Poverty Rocks! (Rock n' Roll in Outer Space Book 1)

by Douglas Hardee

  "You have been identified as a rational Earthling who understands the necessity of moving people into the right thoughts that will ultimately do them and their fellow citizens the most good. My name is Decleanus from the planet Zeon. We are an advanced civilization that wants nothing from Earth except to be left alone by Earth and its debased culture. We live in a tranquil peace with hardly any disease or strife."

  Benjamin smiled as he read this.

  "We reach out to you because we know you are happily employed by your government and that you have little use for those who would seek to question your dedication and good intentions. We will contact you again if ever the need arises through an electromagnetic process and your computer. Be well, Benjamin Morgan, and continue your happy life.

  Sincerely,

  Decleanus from Zeon”

  Benjamin was in shock. He looked at his cat as it ambled over to the couch unaware that his master had been chosen, from the entire planet Earth, by an advanced civilization to contact. Okay, maybe there might be others, but here was the kind of validation he'd always craved. Yes, intelligent people can communicate and recognize one another even across the galaxy. He was always as top student, and a two-time Jeopardy champion, but this was an honor beyond comprehension. He typed back quickly that of course he was of like mind and that he would do anything he could to advance the cause of intergalactic peace and harmony. Like a good sleeper agent, Benjamin Morgan would be awakened when the time was right for activation.

  TWO YEARS LATER

  When his cell phone rang, Jimmy looked down at the screen and didn't recognize the number at first, but it was a Washington DC area code so he picked up.

  "Jimmy Sands? This is Benjamin Morgan. I got your number from a mutual friend, a gentleman, from, well, Mississippi," said Benjamin nervously.

  Jimmy rolled his eyes and put out his cigarette. How did this guy get my number, he mused to himself? Maybe from that crazy pastor down south, yea that might be the source. "Yeah, really, oh yeah, what can I do for you, Ben?" said Jimmy.

  "I have need of your services," said Benjamin.

  Jimmy Sands had been bounced out of the Washington DC Police Department for taking bribes, and the New Orleans PD for extortion and some unsolved murders, but he still had a lot of contacts in Washington, mostly because he got dirty jobs done, kept his mouth shut, and, being a borderline sociopath, was one of the more useful and effective assassins the CIA had ever cultivated.

  He was the kind of guy that Benjamin Morgan normally wouldn't give the time of day.

  So how did an FCC administrator and a CIA agent hook up? Well, there are CIA agents everywhere, especially in a bureaucracy as vital as the FCC. And given his powerful rank within that immense organization, Benjamin had no trouble finding a hitter like Jimmy Sands.

  Chapter Twenty

  The Fats Man Cometh

  Life is about rhythm. We vibrate, our hearts are pumping blood, and we are a rhythm machine, that's what we are.

  –Mickey Hart, Grateful Dead drummer

  You can't separate modern jazz from rock or from rhythm and blues – you can't separate it. Because that's where it all started, and that's where it all come from – that's where I learned to keep rhythm – in church.

  –Art Blakey

  Zorbane was rapidly becoming a better DJ with practice. He very much enjoyed reading the notes on each artist before he played their music. It seemed to connect him to another exotic time and place. Every day he broadcasted the notes and music was an adventure.

  He pulled up his chair and read Jericho's notes. His translation went thusly:

  “These are the essentials on an American cat known as Fats from down New Orleans way who also made some game-changing sounds we need to share with your planet. He's talking to us, of course,” read Zorbane.

  Antoine Domino Jr., was born February 1928 in New Orleans's Lower Ninth Ward.

  As of this broadcast, he's still kicking around there.

  The Domino family was of French Creole background; Louisiana Creole French was his first language. His midwife grandmother delivered Domino at home. Like most families in the Lower Ninth Ward, Domino's family were new arrivals from Vacherie, Louisiana.

  Even after his success, he continued to live in his old neighborhood. His large home was roomy enough for his 13 children, but he still preferred to sleep in a hammock outside, just as he did as a child.

  Fats ultimately sold more records (65 million) than any Fifties-era rocker except Elvis Presley. Between 1950 and 1963, he made Billboard's pop chart 63 times and its R&B chart 59 times. Incredible as it may seem, Fats Domino scored more hit records than Chuck Berry, Little Richard and Buddy Holly put together. His best-known songs include "Ain't That a Shame," "Blueberry Hill" and “I'm Walkin.”

  A rock 'n' roll pioneer, Domino was in the original class inducted into Earth's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, joining such fellow icons as Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, Sam Cooke, James Brown, Ray Charles and the Everly Brothers. During his induction speech on Domino's behalf, Billy Joel credited Fats Domino for proving "the piano was a rock and roll instrument." Joel, Elton John and Paul McCartney are only a handful of the musicians who have derived influence and inspiration from Domino. Fats changed the music game in a way most people aren't aware of.

  No Fats: No Elton John.

  No Fats: No Billy Joel.

  No Fats: No Paul McCartney playing the piano.

  No Fats: No ‘Blueberry Hill’ and probably no ‘Strawberry Fields’!”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Glory Days

  My discussion with Keith Richards about the creative process led me to believe that there's an invisible presence of a stream of ever-flowing creativity that we overhear – all you have to do is pull up the antenna and dial it in. This presence allows you to maintain your sense of origin and move forward.

  –Billy F. Gibbons, ZZ Top guitarist

  Zorbane reached for the input gig and inserted it into his computer, activating his connection to Trax. He had created this software when he was first starting his flight training as a work around from Air Control, who as everyone knew, were beholden to the Shapers. His monitor grew light, then dark, and then the image of Trax appeared. In the background were mountains.

  Zorbane exhaled. So his friend had made it to the Mountain People safely.

  "Do you remember how sick you became when we first passed through Earth's music cloud, listening to the rock 'n' roll?" said Trax.

  "Yes, yes, it was only after our third pass on our orbit through the cloud that I began to experience the joy," said Zorbane.

  "You were undergoing a physical reaction to the music. It's what our neural doctors call Aversion Therapy," explained Trax.

  "Is that similar to what happens to you when we hear the Shapers’ 'One People, One Mind' anthem?"

  Trax nodded his head.

  "So, someone trained me to have that reaction, because I don't recall any treatments," said Zorbane.

  Trax leaned closer to the lens. "Yes, no question, they erased part of your memories. I have spent the last weeks getting our planet's underside history from the Wiser's of the Mountain People, and a man named Kurt Roper. He's an Earthling who defected to the Mountain Region," whispered Trax.

  Just then the screen went blank and loud noises ended the transmission.

  Zorbane knew that sound.

  Who was this Kurt Roper? An Earthling who didn't like the Shapers, defecting? He must have had some skills they wanted to exploit.

  This man might prove to be a valuable ally in the coming maelstrom.

 
; Chapter Twenty-Two

  The Queen of Georgia

  Elvis may be the King of Rock and Roll, but I am the Queen.

  –Little Richard

  The first time we realized we were on the same stage with LITTLE RICHARD in 1963, which seemed like the top of the world for us. That's as big a thrill as I've ever had. The most exciting moment of my life was appearing on the same stage as Little Richard.

  –Keith Richards

  Your music has inspired me – you are the greatest.

  –Elvis Presley

  So Elvis was white and Little Richard was black. This was a great relief. "Thank You God," I said. "There is a difference between them."

  –John Lennon

  I want to do with my guitar what Little Richard does with his voice.

  –Jimi Hendrix

  After hearing Little Richard on record I bought a saxophone and came into the music business. Little Richard was my inspiration.

  –David Bowie

  Zorbane took a pull from the moonshine he occasionally enjoyed before his broadcasts. He was careful though not to drink too much, especially being alone. The blues can overcome anyone. He leaned into his microphone app and begin to read Haskell's notes.

  “Richard Wayne Penniman was born on December 5th, 1932, in Macon, Georgia, and is still raising a ruckus today. This native Georgian was one of the pivotal figures in the explosion of rock and roll into the scene in the 1950s. In November of 1955, his first single for Specialty Records entered the R&B charts, a song called "Tutti-Frutti," and it sounded like nothing that anybody had ever heard before. Compared to most of the other records of the day, "Tutti-Frutti" was like an atomic bomb exploding. Over the course of the next three years, Richard released several of the greatest rock and roll records ever made. Most adults in those days thought that his music was absolutely barbaric, and to top it off, he regularly wore makeup on stage, had a wild hairdo, and led a fairly open bisexual lifestyle for those days.

  After two wild years of sold-out concerts, big hit records, movies, and incredible fame, in late 1957 Richard decided that he was quitting the rock and roll business and going into the ministry. Legend has it that he had been scared sick on a rough flight during an Australian tour. He supposedly tossed his expensive jewelry into the Sydney Harbor, and he quit the tour with a bunch of dates still left, reportedly missing out on about half a million dollars-worth of receipts from the cancelled shows.

  For the next three years or so, Specialty Records continued to release material that he had already recorded before his "retirement" from show business. A few years later, he was back on the scene with a tour of England that brought out all of the English rock groups of the day to see one of their heroes.

  He has been making live appearances on and off over the past 40 years or so, and in recent times he has reportedly sounded as good in his late 60s and early 70s as he did when he was in his 30s. Little Richard defies the natural laws of time and space.

  ROCK AND ROLL ARTISTS INFLUENCED BY LITTLE RICHARD:

  Nearly every rock and roll artist who came after him was influenced by him, but here's a short list of artists who have recorded his songs: Elvis Presley, The Beatles, The Kinks, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Eddie Cochran, Buddy Holly, The Everly Brothers, Bill Haley, Sam Cooke, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Mitch Ryder, Hollies, Swinging Blue Jeans, Chambers Brothers, Jimi Hendrix, Isley Brothers, MC5, Queen, etc. Jimi Hendrix's first live appearances of note came as a guitarist in Little Richard's band, the Upsetters.

  ARTISTS WHO STARTED AS LITTLE RICHARD IMITATORS:

  James Brown, Otis Redding, Don Covay, Joe Tex, and Larry Williams. All of these artists made records early in their careers where they were trying to sound like Little Richard.

  No Little Richard:

  No Elton John.

  No Freddie Mercury.

  No Queen.

  No Bowie.

  No Iggy Pop.

  No glam rock.

  No ‘Glee’ TV show.

  Little Richard was a true trailblazer. And, most importantly, my fellow Zeonese, he did his acting up when it wasn't part of the Earth mainstream culture. He, along with others, made it so., said Zorbane signing off”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  The Times They Are A-Changin'

  Come gather 'round people

  Wherever you roam

  And admit that the waters

  Around you have grown

  And accept it that soon

  You'll be drenched to the bone

  If your time to you

  Is worth savin'

  Then you better start swimmin'

  Or you'll sink like a stone

  For the times they are a-changin'

  –Bob Dylan

  Jonathan "Gentle Genius" Richardson had been a prodigy since he first solved his first calculus problem at the tender age of eight. His mathematical brilliance sent him shooting through high school and landed him a scholarship to M.I.T. at age 16. Once there, he was so blindingly smart, even in a campus full of science savants, Jonathan stood out. Soon enough, NASA came a calling. Like running backs that can run the 40-yard dash in under 4.5 seconds, Theoretical Physics students who are lauded and befriended by the likes of a young Carl Sagan are soon recognized as very special.

  His circle of friends inside NASA back in the early sixties had included the Cal Tech astrophysics genius Leigh Redmond. They both shared a love of music, especially folk music, and both had been involved in the Civil Rights movement. Though not enough to risk life and limb, mind you; NASA had convinced them they were just too important to the Space Program that President Kennedy prized so much to be traveling down South and getting their very valuable brains bashed in.

  But as the sixties wore on, Jonathan and his inner circle of colleagues had become gradually disappointed in America and NASA as a whole. They were particularly disillusioned with Kennedy's Cold War stance against Russia, which they had affection and respect for from their sacrifices in WWII, and, of course their attempt at creating a classless society. Then when Kennedy authorized American ground troops into Vietnam, they were seriously taken aback. Their politics were the same as many of their fellows both inside NASA and in the intellectual circles they frequented. To them, the entire International Vanguard of Communists were only doing what was necessary to survive against the true world bully, the capitalist United States of America. But they had stayed the course at NASA even after their one-time prince and benefactor President Kennedy was murdered by a committed Communist fanatic. In fact, Kennedy's star rose with them because they were certain his assassination was a right-wing conspiracy and Oswald their unwitting dupe.

  Several months after the tragic affair in Dallas, Jonathan and his circle were taken by a young folk singer who seemed to share their world view. He was a genius with words and his ascension onto the cultural landscape gave them new hope for the future of the country. Indeed, he seemed to articulate their thoughts and political philosophy like no one else they had ever heard. They were completely mesmerized by this artist from Minnesota.

  Then when they heard rumors he was to play at the prestigious Newport Folk Festival, Jonathan and Leigh were ecstatic. His songs had been mostly heard by like-minded people. Now here was his chance to make a truly indelible mark on the world, as his message songs like "Masters of War" and "Blowin’ in the Wind" would be heard by hundreds of thousands of people. Jonathan and his friends would get there early to claim good seats. He hadn't been this excited in a long time. And what a day it promised to be, a gathering of truly open-minded people who had the ability and intelligence to uplift this sad, backwards
country. They would truly be among friends, thousands and thousands of the American vanguard.

  But we're getting ahead of ourselves. Before Jonathan, Leigh and others would venture to Newport and witness that epoch-changing festival, a gathering that would subsequently alter intergalactic history, there are a few other characters we will meet who will also play vital roles in our tale.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  The Appeal of the Surreal

  I don't think punk ever really dies, because punk rock attitude can never die.

  –Billy Idol

  Zorbane, who is now sure that he has planted the seeds of revolution into the Mountain Region, reads from Haskell's notes. He can't get this group's music out of his head.