It's an interesting set of CDs (and recorded a year before the LIE sessions). As with the LIE sessions it's a collection of inoffensive hippie folk-pop tunes, but what also makes these CDs intriguing is that Manson sounds somewhat unprepared and unconfident in the studio situation. Between some of the songs we get to hear Manson talking and responding to the sound engineer and he sounds pretty nervous. He also stops some songs halfway through and generally messes about. We get the impression that the engineer isn't taken in by Manson's philosphies on life in the way that the rest of Manon's young and impressionable "family" perhaps were.

PLEASE NOTE: These CDs are not mass produced and have low budget packaging. Also - as can be expected - the sound quality is far from perfect (the audio is generally quite low in places), and in some cases dips away almost completely during some of the dialogue.

As with most things Manson, there's a number of rumours and stories surrounding his musical career and this recording in relation to the murders at 10050 Cielo Drive on August 9th 1969.

Charles Manson was keen musician having been taught the steel guitar by infamous gangster Alvin "Old Creepy" Karpis (sole survivor of the Ma Barker gang) whilst in prison. His prison records of May 1966 noted "he has been spending most of his free time writing songs, accumulating about 80 or 90 of them during the past year... He also plays the guitar and drums, and is hopeful that he can secure employment as a guitar player or as a drummer or singer."

Upon release from prison in 1967 (where up to that point he'd spent more than half his life behind bars) Manson blended in to the hippie scene in San Francisco and soon had a loyal bunch of middle-class drop-out kids as followers. During this time he managed to meet Dennis Wilson from the Beach Boys (after Wilson had picked up two of Manson's girls hitch-hiking). Wilson introduced Manson to producer Terry Melcher (Doris Day's son) who came to hear Manson play at Spahn ranch but wasn't impressed enough to offer him a contract.

During this time Dennis Wilson arranged for Charlie to be recorded at his brother's home recording studio. Stephen Despar (a sound engineer for the Beach Boys) described the sessions. "He brought nothing, except half a dozen girls, and they stayed in the studio with him and smoked dope." Despar also added, "He had musical talent." Manson later said this of recording; "I never really dug recording, you know, all those things pointing at you. You get into the studio, and it's hard to sing into microphones. My relationship to music is completely subliminal, it just flows through me."

Dennis Wilson 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. Gun's n' Roses also covered the song Look At Your Game Girl on their 1993 LP The Spaghetti Incident.

One motive put forward for the murders of Sharon Tate and the other occupants at 10050 Cielo Drive was revenge by Manson for Melcher's refusal to sign Manson to release an album of his music. Manson was introduced to Terry Melcher while Melcher was still living at 10050 Cielo Drive. There's also a link with the second crime scene, Leno and Rosemary LaBianca's house at 3301 Waverly Drive. Manson had attended parties with (road manager) Phil Kaufman at 3267 Waverly Drive - the house next door to the La Blanca's. Kaufman says of this, "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."

Manson allegedly told a friend in the summer of 69, "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."

Packaging & Liner Notes
Standard double CD jewel case. No liner notes. Shockingly low budget insert and CD artwork (it's homemade!).