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Tomconroy

(7,611 posts)
Mon Oct 11, 2021, 10:43 AM Oct 2021

It was weird and creepy reading about the Beach Boys.

Last edited Mon Oct 11, 2021, 04:08 PM - Edit history (1)

After enjoying the Brian Wilson concert Friday I did a little background reading..I knew some of this but not a lot of it.
One day in 1968 Dennis Wilson picked up two female hitchhikers. He invited them back to his home, had sex with them and said they could stay with him. Both woman belonged to the Manson family. A little while later Dennis returned home and found that many members of the family, including Charles Manson, had moved in. They stayed a month and trashed the house. Dennis Wilson did drugs and had sex with the family. He finally left his own house and.let his manager evict the Mansons.
Dennis was impressed with Manson's talent as a musician. He learned to play the guitar while in prison. He was taught to play by Alvin Karpis, the former Public Enemy Number One and member of the Ma Barker bank robbery gang. Dennis Wilson paid for a studio recording session for Manson where Manson threatened a studio employee with a knife. Dennis Wilson bought a song from Manson, changed the title the arrangement and some of the lyrics. The Beach Boys recorded the song on an album. When Manson found out his lyrics had been changed he threatened Wilson.
Wilson arranged for Manson to record at his brother Brian's in home studio. Brian Wilson was unimpressed by Manson's talent. His wife thought the women who accompanied Manson had extremely poor hygiene. Presumably the tapes of Manson's recording session exist but have never been released. Manson was not signed by the Beach Boys management company.
Wilson introduced Manson to many other musicians including Frank Zappa, Mama Cass Elliot and Neil Young. Young in particular thought Manson was extremely talented.
Wilson also introduced Manson to Terry Melcher, a famous record producer who was the son of Doris Day. Melcher visited Manson twice at the ranch where the Manson family was living but ultimately declined to sign Manson to a contract.
Melcher decided to leave his rented house where he lived with his girlfriend and moved to a beach front house owned by his mother. The next tenants in Melcher's former home were Roman Polanski and Sharon Tate. One day Manson came looking for Melcher at his old place and was thrown off the property by the owner. After the murders of Tate and her friends but before Manson's arrest, Melcher and his girlfriend returned to their new home and found a threatening note that had been left by Manson.
Melcher's girlfriend was the actress Candice Bergen. A few years before this Bergen had been a student at the University of Pennsylvania. One day out of the blue Bergen got a call from a complete stranger asking her out on a date. She agreed to go. The man arrived for the date in a stretch maroon limousine and wore a maroon three piece suit. The man was Donald Trump. The date did not go well. Candice Bergen was home by 9:00PM.
There is more but it's all pretty creepy and strange.












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Tomconroy

(7,611 posts)
4. I read a bunch of articles. I think if you Google Dennis Wilson
Mon Oct 11, 2021, 11:54 AM
Oct 2021

Last edited Mon Oct 11, 2021, 05:25 PM - Edit history (3)

And charles manson you will find all sorts of stuff. Neil Young's opinion is in his autobiography. Neil Young did say that Manson met a great many people in the music industry, most of whom today would deny any connection. Young did try to get Manson a recording contract. There is video of Candice Bergen telling the Trump story
Both Melcher and Wilson were witnesses at the Manson trial.
The Alvin Karpis story I read in a few places including Wikipedia. I think it's from an autobiography Karpis published late in life.

luvs2sing

(2,220 posts)
5. I remember reading about this..
Mon Oct 11, 2021, 11:58 AM
Oct 2021

in two books I read about Manson in the 70s, The Family, and Helter Skelter. That whole Laurel Canyon music scene was insane..and it was the sixties.

Oh..the part about TFG was not in those two books, but I have read it somewhere..probably here.

 

Tomconroy

(7,611 posts)
7. I vaguely knew the Wilson and Melcher stories but I didn't
Mon Oct 11, 2021, 12:37 PM
Oct 2021

Know how involved they were. Apparently there is audio of the first Manson studio recording and also some that Melcher had made on youtube, but I decided not to go there. Bad karma in spades.

 

Tomconroy

(7,611 posts)
6. Dennis Wilson was wracked with guilt for the rest of his life
Mon Oct 11, 2021, 12:22 PM
Oct 2021

Because of his connection to Manson. Wilson drowned diving into Marina Del Ray trying to retrieve objects belonging to his first wife that he had thrown into the water three years before.
Brian Wilson still suffers from schizophrenia. He hears voices all the time telling him to harm himself. The voices are particularly strong when he is on stage. So it's a tribute to his courage that he is willing to perform live and share his music.
When the curtain rose at the concert the first thing my wife said to me was: They're dressed just like you!
Sure enough, Brian was wearing a pink button down shirt and Al Jardine was wearing a blue blazer. Well, that wasn't creepy.

GReedDiamond

(5,299 posts)
10. "Presumably the tapes of Manson's recording session exist but have never been released."
Mon Oct 11, 2021, 03:44 PM
Oct 2021

Actually, the record, titled LIE, was released by the Manson Family after Charlie and the others were arrested.

They hoped to sell records to raise money for their legal defense.

The cover art was the infamous LIFE Magazine photo of Charlie, with the F in "LIFE" removed to spell "LIE."

It's readily available on YouTube.

Here's the back cover art, which features a phone interview of Manson by my old friend, Steve Alexander, who was on the staff of "Tuesday's Child," a Los Angeles underground newspaper at the time of the Manson murders.

If you open the image in a new tab, you can see/read the text of the interview.

 

Tomconroy

(7,611 posts)
11. Yes. But that wasn't the stuff recorded at Brian Wilson's house.
Mon Oct 11, 2021, 03:52 PM
Oct 2021

Those were other recordings. Manson actually made royalties, mostly from a Guns and Roses recording of one of his songs. Fortunately one of his victims sued him and receives the royalties. I haven't even listened to the Beach Boys song. Don't want to go there.

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