Where's Joel Eichen been hiding?

I guess I didn't realize that Joel Eichen was also a "Quackwatch" fan
of Mark Lindsay....wasn't there an album produced in Philadelphia, I
see to recall.....



Joel M. Eichen
View profile
More options Jul 9 2001, 2:36 pm
Scientology and dentistry
What's this whole story got to do with dentistry?
Plenty. This is the story of the intertwining of
Scientology and dentistry! A very strange combination
indeed!
****************
First, some background:
Following the trail from
Charles Manson to Tate/La Bianca ...
"Charlie was still hell-bent on marketing his music to
somebody. Through his contacts with Dennis Wilson and
another man in the music business, Charlie met Doris
Day's son Terry Melcher. The plan was to interest
Melcher in financing a film with Manson's music."
"At that time, Melcher owned the house on Cielo Drive
that was eventually leased to Roman Polanski and Sharon
Tate. At various times, Manson had been by the property
in a car with Dennis Wilson."
[..]
"In spring of 1968, Manson and his followers left San
Francisco in an old school bus and traveled around.
Eventually, he and a few of his group moved in with
Gary Hinman, a music teacher with a house on the Canyon
Road. Through Hinman, Charlie met Dennis Wilson of the
Beach Boys. Manson and his girls starting hanging
around Wilson every chance they had. Manson tried to
leverage the acquaintance with Dennis Wilson but it
didn't go anywhere. Eventually, Wilson became
uncomfortable with Manson and his girls and told them
to split."
**
Eichen's Quick Guide to FATE.
*********************************************
Charlie Manson --> Gary Hinman --> Dennis Wilson --->
Terry Melcher ---> Tate/La Bianca.
*********************************************
The Beach Boys entertained at Penn's 1964 graduation.
That's the year I graduated from Penn Dental. Terry
Melcher's wife at the time of Tate/La Bianca was
Candace Bergen, who quite coincidentally attended Penn
as an undergrad. I believe she was in my wife-at-the-
time's class, 1964 or possibly 1965. I checked that
fact this a.m.
She was not Class of 1964. Either that or else she
dropped out before graduation. Contrary to popular
belief, Charlie McCarthy was not at Penn either year.
Sharon Tate was, of course, Roman Polansky's 26-year
old wife. After the events of August 8, 1969, the
music changed. Nothing would ever be the same again.
This, it seems, was a very long time after the flower
children and Haight-Ashbury had all disintegrated and
discombobulated. 'Tate/La Bianca' itself will be 32
years ago next month.
If Charlie Manson were to be coming of age today, he
would be recording MP3's and downloading pirated music
off the web. Of that I am sure.
Fate. It's all fate. FATE and timing. Good and bad.
**
Scientology
Ever have lunch with a dental colleague and midway
between courses, you both suddenly notice that at the
very next table there sits an elephant quietly having
lunch with a zebra? To make things even more bizarre,
the zebra is purple and green instead of the regular
black and white and the elephant is bright orange.
Now just try to get that image out of your mind! Bet
you can't do it.
Now what do you do? What do you say? You do not want to
spoil your lunch or that of your colleague, so you say
nothing. Nothing at all. But each of you knows that
the other one also knows ....
Now in my conversation on Saturday, each of us knew
that Scientology is little more than a manipulative
cult that uses mind control to sucker in new converts!
But not wishing to offend one another, we politely
avoided the topic entirely.
L. Ron Hubbard
You see, 30th Street Station had a fantastic reception
and exhibit displaying rare photos of that famous
pulp fiction writer, aviator, explorer, bon vivant,
youngest-Eagle-Scout-ever, and all around good business
man, L. Ron Hubbard. Besides, I was quite amazed at
how nicely they had fixed up the entire Food Court area
over at 30th Street Station. I hadn't been over there
for some number of years.
If you haven't been there at all, this is the massive,
architecturally-superb Philadelphia terminal at the old
Pennsylvania Railroad. Its comparable to the old Penn
Station or Grand Central in midtown Manhattan.
My tour guide and I agreed that the photos and the
story that they told were really quite good. Quite
entertaining and very informative. Halfway through, he
asked, "So what do you do?"
I replied, "When? What do you mean?"
"I mean for work? What do you do?"
"Oh. I am a dentist."
"Wow. What a coincidence. I am a dentist too!"
He looked the part. He was kind of a preppy dude.
However, I was a little surprised because he had just
laid on me a too-familiar and quite phantasmagoric tale
that would only be worthy of our own JanDrew. It went
something like this: In the past, he was always quite
sickly, but since his affiliation with Scientology, he
is now very VERY healthy. Hardly ever gets a cold.
In the background rang an imaginary voice reminding me,
"If your immune system is b-a-a-a-d, then just check
the teeth. If you are hurting in places that you
didn't know you had, then see a good amalgam-free
dentist. And, oh yeah, by the way, drink some Nu-Vim
too to strengthen your immune system."
No matter.
I am too polite to tell my friend that there is huge
funny-colored elephant now sitting in the room. But I
did politely ask him a few dental-related questions.
Now as far as Scientology and dentistry go, I suppose
that this is really a much better match than some of
the other possibilities. For example, dentistry and
Hare Krishna do not go that well together at all. No
way.
Just imagine the patient is sitting there in the dental
chair waiting for the anesthetic to take hold, and then
suddenly she hears the little ringing of those nice
little brass finger castanets. Suddenly, the dental
hygienist, the office manager, and the dental assistant
all come dancing down the hall and begin traipsing
around the operatory. They are all dressed up in some
very nice, very fancy orange robes, all singing Hare
Krshna, Hare Krshna, Hare Rama, Hare Rama ....
No, that won't do at all.
Now Scientology is different. It is quieter ... it is
more refined. It is subtler. It is more scientific
too!
Now they have something that they call an E-Meter. I
swear, this is exactly like a little electric pulp
tester device. Who knows. Perhaps L. Ron Hubbard
himself was over at the dentist in 1952 getting a root
canal. Perhaps he got the whole idea from the electric
pulp test that the dentist performed. But then again,
I am really only guessing here.
They ask you some small questions and then the E-Meter
says (always says by the way) that you need therapy in
the form of "getting clear." The E-Meter is stuck in
the ON position, I think. It must be.
You have these things called Engrams (this sounds too
much like R-grams or radiograms) and all KINDS of other
stuff preventing good dental health ... or something.
ANYTHING! I really do not know that much about this so
I will quit talking about it for now.
But there sure are some definite similarities. This is
quite like diagnosing a need for root canal therapy, I
think.
So I politely told my tour guide (the Doc) that I had
heard some hearsay about some dentists who were ripped
off to the tune of tens and hundreds of thousands of
dollars each. And boy. Are they ever mad.
He politely told me that perhaps they did not put into
practice what they had learned from the consultants.
"It is very possible," I said. I had glanced over and I
did not want to call attention to what the zebra and
the elephant were now doing at this very moment. It
was quite embarrassing.
This dentist himself had spent $20,000 on consultation
services, but the very next month, he informed me, he
recouped $10,000 of it with his newfound attitude (my
words, not his). ATT-E-TOOD, as the Philadelphians say.
He had a pretty decent answer, really, for every single
question that I posed. It reminded me about when a drug
addict comes in to the dental office to get a brand-new
prescription. When this happens, all's I want to do is
yank that bad puppy outa there. However, the druggie
always has a very well-planned script, every single
time, why I can't do that. Not today, anyway. That
tips off this dentist pronto.
But you know, when I looked into this dude's eyes, he
knew and I knew that I really am a pretty tough
customer when it comes to peddling nonsense. I really
try not to stare, no matter how vacuous my perception.
You know, that would really be impolite. But I can
just tell these things. You know. And I am just not
buying that much more of it these days.
I guess I was slyly challenging him to tell me
something, anything, that I could really believe. With
that in mind, I asked just one more question:
"How come the Scientologists stand around on the street
corners and try to entice new people to join them? Why
would it be advantageous for them to do that?"
The reply, and I believe this would be L. Ron Hubbard's
reply also was, "Its because of all of the corruption
and deterioration that exists out there in society,
that's why Scientologists are trying to help people
make things better (for themselves)."
I added what's in parentheses.
I thought about what he said. He had now meandered onto
my own turf. He had made an interesting point. I guess
from a business point of view, from his own vantage
point, anything goes, when it comes to "making things
better."
Look back at some of the recent advice from the Sell
Side Analysts who collectively fooled the general
public about public stocks last year, I presumed that
many of them might have been Scientologists too.
What went down was almost criminal! That was a huge
$1.5 trillion transfer of wealth from the "less-aware"
to "more-aware." How's that for Engrams!
Isn't that pretty much the same thing?
Well, maybe not. Dentistry is a little different it
seems to me too. Dentistry involves a large degree of
trust. I guess that is why the elephant and the zebra
are really bothering me right now. It has to do with
trust. It is because I know it when I see it.
The rest of the exhibit was really superb. They gave me
an excellent, very-high-quality souvenir book to take
home with me. That pleased me. I suspended disbelief
about where all of the funds came from to finance all
of this activity.
Today, while still pondering this, I received a
beautiful FREE book from Great Plains Software. I guess
these little gifts are acts of friendship. Its called,
"Clicks and Mortar: Passion Driven Growth in an
Internet Driven World," by David S. Pottruck, President
and CEO, Charles Schwab.
I can't wait to read it. It is 320 pages. Before you
get carried away, please be advised that a nice web-
offset press (roto-gravure) can feed exactly ten sheets
of paper, each measuring two feet by three feet (in a
paper roll, of course), and bind this into a 320 page
book so fast your head would spin.
So don't be fooled by the $26.00 cover price or the
$39.50 in Canada. It ain't much at all to produce
these books. Besides. Its the content that really
counts.
We are now at the end of the dental story. However, if
you want to find out more about some of those badly
misguided folks down in Death Valley, please read on.
I hope that a few folks have enjoyed reading this.
Goodness knows I certainly have enjoyed writing it!
That is the purpose of it all, you know. Otherwise,
why would L. Ron Hubbard have even bothered writing
pulp fiction at all? And that is without the benefits
of word-processing too.
This is the story of one small adventure. Let's hope
that all of our collective adventures always remain
very small. Its the big ones that really have a way of
getting out-of-control. Then it becomes FATE.
Cheers,
Joel M. Eichen, D.D.S.
NEXT WEEK: How Don Silverman a.k.a. Center City Sonny
foiled an armed robbery by pretending that his turkey
and swiss cheese hoagie was, in fact, a police radio.
Another true story from the Eichen Archives.
WEEK OF JULY 23:
"How to turn your Family Room into a Garage."
WEEK OF JULY 30:
"Needle-Art for Junkies."
***************
Beach Boys Tour Schedule - Wow! Still at it!
^^^^^^^^^^
Fri 07/06/01 Atlantic City, NJ Caesars Atlantic City
Sat 07/07/01 Atlantic City, NJ Caesars Atlantic City
Sat 07/07/01 Ft. Loramie, OH Hickory Hill Lakes
Sun 07/08/01 Vienna, VA Wolf Trap Filene Ctr.
Sun 07/08/01 Atlantic City, NJ Caesars Atlantic City
*********
http://www.marklindsay.com/terrymelcher.htm
TERRY MELCHER.....
The Whole Picture
Nothing exists in a vacuum, least of all the infectious
and incestuous California music of the early sixties.
As fans, we were all well aware of the "infectious"
part of that sentence, but with today's CD reissues and
the more honest perspective they give, the "incestuous"
part is now becoming evident to us. It's now possible
to better understand the musical framework in which
Terry Melcher worked with Paul Revere and the Raiders.
Although Terry was the Raiders' original assigned
producer, he took a brief foray over to Capitol and
Bobby Darin, leaving his Columbia job to Bruce
Johnston. Bruce, of course, already had a Raider
connection from 1961 -- at the last minute, he had
decided to stay in California and surf instead of tour
as part of the Mark Lindsay-Ben Benay-Rod Schaeffer-
Frank James' "Paul Revere's Raiders" in support of
"Like Long Hair." Leon Russell saved the day and took
his place.
Late in 1964, Bruce took the Raiders in the studio and
let them do what they did best -- perform a wild live
show, with Mike Holladay on bass. This became the first
side of "Here They Come" [and now, the complete session
is heard on the newly-issued "Mojo Workout"], and the
early pressings of the LP give both Bruce and Mike
credit for their efforts in the liner notes. By the
way, on the "Essential Ride" CD, that's Bruce's voice
you hear from the booth introducing "Crisco Party" --
it came from the same live sessions.
Terry returned to Columbia, where he again assumed
responsibility for the Raiders, and in early 1965, he
produced the studio side of the Raiders' first Columbia
album. There was a new wrinkle for the group -- Terry,
as was his usual practice, used st udio musicians on
the "Sometimes" track -- Hal Blaine on drums, Carol
Kaye on bass, and Billy Strange on guitar. The Raiders
were on tour in central California, when Terry and
Columbia had Mark fly down to put on the lead vocal. It
was not a happy mo ment for the Raiders -- it was a
sudden reality check on the power of the record
producer. But the end result was that they practiced
harder to prove themselves to Terry, and were probably
better prepared for the studio on the rest of the
tracks that they played on, than they might otherwise
have been. Later, as the Raiders got busier touring,
and Columbia demanded a recording output that would
have been impossible with the travel schedule the group
had, Terry resumed the practice of often using his
studio musician network to cut or supplement tracks.
Three recent Sundazed releases (The Rip Chords' "Hey
Little Cobra" and "Three Window Coupe," and "The Best
of Bruce & Terry") have liner notes and interviews
which give an excellent perspective on where Terry was
coming from musically at that time, e specially on the
matter of studio musicians. It really wasn't a big deal
to Terry, who saw things from the producer's
perspective rather than the group's -- he just wanted
to make the best records possible in the very limited
amount of time that Colu mbia allotted in the studio.
Terry looked up to Brian Wilson, and had learned
Bruce's formula well -- the sound of the end result was
what really mattered, and you did what was necessary to
get that sound.
Earlier, in 1962, Terry had brought Columbia the
musicians Phil Stewart and Ernie Bringas, and later
Arnie Marcus and Rich Rotkin, where they became the Rip
Chords. But soon most of their time was spent touring
(does that sound familiar?), and in Oct ober 1963, it
was Bruce Johnston doing the "Shut 'em down" parts of
"Hey Little Cobra", with Terry singing lead. Terry's
rationale was that he had cut the track for Bruce and
Terry, but since the Rip Chords had some momentum going
at that point, they 'd put it out as a Rip Chords'
record, even though it was technically a Bruce and
Terry record. Terry says, "I didn't care whose name was
on it...I just wanted to get in that Top Ten..." Terry
wanted hits!
Columbia was not happy at first, but relented, and the
song became a hit. As a producer, Terry now had carte
blanche to do what he wanted at Columbia, because the
label wanted hits as much as Terry did.
As you read through the liner notes of all of these
Sundazed releases, you have a major urge to get out an
organization chart and see how many lines you can draw
connecting all of the characters. You'll see the same
studio musicians -- many of whom T erry also used on
Raiders' recordings - over and over. Pull out the Sony
Byrds' releases that were produced by Terry and the
same names pop up. It was the way he chose to produce
records, and the way worked.
For a little treat, and proof that influence went BOTH
ways, listen to the "Like Long Hair"-inspired opening
chords on "Roger's Reef" (1964) on "The Best of Bruce &
Terry." And no doubt you'll think you're hearing the
beginning of the Raiders' "Somet imes" when you first
hear "Roger's Reef, Part II." If youÕre not confused
enough already, these tunes were recorded by Bruce and
Terry under the name "The Rogues"! This CD also has
wonderful pictures of a very young duo, in my
estimation looking no o lder than twelve, although that
wasn't the case. This is a really enjoyable CD that
you'll want to play over and over; then put on
"Christmas Present" or "Revolution!" and you'll really
be able to pick out Terry's part of the background
vocals with Mark.
If you want to go a little farther afield, check out
the Sundazed "Present Tense" CD by Sagittarius. As
mentioned in last month's ARTYFACTS blurb regarding the
song "My World Fell Down", participants included Terry
Melcher and many of the folks menti oned above. The
original project was co-produced by Gary Usher, who had
been involved with the California surf scene, had co-
written several tunes with Brian Wilson, and produced
some of the recordings for the Byrds, and Keith Allison
as well. More lines to be drawn on that org chart, and
a little more understanding of the production of the
Raiders' contemporaneous "Revolution!" CD.
If you can handle that, are you ready for a big "left
turn" soundwise? Try to find a copy of Terry Melcher's
two solo LP's - "Terry Melcher" (Reprise MS2185, 1974)
and "Royal Flush" (BEL1-0948, 1976). Mark describes
them as "Beverly Hills Country". But you'll see
familiar names credited: Joe Osborne, Larry Knechtel,
Ry Cooder (more Raider session folk), plus Hal Blaine,
Bruce Johnston, some of the Byrds -- and mom Doris Day
even sang back-up on one of the tunes! And one of the
covers was designed by Jan and Dean's Dean Torrence.
(Thanks to Doug Peterson for the copies. Yes, he DOES
have everything.)
And that was the way many records were made in
California in the early sixties. Mark describes it as a
time of free flow of ideas and musicianship across
groups and labels, a practice that is nearly impossible
today with all of the legal mumbo-jumbo that has to be
negotiated before the business affairs people will
agree to anything. It was a kinder, simpler time then,
a time when the Beach Boys could go over to Columbia
Studio A to record with Capitol's blessing if Brian
wanted to do it there.
In fact, the elite group of studio musicians that we've
been discussing played on so many of the top hits of
the time (including those of Simon and Garfunkel), that
there is talk of getting them nominated to the Rock and
Roll Hall of Fame for their contribution to the music
of the era. It sure makes sense, and Terry Melcher
certainly deserves a nomination as well.
And let's see, the Beach Boys are in, the Byrds are in,
how about those Raiders?????!
- DEB LINDSAY
Reprinted from the August 1998 issue of Mark Lindsay's
Steppin' Out!
-------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------
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All Rights Reserved
*********
MUSICIANS ASSOCIATED WITH THE BYRDS
Me - Mu
FAST FORWARD:
Terry Melcher
The Chad Mitchell Trio
Joni Mitchell
Alan Munde
Larry Murray
Terry Melcher
Terry Melcher is the son of Doris Day, who by the mid-
'60s had become a major shareholder in CBS. He entered
the music business in the early '60s as half of the duo
Bruce & Terry, with future Beach Boy Bruce Johnston. By
1965, Melcher was a staff pro ducer for Columbia
Records. As the only young in-house producer, he was
assigned the handful of rock acts on the label, the
best-known being Paul Revere and the Raiders. By that
time, he was already part of the California rock elite,
hanging out with the Beach Boys and Jan & Dean.
Melcher produced the first two Byrds albums in 1965.
After a four-year hiatus, he produced Ballad of Easy
Rider, (Untitled), and Byrdmaniax. In 1970, he produced
sessions with Gram Parsons, but these tracks were
checked out of the studio by Parsons and never heard
again.
In 1968, Melcher would become an independent producer
working with the Beatles' Apple Records label. The
connection to the Beatles attracted aspiring songwriter
Charles Manson. Melcher auditioned Manson, but decided
not to record him. After the Manso n family murders,
Melcher feared he might have been the murderers' real
target, and with good reason: actress Sharon Tate and
four others were killed in the house that had only a
few months earlier been vacated by Melcher and actress
Candace Bergen.
Beach Boys
The seminal line-up comprised Brian Wilson (b. 20 June
1942, Hawthorne, California, USA), Carl Wilson (b. 21
December 1946, Hawthorne, California, d. 6 February
1998), Dennis Wilson (b. 4 December 1944, Hawthorne,
California, USA, d. 28 December 198 3), Al Jardine (b.
3 September 1942, Lima, Ohio, USA) and Mike Love (b. 15
March 1941, Baldwin Hills, California, USA). When the
aforementioned three brothers, one cousin and a
schoolfriend formed a casual singing group in Hawthorne
in 1961, they unc onsciously created one of the
longest-running, compulsively fascinating and bitterly
tragic sagas in popular music. As Carl And The
Passions, the Pendletones and Kenny And The Cadets,
they rehearsed and played high-school hops while elder
brother Bri an began to demonstrate his songwriting
ability. He was already obsessed with harmonics and
melody, and would listen for hours to close-harmony
groups, especially the Four Freshmen and the Hi-Lo's.
One of his earliest songs, 'Surfin'' (written at the
suggestion of keen surfing brother Dennis), was
released on a local label, and the topical name 'Beach
Boys' was innocently adopted.
The domineering father of the brothers, Murry Wilson,
immediately seized on their potential and appointed
himself as manager, publicist and producer. After his
own abortive attempts at a career in music, he began to
live his frustrated career dreams through his sons.
'Surfin', with Murry's efforts, became a sizeable local
hit, and made the Billboard Hot 100 (numbe r 75). His
continuing efforts gained them a recording contract
with Capitol Records during the summer of 1962. In
addition to the developing group's conflicts, Nik Venet
(the producer at Capitol) became embroiled immediately
with Murry, and their ide as clashed. Over the next 18
months the Beach Boys had 10 US hits and released four
albums of surfing and hot-rod songs (each cover showed
the photograph of neighbourhood friend David Marks, who
had temporarily replaced Al Jardine while he attended d
entistry college). The Beach Boys' punishing workload
began to affect the main songwriter, Brian, who was
additionally writing similar material for fellow
surf/hot-rodders Jan And Dean.
In 1963 the Beach Boys phenomenon reached the UK in the
shape of the single 'Surfin' USA', which mildly
interrupted the Merseybeat domination. The
predominantly working-class image of the British beat
group scene was at odds with the perception of the
clean and wholesome west coast, blessed with permanent
sunshin e, fun and beautiful girls. During 1964 a
further four albums were released, culminating in the
Christmas Album. This represented a staggering eight
albums in just over two years, six of which were
arranged and produced by Brian, in addition to his h
aving written 63 out of a total of 84 songs. In
America, the Beatles had begun their unmatched
domination of the charts, and in their wake came dozens
of groups as the British invasion took place. The
Beach Boys, more especially Brian, could only sta nd
back in amazement. He felt so threatened that it drove
him to compete against the Beatles.
Eventually, Brian gained some pyrrhic revenge, when in
1966 the Beach Boys were voted number 1 group in the
world by the UK music press, pushing the Fab Fou r into
second place. Wilson's maturity as a composer was
developing at a staggering pace with classic hits such
as 'I Get Around', 'California Girls' and 'God Only
Knows'. The overall quality of albums such as Summer
Days And Summer Nights!! and Toda y was extremely high.
Many of Wilson's songs described his own insecurity as
an adolescent. Songs such as 'In My Room', 'Wouldn't It
Be Nice' and 'Girl Don't Tell Me' found a receptive
audience who could immediately relate to the lyrics.
While the gr oup's instrumental prowess was average,
the immaculate combination of the members' voices
delivered a sound that was unmistakable. Both Carl and
Brian had perfect pitch, even though Brian was deaf in
one ear (reputedly caused through his father's
beatings). In private, the 'musical genius' was working
on what was to be his masterpiece, Pet Sounds.
Released in August 1966, the high-profile pre-publicity
proved deserved and the reviews were outstanding. The
music on Pet Sounds was staggering, but for some
inexplicable reason, the album sold poorly compared to
previous Beach Boys releases. It was later reported
that Brian was devastated by the comparative commercial
failure of Pet Sounds in his own country (US number
10), and felt mortified a year later when the Beatles'
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was released. It
was not widely known that Brian had already experienced
two nervous breakdowns, retired from performing with
the group and had begun to depend on barbiturates.
Even l ess public was the breakdown of his relationship
with his father and the festering tension within the
band. The brief recruitment of Glen Campbell, followed
by Bruce Johnston, filled Brian's place in public.
Through all this turmoil the Beach Boys ro se to their
peak at the end of 1966 with arguably their greatest
achievement, 'Good Vibrations'. This glorious collage
of musical patterns, with its changes of tempo, unusual
lyrics and incredible dynamics, earned Brian and the
band the respect of ev ery musician. The group embarked
on a major tour of Europe with a new single, 'Heroes
And Villains', another innovative excursion with
intriguing lyrics by Van Dyke Parks. Brian, meanwhile,
attempted a counter-attack on the Beatles, with a
project to be known as 'Smile'.
This became the band's albatross, although it was never
officially released. The painstaking hours spent on
this project now form one of pop's legendary tales.
Parts of the material surfaced on their next three
albums, and furt her tracks appeared on other
collections up until 1971. The conflict between Brian
Wilson and the other band members was surfacing more
regularly. Mike Love, in particular, wanted the other
Beach Boys to continue with their immaculate pop music,
and argued that Brian was becoming too 'far out'.
Indeed, Brian's reclusive nature, fast-increasing
weight and growing dependence on drugs added fuel to
Love's argument. Observers felt that the band could not
raise themselves to the musical level visualized in
Brian's present state of mind.
Smiley Smile in 1967 and Wild Honey the following year
were comparative failures in the charts by previous
Beach Boys standards. Their music had lost its
cohesiveness and their mentor and guiding light had by
now retreated to his bed, where he stayed for many
years. In Europe the group were still having hits, and
even had a surprise UK chart-topper in 1968 with 'Do It
Again', with Love's nasal vocals taking the lead on a
song harking back to better times. Lo ve had by this
time become a devotee of the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
while Dennis Wilson, who was emerging as a talented
songwriter, became dangerously involved with Charles
Manson, later jailed for his involvement in the murders
of nine people between 8 and 10 August 1969. Dennis was
drained of money, parted from his home and ultimately
threatened with his life by Manson and his followers.
Manson and Wilson collaborated on a number of songs,
notably 'Never Learn Not To Love', which, although a Be
ach Boys b-side, had the ironic distinction of putting
Charles Manson in the charts.
To highlight their discontent, three of their next four
singles were extraneous compositions, namely 'Bluebirds
Over The Mountain', and a competent version of Lead B
elly 's 'Cottonfields'. The third non-original was the
Phil Spector / Jeff Barry / Ellie Greenwich opus 'I Can
Hear Music', featuring a passionate lead vocal from
Carl, confirming his status as acting leader. He
struggled to maintain this role for ma ny years to
come. In April 1969 the Beach Boys left Capitol in a
blaze of litigation. No new product surfaced until
August the following year, apart from 'Add Some Music
To Your Day' in March 1970. They had the ignominy of
having an album rejected pr ior to that. Sunflower was
an artistic triumph but a commercial disaster, on which
Dennis contributed four songs including the sublime
'Forever'.
Throughout the subsequent 12 months they set about
rebuilding their credibility in the USA, having lost
much ground to the new-wave bands from San Francisco.
They started to tour constantly, even appearing with
unlikely compatriots the Grateful Dead. Through
determination and hard work they did the seemingly
impossible and allied themselves with the hi p
cognoscenti. The arrival of Surf's Up in July 1971
completed their remarkable renaissance. The title
track, with surreal lyrics by Van Dyke Parks, was
another masterpiece, while on the rest of the album it
was Carl's turn to offer strong contributi ons with the
beautiful 'Feel Flows' and 'Long Promised Road'.
The record's strong ecological stance was years ahead
of its time, and the critics were unanimous in
favourably reassessing them. As Dennis co-starred with
James Taylor in the cult road mo vie Two-Lane Blacktop,
so Brian's life was deteriorating into mental
instability. Miraculously, the band were able to
maintain their career, which at times included only one
Wilson, Carl, and no longer featured the presence of
the long-serving Bruce Johnston. The addition of Ricky
Fataar, Blondie Chaplin and Daryl Dragon nevertheless
gave the depleted band a fuller sound. One further
album appeared before the outstanding Holland came in
1973.
For this project the entire Beach Boys organization,
including wives and children, moved to Holland for
eight months of recording. Thankfully, even Brian was
cajoled into going, and his composition 'Sail On
Sailor' was a high point of the album. Murry Wilson
died of a heart attack in June 1973, but Bri an and
Dennis declined to attend the funeral. At the same
time, the group's fortunes were once again in the
descendent as a double live album was badly received,
but a year later the compilation Endless Summer, put
together by Mike Love, unexpectedly rocketed to the top
of the US charts. It spent 71 weeks on the lists,
disappeared and returned again the following year,
staying for a further 78 weeks. This unparalleled
success reinforced Love and Jardine's theory that all
anybody wanted of the Be ach Boys was surfing and car
songs. With the addition of James William Guercio,
formerly of Chicago and ex-producer of Blood Sweat And
Tears, the band enjoyed extraordinary concert tour
success, and ended 1974 being voted 'Band of the Year'
by Rollin g Stone magazine. Spirit Of America (1975),
another compilation of earlier tracks, enjoyed further
success, staying on the American charts for almost a
year. Meanwhile, Brian's condition had further
deteriorated and he underwent treatment with contro
versial therapist Eugene Landy.
The album 15 Big Ones, released in July 1976, gave them
a big hit with a cover version of Chuck Berry's 'Rock
And Roll Music'. The publicity centred on a tasteless
'Brian Is Back' campaign, the now obese Wilson being
unwillingly pushed into the spotlight. It seemed
obvious to all that Brian was a sick, confused and
nervous man being used as a financial tool.
Subsequent albums, The Beach Boys Love You and M.I.U.
Album, attempted to maintain Brian's high profile as
producer, but close observers were well aware that this
was a complete sham. The material was of average
quality, although the former showed strong glimpses of
Wilson's fascination with childlike innocence. In 1977
they signed a recording contract w ith CBS reputedly
worth $8,000,000, on the terms that Brian Wilson
contributed at least four new songs and a total of 70
per cent of all the material for each album. The first
album under this contract was the patchy LA (Light
Album), with Bruce John ston recalled to bail them out
on production duties.
The album did manage to produce a sizeable hit with Al
Jardine's 'Lady Lynda'. The most controversial track,
however, was a remake of 'Here Comes The Night'; this
previously innocuous R&B song from Wild Honey was
turned into an 11-minute extended disco extravaganza,
and alone cost $50,000 to produce. By this time,
Dennis had developed a serious cocaine habit, which
hampered the recording of his own solo album, Pacific
Ocean Blue. However, he w as rewarded with excellent
reviews, and, now openly, verbally abused the other
members of the band except for Brian, whom he defended
resolutely. When Carl became addicted to cocaine and
alcohol, the fragmentation of the group was at its
height.
The next official Beach Boys release was Keeping The
Summer Alive, a poor album (with an even poorer cover),
without the presence of Dennis, who had acrimoniously
left the group. He was now living with Christine McVie
of Fleetwood Mac. During 1980 only L ove and Jardine
were present from the original group. Carl delivered
his first solo album, a beautifully sung, well-produced
record that flopped. One track, 'Heaven', later became
a regular part of the Beach Boys' repertoire and was
dedicated to Denn is during the 80s. In 1982, Brian
Wilson was officially dismissed, and was admitted to
hospital for detoxification, weighing a massive 320
pounds. In December 1983, Dennis Wilson tragically
drowned while diving from his boat. Ironically, his
death re portedly snapped Brian out of his stupor, and
he gradually re-emerged to participate onstage. A clean
and healthy-looking band graced the back of the 1985
Steve Levine-produced The Beach Boys.
Following this collection they found themselves without
a recording contract, and decided to concentrate purely
on being a major concert attraction, travelling the
world. While no new albums appeared, they concentrated
on singles, including an energetic, well-produced 'Rock
And Roll To The Rescue', followe d by their version of
the Mamas And The Papas' classic 'California Dreaming',
with Roger McGuinn featured on 12-string guitar. In
1987, they teamed up with rap act the Fat Boys for a
remake of the Surfaris' 'Wipe Out'.
In 1988, a phoenix-like Brian Wilson returned with the
solo album that his fans had awaited for over 20 years.
The critics and fans loved it, but the album sold only
moderately well. At the same time, the Beach Boys
released 'Kokomo', which was included in the Tom Cruise
film *** tail, and unexpectedly found themselves at
the top of the US charts for many weeks.
In May 1990, the Beach Boys took Brian Wilson to court
in an alleged attempt to wrest his $80 million fortune
from him, maintaining that he was insane and unable to
look after himself. His medical condition was
confirmed (extreme introversion, pathological shyness
and manic depression). Wilson defended the case but
reluctantly accepted a settlement by which he severed
his links with Eugene Landy. Wilson was then officially
sacked/resigned and proceeded to recoup monies that had
been pouring in from his back catalogue. Murry Wilson
had sold his son's company, Sea Of Tunes, to another
publisher in 1969, and during this latest court case,
Wilson testified that he was mentally ill and a
casualty of drug abuse at the time.
Wilson won the case and received substantial back
royalties. The dust had barely settled when Mike Love
issued a writ to Brian Wilson claiming he co-wrote 79
songs with him, including 'Cal ifornia Girls', 'I Get
Around' and 'Surfin' USA' (the latter was 'borrowed'
from Chuck Berry). In 1993 the band continued to tour,
although their show was merely an oldies package.
During 1994 mutterings were heard that the pending
lawsuit would be s ettled, as Love and Brian were at
least speaking to each other. Late that year it was
announced that a substantial settlement had been made
to Love, effectively confirming all his claims. In
February 1995 a thin, handsome, recently remarried
Wilson a nd a neat, lively-looking Love met at the
latter's home.
Not only had they mended the rift but they were writing
songs together. Early reports indicated both enthusiasm
and a desire to make up for many years of wasted time.
Instead they released Star s And Stripes Vol. 1, a
lacklustre album of old Beach Boys songs featuring
various country artists on lead vocals. Wilson's
collaboration with songwriter Andy Paley (who co-wrote
material on Brian Wilson ) produced several much-hyped
tracks, and kind red spirit Sean O'Hagan from the High
Llamas was flown over to co-ordinate the mooted album.
The sessions ended in confusion and discord, however,
and no new material has been forthcoming, with Brian
going on to record a second solo album. Carl Wilso n
began treatment for cancer in 1997 and, with Al
Jardine, decided to take action against Brian Wilson
for statements made in his autobiography. Carl's health
steadily deteriorated, and his death in February 1998
robbed the band of their sweetest voi ce. Much has been
written about the band, and to those wishing to study
this institution, David Leaf's book is highly
recommended.
Timothy White's recent book adds information that had
previously never surfaced, and is a well-written
documentary of C alifornia life. Their career has been
rolling, like the tide their great songs evoked,
constantly in and out, reaching incredible highs and
extraordinary troughs. Through all these appalling
experiences, however, they still reign supreme as the
most successful American group in pop history. With the
death of Carl Wilson and the continuing absence of
Brian, who is concentrating on his solo career, it
would seem unlikely that the remaining members can
continue. The Beach Boys without a Wilson is l ike
surfing without any waves.
***
http://www.crimelibrary.com/manson/mansonhel.htm
Charles Manson
Helter Skelter
As poorly prepared for life on the outside as he was,
Charlie was able to blend in with his guitar into the
hippie scene in San Francisco. The high-point of the
Haight Ashbury culture was past and the only ones left
were the diehards and the last one s to the party.
Charlie was never impressed by the hippie culture, but
he lived off it and it didn't expect much from him. He
learned about drugs and how he could use them to
influence people.
Charlie started to attract a group of followers, many
of whom were very young women with troubled emotional
lives who were rebelling against their parents and
society in general. He battered down their inhibitions
and questioned the validity of their notions of good
and evil. For the most part, Charlie's followers were
weak-willed people who were naïve, gullible and easy to
lead. LSD and amphetamines were additional tools by
which Charlie altered their personalities to his needs.
In spring of 1968, Manson and his followers left San
Francisco in an old school bus and traveled around.
Eventually, he and a few of his group moved in with
Gary Hinman, a music teacher with a house on the Canyon
Road. Through Hinman, Charlie met Dennis Wilson of the
Beach Boys. Manson and his girls starting hanging
around Wilson every chance they had. Manson tried to
leverage the acquaintance with Dennis Wilson but it
didn't go anywhere. Eventually, Wilson became
uncomfortable with Manson and h is girls and told them
to split.
About that time, Manson found George Spahn and conned
the old man into letting him and his followers live on
the Ranch. Squeaky Fromme, one of Charlie's devotees,
made sure that the elderly man's sexual needs were
fully satisfied. The Manson Family s urvived by a
combination of stealing and scavenging. Much of their
food was taken from what the supermarkets discard each
day.
Charlie was still hell-bent to market his music to
somebody. Through his contacts with Dennis Wilson and
another man in the music business, Charlie met Doris
Day's son Terry Melcher. The plan was to interest
Melcher in financing a film with Manson's music.
At that time, Melcher owned the house on Cielo Drive
that was eventually leased to Roman Polanski and Sharon
Tate. At various times, Manson had been by the property
in a car with Dennis Wilson.
Melcher was asked to listen to Charlie and decide
whether or not he wanted to record them. Melcher went
out the first time and listened to Charlie sing his own
compositions and play the guitar. Some of the girls
sang and played tambourines. Melcher w ent out a second
time a week later, but the music was nothing he was
interested in recording. What he didn't realize is that
Manson had built this recording opportunity with
Melcher into something very real in his mind. When
nothing came of it, Charl ie was plenty angry and
blamed Melcher for his disappointment.
Another facet of Charlie, although not nearly as
important to him as his music, was his philosophy. To a
large extent, this "philosophy" was a con, something he
dreamed up to impress his followers, but he probably
believed some of it.
The core of this philosophy was a kind of Armageddon.
Charlie preached that the black man was going to rise
up and start killing the whites and turn the cities in
to an inferno of racial revenge. The black man would
win this war, but wouldn't be able to hang onto the
power he seized because of innate inferiority.
In 1968, Charlie was forecasting racial war when all of
a sudden the Beatles released their White Album, which
had the song "Helter Skelter." The lyrics fit Charlie's
theory to a tee: "Look out helter skelter helter
skelter helter skelter/She's comin g down fast/ Yes she
is/Yes she is." Now, the racial Armageddon had a name.
It was Helter Skelter.
Helter Skelter would begin, according to one of
Charlie's devotees, "with the black man going into
white people's homes and ripping off the white people,
physically destroying them,. A couple of spades from
Watts would come up into the Bel Air and Be verly Hills
district.and just really wipe some people out, just
cutting bodies up and smearing blood and writing things
on the wall in blood.all kinds of super-atrocious
crimes that would really make the white man mad.until
there was open revolution in the streets, until they
finally won and took over. Then the black man would
assume the white man's karma. He would then be the
establishment."
Charlie and the Family would survive this racial
holocaust because they would be hiding in the desert
safe from the turmoil of the cities. He pulled from the
Book of Revelations, the concept of a "bottomless pit,"
the entrance of which, according to Charlie, was a cave
underneath Death Valley that led down to a city of
gold. This paradise was where Charlie and his Family
were going to wait out this war. Afterwards, when the
black man failed at keeping power, Charlie's Family,
which they estimate d would have multiplied to 144,000
by that time, would then take over from the black man
and rule the cities.
"It will be our world then," Charlie told his
followers. "There would be no one else, except for us
and the black servants. He, Charles Willis Manson, the
fifth angel, Jesus Christ, would then rule the world.
The other four angels were the Beatles.
How did this hokey philosophy result in the blood bath
at the Tate and LaBianca houses? Well, Charlie the
Prophet had already forecast that the murders would
start in the summer of 1969, but as the summer went on,
it looked as though the "prophet" wa s wrong. "The only
thing blackie knows is what whitey has told him," he
said to one of his followers just before the murders.
"I'm going to have to show him how to do it."
After the LaBianca murder, one of Manson's girls, Linda
Kasabian, was told to take Rosemary LaBianca's wallet
and credit cards and leave them in the ladies room of a
gas station in an area heavily populated by blacks.
That way, when, theoretically, t he credit cards would
be used by some black woman, it would appear that
blacks were responsible for the LaBianca deaths.
However, the credit cards were never used or turned in
to the authorities.
--
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