 South Main Street in Lakeport,
