A little known story about Country Joe and Arhoolie Records, the great independent label run by Chris Strachwitz (RIP) and the ironies of the record business.
From the Wikipedia page on Strachwitz:
"In 1966, his friend Ed Denson introduced him to a local band, Country Joe and the Fish, who were active in anti-Vietnam war protestsat Berkeley. Strachwitz recorded the band singing "I Feel Like I'm Fixin' To Die", and gained a share of the song's publishing rights. Eventually, royalties from the song - particularly its appearance in the Woodstock Festival movie and soundtrack album - helped subsidize the Arhoolie label, and enabled Strachwitz to buy a building in San Pablo Avenue, El Cerrito, California as the label's headquarters. Strachwitz also won royalties for Fred McDowell from the Rolling Stones' performance of his song "You Gotta Move" on their Sticky Fingers album."
From an archived Arhoolie web page by Strachwitz himself:
“The first real money, however, didn’t come from sales of Arhoolie LPs but started rolling in after my friend Ed Denson, who was managing Country Joe and the Fish, had me record a tape in my living room which resulted in this group’s first record. I hung an omnidirectional mike from the ceiling, like I had done when I recorded the Hackberry Ramblers and J. E. Mainer’s Mountaineers, and Joe cut loose with “One, two, three, what are we fighting for, ...next stop is Vietnam” which he called “I Feel Like I’m Fixin’ To Die Rag.” As Joe walked out of my house he asked what he owed me for making the tape. I said “nothing” but I remembered what Eddie Shuler in Lake Charles, La., had once told me about “getting their copyrights” and I said: “Let me be the publisher of those songs.” Joe agreed to let my fledgling publishing company, Tradition Music Co., be the publisher of the songs. The record on the Rag Baby label put out by Joe McDonald and Ed Denson, was a limited edition and I believe only 100 copies were sold at a big anti-Vietnam war march which took place a few weeks later. The group soon re-recorded the song for Vanguard Records and when Bill Belmont, now of Fantasy Records, told Joe McDonald to get his guitar at Woodstock and to get up on that stage and sing that song against the Vietnam war, it became not only part of the soundtrack recording of that now famous event, but it was also the center piece of the film made at the huge concert. Eddie Shuler was right, there is more money in publishing songs which become popular than in making esoteric authentic folk music records! But putting out those records is what I love to do!"
