The Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson’s connection to Charles Manson is in focus amid renewed conversations about the notorious cult leader’s life after the release of a new Netflix documentary – ‘Conversations with a Killer: The Charles Manson Tapes’. It was directed by Joe Berlinger.
The new documentary explored the brutal 1969 murders of actress Sharon Tate and six others, orchestrated by Manson.
“It’s a horrifying story about a mastermind manipulating other people to do their evil bidding, where these people at the time of the crime, because of drug use and his influence, were remorseless,” Berlinger told USA TODAY. “It was Hollywood's worst nightmare.”
The victims of the August 8, 1969 rampage included Tate, the pregnant wife of movie director Roman Polanski; coffee heiress Abigail Folger; celebrity hairstylist Jay Sebring; writer Wojciech Frykowski; and teenager Steven Parent. Supermarket executive Leno LaBianca and his wife, Rosemary LaBianca, were stabbed and killed the following night.
Manson was reportedly trying to secure a recording contract at the time, and Wilson introduced him to various industry friends, unaware of how dangerous Manson was.
"Through Dennis and some of those gatherings, I met a lot of people with solid connections, including Terry Melcher, Gregg Jakobson and several others who liked my music enough to want to record and market me and my material," said Manson in the 1994 book, "Manson in His Own Words."
During the period of their friendship, Manson gave the Beach Boys a song titled "Cease to Exist." Wilson rewrote some of the lyrics and changed the title to "Never Learn Not to Love," added it to their 1969 LP 20/20, but did not give a writing credit to Manson, Rolling Stone reported.
“Never Learn Not to Love" was the B-side to the Beach Boys song "Bluebirds Over the Mountain.” It was released in December 1968.
Wilson later said about not crediting Manson with the song, "He didn't want that. He wanted money instead. I gave him about a hundred thousand dollars' worth of stuff."
Wilson found a bullet on his bed shortly after his friendship with Manson ended, The Washington Post reported. Wilson allegedly beat Manson up after the cult leader threatened his family.
The infamous Tate-LaBianca murders were carried out about a year after Wilson and Manson's physical altercation. Mike Love, Wilson's cousin, told ABC News, "For my cousin … our group member to be involved with that and to have the guilt associated with that, I mean, had to be a tough ... burden for him to carry for the rest of his life.”
Wilson died of an accidental drowning in 1983.
Manson died on November 19, 2017, at the age of 83. He died at a hospital in Kern County, Bakersfield, California, while serving a life sentence for mass murder. He passed away from cardiac arrest resulting from respiratory failure, brought on by colon cancer.
Sumanti Sen covers everything that’s happening in the US, from politics to entertainment, but her expertise lies in covering crime news. She has comprehensively chronicled the Idaho student murders, the Laken Riley and Iryna Zarutska cases, and the killing of Charlie Kirk, among other incidents. Over the years, she has interviewed several victims/families of victims of crimes seeking justice. She digs up stories that might otherwise remain unheard, and does her bit to ensure that victims and survivors’ voices are heard. Sumanti’s many years of experience also include interviews with Hamas attack survivors and mental health experts, among others. Her coverage of the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel and interviews with survivors of the tragedy, coupled with her other works including the Titan submersible coverage, earned her the Digi Journo of the Quarter award during her first year at Hindustan Times. Sumanti actively tracks missing person cases in the United States, and peruses Reddit and other social media platforms to bring to light cases that frequently elude public attention. She has extensively covered the disappearances of Nancy Guthrie, Thomas Medlin, Beau Mann, and Sudiksha Konanki, among others. When not at work, you will either find her with her novels, or with her beloved rescue pooches.Read More
