Charles Manson in 1970.Photo:Michael Ochs Archives/Getty
Michael Ochs Archives/Getty
He adds, “So, they’d cut it up into segments and he would pass it around. Charlie [Manson] got his acid from me!”
When Manson was released from prison he had dreams of joining the music business, so Kaufman put him in contact with Stromberg, who was working for Universal at the time. One day, Manson showed up for a meeting.
“I call this guy Russ Reagan, who was the head of Uni Records — they had just started the label. I said, ‘There’s a guy here, I think you should listen to him.’ He said, ‘Sure, bring him up,'” he recalls. “So I went up to his office. Charlie sits on his desk and starts playing music. Russ is like, ‘Whatisthis?’ Out of embarrassment, says, ‘I’ll give you money to do a demo.’ So we set up a demo.”
They went on to record five songs with Stromberg serving as a producer and he said the “music was terrible.” (The songs were later released in 1970’sLie: The Love and Terror. Manson also wrote the Beach Boys song “Never Learn Not to Love” with drummer Dennis Wilson.)
“I took it up to Russ the next day. We listened to it and Russ said, ‘Just get rid of this, this is terrible.’ And I did. Charlie got really upset with me because I wasn’t able to help him,” he said of Manson, who went on to live with Wilson for some time. “He tried to get me to try other labels and I said, ‘I’m sorry, this isn’t me. This isn’t what I do.’ And Charlie, we just split up on bad terms.”
After things didn’t workout with Stromberg, Manson found music producer Terry Melcher who also ended up turning him down after a recording session. Coincidentally, on Aug. 9, 1969, Manson instructed his followers to visit 10050 Cielo Drive and kill everyone inside. Melcher had lived there during the time they worked together.
“When all of that s— went down with [Sharon] Tate and all, he got arrested. Then the FBI came to me to inform me that when they had arrested Charlie, they had found a list of people that he intended to murder — and that I was on that list,” he says. “So I high-tailed it out of town! I went to Europe and just hung up for a month or two and moved around. I was just afraid. I got a van and I drove all over Europe, just fearing for my life.”
He continues, “I knew there were other guys that were still on the street. They were still part of the Manson movement. I mean, I knew Charlie over the course of a few months, so I knew a little bit about him, and [knew that] him getting arrested did not remove the threat. So I just kept moving around in Europe for a while until I felt it was safe to come back.”
Charles Manson in 1980.Albert Foster/Mirrorpix/Getty
Albert Foster/Mirrorpix/Getty
The full episode, which also explores The Stones’ return to Los Angeles for a gig at the Palladium, where “an unhinged Satanist appears at the stage door, claiming to be the band’s dead guitarist Brian Jones,” isavailable to listen here.
During a two-day spree in August 1969, Manson and his followers were responsible for themurders of seven people, including 26-year-old actressSharon Tate.
Also murdered were coffee heiressAbigail Folger, writer Voytek Frykowski, hairstylist Jay Sebring, and 18-year-old delivery boy Steven Parent. Their bodies were discovered the following day.
Mansondied of natural causesat age 83 in November 2017.
source: people.com
