Perhaps They Should Have Signed Him

Before becoming a most notorious murderer, Charles Manson was known as just another hippie singer/songwriter. The original freak-folk – the Manson family – would sit around and listen to Charlie interpret Revelations, regale them with his philosophy of Helter Skelter, and play his psych-folk guitar music.

Taught by a Gangster

Manson was taught by a gangster how to play a steel guitar during one of his many prison stints before the Tate-LaBianca murders. Once outside, he felt his playing and songwriting needed to be heard. He fell in with the Beach Boys and Neil Young and even convinced Young and Dennis Wilson to pitch his songs to their record executives.

Eventually the Beach Boys did record a Manson composition called 'Cease To Exist. The title was changed to 'Never Learn Not To Love"' and was released as the 'B' side of the single 'Bluebirds Over The Mountain', which climbed to number 61 in early 1969, giving Manson a hit record on Billboard's Hot 100. It took a while for Dennis to catch on that Manson was a "hanger on" and by the time Dennis ended the friendship, Manson had soaked him for over $100,000.

Repeatedly denied recording contracts, Manson unleashed his most vitriolic threats and hatred upon the producers who turned him down. It became clear during the trial that Manson chose the Polanski/Tate house as the primary target because he believed Terry Melcher, the last record exec to refuse to release Manson’s music and previous owner of the home, still lived there.

Separating the Man from the Music

Thirty six years after the murders, with Manson refusing to appear at his latest parole hearing, we are finally approaching the time when we can separate the music from the man. In a time when the hippie-collective aesthetic is enjoying a renaissance, it is more than a little fascinating to hear the Manson family sing, play and improvise.

A Real Knack for Songwriting

Manson’s song structures come from pop, rock and blues, and he plays a lot of major seventh chords, creating drones that are always on the verge of resolution. His voice is not terrible, and in the wake of some recording today, it sounds comparably great. Tracks such as "Look At Your Game, Girl," "Arkansas," "Garbage Dump," and "Devil Man" display a real knack for songwriting. The really eerie parts of this album come in the form of family sing-alongs like "I’ll Never Say Never To Always," and Manson’s life-lessons, that one can picture being ingested by half-naked teenage girls on LSD.

Adapted from an article written by Ben Weiss Friday, 28 April 2006 on
KBGA 89.9FM Missoula website.