Editing Charles Manson (section)

=== Involvement with the Beach Boys ===
{{See also|Never Learn Not to Love|The Beach Boys bootleg recordings#Manson sessions}}
On April 6, 1968, [[Dennis Wilson]] of the [[Beach Boys]] was driving through Malibu when he noticed two female hitchhikers, Krenwinkel and Ella Jo Bailey. He picked them up and dropped them off at their destination.{{sfn|Badman|2004|p=216}} On April 11, Wilson noticed the same two girls hitchhiking again and this time took them to his home at 14400 [[Sunset Boulevard]].{{sfn|Badman|2004|p=216}}<ref name=WebbGuardian2003>{{cite news|last1=Webb|first1=Adam|title=A profile of Dennis Wilson: the lonely one|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2003/dec/14/popandrock|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=December 14, 2003|access-date=December 14, 2016|archive-date=November 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201107123033/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2003/dec/14/popandrock|url-status=live}}</ref> Wilson later recalled that he "told [the girls] about our involvement with [[Maharishi Mahesh Yogi|the Maharishi]] and they told me they too had a guru, a guy named Charlie [Manson] who'd recently come out of jail after twelve years."<ref name="RM68">{{cite magazine|last1=Griffiths|first1=David|title=Dennis Wilson: "I Live With 17 Girls"|magazine=[[Record Mirror]]|date=December 21, 1968|url=https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/dennis-wilson-i-live-with-17-girls|url-access=subscription|access-date=December 4, 2020|archive-date=January 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210120003836/https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/dennis-wilson-i-live-with-17-girls|url-status=live}}</ref> Wilson then went to a recording session; when he returned later that night, he was met in his driveway by Manson, and when Wilson walked into his home, about a dozen people were occupying the premises, most of them young women.<ref name=WebbGuardian2003 /> By Manson's own account, he had met Wilson on at least one prior occasion: at a friend's San Francisco house where Manson had gone to obtain [[marijuana]]. Manson claimed that Wilson invited him to visit his home when Manson came to Los Angeles.<ref>{{cite book|last=Emmons|first=Nuel|title=Manson in His Own Words|publisher=Grove Press|year=1988|isbn=0-8021-3024-0}}</ref>

Wilson was initially fascinated by Manson and his followers, referring to him as "the Wizard" in a ''Rave'' magazine article at the time.{{sfn|Stebbins|2000|p=130}} The two struck a friendship, and over the next few months members of the Manson Family – mostly women who were treated as servants – were housed in Wilson's residence.<ref name=WebbGuardian2003 /> This arrangement persisted for about six months.{{sfn|Badman|2004|pp=224–225}}<ref name="RM68"/>

Wilson introduced Manson to a few friends in the music business, including [[the Byrds]]' producer [[Terry Melcher]]. Manson recorded numerous songs at [[Brian Wilson]]'s [[Brian Wilson's home studio|home studio]], although the recordings remain unheard by the public.<ref name="DoeUnreleased">{{cite web|last1=Doe|first1=Andrew Grayham|title=Unreleased Albums|url=http://www.esquarterly.com/bellagio/unreleased.html|website=Bellagio 10452|publisher=Endless Summer Quarterly|access-date=October 16, 2015|archive-date=October 25, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141025151137/http://esquarterly.com/bellagio/unreleased.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Band engineer [[Stephen Desper]] said that the Manson sessions were done "for Dennis [Wilson] and Terry Melcher".{{sfn|O'Neill|2019}} In September 1968, Wilson recorded a Manson song for the Beach Boys, originally titled "Cease to Exist" but reworked as "[[Never Learn Not to Love]]", as a single B-side released the following December. The writing was credited solely to Wilson.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Barlass|first1=Tyler|title=Song Stories - "Never Learn Not To Love" (1968)|url=http://www.justpressplay.net/articles/39-news/3713-song-stories-qnever-learn-not-to-loveq-1968.html|date=July 16, 2008|access-date=July 6, 2016|archive-date=March 5, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305141845/http://www.justpressplay.net/articles/39-news/3713-song-stories-qnever-learn-not-to-loveq-1968.html|url-status=live}}</ref> When asked why Manson was not credited, Wilson explained that Manson relinquished his publishing rights in favor of "about a hundred thousand dollars' worth of stuff".{{sfn|Stebbins|2000|p=137}}<ref name="Nolan2">{{cite magazine |last=Nolan |first=Tom |title=Beach Boys: A California Saga, Part II |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/beach-boys-a-california-saga-part-ii-19711111 |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |date=November 11, 1971 |access-date=June 25, 2018 |archive-date=August 16, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160816014717/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/beach-boys-a-california-saga-part-ii-19711111 |url-status=live }}</ref>  Around this time, the Family destroyed two of Wilson's luxury cars.{{sfn|Badman|2004|pp=223–224}}

Wilson eventually distanced himself from Manson and moved out of the Sunset Boulevard house, leaving the Family there, and subsequently took residence at a basement apartment in [[Santa Monica, California|Santa Monica]].{{sfn|Badman|2004|p=224}} Virtually all of Wilson's household possessions were stolen by the Family; the members were [[eviction|evicted]] from his home three weeks before the lease was scheduled to expire.{{sfn|Badman|2004|p=224}} When Manson subsequently sought further contact, he left a bullet with Wilson's housekeeper to be delivered with a threatening message.<ref name=WebbGuardian2003 /><ref>{{cite news|last1=Holdship|first1=Bill|title=Heroes and Villains|url=http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php?topic=2371.25|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=April 6, 2000|access-date=April 7, 2015|archive-date=March 3, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303235253/http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php?topic=2371.25|url-status=live}}</ref>

Band manager [[Nick Grillo]] recalled that Wilson became concerned after Manson had got "into a much heavier drug situation ... taking a tremendous amount of acid and Dennis wouldn't tolerate it and asked him to leave. It was difficult for Dennis because he was afraid of Charlie."{{sfn|Badman|2004|pp=224–225}} Writing in his [[Good Vibrations: My Life as a Beach Boy|2016 memoir]], [[Mike Love]] recalled Wilson saying he had witnessed Manson shooting a black man "in half" with an [[M16 rifle]] and hiding the body inside a well.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/beach-boy-mike-love-claims-bandmate-charles-manson-kill-man-article-1.2773092|title=Beach Boy Mike Love alleges bandmate watched Charles Manson carry out murder|first=Nicole|last=Bitette|website=[[New York Daily News]]|date=August 31, 2016 |access-date=February 12, 2021|archive-date=July 22, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180722104419/http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/beach-boy-mike-love-claims-bandmate-charles-manson-kill-man-article-1.2773092|url-status=live}}</ref> Melcher said that Wilson had been aware that the Family "were killing people" and had been "so freaked out he just didn't want to live anymore. He was afraid, and he thought he should have gone to the authorities, but he didn't, and the rest of it happened."{{sfn|O'Neill|2019}}