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Bruce Barthol (November 11, 1947 – February 20, 2023) was an American musician, singer and songwriter. Born at Alta Bates Hospital, Berkeley, California, he was the original bass player for the psychedelic rock band Country Joe and the Fish, from its inception through November 1968. According to the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, Barthol's departure from Country Joe and the Fish stemmed from a dispute with other band members over a potential performance at the 1968 Democratic National Convention protests.
Staying on in England after a European tour eventually led to the formation of Formerly Fat Harry with Gary Peterson and fellow Berkeley native, and one time denizen of The Jabberwock, Phil Greenberg. Upon his return to the Bay Area in 1972, Barthol formed Energy Crisis with some ex-members of the Cleanliness and Godliness Skiffle Band before becoming the musical director for the Tony Award-winning San Francisco Mime Troupe in 1976. From 2004 to 2006, Barthol joined ex-Country Joe and the Fish members Joe McDonald, David Bennett Cohen and Chicken Hirsh for a number of short tours of the United States and the UK. Retirement from the San Francisco Mime Troupe came in 2009 together with the release with an acclaimed solo album The Decline and Fall of Everything. He has also written for the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival and the Oberlin Dance Company. Barthol was also the bass player with the Former Members who include Greg Douglass, Roy Blumenfeld and David Bennett Cohen in their line-up. He held an MFA in Musical Theater from New York University.
Barthol died in hospice care in Sebastopol, California, on February 20, 2023, at the age of 75.
==Sources==
==References==
- "Bruce Barthol 1947 - 2023". San Francisco Chronicle. March 19, 2023. Retrieved April 2, 2023.
- "Country Joe & The Fish: 50 Years of Peace & Love". Bethel Woods Center for the Arts. 2018. Retrieved April 5, 2024.
- Tamarkin, Jeff (21 February 2023). "Bruce Barthol, Country Joe & the Fish Bassist, Dies at 75". Best Classic Bands. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
- Sullivan, Michael Gene (13 March 2023). "Bruce Barthol, the Musical Conscience of the SF Mime Troupe". American Theater. Theater Communications Group. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
- Sullivan, Michael (18 May 2023). "The Musical Conscience of Bruce Barthol (1947-2023)". The Volunteer. The Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
External links
- Bruce Barthol discography at Discogs
- Bruce Barthol at IMDb
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- Mason, Susan Vaneta (2005). The San Francisco Mime Troupe Reader. 839 Greene Street Ann Arbor, MI 48104-3209: University of Michigan Press. ISBN 978-0-472-06842-5.
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- 1947 births
- 2023 deaths
- American musical theatre composers
- American rock bass guitarists
- American musical theatre lyricists
- Musicians from Berkeley, California
- Country Joe and the Fish members
- Songwriters from California
- Guitarists from California
- American male bass guitarists
- 20th-century American bass guitarists
- Classical musicians from California
- 20th-century American male musicians
- American male songwriters
- American bass guitarist stubs