Bassist Bruce Barthol started out in music at just about the top, at least within the context of San Francisco in the mid-'60s, becoming an original member of Country Joe & the Fish at age 18. He was on the three-song EP that the band recorded itself, and he played on Electric Music for the Mind and Body -- arguably one of the greatest psychedelic albums to come out of San Francisco -- as well as the two records that followed it. Barthol left the group in 1968 and worked on relatively few recordings after that, until 2003, when he rejoined most members in the Country Joe Band (until 2006). He was also musical director with the celebrated performance art group the San Francisco Mime Troupe from the mid-'70s through the late 2000s. Bruce Barthol died on February 20, 2023, at the age of 75.