Charles Manson: musical motive?

Charles Manson

I was first drawn into the world of serial killer, Charles Manson, after reading ‘Helter Skelter’ by Vincent Bugliosi. As with most of the thing that I take an interest in, I then went on to read everything and anything about him and ‘the Family’. I was fascinated by all the music "clues" that surrounded the family and the murders.

I became fascinated by the failings of the hippie mentality of the '60s that the Manson murders represented. I have a copy of his album LIE and I was terribly disappointed by it. This was no 'hippie messiah', with a new philosophy that was going to change the world. Had there not been the notorious Manson murders, I seriously doubt that any of Charlie's music would have become well known.

I won't go into too much of Manson’s background, it seems to be well known enough. In 1967, Charlie was released from prison after serving half of his life in various institutions. And yes, that means that he could not have auditioned for the Monkees because he was still incarcerated in 1966. In prison, he learned guitar Alvin Karpis of the Ma Barker gang and he became interested in Scientology

Charlie made quite a few contacts with those in the music business such as Neil Young, John Phillips of the Mamas and Papas and most famously, Beach Boys drummer, Dennis Wilson.

members of 'The Family'

Dennis was willing to not only introduce him to his music industry contacts (such as Terry Melcher), but also recorded Charlie at his brother Brian’s home recording studio. Once the drugs had worn off, Dennis discovered that Charlie's girls gave him the clap and Manson's hippy followers fleeced him of about $100,000 (in the summer of 1968) - the reality set in.

However, Dennis did convince the Beach Boys to record one of Charlie's songs on their new 20/20 album. ‘Cease To Exist’ was recorded under the new title of ‘Never Learn Not to Love‘. The song was the b-side of a Beach Boys single, which only made it to number 61 in the charts. Charlie could later claim the notoriety of being the only serial killer to have a song in the charts!

There are many theories banded about as to why the Manson Family committed those murders in the hot summer of 1969. One theory is that the murders were to incite a race war letting Manson take over the world, another was to take the heat of Family member Bobby Beausoleil who was arrested a few days before the Tate murders for the murder of musician Gary Hinman. Another strange motive was that the Tate and LaBianca murders were a retaliation for Manson’s rejection by the ‘music establishment’ (Terry Melcher, a music producer, used to live at 10050 Ceilo Drive where Sharon Tate and Roman Polanski set up home.)

actress Sharon Tate

If the murders were not some sort of twisted revenge, there are however many interesting coincidences. There are ties to both the Cielo Drive and the Waverly Drive crime scenes and Manson was familiar with both places. Manson was introduced to Terry Melcher, while Melcher was still living at 10050 Cielo Drive. Another incident places Charlie at 10050 Cielo Drive, when Dennis drove Melcher home, as Charlie sat in the back seat. Rudy Altobelli, a business manager for celebrities, lived in the guesthouse at Cielo Drive. He had contact several times with Manson when he came to the house looking for Terry Melcher. During one visit, Charlie even met Sharon Tate.

Charlie pursued his musical aspirations through 1969. Terry Melcher came to hear Manson play at Spahn ranch but wasn't impressed enough to offer a contract. While Family members claimed that Melcher discussed a recording contract, Melcher denied ever discussing this.

Ultimately, Charlie failed to convince anyone to sign him to a record contract. Was this the spark or just a coincidence in the resulting murders? Manson allegedly told a friend that summer, "How are you going to get to the establishment? You can't sing to them. I tried that, I tried to save them, but they wouldn't listen. Now we've got to destroy them."

Of all the books that have been written about Charles Manson over the years, each one has its own theory as to why the murders were committed. Of course, the "Helter Skelter" theory is the most popular, simply due to the enormous popularity of the book and TV movie.

While the Helter Skelter motive has the dramatic mixture of the Beatles, the Bible, drugs, sex and the apocalypse - it doesn't answer the 'motive' question once and for all. Were the Manson murders just payback for drug burns? (There is evidence that murder victim Frykowski was trying to be a dealer for the drug MDA) Was it just coincidental that both of these houses had 'musical' ties? When you mix all the drugs, sex and music...who knows what really went down?

Only Charlie truly knows. But, I have a feeling that Charlie will take his true motives to the grave.


http://www.charliemanson.com/

Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi