"Electric Music for the Mind and Body" was a success upon release, charting at number 39 on the "Billboard" 200, and remains one of the most enduring psychedelic works of the counterculture era. A single, "Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine", was distributed a month prior to the release of the album and became the only Country Joe and the Fish single to chart, peaking at number 98 on the "Billboard" Hot 100, in large part a culmination of its airplay on FM broadcasting and college stations. A reworked version of "The Fish Cheer" was intended to be released as a track on the album. However, Charters vetoed the decision to see whether the controversial song "Superbird" would face a radio ban. Nonetheless, the band was considered a forerunner in the emerging music scene in San Francisco, exhibiting one of the more polished debuts, just as its contemporaries were still refining their own sound. Melton attributes the album's success, particularly in San Francisco, to the band's appearance at the Monterey Pop Festival in June 1967. Subsequently, the group toured the East Coast with an elaborate psychedelic light show.