How Charles Manson went from failed musician to cult rocker – it only took a multiple murder conviction
Songs from Manson’s album ‘Lie: The Love and Terror Cult’ have been covered by Guns N’ Roses and the Lemonheads, while the Beach Boys’ reworking of one song without crediting Manson led to a dispute that cost a band member dearly
Starting in the 1970s, not long after Charles Manson directed his followers to murder seven people over two bloody nights in Los Angeles, the convicted killer’s music and notoriety fuelled a small underground industry.
The allure was centred on Manson’s only album, recorded in Los Angeles in 1967 and ’68 and issued a year after the 1969 murders. Manson, it turns out, was a failed folk rock artist who desperately sought the attention of a Los Angeles music scene then thriving in the studios, labels and clubs along Sunset Boulevard.
Video: Charles Manson dead at 83
He didn’t get it, and that rejection by insiders – including the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson and record producer (and Doris Day’s son) Terry Melcher – helped ignite Manson’s rage.
Called Lie: The Love and Terror Cult, Manson’s album was issued on an imprint named Awareness and featured 14 Manson originals, including Garbage Dump, Sick City and Look at Your Game, Girl.
Songs from it have been covered by bands including Guns N’ Roses and the Lemonheads, while punk singer-writer-DJ Henry Rollins produced some Manson jailhouse recordings that have never been officially released.
