Aug 12, 2022·edited Aug 12, 2022Liked by Graham Linehan
Up until Manson the new long hairs were thought of as being universally peace loving guileless apostle-like peace-niks, holy-ish fools in sandals (or welfare cheats, at worst--- drop outs, bums). And the Tate murders ended that lazy delusion, bang!: the illusion that you could tell nearly all you needed to know about people by their age and presentation, by their hair and the clothes they wore. --- Then came crystals and E.S.T. and Scientology picked up steam when that dropped out, while corporations were gobbling up or destroying every mom n pop small town, local business and unionized manufacturing job everywhere --- or a least 9/10s of them... and the communities that surrounded them--- blue collar America. And then there was the Swami guy, later in Oregon that the children of the unhinged Professional Managerial Classes could experience, and later the Hot Yoga guy, and a lot of other really very expensive salvations from the "3rd world", and Jerry Lee Lewis's cousin Jimmy Swaggart and Jim Jones and Jim Baker and Tammy and Orel and Ernest Angsley...they grew up in the same house Jerry Lee and Swaggart.And the "Moral Majority" (who were a decided minority...) And recovered memory and alien abduction and facilitated communication miracles. --- And Ron Ray-gun's astrologer....
But before all that, before Manson there was the John Birch Society (John Birch being "the first casualty of World War III" and a symbol of the communist plot to take over the U. S. and the world), and Mesmerism and "Multiple Personalities" and "mothers little helpers"--- barbies and speedies for "happier homemakers", and spirit rappers and mediums and Objectivism and Ayn Rand, and fake "Morman Artifacts" and Joe Smith and Brigham, and the Kentucky Wilderness Wildfire Revival... and etc etc etc etc etc.... and the "Lost Cause" bunkum that gave us 100s of courthouse monuments all over ...and the KKK in charge of several states where you couldn't be elected dogcatcher without their say so...
And it has never stopped. It's just on the internet now and there's no filtering, no governor on the machine. Nobody is in charge of the old hollowed out institutions, no investments there --- now we're in the hands of dot.com pirates who don't live anywhere except in their own minds and belong to no county except their own self interest.
--- But for a while there, there was Tom Paine, there was M. L. K. , there was the union movement, and there have been other very, very good ones. Recently the L.G.B. equality movements and the 2nd wave Women's movements.
But there is always this battle between the intellectually lazy and dishonest and magic thinking and simple reason and limits on what you can honestly claim, and rigor and process and openness and science and real knowledge . It was nice when those things, the real, the just things won--- that was glorious. And it would be nice if it would happen again.
Thanks for your part in trying to bring some sanity and honesty and fellow respect back.
Aug 12, 2022·edited Aug 12, 2022Liked by Graham Linehan
Malcolm Maclaren (Sex Pistols’ Manager) said punk was partly a reaction to London being full of “hard bitten hippies pretending to be delicate flowers”. As someone who was a little too young and 18 just when punk began (not a punk but sympathetic) and female this said it all to me. Wolves in sheep’s clothing evolve different disguises from age to age.
This is how Pattie Boyd described George Harrison's bummer of a time with the hippies in her autobiography...
"Afterwards we thought it would be fun to go and have a look at Haight-Ashbury, the district that had been taken over by hippies. Musicians like Jefferson Airplane, Grateful Dead and Janis Joplin lived there, and it was the LSD capital of America. On the way, Derek produced a tab. Would we like some? Since we were going to Haight-Ashbury, it seemed silly not to. The area is named after the intersection of two streets, Haight and Ashbury, and as we approached, the driver said he wouldn’t drive down the street itself, he’d park among the side-streets. It seemed a little odd but we didn’t argue. We got out of the car, the acid kicked in and everything was just whoah, psychedelic and very ... I mean, it was just completely fine. We went into a shop and noticed that all these people were following us. They had recognised George as we walked past them in the street, then turned to follow us. One minute there were five, then ten, twenty, thirty and forty people behind us. I could hear them saying, ‘The Beatles are here, the Beatles are in town!’ We were expecting Haight-Ashbury to be special, a creative and artistic place, filled with Beautiful People, but it was horrible – full of ghastly drop-outs, bums and spotty youths, all out of their brains. Everybody looked stoned – even mothers and babies – and they were so close behind us they were treading on the backs of our heels. It got to the point where we couldn’t stop for fear of being trampled. Then somebody said, ‘Let’s go to Hippie Hill,’ and we crossed the road, hoping the lights were red, and went into a park. Then somebody said, ‘Let’s sit down here,’ and we all sat down on the grass, our retinue facing us, as if we were on stage. They looked at us expectantly – as if George was some kind of Messiah. We were so high, and then the inevitable happened: a guitar emerged from the crowd and I could see it being passed to the front by outstretched arms. I thought, Oh, God, poor George, this is a nightmare. Finally the guitar was handed to him. I had the feeling that they’d listened to the Beatles’ records, analysed them, learnt what they’d thought they should learn, and taken every drug they’d thought the Beatles were singing about. Now they wanted to know where to go next. And
George was there, obviously, to give them the answer. Pressure. George was so cool. He said, ‘This is G, this is E, this is D,’ and showed them a few chords, then handed back the guitar and said, ‘Sorry, man, we’ve got to go now.’ He didn’t sing – he couldn’t have: he was flying. We all were. I was surprised he could even do that. Anyway, we got up and walked back towards our limo, at which point I heard a little voice say, ‘Hey, George, do you want some STP?’ George turned around and said, ‘No, thanks, I’m cool, man.’ Then the bloke turned round and said to the others, ‘George Harrison turned me down.’ And they went, ‘No!’ And then the crowd became faintly hostile. We sensed it because when you’re that high you’re very aware of vibes, and we were walking faster and faster, and they were following. When we saw the limo, we ran across the road and jumped in, and they ran after us and started to rock the car, and the windows were full of these faces, flattened against the glass, looking at us. That was a turning-point for George. We had always thought of drugs as fun, a means of expanding your mind and consciousness. What we saw at Haight-Ashbury was an eye-opener. Those people had dropped out, were sleeping rough and taking all kinds of drugs – some of which were ten times stronger than LSD. STP was one, as George later discovered from Mama Cass Elliot. There was nothing remotely artistic or creative about those people: they were like alcoholics or any other kind of addict, and it turned George right off the whole drug culture. He stopped taking LSD, and took up meditation.
Later, in an interview, Harrison noted he thought the Haight “would be something like King’s Road (in London), only more. Somehow I expected them to all own their own little shops. I expected them all to be nice and clean and friendly and happy. Instead, he said, he found the hippies “hideous, spotty little teenagers.” He further noted, “I went there expecting it to be a brilliant place, with groovy gypsy people making works of art and paintings and carvings in little workshops. But it was full of horrible spotty drop-out kids on drugs, and it turned me right off the whole scene.”
I'm borderline obsessed with this era so I might well be your man, Graham. (The Beach Boys are by far my favourite band, I've researched and read tons of books on Manson, the Wrecking Crew, the LA music scene, etc.)
In truth, I don't think there was much serious actual cross-over between hippies and Hollywood celebs prior to Manson (and certainly not post-Manson), but here is the story of how Manson and his 'Family' came to be heavily involved with A-listers...
It was 1968 and Beach Boys drummer (and supremely underrated songwriter) Dennis Wilson was driving through LA in his open-topped car when he spotted a pair of female hitchhikers. Never one to turn down an opportunity to spend time with young females, Dennis picked them up and took them back home to his LA home. In the event, he didn't engage in any sexual activity or otherwise with them because he had to leave to attend a Beach Boys recording session, and so he soon left and dropped them off elsewhere.
Unbeknowst to 23-year-old Dennis Wilson, the girls were members of Charles Manson's weird 'Family', a gang of misfits and outcasts recruited by the 30-something ex-con. The teenage girls had absolutely no idea who Dennis was, but when they returned to Manson and told him they had been at Dennis Wilson's house, Manson immediately sprung to life. Back then, Manson was an aspiring singer-songwriter, and he knew exactly who Dennis was and that Dennis would have connections within the music business.
When Dennis returned home later that night, the girls had also returned to his home - and they had brought Manson and the rest of his followers with them. When Dennis saw Manson standing on his driveway, he asked 'Are you going to hurt me?' Manson fell to his knees, kissed Dennis's feet and said 'Do I look like I'm going to hurt you, brother?'
The Beach Boys were Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love and schoolfriend Al Jardine, and - despite the perfect music they created - they were famously dysfunctional away from the microphones. Yet even by the standards of the Wilson brothers, Dennis was very messed-up. Despite being ridiculously good-looking, he was riddled with self-hate and insecurity, and was completely directionless when away from the drums or piano, numbing himself with drugs, booze and sex. As such, he was an absolute sucker for Manson's offer of regular group sex and seemingly worldy-wise philosophising.
So Dennis welcomed Manson and his Family into his home. Before long, Manson had played some of his songs for Dennis, and the middle Wilson brother was so impressed that he contacted producer Terry Melcher.
Melcher was Doris Day's son and produced acts such as The Byrds, and Melcher was similarly impressed by Manson's music. It was around this time that Neil Young also met Manson and heard his music (unlike most, Young has always been honest and open about how impressed he was by the charismatic Manson).
A recording session for Manson was arranged in the home studio of Brian Wilson, much to the displeasure of Brian and his wife, Marilyn, who didn't appreciate their house being temporarily overrun by foul-smelling hippies. The session was overseen by engineer Stephen Desper, who worked on several classic Beach Boys albums (Sunflower and Surf's Up), and who Manson pulled a switchblade on during the session. Afterwards, Desper reported to Melcher that Manson was 'unproducable'.
Despite this, Dennis agreed to record a Manson track with the Beach Boys. Originally called Cease to Exist, Dennis renamed it Never Learn Not to Love and the track appeared on the Beach Boys' 1969 album 20/20 and as a B-side during the same period (thus granting Manson top 70 chart success).
A common myth is that Manson was furious that he wasn't credited on the track. This isn't true. Manson didn't care about being credited. He did, however, care about the message conveyed by his lyrics and he was incandescent with rage when he discovered Dennis had rewritten the lyrics.
As a result, an angry Manson showed Dennis a bullet and threatened the life of his son, which either caused Dennis to beat the hell out of Manson or flee in terror (accounts vary, but the former is more in keeping with Dennis's macho volatile nature). Either way, Dennis moved out of his home and left Manson and his Family to be thrown out by the landlord (his dalliance with Manson and co allegedly cost Dennis around 1/2 million dollars in damages and gonorrhea bills).
By now, Manson's hopes of music stardom were fading and he moved out to the Spahn Ranch (a former Hollywood production set) with his followers. Melcher visited him there to watch a Manson audition, but the moment had clearly passed and he wasn't impressed. This further angered Manson.
At the time Melcher lived at Ciello Drive, and Manson had been in a car with Dennis and Melcher at least once at the property, if not several times. However, Melcher had moved out when, six months later, Manson sent some of his followers there to commit murder.
It is often claimed that Manson incorrectly believed Melcher still lived there. This is a myth. Manson knew Melcher had moved out because he had sent his followers to Melcher's new home to scare him by 'creepy-crawling' his home (moving furniture and objects about during the night).
Manson fully knew that Roman Polanski and Sharon Tate now lived at Ciello Drive and he likely just picked the property simply because he was familiar with it, he knew the layout, and he knew that rich famous people lived there.
A GREAT book to read on this subject is Chaos by Tom O'Neill. Highly highly highly recommended. You won't be able to put it down.
The Tom O'Neill book Chaos: The Truth Behind the Manson Murders touches on this specific topic: 10050 Cielo Drive was Ground Zero for the West Coast counter-culture movement, where Hollywood royalty rubbed shoulders with hippies off the street. The philosophy behind it is both good and bad: 1, a genuine attempt to create a contemporary salon culture, where ideas mix freely, and, 2, Manson was the protected pimp to the stars - he supplied underage girls to the L.A. elite and so "couldn't get arrested".
Manson was a pimp. He had been long before he started his "family," and he pimped those poor women and girls, as well. That's why he was welcome in Wilson's home, for a while at least. It was the access to sex with young women and girls that made people put up with him, alas.
Yes! There’s a song on Neil Youngs album ‘on the beach’ called ‘Revolution blues’ that is about him / that time. Seems that Neil was angry that no-one owned up to hanging out with him and also passing the ‘family’ girls around ..
I've been banging on about the similarities between Manson and the GI gang to the bemusement of those around me! This is why I think there is a centralised figure/figures behind it, someone distributing the core information. I know I sound like a loon but it feels too sophisticated to simply come from a few mentally ill people. Gender ideology is genius in its tactics...evil genius of course but you cannot fault its strategy and how quickly it has infiltrated culture.
I watched a Manson documentary recently that has aired on Lifetime in which interviews with current surviving Family members such as Squeaky Fromme were being interviewed. Some of those women are still in complete thrall to "Charlie" as they call him. One woman refused to leave prison at the end of her term because she wanted to remain with her Family members.
One thing that was obvious to me was their behavior at the trials. Their loud, repetitive behavior reminded me of current TRA's shouting repetitive mantras in the face of Kara Dansky at the Phili Speaker's Corner. This is frightening because as the Manson family would kill for him without blinking an eye, so to I believe would these enthralled TRAs if given the signal that it would help their cause.
I don't know much but Terry Melcher (Doris Day's son) and Candace Bergen hung out with them too. The podcast You Must Remember This did a great series on Hollywood and Manson, there may be something on that (it's harrowing though) x
Intriguing questions. Hippies as chosen flower children who will lead the world into a new age. They couldn’t possibly, actually, just be regular humans with regular human foibles and weaknesses, could they? Some of them couldn’t possibly, actually, just be real misfits glomming onto a community that will give them immediate acceptance and access? 'Hippiedom' as a sort of sanitizing flower power with the magical ability to cover over a multitude of sins; and, in some credulous people's minds, possessing an almost 'sacred' anointing as 'exalted other' -- signified simply by long hair and beads and bell bottoms and dropping out.
Alan Watts lives forever on "Alan Watts Radio Livestream" on youtube.
All his lectures were recorded in the 60's, so you can hear for yourself what the vibe of the time was like; the lingo, the topics, the attitude. As well as enjoying a little enlightenment along the way.
IIRC Richard Nixon called the hippies this...because they shunned govts, rules, laws, just wanting to live in Peace & Love, not truly understanding the evils of other humans.
Look into The FBI too, under Hoover, a really vile man....and how FBI drove French actress to take her own life....The Black Panthers, Leonard Peltier, (still in prison to this day for a crime he never committed), AIM, The American Indian Movement, 2 of the leaders were Russell Means and John Trudell, both incredibly intelligent men, no longer with us now, sadly...HATED by US Govts....
There was so much going on at this time in history......so The Hippies were trying to change it all, really trying to bring Love and Peace into the lives of us all.
I can still vividly recall the day Manson murdered Sharon Tate and the others...I was very young, on holiday in Holt, Norfolk. Mum and Dad had the telly on, and suddenly, the news flashed up of this awful murder, of her precious baby too, almost ready to be born...It was beyond horrific. I couldn't believe anyone could be so evil. Mum and Dad turned the TV off fast, but it was everywhere that week, in every newspaper, on every billboard outside shops, etc....Polanski was famous too, of course, no-one knowing of his other side with young girls... It kind of stopped all the Love and Peace feelings....that this Wretched Evil had come a-visiting, led by this Rasputin-like man, with the mad eyes, who had the narcissistic ability to draw everyone in, to captivate them all...........
I so miss The Hippie Days...the beautiful music..it was a very lovely time to be young, flowers in our hair, hope in our hearts...
I watched 'Trainwreck - Woodstock 99' on Netflix the other day, SO different from the original Woodstock, the aggressive music, the aggressive fans, the greed of the organisers, all water/alcohol removed from everyone wanting to enter this awful site, a former airbase, all concrete...They charged a fortune for water, for any form of drinks, toilets overflowed, as did the anger of the crowds, fires started up, whilst stupid bands egged everyone on.
Made me cry...........
It was the very opposite of what Peace & Love was about....
I still wear a flower in my hair to this day, always will....and I hope to be buried with a flower in my hair too....I think my dear and gentle son will sort that for me, bless him.
Where it all went wrong, where Transworld has gone so wrong too, is that very damaged humans ruin it all, mentally unwell, either arriving on the planet thus, or becoming like that due to life treating them so badly. And many can't ever see that. They long for Peace & Love, where everyone is accepted, and they can't bear to look deeper, into The Dark Side, which, so sadly, always comes up again...
To end on a happier note....how it was supposed to be, forever, "with Summertime being a Love In there....gentle people with flowers in their hair..."
Dear Richie Havens, his book, 'They Can't Hide Us Anymore', first and only to arrive into Woodstock on time, all other acts caught up in 30mile traffic jams, all around Yasgur's Farm. Had to keep playing for over 3 hours, making up the songs in the end...In his book you'll read all about that time, all the amazing artists in Greenwich Village, the laid back times, everyone welcome....very 'inclusive' in every way...As with all good movements, The Hippies were infiltrated by The Bad 'Uns...
Many of the old hippies still around in California, accepting of everyone...no matter what...and, I expect, still getting shafted by those who pose as Peace & Love Man, types, who can, so often, have very sinister motives.
I wouldn't call Manson a hippie. He masqueraded as a hippie. Hippies were into peace, love and happiness among other things. Manson was a predator. Manson had no qualms about having people violently killed. If you want a hippie look to John Lennon.
I know it's tangential to your question Graham, but the film "Down and Out in Beverly Hills" with Nick Nolte and Bette Midler encapsulates the scenario you ask about.
Nolte played the part of an alcoholic drifter accepted into an "A list" Hollywood family through his guile and talent.
From the You Must Remember This podcast notes: Future episodes will explore the various celebrities, musicians, movie stars and filmmakers (including Roman Polanski, Sharon Tate, The Beach Boys, Dennis Hopper, Doris Day and more) whose paths crossed with Manson’s in meaningful ways, both leading up to the murders and in their aftermath. Today, we’ll talk about what was going on in the show business capital that made Manson seem like a relatively normal guy.
No - and it’s REALLY bugging me that I can’t remember exactly who. But I have read about people (wealthy, generally sympathetic to the counter culture) who had much poorer hippies living in their homes. There was an obituary in the last few years that had a story like this. I’m going to dig through some stuff this weekend. It’s definitely a thing.
The Mansons damaged our rep among those who disliked us anyway.
We knew they had nothing to do with us.
I loved that time period in my life. Like so many women I was happy to reject the gender boxes that sent boys off to Vietnam; and mistakenly assumed we were freeing ourselves of all the gender boxes. Later realized women were essentially still in the same roles, just more sexual freedom. Men were relieved of Nam and their entire old roles of supporting the family.
There were years before I realized the sexes were not in sinc about the direction and goals of our movement. Those years in between, I was very happy in my ignorant bliss thinking we were united in building a new world.
The original "Helter Skelter" book by Curt Gentry and Manson prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi is an excellent read on the case. I deplore the way that Manson manages to still be regarded as somehow 'cool' in certain quarters. There is no question that he was a racist, misogynist psychopath who didn't truly believe in whatever hippie ideals really meant, he simply used the naivety of lost youngsters for his own ends. He wanted the blacks to rise up... and then turn to HIM as leader. A nasty, evil murderous shitbag of a human being. But a charismatic one, and it says a lot for the time that so many were taken in by him, including some celebrities.
Perhaps it’s the absence of any underlying ideology (the dropping out bit) that made hippies or hippy wannabes more susceptible to shysters. There are no standards in the ‘alternative’. It’s the alternative man…The Bhagwan, the Maharajah, Children of God etc. were all able to find willing supplicants. They were quite happy to sacrifice their children along the way in true Abrahamic style. Have a look at the documentary on Netflix about the Bhagwan (Wild Wild Country) to see how easily children get forgotten in the rush for liberation.
I checked and there is historiography. Manson was a friend of a famous friend of Anton LaVey. Susan Atkins, one of Manson's killers, was in a LaVey topless show. The term "Manson Family" was actually coined by the research staff of the Haight Ashbury Clinic that studied his group as a free love community and it got amplified by the media. Manson became a key figure in the origins of the Satanic Panic as well as a hero to some really messed-up actual satanists. https://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/mar/10/kenneth-anger-interview
I’ve read a few books on the subject and they say that there were so many cults at that time - so Manson was not as noticeable / weird as he might seem now. People ‘dug it’ (hah!)
Will try and find the title of the good book - it’s a fascinating story. Also there are some great bits of footage / documentaries on him on YouTube.
The novel The Girls by Emma Cline is a fictional account of the Manon famy from the perspective of one of the young women he abused. It is a great read.
No I don't know about that...he was bonkers though!
Tom Jones SHOCK: How Tom Jones escaped the clutches of prolific killer Charles Manson
"Unfortunately, she did not reveal a reason why the Welsh singer was chosen, but given that reportedly, Manson arranged the murders to launch the imminent, apocalyptic race war, it can be assumed, Sir Tom was deemed important to the ”war”.
The other famous targets on the list included:
Actor Steve McQueen
Actress and businesswoman Elizabeth Taylor
Actor Richard Burton
Singer Frank Sinatra
Reasons for these other celebrity targets were never revealed and it is unlikely it will ever be revealed as both Atkins and Manson are now dead."
Graham, I appreciate this is off tack but might it be worth doing a piece updating how many historical figures are being trans'd these days. Elizabeth I, Joan of Arc, people involved in the Stonewall riots but I'm sure there's many more. If these people get their way, soon there'll be no actual great women of history left 🤬
Absolutely. I read a book about the music of the period which touched on this, and alluded to a connection between the Stones, their album "Their Satanic Majesties Request", and their association with Manson.
Tom Wolfe wrote ‘radical chic, Mau mauing the flack catchers’ about the fascination high society had with the black panthers. He also wrote electric kool aid acid test about Ken Kesey and the merry pranksters. There was quite a lot of interplay on the music scene, more so around SF and swinging London. HST used to hang about with politicians, the pranksters including, bizarrely sort of befriending Nixon (they bonded over football, even though HST loathed the man).
Maybe it wasn’t the scene where anyone could walk into a celebrities apartment, but there were overlaps in places. Zane Kesey, Ken’s son may be able to help you as he was at the heart of that scene.
Look up Steve Hodel, a former cop who authored a book stating he believed his father, George, murdered the Black Dahlia.
Steve married his father’s mistress, Kiyo, and lived on Laurel Canyon where she was astrologer to the stars.
Steve’s sister Tamar claimed she was molested by her father, George. I believed Steve backed this up, going as far as to cite an incestuous affair between George and Tamar.
Steve’s sister Tamar got tangled up with Michelle Phillips, and subsequently John Phillips. Both members of the Mamas and the Papas, also living at Laurel Canyon.
John Phillips had a penchant for underage girls, including his own daughter. Both John and his daughter claim they had an incestuous affair.
Manson attended many parties at the home of ‘Mama’ Cass Elliot, who had an open house policy. The Manson Family bus was also spotted outside the home of John and Michelle Phillips, including New Years Eve party of 1968, eight months prior to the Tate/Labianca murders.
Author Tom O'Neill is the expert on Manson and all that surrounded him during that period. His book is a must-read. He was on Joe Rogan's podcast and I highly recommend the episode. The things he uncovered (things he can prove) are jaw dropping.
Dennis Wilson was in a drug induced state since he was a teenager so he was clueless to how Manson was manipulating him,I don't think that many 'celebrities' wanted anything to do with Manson,it would only take a few minutes of talking to him to see that he was dangerous,Steve McQueen wanted to hire someone to kill all of the Manson family, many celebrities feared that they would be Manson's next victims. CSN,the other beach boys avoided the Manson family.
BBC documentarian Adam Curtis did a series," Can't get you out of my Head", that explored numerous aspects of our emotional post WW2 history. Many of the current issues that are troubling at the moment, were "explored" in the series of programmes. Thoroughly recommended checking it, and other Curtis documentaries, out. Very enlightening.
I think it may have been that these celebs may have wanted to scotch any accusations of having 'sold out' and used Manson and his ilk to show how down they were with the counter culture.
I'm going to write this before reading anyone else's comments. I lived in the LA area in 1969 for a short while. At the time the Manson Family had murdered a school principal in a parking lot if I remember correctly, and the atmosphere was definitely on edge.
That said, there was a sea change in hippiedom in San Francisco from basically an alternative economic and social structure to Haight-Ashbury (a working-class neighborhood) turning into a place for teenage runaways. I was always skeptical of hippiedom because it seemed so flaky, and it has a lot to do with today's "just accept everyone as they are" philosophy. Was it Firesign Theater or Procter & Bergman who did the bit about the man trying to talk to a politician (complete with Kennedy accent) about a young woman who needed help? "But, senator baby, she's starving!" "Young man, that's her trip."
Jeezums, how the powers-that-be have exploited that sentiment!
Never heard about celebrities allowing freaks to wander through their houses.
Can thoroughly recommend 'Riot on Sunset Strip: Rock 'n' Roll's Last Stand in Hollywood ' by Domenic Priore - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Riot-Sunset-Strip-Hollywood-Revised/dp/1908279907 Dominic was a great interview and helped our documentary on the Whisky a Go Go, especially the hippie scene which was turning ugly and dangerous around that time, leading to the riots and police crackdown and state and city sanctioned violence. I was in LA for a while, interviewing musicians from The Doors, Jefferson Airplane but the ones that stood out were the people around the scene, workers and waitresses at the Whisky and the other clubs, telling real stories. The strong impression I got was it was all peace and love and everyone helping everyone else, fabulous music and emerging talents but that was for a brief period, before a new breed of hippie emerged. Most were adamant things changed and became more threatening around the crowd that followed Zappa - freak out dancing getting more and more aggressive and violent. Drugs getting stronger, disillusionment and darkness and increased poverty reacting against perceived quick wealth amongst the film and music industry. People I interviewed that came in contact with Manson were still visibly shaken, like a shadow passed over them. I interviewed one lovely lady who was a waitress at the Whisky (later a manager and booker) and she recalled the night that Manson refused to move from the stairs to the balcony - he was blocking everyone. He told her he was Jesus and could do what he wanted. No one wanted to approach him and she was so unnerved she called Mario, the owner, who wasn't meant to be working that night. (I had access to Mario Maglieri and his family and there's no way anyone would want to cross them...). Mario told me he came back to the club and asked Mason to move. He again said he was Jesus so Mario told him he was god and to "get the f**k out of my club". He picked him up, dragged him out and threw him onto the Strip. That was the night the murders were committed.
A gold mine in response. Thank you all so much!
Up until Manson the new long hairs were thought of as being universally peace loving guileless apostle-like peace-niks, holy-ish fools in sandals (or welfare cheats, at worst--- drop outs, bums). And the Tate murders ended that lazy delusion, bang!: the illusion that you could tell nearly all you needed to know about people by their age and presentation, by their hair and the clothes they wore. --- Then came crystals and E.S.T. and Scientology picked up steam when that dropped out, while corporations were gobbling up or destroying every mom n pop small town, local business and unionized manufacturing job everywhere --- or a least 9/10s of them... and the communities that surrounded them--- blue collar America. And then there was the Swami guy, later in Oregon that the children of the unhinged Professional Managerial Classes could experience, and later the Hot Yoga guy, and a lot of other really very expensive salvations from the "3rd world", and Jerry Lee Lewis's cousin Jimmy Swaggart and Jim Jones and Jim Baker and Tammy and Orel and Ernest Angsley...they grew up in the same house Jerry Lee and Swaggart.And the "Moral Majority" (who were a decided minority...) And recovered memory and alien abduction and facilitated communication miracles. --- And Ron Ray-gun's astrologer....
But before all that, before Manson there was the John Birch Society (John Birch being "the first casualty of World War III" and a symbol of the communist plot to take over the U. S. and the world), and Mesmerism and "Multiple Personalities" and "mothers little helpers"--- barbies and speedies for "happier homemakers", and spirit rappers and mediums and Objectivism and Ayn Rand, and fake "Morman Artifacts" and Joe Smith and Brigham, and the Kentucky Wilderness Wildfire Revival... and etc etc etc etc etc.... and the "Lost Cause" bunkum that gave us 100s of courthouse monuments all over ...and the KKK in charge of several states where you couldn't be elected dogcatcher without their say so...
And it has never stopped. It's just on the internet now and there's no filtering, no governor on the machine. Nobody is in charge of the old hollowed out institutions, no investments there --- now we're in the hands of dot.com pirates who don't live anywhere except in their own minds and belong to no county except their own self interest.
--- But for a while there, there was Tom Paine, there was M. L. K. , there was the union movement, and there have been other very, very good ones. Recently the L.G.B. equality movements and the 2nd wave Women's movements.
But there is always this battle between the intellectually lazy and dishonest and magic thinking and simple reason and limits on what you can honestly claim, and rigor and process and openness and science and real knowledge . It was nice when those things, the real, the just things won--- that was glorious. And it would be nice if it would happen again.
Thanks for your part in trying to bring some sanity and honesty and fellow respect back.
Malcolm Maclaren (Sex Pistols’ Manager) said punk was partly a reaction to London being full of “hard bitten hippies pretending to be delicate flowers”. As someone who was a little too young and 18 just when punk began (not a punk but sympathetic) and female this said it all to me. Wolves in sheep’s clothing evolve different disguises from age to age.
This is how Pattie Boyd described George Harrison's bummer of a time with the hippies in her autobiography...
"Afterwards we thought it would be fun to go and have a look at Haight-Ashbury, the district that had been taken over by hippies. Musicians like Jefferson Airplane, Grateful Dead and Janis Joplin lived there, and it was the LSD capital of America. On the way, Derek produced a tab. Would we like some? Since we were going to Haight-Ashbury, it seemed silly not to. The area is named after the intersection of two streets, Haight and Ashbury, and as we approached, the driver said he wouldn’t drive down the street itself, he’d park among the side-streets. It seemed a little odd but we didn’t argue. We got out of the car, the acid kicked in and everything was just whoah, psychedelic and very ... I mean, it was just completely fine. We went into a shop and noticed that all these people were following us. They had recognised George as we walked past them in the street, then turned to follow us. One minute there were five, then ten, twenty, thirty and forty people behind us. I could hear them saying, ‘The Beatles are here, the Beatles are in town!’ We were expecting Haight-Ashbury to be special, a creative and artistic place, filled with Beautiful People, but it was horrible – full of ghastly drop-outs, bums and spotty youths, all out of their brains. Everybody looked stoned – even mothers and babies – and they were so close behind us they were treading on the backs of our heels. It got to the point where we couldn’t stop for fear of being trampled. Then somebody said, ‘Let’s go to Hippie Hill,’ and we crossed the road, hoping the lights were red, and went into a park. Then somebody said, ‘Let’s sit down here,’ and we all sat down on the grass, our retinue facing us, as if we were on stage. They looked at us expectantly – as if George was some kind of Messiah. We were so high, and then the inevitable happened: a guitar emerged from the crowd and I could see it being passed to the front by outstretched arms. I thought, Oh, God, poor George, this is a nightmare. Finally the guitar was handed to him. I had the feeling that they’d listened to the Beatles’ records, analysed them, learnt what they’d thought they should learn, and taken every drug they’d thought the Beatles were singing about. Now they wanted to know where to go next. And
George was there, obviously, to give them the answer. Pressure. George was so cool. He said, ‘This is G, this is E, this is D,’ and showed them a few chords, then handed back the guitar and said, ‘Sorry, man, we’ve got to go now.’ He didn’t sing – he couldn’t have: he was flying. We all were. I was surprised he could even do that. Anyway, we got up and walked back towards our limo, at which point I heard a little voice say, ‘Hey, George, do you want some STP?’ George turned around and said, ‘No, thanks, I’m cool, man.’ Then the bloke turned round and said to the others, ‘George Harrison turned me down.’ And they went, ‘No!’ And then the crowd became faintly hostile. We sensed it because when you’re that high you’re very aware of vibes, and we were walking faster and faster, and they were following. When we saw the limo, we ran across the road and jumped in, and they ran after us and started to rock the car, and the windows were full of these faces, flattened against the glass, looking at us. That was a turning-point for George. We had always thought of drugs as fun, a means of expanding your mind and consciousness. What we saw at Haight-Ashbury was an eye-opener. Those people had dropped out, were sleeping rough and taking all kinds of drugs – some of which were ten times stronger than LSD. STP was one, as George later discovered from Mama Cass Elliot. There was nothing remotely artistic or creative about those people: they were like alcoholics or any other kind of addict, and it turned George right off the whole drug culture. He stopped taking LSD, and took up meditation.
George Harrison was disappointed:
Later, in an interview, Harrison noted he thought the Haight “would be something like King’s Road (in London), only more. Somehow I expected them to all own their own little shops. I expected them all to be nice and clean and friendly and happy. Instead, he said, he found the hippies “hideous, spotty little teenagers.” He further noted, “I went there expecting it to be a brilliant place, with groovy gypsy people making works of art and paintings and carvings in little workshops. But it was full of horrible spotty drop-out kids on drugs, and it turned me right off the whole scene.”
More here: https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/radiowaves/article/Harrison-had-love-Haight-relationship-with-S-F-2847011.php
I'm borderline obsessed with this era so I might well be your man, Graham. (The Beach Boys are by far my favourite band, I've researched and read tons of books on Manson, the Wrecking Crew, the LA music scene, etc.)
In truth, I don't think there was much serious actual cross-over between hippies and Hollywood celebs prior to Manson (and certainly not post-Manson), but here is the story of how Manson and his 'Family' came to be heavily involved with A-listers...
It was 1968 and Beach Boys drummer (and supremely underrated songwriter) Dennis Wilson was driving through LA in his open-topped car when he spotted a pair of female hitchhikers. Never one to turn down an opportunity to spend time with young females, Dennis picked them up and took them back home to his LA home. In the event, he didn't engage in any sexual activity or otherwise with them because he had to leave to attend a Beach Boys recording session, and so he soon left and dropped them off elsewhere.
Unbeknowst to 23-year-old Dennis Wilson, the girls were members of Charles Manson's weird 'Family', a gang of misfits and outcasts recruited by the 30-something ex-con. The teenage girls had absolutely no idea who Dennis was, but when they returned to Manson and told him they had been at Dennis Wilson's house, Manson immediately sprung to life. Back then, Manson was an aspiring singer-songwriter, and he knew exactly who Dennis was and that Dennis would have connections within the music business.
When Dennis returned home later that night, the girls had also returned to his home - and they had brought Manson and the rest of his followers with them. When Dennis saw Manson standing on his driveway, he asked 'Are you going to hurt me?' Manson fell to his knees, kissed Dennis's feet and said 'Do I look like I'm going to hurt you, brother?'
The Beach Boys were Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love and schoolfriend Al Jardine, and - despite the perfect music they created - they were famously dysfunctional away from the microphones. Yet even by the standards of the Wilson brothers, Dennis was very messed-up. Despite being ridiculously good-looking, he was riddled with self-hate and insecurity, and was completely directionless when away from the drums or piano, numbing himself with drugs, booze and sex. As such, he was an absolute sucker for Manson's offer of regular group sex and seemingly worldy-wise philosophising.
So Dennis welcomed Manson and his Family into his home. Before long, Manson had played some of his songs for Dennis, and the middle Wilson brother was so impressed that he contacted producer Terry Melcher.
Melcher was Doris Day's son and produced acts such as The Byrds, and Melcher was similarly impressed by Manson's music. It was around this time that Neil Young also met Manson and heard his music (unlike most, Young has always been honest and open about how impressed he was by the charismatic Manson).
A recording session for Manson was arranged in the home studio of Brian Wilson, much to the displeasure of Brian and his wife, Marilyn, who didn't appreciate their house being temporarily overrun by foul-smelling hippies. The session was overseen by engineer Stephen Desper, who worked on several classic Beach Boys albums (Sunflower and Surf's Up), and who Manson pulled a switchblade on during the session. Afterwards, Desper reported to Melcher that Manson was 'unproducable'.
Despite this, Dennis agreed to record a Manson track with the Beach Boys. Originally called Cease to Exist, Dennis renamed it Never Learn Not to Love and the track appeared on the Beach Boys' 1969 album 20/20 and as a B-side during the same period (thus granting Manson top 70 chart success).
A common myth is that Manson was furious that he wasn't credited on the track. This isn't true. Manson didn't care about being credited. He did, however, care about the message conveyed by his lyrics and he was incandescent with rage when he discovered Dennis had rewritten the lyrics.
As a result, an angry Manson showed Dennis a bullet and threatened the life of his son, which either caused Dennis to beat the hell out of Manson or flee in terror (accounts vary, but the former is more in keeping with Dennis's macho volatile nature). Either way, Dennis moved out of his home and left Manson and his Family to be thrown out by the landlord (his dalliance with Manson and co allegedly cost Dennis around 1/2 million dollars in damages and gonorrhea bills).
By now, Manson's hopes of music stardom were fading and he moved out to the Spahn Ranch (a former Hollywood production set) with his followers. Melcher visited him there to watch a Manson audition, but the moment had clearly passed and he wasn't impressed. This further angered Manson.
At the time Melcher lived at Ciello Drive, and Manson had been in a car with Dennis and Melcher at least once at the property, if not several times. However, Melcher had moved out when, six months later, Manson sent some of his followers there to commit murder.
It is often claimed that Manson incorrectly believed Melcher still lived there. This is a myth. Manson knew Melcher had moved out because he had sent his followers to Melcher's new home to scare him by 'creepy-crawling' his home (moving furniture and objects about during the night).
Manson fully knew that Roman Polanski and Sharon Tate now lived at Ciello Drive and he likely just picked the property simply because he was familiar with it, he knew the layout, and he knew that rich famous people lived there.
A GREAT book to read on this subject is Chaos by Tom O'Neill. Highly highly highly recommended. You won't be able to put it down.
Never Learn Not to Love: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49bxJKLI5d8
Sorry, what was the question again?
The Tom O'Neill book Chaos: The Truth Behind the Manson Murders touches on this specific topic: 10050 Cielo Drive was Ground Zero for the West Coast counter-culture movement, where Hollywood royalty rubbed shoulders with hippies off the street. The philosophy behind it is both good and bad: 1, a genuine attempt to create a contemporary salon culture, where ideas mix freely, and, 2, Manson was the protected pimp to the stars - he supplied underage girls to the L.A. elite and so "couldn't get arrested".
Manson was a pimp. He had been long before he started his "family," and he pimped those poor women and girls, as well. That's why he was welcome in Wilson's home, for a while at least. It was the access to sex with young women and girls that made people put up with him, alas.
Yes! There’s a song on Neil Youngs album ‘on the beach’ called ‘Revolution blues’ that is about him / that time. Seems that Neil was angry that no-one owned up to hanging out with him and also passing the ‘family’ girls around ..
I've been banging on about the similarities between Manson and the GI gang to the bemusement of those around me! This is why I think there is a centralised figure/figures behind it, someone distributing the core information. I know I sound like a loon but it feels too sophisticated to simply come from a few mentally ill people. Gender ideology is genius in its tactics...evil genius of course but you cannot fault its strategy and how quickly it has infiltrated culture.
I watched a Manson documentary recently that has aired on Lifetime in which interviews with current surviving Family members such as Squeaky Fromme were being interviewed. Some of those women are still in complete thrall to "Charlie" as they call him. One woman refused to leave prison at the end of her term because she wanted to remain with her Family members.
One thing that was obvious to me was their behavior at the trials. Their loud, repetitive behavior reminded me of current TRA's shouting repetitive mantras in the face of Kara Dansky at the Phili Speaker's Corner. This is frightening because as the Manson family would kill for him without blinking an eye, so to I believe would these enthralled TRAs if given the signal that it would help their cause.
I don't know much but Terry Melcher (Doris Day's son) and Candace Bergen hung out with them too. The podcast You Must Remember This did a great series on Hollywood and Manson, there may be something on that (it's harrowing though) x
Intriguing questions. Hippies as chosen flower children who will lead the world into a new age. They couldn’t possibly, actually, just be regular humans with regular human foibles and weaknesses, could they? Some of them couldn’t possibly, actually, just be real misfits glomming onto a community that will give them immediate acceptance and access? 'Hippiedom' as a sort of sanitizing flower power with the magical ability to cover over a multitude of sins; and, in some credulous people's minds, possessing an almost 'sacred' anointing as 'exalted other' -- signified simply by long hair and beads and bell bottoms and dropping out.
Alan Watts lives forever on "Alan Watts Radio Livestream" on youtube.
All his lectures were recorded in the 60's, so you can hear for yourself what the vibe of the time was like; the lingo, the topics, the attitude. As well as enjoying a little enlightenment along the way.
Also of interest:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/CHAOS:_Charles_Manson,_the_CIA,_and_the_Secret_History_of_the_Sixties
Read Dave McGowan’s book “Weird Scenes inside the Canyon”. It will blow your mind
'The Dirty Fucking Hippies....were right'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvpC8H8yJBg
IIRC Richard Nixon called the hippies this...because they shunned govts, rules, laws, just wanting to live in Peace & Love, not truly understanding the evils of other humans.
Look into The FBI too, under Hoover, a really vile man....and how FBI drove French actress to take her own life....The Black Panthers, Leonard Peltier, (still in prison to this day for a crime he never committed), AIM, The American Indian Movement, 2 of the leaders were Russell Means and John Trudell, both incredibly intelligent men, no longer with us now, sadly...HATED by US Govts....
There was so much going on at this time in history......so The Hippies were trying to change it all, really trying to bring Love and Peace into the lives of us all.
I can still vividly recall the day Manson murdered Sharon Tate and the others...I was very young, on holiday in Holt, Norfolk. Mum and Dad had the telly on, and suddenly, the news flashed up of this awful murder, of her precious baby too, almost ready to be born...It was beyond horrific. I couldn't believe anyone could be so evil. Mum and Dad turned the TV off fast, but it was everywhere that week, in every newspaper, on every billboard outside shops, etc....Polanski was famous too, of course, no-one knowing of his other side with young girls... It kind of stopped all the Love and Peace feelings....that this Wretched Evil had come a-visiting, led by this Rasputin-like man, with the mad eyes, who had the narcissistic ability to draw everyone in, to captivate them all...........
I so miss The Hippie Days...the beautiful music..it was a very lovely time to be young, flowers in our hair, hope in our hearts...
I watched 'Trainwreck - Woodstock 99' on Netflix the other day, SO different from the original Woodstock, the aggressive music, the aggressive fans, the greed of the organisers, all water/alcohol removed from everyone wanting to enter this awful site, a former airbase, all concrete...They charged a fortune for water, for any form of drinks, toilets overflowed, as did the anger of the crowds, fires started up, whilst stupid bands egged everyone on.
Made me cry...........
It was the very opposite of what Peace & Love was about....
I still wear a flower in my hair to this day, always will....and I hope to be buried with a flower in my hair too....I think my dear and gentle son will sort that for me, bless him.
Where it all went wrong, where Transworld has gone so wrong too, is that very damaged humans ruin it all, mentally unwell, either arriving on the planet thus, or becoming like that due to life treating them so badly. And many can't ever see that. They long for Peace & Love, where everyone is accepted, and they can't bear to look deeper, into The Dark Side, which, so sadly, always comes up again...
To end on a happier note....how it was supposed to be, forever, "with Summertime being a Love In there....gentle people with flowers in their hair..."
'If You're Going To San Francisco'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7I0vkKy504U
It was Peace & Love, man....
Dear Richie Havens, his book, 'They Can't Hide Us Anymore', first and only to arrive into Woodstock on time, all other acts caught up in 30mile traffic jams, all around Yasgur's Farm. Had to keep playing for over 3 hours, making up the songs in the end...In his book you'll read all about that time, all the amazing artists in Greenwich Village, the laid back times, everyone welcome....very 'inclusive' in every way...As with all good movements, The Hippies were infiltrated by The Bad 'Uns...
Many of the old hippies still around in California, accepting of everyone...no matter what...and, I expect, still getting shafted by those who pose as Peace & Love Man, types, who can, so often, have very sinister motives.
I wouldn't call Manson a hippie. He masqueraded as a hippie. Hippies were into peace, love and happiness among other things. Manson was a predator. Manson had no qualms about having people violently killed. If you want a hippie look to John Lennon.
'All The Ways The Manson Family Was Connected To Hollywood Royalty'
https://www.ranker.com/list/charles-manson-hollywood-connections/erin-wisti
What a fantastic BTL! Excellent and educational, does it show the age of we Glinnerite terfs?
Helter Skelter, The True Story of the Manson Murders, by Vincent Bugliosi andand Curt Gentry is an excellent exploration of that cult.
As a young university anti-Vietnam war campaigner, be assured that there was more to the hippie movement than the Manson travesty.
I know it's tangential to your question Graham, but the film "Down and Out in Beverly Hills" with Nick Nolte and Bette Midler encapsulates the scenario you ask about.
Nolte played the part of an alcoholic drifter accepted into an "A list" Hollywood family through his guile and talent.
From the You Must Remember This podcast notes: Future episodes will explore the various celebrities, musicians, movie stars and filmmakers (including Roman Polanski, Sharon Tate, The Beach Boys, Dennis Hopper, Doris Day and more) whose paths crossed with Manson’s in meaningful ways, both leading up to the murders and in their aftermath. Today, we’ll talk about what was going on in the show business capital that made Manson seem like a relatively normal guy.
No - and it’s REALLY bugging me that I can’t remember exactly who. But I have read about people (wealthy, generally sympathetic to the counter culture) who had much poorer hippies living in their homes. There was an obituary in the last few years that had a story like this. I’m going to dig through some stuff this weekend. It’s definitely a thing.
The Mansons damaged our rep among those who disliked us anyway.
We knew they had nothing to do with us.
I loved that time period in my life. Like so many women I was happy to reject the gender boxes that sent boys off to Vietnam; and mistakenly assumed we were freeing ourselves of all the gender boxes. Later realized women were essentially still in the same roles, just more sexual freedom. Men were relieved of Nam and their entire old roles of supporting the family.
There were years before I realized the sexes were not in sinc about the direction and goals of our movement. Those years in between, I was very happy in my ignorant bliss thinking we were united in building a new world.
The original "Helter Skelter" book by Curt Gentry and Manson prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi is an excellent read on the case. I deplore the way that Manson manages to still be regarded as somehow 'cool' in certain quarters. There is no question that he was a racist, misogynist psychopath who didn't truly believe in whatever hippie ideals really meant, he simply used the naivety of lost youngsters for his own ends. He wanted the blacks to rise up... and then turn to HIM as leader. A nasty, evil murderous shitbag of a human being. But a charismatic one, and it says a lot for the time that so many were taken in by him, including some celebrities.
Perhaps it’s the absence of any underlying ideology (the dropping out bit) that made hippies or hippy wannabes more susceptible to shysters. There are no standards in the ‘alternative’. It’s the alternative man…The Bhagwan, the Maharajah, Children of God etc. were all able to find willing supplicants. They were quite happy to sacrifice their children along the way in true Abrahamic style. Have a look at the documentary on Netflix about the Bhagwan (Wild Wild Country) to see how easily children get forgotten in the rush for liberation.
I checked and there is historiography. Manson was a friend of a famous friend of Anton LaVey. Susan Atkins, one of Manson's killers, was in a LaVey topless show. The term "Manson Family" was actually coined by the research staff of the Haight Ashbury Clinic that studied his group as a free love community and it got amplified by the media. Manson became a key figure in the origins of the Satanic Panic as well as a hero to some really messed-up actual satanists. https://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/mar/10/kenneth-anger-interview
Here’s the story about Terry Melcher who Manson had ‘beef’ with .. https://allthatsinteresting.com/10050-cielo-drive
I’ve read a few books on the subject and they say that there were so many cults at that time - so Manson was not as noticeable / weird as he might seem now. People ‘dug it’ (hah!)
Will try and find the title of the good book - it’s a fascinating story. Also there are some great bits of footage / documentaries on him on YouTube.
I'm sure I remember watching this, some interesting comments on here though, lots of weird home movie type stuff:-
https://www.denofgeek.com/culture/inside-the-manson-cult-the-lost-tapes-review-families-bond/
The novel The Girls by Emma Cline is a fictional account of the Manon famy from the perspective of one of the young women he abused. It is a great read.
No I don't know about that...he was bonkers though!
Tom Jones SHOCK: How Tom Jones escaped the clutches of prolific killer Charles Manson
"Unfortunately, she did not reveal a reason why the Welsh singer was chosen, but given that reportedly, Manson arranged the murders to launch the imminent, apocalyptic race war, it can be assumed, Sir Tom was deemed important to the ”war”.
The other famous targets on the list included:
Actor Steve McQueen
Actress and businesswoman Elizabeth Taylor
Actor Richard Burton
Singer Frank Sinatra
Reasons for these other celebrity targets were never revealed and it is unlikely it will ever be revealed as both Atkins and Manson are now dead."
https://www.express.co.uk/celebrity-news/1172039/tom-jones-shock-charles-manson-sir-tom-jones-news-manson-family-california
Graham, I appreciate this is off tack but might it be worth doing a piece updating how many historical figures are being trans'd these days. Elizabeth I, Joan of Arc, people involved in the Stonewall riots but I'm sure there's many more. If these people get their way, soon there'll be no actual great women of history left 🤬
Absolutely. I read a book about the music of the period which touched on this, and alluded to a connection between the Stones, their album "Their Satanic Majesties Request", and their association with Manson.
Oh !!! ‘Mess’ is on !
I will be watching .. xx M
Tom Wolfe wrote ‘radical chic, Mau mauing the flack catchers’ about the fascination high society had with the black panthers. He also wrote electric kool aid acid test about Ken Kesey and the merry pranksters. There was quite a lot of interplay on the music scene, more so around SF and swinging London. HST used to hang about with politicians, the pranksters including, bizarrely sort of befriending Nixon (they bonded over football, even though HST loathed the man).
Maybe it wasn’t the scene where anyone could walk into a celebrities apartment, but there were overlaps in places. Zane Kesey, Ken’s son may be able to help you as he was at the heart of that scene.
I'd say Bernstein donating to the Black Panthers is analogous.
Bear with me, this might get confusing 😂
Look up Steve Hodel, a former cop who authored a book stating he believed his father, George, murdered the Black Dahlia.
Steve married his father’s mistress, Kiyo, and lived on Laurel Canyon where she was astrologer to the stars.
Steve’s sister Tamar claimed she was molested by her father, George. I believed Steve backed this up, going as far as to cite an incestuous affair between George and Tamar.
Steve’s sister Tamar got tangled up with Michelle Phillips, and subsequently John Phillips. Both members of the Mamas and the Papas, also living at Laurel Canyon.
John Phillips had a penchant for underage girls, including his own daughter. Both John and his daughter claim they had an incestuous affair.
Manson attended many parties at the home of ‘Mama’ Cass Elliot, who had an open house policy. The Manson Family bus was also spotted outside the home of John and Michelle Phillips, including New Years Eve party of 1968, eight months prior to the Tate/Labianca murders.
Laurel Canyon has quite the history.
There's a brilliant podcast called You Must Remember This which featured a whole miniseries called Charles Manson's Hollywood - highly recommend it.
Author Tom O'Neill is the expert on Manson and all that surrounded him during that period. His book is a must-read. He was on Joe Rogan's podcast and I highly recommend the episode. The things he uncovered (things he can prove) are jaw dropping.
https://www.amazon.com/Chaos-Charles-Manson-History-Sixties/dp/1785152076
Dennis Wilson was in a drug induced state since he was a teenager so he was clueless to how Manson was manipulating him,I don't think that many 'celebrities' wanted anything to do with Manson,it would only take a few minutes of talking to him to see that he was dangerous,Steve McQueen wanted to hire someone to kill all of the Manson family, many celebrities feared that they would be Manson's next victims. CSN,the other beach boys avoided the Manson family.
BBC documentarian Adam Curtis did a series," Can't get you out of my Head", that explored numerous aspects of our emotional post WW2 history. Many of the current issues that are troubling at the moment, were "explored" in the series of programmes. Thoroughly recommended checking it, and other Curtis documentaries, out. Very enlightening.
I think it may have been that these celebs may have wanted to scotch any accusations of having 'sold out' and used Manson and his ilk to show how down they were with the counter culture.
You Must Remember This podcast does a great series on Manson and Hollywood celebs
http://www.youmustrememberthispodcast.com
I'm going to write this before reading anyone else's comments. I lived in the LA area in 1969 for a short while. At the time the Manson Family had murdered a school principal in a parking lot if I remember correctly, and the atmosphere was definitely on edge.
That said, there was a sea change in hippiedom in San Francisco from basically an alternative economic and social structure to Haight-Ashbury (a working-class neighborhood) turning into a place for teenage runaways. I was always skeptical of hippiedom because it seemed so flaky, and it has a lot to do with today's "just accept everyone as they are" philosophy. Was it Firesign Theater or Procter & Bergman who did the bit about the man trying to talk to a politician (complete with Kennedy accent) about a young woman who needed help? "But, senator baby, she's starving!" "Young man, that's her trip."
Jeezums, how the powers-that-be have exploited that sentiment!
Never heard about celebrities allowing freaks to wander through their houses.
My first thought on mention of shoeless hippies in celebrity homes was the scene from the Lennon Doc rather than the Manson LA hippies...
https://youtu.be/o6exx_AmWk0
This is what celebrity gender hippies will soon look like. https://youtu.be/Q_rHSTjyWNk
Can thoroughly recommend 'Riot on Sunset Strip: Rock 'n' Roll's Last Stand in Hollywood ' by Domenic Priore - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Riot-Sunset-Strip-Hollywood-Revised/dp/1908279907 Dominic was a great interview and helped our documentary on the Whisky a Go Go, especially the hippie scene which was turning ugly and dangerous around that time, leading to the riots and police crackdown and state and city sanctioned violence. I was in LA for a while, interviewing musicians from The Doors, Jefferson Airplane but the ones that stood out were the people around the scene, workers and waitresses at the Whisky and the other clubs, telling real stories. The strong impression I got was it was all peace and love and everyone helping everyone else, fabulous music and emerging talents but that was for a brief period, before a new breed of hippie emerged. Most were adamant things changed and became more threatening around the crowd that followed Zappa - freak out dancing getting more and more aggressive and violent. Drugs getting stronger, disillusionment and darkness and increased poverty reacting against perceived quick wealth amongst the film and music industry. People I interviewed that came in contact with Manson were still visibly shaken, like a shadow passed over them. I interviewed one lovely lady who was a waitress at the Whisky (later a manager and booker) and she recalled the night that Manson refused to move from the stairs to the balcony - he was blocking everyone. He told her he was Jesus and could do what he wanted. No one wanted to approach him and she was so unnerved she called Mario, the owner, who wasn't meant to be working that night. (I had access to Mario Maglieri and his family and there's no way anyone would want to cross them...). Mario told me he came back to the club and asked Mason to move. He again said he was Jesus so Mario told him he was god and to "get the f**k out of my club". He picked him up, dragged him out and threw him onto the Strip. That was the night the murders were committed.
This podcast is an excellent resource:
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/you-must-remember-manson/id1315652782