Monday, June 25, 2012

Last Post on The Brotherhood Before Patty Shuts Up

at left: Leary with John Griggs

Amphetamines, bikers and greed set the sixties apart from the seventies in the California drug subculture. With John Griggs, Voytek, Rosemary and possibly others all out of the way within a matter of days, a shady character named John Gale was able to take over the operation and things were never the same. Not that Griggs was a saint: in his early days, he was a gang thug with a record, as were all but one of his closest associates. Their "American Graffiti" era car club was the precursor to the Outlaw Motorcycle Clubs that came later. LSD and the comfort of Griggs' teepee, however, may have caused him to go soft and not fully realize what he had built and what it might be worth to less scrupulous parties.

At right in the center is John Gale, Griggs' unofficial successor as head of the BEL

"What," a friend of the blog asked us recently, "would cause all of Hollywood to look away and say 'I never knew Manson' when in fact, we know they did?" Because everyone's hands were dirty with money, drugs, and innocent blood, and everyone was afraid that they might be next!

"The Truth" is likely that Charlie was just a cog in a much larger wheel: a disposable small time criminal who nobody'd believe or take seriously. Charlie was the perfect scapegoat and antithesis to "the beautiful people" who held all the cards and still do to this day. For all his faults, Charlie was not a greedy person. He and others of his time resented the rich "piggies" for overextending their business interests solely because they could. It's a case of the have nots resenting the haves, just as it's been all throughout human history, a fact of life.


This does not, of course, make Charlie any less culpable for what happened. We know for a fact who did the actual killing, and upon whose orders. Whether The Family was acting alone or on the orders of someone higher up, the theory that they were somehow involved with "the syndicate" (as Schreck calls it in his latest book) sure makes a hell of a lot more sense than that "Helter Skelter" BS, don't you think? But, Charlie don't surf, and he don't snitch, either. So, there he sits.

In March of 1972 over 200 law enforcement officials met in San Francisco to share what they had learned about the BEL. Supposedly there were over 750 names on a list they'd compiled of Brotherhood of Eternal Love associates, many of whom were arrested later that same year. Would we the Manson bloggers recognize any of the names on that list? This may be key. And another key, like Jiri said on a previous thread, may be who ended up benefiting financially after the shakedown of '69?

Let's get on it, people!






32 comments:

orwhut said...

Patty,
This is some of hour most eloquent writing to date. Good job!
Now, who's the lovely young lady in the top photo and why the men in black in the background?

orwhut said...

It's some of 'your' most eloquent writing not 'hour'. Sorry.

starship said...

Yes...terrific! I have been wondering the same thing, but am not sure how to approach answering the question from clear out all the way across the country.

Patty is Dead said...

Thanks, Whut. The lovely lady is Rosemary Leary, Tim's ex wife. The men in black? Excellent question.

Another dude who figures pretty heavily into the whole BEL thing is a man named Ronald Stark, who posed as both a chemical company executive and a member of the CIA. Patty is going to look at him some more because in the late 60s, MDA was still legal and available from chemical supply companies. There was also a government stockpile. As we know, MDA showed up in the toxicology reports of both Gibby and Voytek postmortem. Where did they get it?

Matt said...

On an unrelated note, last night on Star City Radio Brian asked Steven Kay why Steve Grogan was not prosecuted for Labianca (a question many ask on the various forums).

His reply was that the necessary corroborating testimony was absent. By law you cannot be convicted on the testimony of a co-conspirator alone. Since Linda Kasabian was the only testimony putting him in the car it wasn't enough because no one else placed him there.

Patty is Dead said...

Starship. :) Patty is truly flattered.

A.C. Fisher Aldag said...

We've been focusing on movie actors... perhaps we should take a look at producers and money people.

Patty is Dead said...

WORD.

sunset77 said...

Here is a link to a page with some info on the Brotherhood of Eternal Love:

BOEL

Also, apparently there was a movie made entitled, "Orange Sunshine". I can't find the entire movie, but here's the trailer on YouTube:

Orange Sunshine

Also, Stephan Kay said last night on Star City that the part of Alissa Statman's book where she apparently claimed that Kay had some type of argument with Krenwinkel "leaving in a pine box" never happened at all.

Ajerseydevil said...

My 1st time on here loved it interesting shit goin down. I'm a Jersey boy born 6/28/70 my older sister read me Helter Smelter when I was a little kid. Scared the hell outa me but I been hooked on the MANSON thing ever since.
Most Interesting thing I have 1st. Edition of Ed Sanders the Family. So much better then the bugs book

orwhut said...

I did some reading on Timothy Leary and found that his 42 year old daughter Susan, died after apparently hanging herself. She was incarcerated at Sybil Brand at the time and had been charged with shooting her boyfriend. Interestingly, her father once said that he would never have a gun around. It's sad that Susan didn't do adhere to the same custom.

Matt said...

Gary Hinman did and look where it got him. He handed the gun BACK to BB.

Patty is Dead said...

Welcome William.

revatron said...

Speaking of bikers and amphetimines, the two go hand in hand. I think the amount of speed use on the ranch has been down played.
I know I've heard Manson was against hard drugs, but his delusions of grandeur and paranoia lead me to believe otherwise. Can a couple weeks of murder be explained by some members of the family spinning completely out of control on speed?

Sonic Reducer said...

You might find this interesting.

http://files.legendarysurfers.com/blog/2007/06/lords-of-acid.html

Patty is Dead said...

Interesting, indeed, Sonic. From the link you posted: "The original conception of the Brotherhood wasn’t about making money. We were funding soup kitchens. We had this one vegetarian kitchen called — what was it? — Love Animals Don’t Eat Them. The Brotherhood wasn’t about being greedy. It was about feeding people.”

“We would make frequent trips down to Laguna Beach,” says a woman whose housemates in Silverado Canyon included drug dealers. “I was on the very fringe, and the people in the Silverado house were on the fringe too. They were connected by virtue of the fact that these guys were selling their LSD. The Brotherhood didn’t use the term ‘Brotherhood.’ It was more like a secret, a fraternity . . . it wasn’t a staple of their conversation.”

Her commune collapsed when some members moved to Hawaii and others headed north to Big Sur. She went to work in a San Francisco soup kitchen called The Living Room, where she met a wild-eyed man who thought he was god.

“Charles Manson came into The Living Room every day for a week,” she says. “He was on his way to the desert and I had just come from there, so we had a lot to talk about. He was already out of his head, but so were a lot of people. He didn’t stick out until we saw him on the cover of some magazine.”

Patty is Dead said...

With the possible exception of John Gale, nobody grew richer...than Robert “Stubby” Tierney.

Stubby left Orange County within months of Leary’s arrest and headed to San Francisco, where he enjoyed music and dealt marijuana.

After serving time, Stubby lived under an assumed name, which helped him find work in television while he continued dealing drugs. He became a successful TV producer for NBC, working on both Real People and That’s Incredible.

That money bought Stubby some video editing equipment, and he reinvented himself as a TV and film editor and, later, a video producer.

sunset77 said...

Apparently, there are a great many videos concerning things like LSD, The Brotherhood of Eternal Love, Owlsly "Bear" Stanley, Timothy Leary, etc. posted on YouTube. I haven't really found any direct connections to Manson and his family, but I'm guessing there probably were some.

There is a video of a test where they gave LSD to a "normal" housewife in about 1956. About 3 hours later her speech patterns sound eerily similar to videos I've seen of Manson family members talking, particularly, Bruce Davis. I doubt if it's a coincidence.

LSD Test

starship said...

Hey, all. Hiya, Patty!

Robert Redford has a movie coming out in the fall, "The Company You Keep", and I really hope it is good because it is based on the excellent book of the same name by Neil Gordon. The BEL plays an important role in the book, not sure about the film when they have to dumb everything down. But I highly recommend a trip to the library or inter-library loan to read the book...excellent choice for summer reading....imho.

Matt said...

Great find, Sunset! Did you see her pupils??? That was no act. Really good stuff!

Ajerseydevil said...

Thank-you Patty like your comments the most you seem to have vast knowledge of all things MANSON Hello everyone
Question I've seen you guys talk about a blogger nickname Col. Is he one in the same who runs the other blogger page

Patty is Dead said...

William, re: the "other" blogger pages, there are many. The Colonel's is probably the best of those: http://tatelabianca.blogspot.com/

sunset77 said...

Matt said...

"Great find, Sunset! Did you see her pupils??? That was no act. Really good stuff!"

Actually, no I didn't notice her pupils and I kind of wish you hadn't brought that up. Your comment reminded me of the 1 time in my life in 1983 when I took LSD. I remember looking in the mirror of the bar I was in and the pupils of my eyes were completely dilated, much worse than the woman in the video. I swore if that stuff wore off I would never take it again and I never have.

I only took 1 small single "hit". I knew other kids that took 5 times that much at one time and they did it frequently. LSD is not something I would recommend, legal or not. It does things to peoples brains that are "unknown".

louis365 said...

Actually, in todays world, LSD is a very mild drug. Trouble is, getting it pure. Stuff like Crystal Meth, is so powerful, Tex would not have needed a gun to kill people.

ps The Col is nuts.

Ajerseydevil said...

Thanks again Patty.You have me interested in reading up on this subject. Amazing how many directions you can go in studying the MANSON case. Sorry I don't know the Name of the other website I was on offhand. The Col. Was ranting about the book I 1st seen here about updates on the family, same author who wrote Shadows over Santa Susana. Not sure where he gets his info but seems to knock everything including Ed Sanders personally I loved Sanders book.

orwhut said...

William,
I think the book you're refering to is, Who's Who of the Manson Family, by Adam Gorightly and Shamus McFarland.

revatron said...

I sold my copy of The Family the day I bought it.

Ajerseydevil said...

orwhut thank-you that's the book I was referring to. I see some people dislike Sanders book. Sorry I'm not one of em 1st edition where he still has the chapter on The Process. Interesting read. Alot less one sided then the bugs book.
Shadows over- . Will be ready for pickup from where I ordered it today b.d. gift to myself. I totally open to suggestions on what books to read on the subject Ya'll are alot more knowledgeable on MANSON. Thanx

eviliz said...

William-Shadow and A Who's Who of the Manson Family are both good books by Adam Gorightly especially Shadow, it is one of my top 3.

eviliz said...

william marshall said...
Eviliz feel at home finally being on the recieving end of Col Scots rage seems the final touch he hates most people and most things He and yourself have fantastic blogs seems alota good people and solid information so a giant thank you have spent many hours on both pages.
Your very welcome. I am glad your enjoying it.

The Colonel and I love each other conditionally.

Anonymous said...

They were also boiling parts of the belladonna plant and ingesting it. That shit is pure insanity, 10x worse that LSD ever thought about being, it is known for "demonic trips." Just a thought

FiveGunsWest said...

I had a rehearsal/recording studio, G-Spot in what had been the Living Room space for several years. Opposite the Purple Submarine commune. I think it was 520 Frederick St. at Stanyan. Jerry nodded in his car in front of my place. Bad for business. The Diggers Free Frame of Reference was there too. George Harrison and Brian Jones had both been it and who knows who else, but now Charlie. Truly a small world.