In the fall of 1965, The Free Speech Movement on the Berkeley Campus drew on the experience of the Civil Rights movement by providing entertainment either before or after a march - to hold people's attention. This was the era of the folk revival turning into the San Francisco rock scene. They regularly played Avalon Ballroom and the Fillmore Auditorium and appeared in the films Monterey Pop Festival and Revolution. By 1968 they had released "Together" and were touring successfully around the world. They toured Europe in the fall of 1968 and recorded "Here We Are Again" in the late spring of 1969 with friends Jack Cassidy of The Jefferson Airplane, and David Getz and Peter Albin from Big Brother and the Holding Company. Joe soon released "Thinking of Woody Guthrie" which won critical acclaim and a spot at The Hollywood Bowl celebration in honor of Guthrie featuring Joan Baez, Arlo Guthrie and many of Woody's friends. When the movie Woodstock hit theaters in 1970, Country Joe's "Fixin' To Die Rag" was in the middle of the film, lyrics spelled out, highlighted by a bouncing ball and copious remarks about how many people were in the audience. It brought Country Joe and his anti-war message to audiences around the world.

In 1982 Joe began actively working with Vietnam Veterans Against The War, Swords To Plowshares and Vietnam Veterans Of America, to further the cause of the thousands of veterans who had become disenfranchised. He toured the US playing for vet groups and the vet camp-out convention Dewey Canyon IV on the Mall in Washington - helping to bridge the gap between the Vets "being home" and "coming home." He also worked closely with military nurses, leading to the 1988 release "Vietnam Experience" along with the film and video of the same name.

In January 1991, Country Joe released Rykodisc's "Superstitious Blues," a mixture of folk-rock and blues which captures Joe's many moods. Two songs, played acoustically with Grateful Dead leader and guitarist Jerry Garcia are standouts. "Blues for Michael" is a long lament dedicated to blues guitarist Michael Bloomfield and "Clara Barton" an epic dedicated to the founder of The American Red Cross. Four years past before McDonald released another album, the spare, almost Spartan "Carry On," an album whose emotional roots grew from the death of his parents. He wrote and sang the poignant but ultimately celebratory title song, in fact, for his mother's funeral. The album, released by feisty independent folk label Shanachie Records, returned McDonald firmly to the folk idiom.