The Covert War Against Rock: What You Don't Know about the Deaths of Jim Morrison, Tupac Shakur, Michael Hutchence, Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Phil [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

Its hard to put a finger on when it all went astray and became evident that something very wrong was going on. Maybe it was the plane crash that claimed the lives of the Big Bopper, Buddy Holly and Richie Valens. Maybe it was the 1966 death of Bobby Fuller, apparently from ingesting gasoline. Its hard to say if these deaths were the beginning of something very evil or just accidents or suicide. And while Constantine does not investigate the distant past, he does show that this phenomenon of suspicious death in the music industry has not stopped or slowed since the 1960s; in fact it has increased.

Rock musicians are famous for singing about the type of things that make the powers that be nervous. From the blatant lyrics about sex of the 40s and 50s R & B bands to Elvis gyrating hips, to the Stones drug use (and abuse) in the 60s. The 70s gave us the Doors, more Stones, and John Lennon before punk took it over the top. The 80s saw the birth of gangsta rap and grunge and the movements continue to this day. And while some may say that all the lyrics, political statements and political movements are all about image and posturing, someone obviously thinks otherwise.

This book takes a look at the someone else involved in the deaths of many of yesterdays and todays musicians. Instead of just jumping in with conspiracy theory, Constantine gives a good amount of well-footnoted background information and history before the death toll begins to mount. History is given on the Mafia and government involvement in the music industry. The author then takes great pains to show how the government was involved in the supply and use of LSD as a mind weakening and personality molding drug and not the alleged mind expander it was being hyped as. Constantine also points out how many of the underground heroes and their cronies had government ties.

And then the killings start and the truth gets stretched in the mainstream press. Mama Cass chokes on a ham sandwich. Brian Jones drowns in his pool. Hendrix chokes on his vomit. Jim Morrison remains alive. An obsessed fan killed John Lennon. Bob Marley dies of cancer. Peter Tosh dies by gunshot. Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls were gang hits and most recently Michael Hutchence was a victim of autoerotic hanging. That is what "they" want you to believe, but Constantine has made it his job to show you the places where these stories and reality dont agree. Constantine writes of the nervousness inspired by Cass political aspirations. How the murderer of Brian Jones confessed on his deathbed. How the development of the Jim Morrison lives theory was put into place to throw people of the scent of a possible murder. How Bob Marley suspiciously developed cancer and his more suspicious "treatment. Why Peter Toshs killers went uninvestigated. He points out the incongruities in the Tupac and Biggie murder investigations. And wonders how a severely beaten Michael Hutchence could hang himself with a broken hand? The clear message being that when you open your mouth too far, someone with the power and influence may be right around the corner to shut it for you, in fact you may even know and trust that person.

In the end does Constantine realize his goal of showing that "the Agency and Organized Crime have, for over thirty years, engaged in a program to silence popular musicians whose influence subverts the cynical thought control tactics of American Government and media?" That is up to the reader to decide. Do they buy into the story presented in the mainstream press of do they believe the theories that Constantine puts forth? Whichever side you as a reader fall on, the writing in this book will make you think and like all good writing that is the ultimate goal and that makes this book a success.