Name
Logo
Url	allmusic.com
Commercial	Yes
Language	English
Registration	No
Owner	All Media Guide (Rovi)
Author	Michael Erlewine
Launch date	1991
Current status	Online

Allmusic (previously All Music Guide or AMG, stylized as allmusic) is a service of music guide, owned by All Media Guide. Allmusic was founded in 1991 by popular-culture archivist Michael Erlewine as a guide for consumers. Its first reference book was published the following year. AMG on the Internet predates the World Wide Web and was first available as a Gopher site.

Content

Allmusic content is created by professional data entry staff, editors, and writers. The network of writers includes over 900 music critics who review albums and songs and write artist biographies.

Reviewers include Michael Sutton, Jason Ankeny, Roxanne Blanford, Marisa Brown, John Bush, Al Campbell, Eugene Chadbourne, Matt Collar, Ken Dryden, Bruce Eder, Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Katherine Fulton, Jo-Anne Greene, David Jeffries, Thom Jurek, Andy Kellman, the late Cub Koda, Andrew Leahey, Steve Leggett, Jason Lymangrover, Scott McClintock, Greg McIntosh, Opal Louis Nations, Heather Phares, Greg Prato, Ned Raggett, Margaret Reges, Eduardo Rivadavia, John Phillip Roberts, William Ruhlmann, Tim Sendra, Rob Theakston, Richie Unterberger, Sean Westergaard, Joe Viglione, Don Kline and Scott Yanow.

Allmusic's database, which is licensed and used in point-of-sale systems by some music retailers, includes:

Basic data: names, genres, credits, copyright information, product numbers.

Descriptive content: styles, tones, moods, themes, nationalities.

Relational content: similar artists and albums, influences.

Editorial content: biographies, reviews, rankings.

Allmusic also claims to have the largest digital archive of music, including about six million digital songs, as well as the largest cover art library, with more than half a million cover image scans.

The website allmusic.com is a sample of what is available in the database. The site was launched in 1995 as an online demonstration for potential database licensees of the breadth of content included in the database.

The Allmusic database is also used by several generations of Windows Media Player and Musicmatch Jukebox to identify and organize music collections. Windows Media Player 11 and the integrated MTV Urge music store have expanded the use of Allmusic data to include related artists, biographies, reviews, playlists and other data.

Allmusic is also used to provide catalog data, artist biographies, album reviews, related artist information, playlists and other information in the iTunes Music Store, Zune Marketplace, Zune player, eMusic, AOL, Yahoo!, Amazon.com and other music stores. Allmusic is also at the heart of the Naim Extended Music database used by the Naim HDX hard disk player.

The web version of AMG has much more information on most forms of popular music than the 1,176 pages of the 1992 book edited by Michael Erlewine and Scott Bultman (All Music Guide: the best CDs, albums & tapes, published by Miller Freeman Inc., San Francisco), but it is missing much of the information on classical music that appeared in the book. One could look up a composer in the book and identify specific recordings recommended by AMG reviewers, but the website only provides a list of recordings.

AMG headquarters is located in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States.

See also

All Music Guide to the Blues

All Music Guide to Jazz

List of online encyclopedias

List of online music databases

References

External links

Category:Music publications Category:Music websites Category:Online music and lyrics databases Category:Internet Gopher Category:Online encyclopedias Category:Internet properties established in 1991

Name	Negramaro
Background	group_or_band
Origin	Copertino, Italy
Genre	Alternative rockRock
Years active	1999 – present
Label	Sugar
Associated acts	Andro.i.d., Codefish&Tuna;
Url	Official Site
Current members	Giuliano SangiorgiEmanuele SpedicatoErmanno CarlàDanilo TascoAndrea "Andro.i.d." MarianoAndrea "Pupillo" De Rocco

Negramaro is an Italian rock band formed in 1999 and successful since 2005. Their name stems from Negroamaro, a wine produced in their native region, Salento.

After years spent in the Italian alternative market, they became famous in 2007 thanks to the Festivalbar.

Members

Giuliano Sangiorgi (Nardò, LE, January 24, 1979) (vocals, guitar and piano)

Emanuele Spedicato (Nardò, LE, October 26, 1980) (guitar)

Ermanno Carlà (Veglie, LE, February 17, 1977) (bass)

Danilo Tasco (Gagliano del Capo, LE, March 26, 1979) (drums)

Andrea "Andro.i.d." Mariano (Copertino, LE, March 26, 1978) (piano and synthesizer)

Andrea "Pupillo" De Rocco (Nardò, LE, September 30, 1973) (sampler)

Biography

Debut and Negramaro

Negramaro formed up in 1999 in Copertino, near Lecce.

In the beginning, helped by live performances, they received good reviews. That improved when they met producer Caterina Caselli who taught them how to record music.

In 2001 they won the Tim Tour and ended as finalists at the MTV Brand New Talent.

Their first album, "Negramaro", was released in 2003. The sound of the album was too alternative for the Italian public, so it didn't have much success. Two singles were released. They were minor hits: "Mono" and "Solo".

The 000577 Project

In 2004 Negramaro met Italian producer Corrado Rustici to work on a few songs. The collaboration between them spawned a brand new track, "Scusa Se Non Piango", and thee remixes of previous songs: "Es-Senza", "Evidentemente" and "Come Sempre". The four tracks were added to the other songs from their first album to create "000577", a new edition of their debut work.

This new edition gave the band a more pop-rock feeling, which was more suitable for the Italian public. The 2004 version of "Come Sempre" was released as a single with better success of the previous ones, and was even chosen as the soundtrack to celebrate the 50th birthday of the Italian TV network RAI.

Mentre Tutto Scorre: Commercial Success

Negramaro performed the song "Mentre Tutto Scorre" at the Sanremo Festival in 2005, but were eliminated at the first turn. The song was the first single released from their same-named second album.

After the festival, eight of their songs were chosen as the soundtrack of the Italian film "La Febbre", starring Fabio Volo.

This helped the band to launch their success: despite the Sanremo disappoinment, the single "Mentre Tutto Scorre" was a success. The second single, "Estate", was even more successful, giving the band their first #1 in the Italian airplay chart. "Solo3min" and "Nuvole e Lenzuola" followed the success of the first two singles.

Thanks to hit singles, good performances and critics, their album "Mentre Tutto Scorre" gained a lot of success, being certified 6x platinum in Italy.

This album was different to the first one: it was entirely produced by Corrado Rustici, and took the band to prefer a pop-rock genre rather than their classic alternative style. Their changing gave them success through radios, music marketing and fans.

The album was accompanied by a tour later released on the "Negramaro Live" DVD in 2006.

Their single "Nuvole e Lenzuola" is included in the game Guitar Hero World Tour.

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

External links

Official website

Category:Italian rock music groups

Category:Musical groups established in 1999

Name	Johnny Ace
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	John Marshall Alexander, Jr.
Alias	Johnny Ace
Born	June 09, 1929Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
Died	December 25, 1954Houston, Texas U.S.
Genre	R&B;
Years active	1949–1954
Label	Duke Records

Johnny Ace (June 9, 1929 – December 25, 1954), born John Marshall Alexander, Jr. in Memphis, Tennessee, was one of the stars of American rhythm and blues singing.

Career

Alexander's father was a preacher in Tennessee. After serving in the navy during the Korean War, Alexander joined Adolph Duncan's Band as a pianist. He then joined the B. B. King band. Soon King departed for Los Angeles and Bobby Bland joined the army. Alexander took over vocal duties and renamed the band The Beale Streeters, also taking over King's WDIA radio show.

Becoming "Johnny Ace", he signed to Duke Records (originally a Memphis label associated with WDIA) in 1952. Urbane 'heart-ballad' "My Song," his first recording, topped the R&B; charts for nine weeks in September. ("My Song" was covered in 1968 by Aretha Franklin, on the flipside of "See Saw".)

Ace began heavy touring, often with Willa Mae "Big Mama" Thornton. In the next two years, he had eight hits in a row, including "Cross My Heart," "Please Forgive Me," "The Clock," "Yes, Baby," "Saving My Heart for You," and "Never Let Me Go." In December, 1954 he was named the Most Programmed Artist Of 1954 after a national DJ poll organized by U.S. trade weekly Cash Box.

Ace's recordings sold very well for those times. Early in 1955, Duke Records announced that the three 1954 Johnny Ace recordings, along with Thornton's "Hound Dog", had sold more than 1,750,000 records.

Death

After touring for a year, Ace had been performing at the City Auditorium in Houston, Texas on Christmas 1954. During a break between sets, he was playing with a .22 cal revolver. Members of his band said he did this often, sometimes shooting at roadside signs from their car.

It was widely reported that Ace killed himself playing Russian roulette. Big Mama Thornton's bass player Curtis Tillman, however, who witnessed the event, said, "I will tell you exactly what happened! Johnny Ace had been drinking and he had this little pistol he was waving around the table and someone said ‘Be careful with that thing…’ and he said ‘It’s okay! Gun’s not loaded…see?’ and pointed it at himself with a smile on his face and ‘Bang!’ – sad, sad thing. Big Mama ran outta that dressing room yelling ‘Johnny Ace just killed hisself!"

Thornton said in a written statement (included in the book The Late Great Johnny Ace) that Ace had been playing with the gun, but not playing Russian roulette. According to Thornton, Ace pointed the gun at his girlfriend and another woman who were sitting nearby, but did not fire. He then pointed the gun toward himself. The gun went off, shooting him in the side of the head.

Ace's funeral was on January 2, 1955, at Memphis' Clayborn Temple AME church. It was attended by an estimated 5000 people.

"Pledging My Love" became a posthumous R&B; #1 hit for ten weeks beginning February 12, 1955. As Billboard bluntly put it, Ace's death "created one of the biggest demands for a record that has occurred since the death of Hank Williams just over two years ago." His single sides were compiled and released as The Johnny Ace Memorial Album.

Edit: According to Nick Tosches' book Unsung Heroes of Rock 'n' Roll, Johnny Ace actually shot himself with a .32 pistol, not a .22, and it happened only a little more than an hour after he had bought a brand new 1955 Oldsmobile.

ISBN 0-684-18149-5 (Paperback)(c) 1984 pg. 136 Chapter - "Number One With a Bullet"

Tributes

Bob Dylan and Joan Baez performed "Never Let Me Go" on the Rolling Thunder Revue Tour late in 1975.

Elvis Presley covered "Pledging My Love" on his last studio session in 1976. The song appeared on the Moody Blue album in 1977 at the time of his death.

Paul Simon wrote and performed the song "The Late Great Johnny Ace", in which a boy, upon hearing of the death of Ace, orders a photograph of the deceased singer, describing: "It came all the way from Texas / With a sad and simple face / And they signed it on the bottom / From the Late Great Johnny Ace."

David Allen Coe covered "Pledging My Love", introducing the song with his own recollections of hearing the news of Ace's death.

Johnny Ace is also namechecked by Root Boy Slim in "House Band in Hell" as well as by Dash Rip Rock in the song "Johnny Ace".

Ace's song "Pledging My Love" appears in the 1973 Martin Scorsese film Mean Streets and John Carpenter's 1983 movie Christine, based on Stephen King's novel. The song also appears in the Abel Ferrara film Bad Lieutenant.

The Fontane Sisters' song "Eddie My Love" was originally titled "Johnny My Love" and was written in Johnny's memory.

the Swiss Singer Polo Hofer and the Schmetterband wrote the Song ``Johnny Ace`` in 1985 - it was released on the album Giggerig.

Discography

Singles

Original singles issued by Duke Records

"My Song" / "Follow the Rule" (1952)

"Cross My Heart" / "Angel" (1953)

"The Clock" / "Aces Wild" (1953)

"Midnight Hours Journey" / "Trouble and Me" (1954)

"Saving My Love For You" / "Yes, Baby" (duet with Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton) (1954)

"Please Forgive Me" / "You've Been Gone So Long" (1954)

"Never Let Me Go" / "Burley Cutie" [Instrumental] (1954)

"Pledging My Love" / "Anymore" (on 78rpm) / "No Money" (on 45rpm) (1955) #1 on U.S. R&B; Chart for 10 weeks, peaked at #17 on U.S. Pop Chart

"Anymore" / "How Can You Be So Mean" (1955)

"So Lonely" / "I'm So Crazy, Baby" (1956)

"Don't You Know" / "I Still Love You So" (1956)

Albums

Studio albums and compilations containing only/mostly Johnny Ace material

Johnny Ace Memorial Album Duke (1955)

Johnny Ace: Pledging My Love Universal Special Products (1986)

Johnny Ace: The Complete Duke Recordings Geffen (2004)

Blues & Rhythm Series: The Chronological Johnny Ace 1951-1954 Classics (2005)

Johnny Ace: Essential Masters Burning Fire (digital download) (2008)

Notes and references

Rolling Stone, Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll. New York: 1995. ISBN 0-684-81044-1

Dafydd Rees and Luke Crampton. Rock Movers and Shakers. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 1991. ISBN 0-87436-661-5

Rock On: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock n' Roll: The Solid Gold Years: 1974, 1982: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, Harper & Row: New York, New York; ISBN 0-06-181642-6: p001.

*

External links

Hip-O biography

Category:American rhythm and blues singers Category:Flair Records artists Category:Apex Records artists Category:Duke Records artists Category:Suicides by firearm in Texas Category:Musicians who committed suicide Category:People from Memphis, Tennessee Category:Rhythm and blues pianists Category:Musicians from Tennessee Category:1929 births Category:1954 deaths

Name	Jim Jones
Birth name	James W. Jones
Birth date	May 13, 1931
Birth place	Crete, Indiana, U.S.
Death date	November 18, 1978
Death place	Jonestown, Guyana
Occupation	Leader, Peoples Temple

James Warren "Jim" Jones (May 13, 1931 – November 18, 1978) was the founder and leader of the Peoples Temple, which is best known for the November 18, 1978 suicide of more than 900 Temple members in Jonestown, Guyana along with the killings of five other people at a nearby airstrip.

Jones was born in Indiana and started the Temple in that state in the 1950s. Jones and the Temple later moved to California, and both gained notoriety with the move of the Temple's headquarters to San Francisco in the mid-1970s.

The greatest single loss of American civilian life in a non-natural disaster until the events of September 11, 2001, the tragedy at Guyana also ranks among the largest mass murders/mass suicides in history. One of those who died at the nearby airstrip was Leo Ryan, who remains the only Congressman murdered in the line of duty in the history of the United States. to James Thurman Jones (May 31, 1887 – May 29, 1951), a World War I veteran, and Lynetta Putnam (April 16, 1902 – December 11, 1977). He was of Irish and Welsh descent. Economic difficulties during the Great Depression necessitated that Jones' family move to nearby Lynn, Indiana in 1934. Jim Jones and a childhood friend both claimed that Jones' father was associated with the Ku Klux Klan.

Jones was a voracious reader as a child and studied Joseph Stalin, Karl Marx, Mahatma Gandhi and Adolf Hitler carefully, noting each of their strengths and weaknesses. He graduated from Richmond High School early and with honors in December 1948.

Jones married nurse Marceline Baldwin in 1949, and moved to Bloomington, Indiana. Jones' sympathetic statements about communism offended Marceline's grandmother.

Building the Temple

Indiana beginnings

In 1951, Jones became a member of the Communist Party USA, and began attending meetings and rallies in Indianapolis. He became flustered with harassment he received during the McCarthy Hearings, He also became frustrated with what he perceived to be ostracism of open communists in the United States, especially during the trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.

Jones moved away from the American Communist Party and Maoists when ACP members and Mao Zedong became critical of some of the policies of former Soviet leader Joseph Stalin.

Integrationist

In 1960, Indianapolis Democratic Mayor Charles Boswell appointed Jones director of the Human Rights Commission. Jones ignored Boswell's advice to keep a low profile, finding new outlets for his views on local radio and television programs.

During this time, Jones also helped to integrate churches, restaurants, the telephone company, the police department, a theater, an amusement park, and the Methodist Hospital. He also set up stings to catch restaurants refusing to serve African American customers When Jones was accidentally placed in the black ward of a hospital after a collapse in 1961, he refused to be moved and began to make the beds, and empty the bed pans of black patients. Political pressures resulting from Jones' actions caused hospital officials to desegregate the wards. and stated: "Integration is a more personal thing with me now. It's a question of my son's future." Jones had long been critical of the United States' opposition to communist leader Kim Il-Sung's 1950 invasion of South Korea, calling it the "war of liberation" and stating that "the south is a living example of all that socialism in the north has overcome." In 1954, he and his wife also adopted Agnes Jones, who was partly of Native American descent. Suzanne Jones was adopted at the age of six in 1959.

Two years later, in 1961, the Joneses became the first white couple in Indiana to adopt a black child, James Warren Jones, Jr. Marceline was once spat upon while she carried Jim Jr.

On his way to Brazil, Jones made his first trip into Guyana. After arriving in Belo Horizonte, the Joneses rented a modest three bedroom home. Jones studied the local economy and receptiveness of racial minorities to his message, though language remained a barrier. Jones was careful not to portray himself as a communist in a foreign territory, and spoke of an apostolic communal lifestyle rather than of Castro or Marx.

After becoming frustrated with the lack of resources in the locale, in mid-1963, the Joneses moved to Rio de Janeiro. There, they worked with the poor in Rio's slums.

Jones was plagued by guilt for leaving behind the Indiana civil rights struggle and possibly losing what he had struggled to build there.

California Eden

After Jones' return to Indiana from Brazil, in 1965, Jones claimed that the world would be engulfed in a nuclear war on July 15, 1967, that would then create a new socialist Eden on earth, and that the Temple must move to Northern California for safety. Jones often mixed those concepts, such as preaching that "If you're born in capitalist America, racist America, fascist America, then you're born in sin. But if you're born in socialism, you're not born in sin."

By the early 1970s, Jones began deriding traditional Christianity as "fly away religion," rejecting the Bible as being white men’s' justification to subordinate women and subjugate people of color and stating that it spoke of a "Sky God" who was no God at all. Jones also began preaching that he was the reincarnation of Jesus of Nazareth, Mahatma Gandhi, Buddha, Vladimir Lenin, and Father Divine. In the documentary Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple, former Temple member Hue Fortson, Jr. quoted Jones as saying, "What you need to believe in is what you can see ... If you see me as your friend, I'll be your friend. As you see me as your father, I'll be your father, for those of you that don't have a father ... If you see me as your savior, I'll be your savior. If you see me as your God, I'll be your God." Despite the Temple's fear that the IRS was investigating its religious tax exemption, by 1977 Marceline Jones admitted to the New York Times that, as early as age 18 when he watched his then idol Mao Zedong overthrow the Chinese government, Jim Jones realized that the way to achieve social change through Marxism in the United States was to mobilize people through religion. She stated that "Jim used religion to try to get some people out of the opiate of religion," and had slammed the Bible on the table yelling "I've got to destroy this paper idol!"

Unlike most other figures deemed as cult leaders, Jones was able to gain public support and contact with prominent local and national United States politicians. For example, Jones and Moscone met privately with vice presidential candidate Walter Mondale on his campaign plane days before the 1976 election and Mondale publicly praised the Temple. First Lady Rosalynn Carter also personally met with Jones on multiple occasions, corresponded with him about Cuba, and spoke with him at the grand opening of the San Francisco Democratic Party Headquarters where Jones garnered louder applause than Mrs. Carter.

In September 1976, Willie Brown served as master of ceremonies at a large testimonial dinner for Jones attended by Governor Jerry Brown and Lieutenant Governor Mervyn Dymally and other political figures. At that dinner, while introducing Jones, Willie Brown stated "Let me present to you what you should see every day when you look in the mirror in the early morning hours ... Let me present to you a combination of Martin King, Angela Davis, Albert Einstein ... Chairman Mao." Harvey Milk, who spoke at political rallies at the Temple, and wrote to Jones after a visit to the Temple: "Rev Jim, It may take me many a day to come back down from the high that I reach today. I found something dear today. I found a sense of being that makes up for all the hours and energy placed in a fight. I found what you wanted me to find. I shall be back. For I can never leave."

In his San Francisco Temple apartment, Jones regularly hosted San Francisco radical political figures such as Angela Davis for discussions. He spoke with friend and San Francisco Sun-Reporter publisher Dr. Carlton Goodlett about Jones' remorse regarding not being able to travel to socialist countries such as China and the Soviet Union, speculating that he could be Chief Dairyman of the Soviet Union. After his criticisms caused increased tensions with the Nation of Islam, Jones spoke at a huge rally healing the rift between the two groups in the Los Angeles Convention center attended by many of Jones' closest political acquaintances.

While Jones forged media alliances with key columnists and others at the San Francisco Chronicle and other media outlets, the move to San Francisco also brought increasing media scrutiny. After Chronicle reporter Marshall Kilduff encountered resistance to publishing an expose, he brought his story to New West Magazine. In the summer of 1977, Jones and several hundred Temple members moved to the Temple's "Agricultural Project" in Guyana after they learned of the contents of Kilduff's article to be published in which former Temple members claimed they were physically, emotionally, and sexually abused. Jones named the settlement Jonestown after himself.

Jonestown's formation and operation

Jones had first started building Jonestown in 1974 as a means to create both a "socialist paradise" and a "sanctuary" from the media scrutiny which had started in 1972. Regarding the former goal, Jones purported to establish Jonestown as a benevolent model communist community stating, "I believe we’re the purest communists there are." In that regard, like the restrictive emigration policies of the then Soviet Union, Cuba, North Korea and other communist republics, Jones did not permit members to leave Jonestown.

Religious scholar Mary McCormick Maaga argues that Jones' authority decreased after he moved to the isolated commune, because he was not needed for recruitment and he could not hide his drug addiction from rank and file members. In spite of the allegations prior to Jones' departure to Jonestown, the leader was still respected by some for setting up a racially mixed church which helped the disadvantaged; 68 percent of Jonestown's residents were black.

New children

Jim Jones claimed that he was the biological father of John Victor Stoen, although the birth certificate lists Grace and Timothy Stoen as the parents of the boy. The Temple repeatedly claimed that Jones fathered the child when, in 1971, Temple member Tim Stoen had requested that Jones have sex with Grace Stoen to keep her from defecting. After Grace Stoen later defected in 1976 and began divorce proceedings against Tim Stoen in 1977, in order to avoid potentially giving up the boy in a custody dispute with Grace, Jones ordered Tim to take John to Guyana in February 1977.

After purported father Tim Stoen defected from the Temple in June 1977, the Temple kept John Stoen in Jonestown. The custody dispute over John Stoen would become a linchpin of several battles between the Temple and the Concerned Relatives.

Jim Jones also fathered a son, Jim Jon (Kimo), with Carolyn Louise Moore Layton, a Temple member.

Pressure and waning political support

While most of Jones' political allies broke ties after Jones' departure, some did not. As a show of support, Willie Brown spoke out against enemies at a rally at the Peoples Temple, also attended by Harvey Milk and Art Agnos. Most importantly for Jones and the Temple, Moscone's office shortly thereafter issued a press release saying that Jones had broken no laws. In the Fall of 1977, Tim Stoen and other relatives in Jonestown formed a "Concerned Relatives" group. Stoen traveled to Washington D.C. in January 1978 to visit with Congressmen, including Leo Ryan and State Department officials, and wrote a "white paper" to Congress detailing the dispute and pressing for Congressional correspondence. Stoen's efforts aroused the curiosity of Ryan, who wrote a letter on Stoen's behalf to Guyanese Prime Minister Forbes Burnham.

Amidst growing pressure in the United States to investigate the Temple, on February 19, 1978, Harvey Milk wrote a letter of support for the Peoples Temple to President Jimmy Carter. Therein, Milk wrote that Jones was known "as a man of the highest character." In June 1978, escaped Temple member Deborah Layton provided the group with a further affidavit detailing alleged crimes by the Peoples Temple and substandard living conditions in Jonestown. Jones told Lane he wanted to "pull an Eldridge Cleaver", referring to a fugitive Black Panther who was able to return to the United States after repairing his reputation. Ryan's delegation included relatives of Temple members, Don Harris, an NBC network news reporter, an NBC cameraman and reporters for various newspapers. The group arrived in Georgetown on November 15. The delegation left hurriedly the afternoon of November 18 after Temple member Don Sly attacked Ryan with a knife. The attack was thwarted, bringing the visit to an abrupt end. At that time, Jones made no attempt to prevent their departure.

Port Kaituma Airstrip shootings

As members of Ryan's delegation boarded two planes at the airstrip, Jones' "Red Brigade" armed guards arrived in a tractor-pulled trailer and began shooting at the delegation. The guards killed Congressman Ryan and four others near a twin engine Otter aircraft. At the same time, one of the supposed defectors, Larry Layton, drew a weapon and began firing on members of the party that had already boarded a small Cessna. An NBC cameraman was able to capture footage of the first few seconds of the shooting at the Otter.

Deaths in Jonestown

Later that same day, 909 inhabitants of Jonestown, 303 of them children, died of apparent cyanide poisoning, mostly in and around a pavilion. This resulted in the greatest single loss of American civilian life in a non-natural disaster until the September 11, 2001 attacks. No video was taken during the mass suicide, though the FBI did recover a 45 minute audio recording of the suicide in progress.

On that tape, Jones tells Temple members that the Soviet Union, with whom the Temple had been negotiating a potential exodus for months, would not take them after the Temple had murdered Ryan and four others at a nearby airstrip. Mass suicide had been previously discussed in simulated events called "White Nights" on a regular basis. During at least one such prior White Night, members drank liquid that Jones falsely told them was poison. However, Jones' son Stephan believes his father may have directed someone else to shoot him. An autopsy of Jones' body also showed levels of the barbiturate Pentobarbital which may have been lethal to humans who had not developed physiological tolerance. Jones' drug usage (including LSD and marijuana) was confirmed by his son, Stephan, and Jones' doctor in San Francisco.

Other issues

On December 13, 1973, Jones was arrested and charged with soliciting a man for sex in a movie theater bathroom known for homosexual activity, in MacArthur Park in Los Angeles. The man was an undercover Los Angeles Police Department vice officer. Jones is on record as later telling his followers that he was "the only true heterosexual", but at least one account exists of his sexual abuse of a male member of his congregation in front of the followers, ostensibly to prove the man's own homosexual tendencies. Jones, however, claimed that he detested engaging in homosexual activity and did so only for the male temple adherents' own good, purportedly to connect them symbolically with him (Jones). Jones had borrowed the term "revolutionary suicide" On the final morning of Ryan's visit, Marceline had taken reporters on a tour of Jonestown.

Found near Marceline Jones' body was a signed and witnessed will leaving all bank accounts "in my name" to the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and writing that Suzanne Jones Cartmell should receive no assets.

Stephan, Jim Jr. and Tim Jones

Stephan, Jim Jr., and Tim Jones did not take part in the mass suicide because they were playing with the Peoples Temple basketball team against the Guyanese national team in Georgetown. At the time of events in Jonestown, Stephan and Tim were both nineteen and Jim Jones Jr. was eighteen. Tim's biological family, the Tuppers, which consisted of his three biological sisters, biological brother, and biological mother, all died at Jonestown. Three days before the tragedy, Stephan Jones refused, over the radio, to comply with an order by his father to return the team to Jonestown for Ryan's visit.

During the events at Jonestown, Stephan, Tim, and Jim Jones Jr. drove to the American Embassy in Guyana in an attempt to receive help. The Guyanese soldiers guarding the embassy refused to let them in after hearing about the shootings at the Port Kaituma airstrip. Later, the three returned to the Temple's headquarters in Georgetown to find the bodies of Sharon Amos and her three children. Stephan Jones is now a businessman, and married with three daughters. He appeared in the documentary Jonestown: Paradise Lost which aired on the History Channel and Discovery Channel. He stated he will not watch the documentary and has never grieved for his father. Jim Jones Jr., who lost his wife and unborn child at Jonestown, returned to San Francisco. He remarried and has three sons from this marriage,

Lew, Agnes and Suzanne Jones

Lew and Agnes Jones both died at Jonestown. Agnes Jones was thirty-five years old at the time of her death. Her husband and four children all died at Jonestown. Lew Jones, who was twenty-one years old at the time of his death, died alongside his wife Terry and son Chaeoke. Stephanie Jones had died at age five in a car accident. In a signed note found at the time of her death, Marceline Jones directed that the Jones' funds were to be given to the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and specified: "I especially request that none of these are allowed to get into the hands of my adopted daughter, Suzanne Jones Cartmell." Cartmell had two children and died of colon cancer in November 2006.

John Stoen and Kimo

Specific references to Tim Stoen, the father of John Stoen, including the logistics of possibly murdering him, are made on the Temple's final "death tape," as well as a discussion over whether the Temple should include John Stoen among those committing "revolutionary suicide." At Jonestown, John Stoen was found poisoned in Jim Jones' cabin.

Both Jim Jon (Kimo) and his mother, Carolyn Layton, died during the events at Jonestown.

See also

Cult suicide

Doomsday cult

List of people who have claimed to be Jesus

List of Buddha claimants

Notes

References

Bibliography

Chidester, David, Salvation and Suicide: Jim Jones, the People's Temple and Jonestown (Religion in North America), 2nd rev.ed., Indiana University Press, 2004. ISBN 978-0253216328

Klineman, George and Sherman Butler. The Cult That Died. G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1980. ISBN 0-399-12540-X.

Layton, Deborah. Seductive Poison. Anchor Books, 1999. ISBN 0-385-48984-6.

Maaga, Mary McCormick. Hearing the voices of Jonestown. Syracuse University Press, 1998. ISBN 0-8156-0515-3.

Naipaul, Shiva. Black & White. Hamish Hamilton, London, 1980. ISBN 0-241-10337-1.

External links

The Jonestown Institute

FBI No. Q 042 The "Jonestown Death Tape", Recorded 18 November 1978 (Internet Archive)

Transcript of Jones' final speech, just before the mass suicide

The first part of a series of articles about Jim Jones published in the San Francisco Examiner in 1972.

History Channel Video and Stills

Isaacson, Barry. From Silver Lake to Suicide: One Family's Secret History of the Jonestown Massacre

Mass Suicide at Jonestown: 30 Years Later, Time magazine

Jonestown 30 Years Later photo gallery published Friday, October 17, 2008.

, "Jonestown: The Life And Death Of Peoples Temple", shown on PBS

Jonestown: 25 Years Later How spiritual journey ended in destruction Jim Jones led his flock to death in jungle by Michael Taylor, San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Published Thursday, November 12, 1998.

Utopian nightmare Jonestown: What did we learn? Larry D. Hatfield, of The Examiner staff, Gregory Lewis and Eric Brazil of The Examiner staff and Examiner Librarian Judy Canter contributed to this report. Published Sunday, November 8, 1998.

Jones Captivated S.F.'s Liberal Elite They were late to discover how cunningly he curried favor by Michael Taylor, San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. And [Haunted by Memories of Hell ] by Kevin Fagan, San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Published Thursday, November 12, 1998. Both stories were included in the first of a two-part series.

The End To Innocent Acceptance Of Sects Sharper scrutiny is Jonestown legacy by Don Lattin, San Francisco Chronicle religion writer. And Most Peoples Temple Documents Still Sealed by Michael Taylor and Don Lattin, San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. And Surviving the Heart of Darkness Twenty years later, Jackie Speier remembers how her companions and rum helped her endure the night of the Jonestown massacre by Maitland Zane, San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Published Friday, November 13, 1998. All stories were included in the second part of a two-part series.

Inside Peoples Temple Marshall Kilduff and Phil Tracy, Used by permission of authors for the San Francisco Chronicle. Published Monday, August 1, 1977.

20 Years Later, Jonestown Survivor Confronts Horrors by Michael Taylor, San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Published Monday, November 2, 1998.

20 years after Jonestown, survivors find some peace by Anastasia Hendrix, of The Examiner staff. Published Thursday, November 19, 1998.

Category:1931 births Category:1978 deaths Category:American atheists Category:American communists Category:American Disciples of Christ Category:American socialists Category:Anti-racism Category:Bisexual people Category:Butler University alumni Category:Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) clergy Category:American Christians Category:Deaths by firearm in Guyana Category:Faith healers Category:Founders of religions Category:History of Guyana Category:LGBT people from the United States Category:Members of the Communist Party USA Category:People from Randolph County, Indiana Category:People from Richmond, Indiana Category:Peoples Temple Category:Religious people who committed suicide Category:Suicides in Guyana

Name	Jason Weaver
Birth name	Jason Michael Weaver
Birth date	July 18, 1979
Birth place	Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Other names	J-Weav
Occupation	Actor, singer

Jason Michael Weaver (born July 18, 1979) also known by his stage name J-Weav, is an American actor and singer. He is perhaps best known for his television roles as a pre-teenage Michael Jackson in the Emmy Award-winning 1992 miniseries , and as the older brother Marcus Henderson on the WB sitcom Smart Guy.

Early life and career

Weaver attended Illiana Christian High School in Lansing, Illinois and Thornwood High School in South Holland, Illinois. One of Weaver's earliest acting roles was on Oprah Winfrey's 1990 television series Brewster Place. Among Weaver's most notable acting roles have been his portrayal of The Jackson 5-era Michael Jackson in the 1992 miniseries , and his roles on the television sitcoms Thea (1993–1994) and Smart Guy (1997–1999).

In 2002, he appeared in Drumline with Nick Cannon, followed by a role in the The Ladykillers in 2004. In 2006, Weaver was featured in a supporting role in the film ATL starring rappers T.I. and Big Boi from OutKast. He also appears as an extra in the music video "Rock Yo Hips" by Crime Mob featuring Lil Scrappy and "Make Up Bag" by The-Dream featuring T.I.

Music career

In addition to acting, Weaver is also a recording artist. He provided the vocals for the singing voice for the cub Simba in the 1994 film The Lion King. The following year, he released his debut album, Love Ambition, on Motown Records which was released on 27 June 1995.

In 2003, he collaborated with rapper Chingy on the track "One Call Away". The single was a Top 5 hit single in the United States.

Discography

Albums

1995: Love Ambition

1996: Stay with Me (EP)

Singles

"I Can't Stand the Pain" (1995)

"Stay with Me" (1996)

"Love Ambition" (1996)

"Wish That I May" (1999)

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Category:Actors from Chicago, Illinois Category:African American actors Category:American child actors Category:American child singers Category:American film actors Category:American male singers Category:American pop singers Category:American rhythm and blues singers Category:American television actors Category:English-language singers Category:People from Chicago, Illinois Category:1979 births Category:Living people