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40 Facts About Charles Manson, the Notrious Cult-leader

Tim Flight September 1, 2019 28 min

23. Manson made friends with Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys, and even wrote them a song

The Beach Boys on the Ed Sullivan Show, September 1961. Wikimedia Commons

In 1968, Dennis Wilson of The Beach Boys picked up hitchhiking Manson Family members and took them to his house. Sensing a shot at musical glory through the pop star, Manson himself turned up a few days later, and the two became friends. The whole Manson Family even moved into Wilson’s home for a while but were evicted after spending a fortune on his credit cards. Wilson refused to discuss his relationship with Manson after the latter’s murder convictions but, creepily, the Beach Boys song, ‘Never Learn not to Love’, is actually an adaptation of the Manson original, ‘Cease to Exist’.

Written by

Tim Flight

I am a freelance historical and literary writer based in West Yorkshire, UK. I read for a funded PhD in English at the University of Oxford (Magdalen College) and graduated in 2016. I am a former lecturer in Medieval English Literature at Royal Holloway, University of London. My publications include peer-reviewed articles in academic publications, and pieces in mainstream magazines such as History Today and Fortean Times. For more information, please see www.drflight.co.uk