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How Charles Manson Was Involved With The Beach Boys

Charles Manson and Beach Boys drummer, Dennis Wilson had a bizarre friendship… The year was 1968. Beach Boy Dennis Wilson, had divorced his first wife Carol Freedman and was now…

6th November 1966: American rock group The Beach Boys at the Finsbury Astoria. They are, (from left to right) Bruce Johnston, Al Jardine (front), Carl Wilson (1946 – 1998), Dennis Wilson (1944 – 1983), and Mike Love. (Photo by Clive Limpkin/Express/Getty Images)

Charles Manson and Beach Boys drummer, Dennis Wilson had a bizarre friendship...

The year was 1968. Beach Boy Dennis Wilson, had divorced his first wife Carol Freedman and was now living a rebellious and luxurious life in a huge house on Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, California. During the spring of 1968, whilst cruising the Sunset Strip, Dennis stopped to pick up two female hitchhikers. He invited them back to his pad for drinks and food. Back at his place on Sunset Boulevard, Dennis had begun talking to them about Transcendental Meditation, the benefits, lifestyle, how it all interested him.

The two hitchhikers responded to his spiel that they, too, look up to a spiritual leader, named Charles. After talking for a while, the hitchhikers had left his home and Dennis left for a night out on the town. Coming home, he pulled into his driveway to discover his lights inside were turned on and a school bus was parked outside his place. A small man paced toward him through the dim lit streets. Dennis called out and asked the man if intended to hurt him. Charles Manson replied, "Do I look like I'm going to?" and dropped to his knees, kissing Wilson's feet once he reached him.

The display of affection and humility began the bizarre and unusual friendship between a cult leader and a Beach Boy.

Wilson Opened His Home to Manson's Family...

As Dennis begun sharing his property to Manson, Manson began sharing Dennis's hospitality to the 20-30 female companions and group members that were involved with Charles. Initially, Dennis didn't really care. Rock N Roll icons were accustomed to hitchhikers, squatters, and all the partying that came with that sort of career. Besides, Manson was also a musician, so they had quite a lot in common. Dennis basked in Manson's unusual ideas of how the world operated. He also basked in the LSD that was shared, and the women that always came by.

Manson, at the time, was looking to land a record deal. So Wilson took it upon himself to introduce Charles to his musical friends and industry leaders. Neil Young quotes him as an improvisational genius, and talent agents wanted to start a documentary about Manson and his "family."

But Contrary to Neil Young, Other Musicians Found Him To Be A Creep

Doris Day's son, Terry Melcher was a close friend of Dennis Wilson, and Manson primarily targeted him to impress him with some of his music. Melcher was a producer for Columbia Records and found Manson to be a flat out "creep." His stare is what made Melcher avoid him. Along with Melcher, the rest of the Beach Boys weren't fond of Manson. Singer of the Beach Boys, Mike Love wrote in his memoir that he went to Dennis's house for dinner one night and came to find out that everyone was enjoying dinner naked that night. An LSD oriented orgy post dinner was too much for Mike to handle so he excused himself and was scolded by Manson. Through it all, Wilson truly believed in Manson becoming a star and connected him with the Beach Boys label to set up a recording session. This connection ended abruptly when Manson pulled out a knife on the studio engineer. Mike Love would also make note in his memoir that Wilson confessed that he had seen Manson at one point shoot someone and stuff the body down a well.

The Friendship Ends Between Wilson and "The Family"

Couple months pass, along with a couple thousand dollars, or should we say a hundred thousand dollars that paid for the "Family's" food, medical bills and damages. As the friendship ended, some say Wilson retreated himself from Manson and left goodbyes for the landlord to handle. The house's lease expired and "The Family" was evicted. But others have suspected Wilson of kicking out the family himself. Either way, the friendship was left in the dust of Sunset Boulevard. On top of kicking out Manson, Wilson had become so angry and tired, that he stole one of Manson's songs, "Cease to Exist" and renamed it "Never Learn Not To Love" and took sole credit for the record. Towards the end of 1968, The Beach Boys released Manson's song and took credit for the song. This enraged Charles and triggered him to threaten Dennis. Manson took a bullet from his pocket and showed it to Wilson, suggesting it'd be worth his while to keep his children away from him. Dennis retaliated Manson's threat by beating him up.

"Helter Skelter"

When 1969 rolled around, the genocide that Manson preached about started to take place after he finally snapped. He couldn't land the record deal with Melcher, Dennis's friend from Columbia Records, and Manson ordered "The Family" to kill everyone at Melcher's property, the same house Melcher denied Manson of visiting when they first met. Melcher had moved out of that house months before Manson's orders, so when "The Family" showed up, they found Sharon Tate (whom was married to Roman Polanski at the time) and her friends.... The next day "The Family" was ordered to kill Leno and Rosemary LaBianca.

Wilson Finds Out About the Murders

A few months after the murders, Dennis learned along with the rest of the world that Manson had committed such horrible killings, making all of Hollywood fear for their life. Mike Love would note in his memoir, he noticed Wilson carried the guilt of association to Charles Manson for the rest of his life and possibly triggered Wilson to act in such irrational ways that caused him to drown at age 39.

What Delaware is Famous For According to Out-Of-Staters

When asked, "What is Delaware famous for?" these answers were recorded by out-of-staters. Maybe they know more than we do, or they just don't! Some said the obvious things we all think of when describing our own state, but others noted what they think they know about Delaware. It's always interesting to see what others think of us, being such a small state. Delaware is known for way more than we know, and it's our duty to represent our state proudly!

No Sales Tax

It's the no brainer. We tell people this when describing our state too. So they're not far off for saying this is what we're famous for.

Historically, the First State

Not everyone knows this, believe it or not. But yes, we are number 1 and that is something to be proud of.

Corporate Law

Many businesses have headquarters and office space in Delaware to benefit from the lenient taxes and business laws.

DuPont

DuPont is actually well known globally, due to their relations to Europe and the making of gunpowder in their early founding years.

Joe Biden

The President of the United States is from Delaware and frequents coming home, resulting in what we all call "Joe Jams".

That Scene in Wayne's World

"Hi, we're in....Delaware."

Famous For Not Being Famous

One redditor, DrWhoIsOverrated, stated, "There are very few things that stick out about the state, yet it's the first state that comes to mind whenever someone is asked about a forgettable state."

Tradition to Stock Up On Booze When Passing Through the State

Our liquor stores have no sales tax and our liquor and beer is fairly cheaper than other states. Mind you, we have very large loiquor stores all over the state.

Dogfish Head Beer

A local brewery that grew into a nationally known brand. Founded in Milton Delaware and Rehoboth Beach Delaware.

Chicken Farms

The history of the overproduction of chicken in the United States actually stems from Delaware in the early founding areas. A mistake in shipping chickens to a Delaware farmer resulted in the farmer receiving thousands of more chickens than she intended.

Drivers Not Going Faster Than the Posted Speed Limit on 295

Apparently, we drive the suggested speed limit on I-295.... isn't this the right thing to do though?

A Bridge and Tolls

Obviously this was written by someone who lives North of the beaches.

The Pronunciation of Newark

You can tell a Delawarean from a New Jersey local by the way they pronounce Newark. It's New-ark, not Nork here!

Nothing

People really have the audacity to say Delaware has "nothing." How do you think we wrote this list then???

50 States Ranked by Generosity When Tipping at Restaurants

Unlike Europe, the United States of America requires diners to tip their service for taking care of them. It's how they make their money. Everyone has to do it, although some people will just not... Nowadays, gratuity is sometimes automatically charged for you, but most of the time it is up to your own discretion to tip. This rule applies across all 50 states. So which ones are really the most generous and which are the least? The list ranks top to bottom, from least generous to most generous.

California

Average tip: 17.5%

Washington

Average tip: 18.2%

Florida

Average tip: 18.3%

Nevada

Average tip: 18.4%

Hawaii

Average tip: 18.7%

New York

Average tip: 18.7%

Louisiana

Average tip: 18.8%

Texas

Average tip: 18.9%

New Mexico

Average tip: 18.9%

New Jersey

Average tip: 19.0%

Arkansas

Average tip: 19.0%

Mississippi

Average tip: 19.1%

Minnesota

Average tip: 19.2%

Oklahoma

Average tip: 19.2%

Utah

Average tip: 19.2%

Georgia

Average tip: 19.3%

Illinois

Average tip: 19.3%

Connecticut

Average tip: 19.3%

Arizona

Average tip: 19.3%

Alabama

Average tip: 19.4%

Oregon

Average tip: 19.4%

South Dakota

Average tip: 19.4%

Massachusetts

Average tip: 19.4%

Virginia

Average tip: 19.5%

Vermont

Average tip: 19.5%

Tennessee

Average tip: 19.5%

Alaska

Average tip: 19.6%

Idaho

Average tip: 19.6%

North Carolina

Average tip: 19.6%

North Dakota

Average tip: 19.7%

Maryland

Average tip: 19.7%

Nebraska

Average tip: 19.9%

Kansas

Average tip: 19.9%

Colorado

Average tip: 19.9%

Iowa

Average tip: 20.0%

Montana

Average tip: 20.1%

Rhode Island

Average tip: 20.1%

Missouri

Average tip: 20.1%

Michigan

Average tip: 20.2%

Maine

Average tip: 20.3%

Pennsylvania

Average tip: 20.3%

Wisconsin

Average tip: 20.3%

South Carolina

Average tip: 20.4%

New Hampshire

Average tip: 20.6%

Ohio

Average tip: 20.6%

West Virginia

Average tip: 20.6%

Kentucky

Average tip: 20.7%

Wyoming

Average tip: 20.8%

Indiana

Average tip: 20.8%

Delaware

Average tip: 21.8%