The local hero is astronaut Charles Duke, Jr. valedictorian of the class of '53 at Admiral Farragut Academy, 501 Park Street. The school is in the former Jungle Country Club Hotel.
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| Portrait of Astronaut Charles M. Duke Jr., in space suit with a lunar globe in front of him and an American flag behind him. Source: NASA |
According to the Stryker Brothers website, the music was found in a trunk on an estate in Texas, long after the brothers - Coal and Flynt - had died in a prison fire. "We pilfered through the trunk finding random memorabilia dating back to the early 90’s. Also included was a handwritten letter from Charlie Duke on official Apollo 16 letterhead referencing the Stryker Brothers. We knew we found something fantastic."
The Stryker Brothers' backstory would be tragic if it were true, but in reality the band members Robert Earl Keen and Randy Rogers are very much alive and well and still making music. They just wanted to have a little fun by creating the fictitious and mysterious brothers.
Oh, and if it wasn't enough to have a country song written about you, Charlie Duke also happens to be known for being the tenth - and youngest - man to walk on the moon. As a member of the Apollo 16 crew, he landed on the moon, drove on the surface in the lunar rover for 16.6 miles, picked up some rocks, came back to earth and placed one of those rocks in a display case at Admiral Farragut Academy, less than a mile from my home. Moon rocks are a very rare commodity and we have one right here in the Jungle at 501 Park Street North.
The book "Charlie Duke Moonwalker," edited by Mark Jones Jr., describes how the moon cassette tape came into being. Charlie called Bill Bailey, a DJ friend from Pasadena, Texas and asked if he could make a 60 minute tape for his trip to the moon. Two identical tapes were produced and traveled on Apollo 16. One cassette was left on the moon surface at the base of the U.S. flag and the other was brought back and donated to the Smithsonian. I haven't located the entire playlist, but some of the songs on the cassette are "Okie from Muskogee" by Merle Haggard, and "Joshua" and "How Great Thou Art" by Dolly Parton. Also heard on the tape were Buck Owens, Floyd Cramer, Chet Atkins, and Jerry Reed.
Here is the 2018 song by the Stryker Brothers and astronaut Charlie Dukes' tongue in cheek recollection of meeting the Stryker Brothers.
YouTube:
Stryker Brothers-Charlie Duke Took Country Music to the Moon
Charlie Duke on the search for the Strykers
