By: Jonathan Yates

Before Charles Manson became a renowned serial killer and an iconic symbol for evil, he had a very music-based path in mind – he hungered to become a legendary rocker. The story begins when he was completing his stint in a federal correctional institution in California where he learned how to play the guitar from Alvin “Old Creepy” Karpis of the Ma Barker gang. Alvin insisted him the best he could and gave Charles his contacts in the music industry for him to jumpstart to his career upon his release. Another fellow inmate that assisted him during his stint was Phil Kaufman, the famed road manager for the Rolling Stones, Gram Parsons, and a number of other musicians. He provided him with even more contacts and after hearing Charles sing, Kaufman stated that he “sounded like a young Frankie Laine and was really quite good.” Those contacts he acquired eventually led Manson to record his first demos with Universal Studios in Hollywood after moving from San Francisco, which is where he stayed for a period after his release in 1967.

While in San Francisco, Charles partook in the LSD fad in the hippie scene and reinvented himself as a guru which led him to recruit his first followers who later became a part of his co-called ‘family.’ Eventually, Charles decided to journey to Hollywood to follow up on his music industry leads he obtained while in the joint. During a relentless campaign to break into the music biz, Charles met a number of prominent musicians such as Neil Young who also mingled with the Manson family on an occasion. “Spooky times. A few people were at this house on Sunset Boulevard and the people were different. I didn’t know what it was; I was meeting them and he was not a happy guy but he seemed to have a hold on girls. It was the ugly side of the Maharishi. You know, there's one side of the light, nice flowers and white robes and everything, and then there's something that looks a lot like it but just isn't it at all,” he recalled. Another player in the scene he briefly socialized with was John Phillips of the Mamas and Papas. After others suggested that he record with Charles, Phillips stated that he’d “just shudder every time.” He hastily declined the idea to work with Manson.

Moreover, the most promising contact Charles made was with Dennis Wilson, the drummer for the popular group, Beach Boys, and he provided Manson with studio time at his brother’s home recording studio. Although Wilson was not willing to hand over his music contacts to Charles, he did maintain interest in his work. During this period, Manson depended on drugs and his entourage of women to transcend his musical ability and to keep Wilson attentive. Stephen Despar, the recording technician for the Beach Boys, recalled Charles’s time in the studio by stating that Charles “brought nothing, except half a dozen girls.” He continued by declaring that his entourage “stayed in the studio with him and smoked dope.” Nevertheless, Stephen still insisted that Charles had some musical talent. Furthermore, Wilson figured Manson’s music was the reason for these women being engulfed into him by asserting "why else would all these chicks be hanging around this elfish little hippie? It's gotta be the music.” Wilson’s high opinion was short-lived when it was revealed that the entourage of women had tricked Manson out of $100,000 and had given him the claps in the summer of 1968.

Although Manson’s dirty laundry was exposed, Dennis, nonetheless, did persuade his band members to record one of Manson’s songs on their upcoming album entitled 20/20. Manson named the song “Cease to Exist,” but the Beach Boys renamed the track to “Never Learn Not to Love” and altered certain lyrics within the musical piece. To say the least, Charles was not a horrible songwriter and produced some intriguing pieces. Even though his first recordings in 1967 at Universal Studios was not considered rock star material, he showed a vast improvement from his first demo compared to several tracks he recorded the following year such as “Garbage Dump” which were incorporated into his LIE album. Both recordings showed Charles being timid and unrefined, but he was developing quicker than most people probably realized. Later, Dennis proclaimed that Manson “didn't have a musical bone in his whole body,” but he did acquire a song from the future serial killer. Thus, Manson must have had some musical ability regardless of the fact that he completely lacked motivation and discipline when it came to the actual recording process.

Charles would routinely arrive at studios ill-prepared and showed a lack of interest in the ideas of his producer, Bobby Beausoleil. Charles always included his so-called ‘family’ into his recordings and stated “what fun would it be without all of us?” Each one of his ‘family’ members had their own instrument to add to the sound which was probably a complete headache for the recording technician. Charles even admitted to his of disinterest in the recording process. “I never really dug recording, you know, all those things pointing at you. You get in the studio, and it’s hard to sing into microphones. My relationship to music is completely subliminal, it just flows through me,” Charles clarified.

Nonetheless, Charles’s musical rebelliousness and state of mind seemed to be too deep of a hole for his developing musical talent to climb out of. I’m quite sure he was disappointed in his musical failures, which leads one to believe that these letdowns could have possibly triggered the infamous murderers. Two of the infamous crimes happened on Cielo Drive and Waverly Drive. Terry Melcher was a music executive who never offered Charles a contract after hearing him perform and he formerly lived at the mansion that the Charles’s ‘family’ committed the murders at. During a visit to Melcher’s estate, Charles even met Sharon Tate, one of his victims, on one particular occasion there. Is it also coincidence that the murderers on Waverly Drive happened next door to where Phil Kaufman lived? "Manson had the La Biancas killed when he was looking for Harold and me. I had previously fallen out with Charlie over his music and he was after me,” Kaufman admitted. Regardless if his failure in music biz was the main reason for the string of murderers, it sure seemed to be connected. Ultimately, Charles never became a rock legend, but he did become a legend for something.