Summary prepared by Fielding M. McGehee III. If you use this material, please credit The Jonestown Institute. Thank you.
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FBI Catalogue: Music
FBI preliminary tape identification note: Labeled in part “JJ Express Band”
Date cues on tape: None (sometime in Guyana)
People named:
Public figures/National and international names:
Cuffy, Guyanese national hero
Medgar Evers, slain civil rights leader
Mahatma Gandhi, assassinated leader of India
Che Guevara, slain Latin American revolutionary
Martin Luther King, slain civil rights leader
Bible verses cited: None
Summary:
The Jonestown Express performs before a live audience, presumably in Jonestown. Half of the songs are instrumental, and several seem to be original compositions. There are two singers for the other songs, a man and a woman, although neither are identified. The songs include a straightforward rendition of “Summertime”. Two other songs – Joe Cocker’s “You Are So Beautiful” and Dion’s “Abraham, Martin and John” – have been altered slightly. The former extols Guyana instead of a lover, the second celebrates black and foreign leaders who have been assassinated, as well as Guyana’s national hero, Cuffy.
FBI Summary:
Date of transcription: 6/26/79
In connection with the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s investigation into the assassination of U.S. Congressman LEO J. RYAN at Port Kaituma, Guyana, South America, on November 18, 1978, a tape recording was obtained. This tape recording was located in Jonestown, Guyana, South America, and was turned over to U.S. Officials in Guyana and subsequently transported to the United States.
On June 5, 1979, Special Agent (name deleted) reviewed the tape numbered 1B100-19. This tape was found to contain the following:
The music and singing of the Jonestown band.
Differences with FBI Summary:
The summary is accurate and meets the FBI’s purposes.
Tape originally posted February 2005