Summary prepared by Fielding M. McGehee III. If you use this material, please credit The Jonestown Institute. Thank you.
To read the Tape Transcript, click here. To listen to MP3, click here.
To return to the Tape Index, click here.
FBI Catalogue: Music
FBI preliminary tape identification note: None
Date cues on tape: None (sometime in Guyana)
People named:
Cuffy, Guyanese national hero
Malcolm X, black activist with Nation of Islam
Steven Biko, South African political prisoner
Che Guevara, slain Latin American revolutionary
Martin Luther King, slain civil rights leader
Marthea Hicks (sings)
Frances Johnson
Bible verses cited: None
Summary:
The Jonestown Express performs before a live audience, presumably in Jonestown. Two of the songs are instrumental, and a couple seem to be original compositions. The songs also include a straightforward rendition of “Everybody’s Talkin’ At Me” by Nilsson. 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: 6/18/79
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 3, 1979, Special Agent (name deleted) reviewed the tape numbered 1B93-99. This tape was found to contain the following:
Musical program for the people at Jonestown, “The Jonestown Express”, adaptation of songs to revolutionary themes.
Differences with FBI Summary:
The summary is accurate and meets the FBI’s purposes.
Tape originally posted January 2006