Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine

Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine was among the first songs taped for the debut, on 1 February 1967, and was chosen as the lead single that April. McDonald said its subject was a composite of several women, and that he did not especially like the song and wondered how it became popular. He also said it simply popped into his head one day, and that for all its blues basis it is not strictly a blues, with a verse, a chorus and a bridge. He credited the guitar and organ parts with its unusual sound, and Hirsh and Barthol with a drum and bass bottom that was not typical of rock or blues bands.

It opens with a slippery organ glissando from David Cohen. Airplay on San Francisco's progressive FM stations KSAN and KMPX carried it, and it was the only Country Joe and the Fish single to chart. Uncut called its unconventional rhythms and surreal storytelling the album's most compelling track. The band played it at Monterey in June 1967, where a version was filmed.