Friday, October 17, 2014

Early Manson Recording



Nope no video, just audio.  This is quite good and it's really too bad he couldn't have stayed in this frame of mind instead of getting all witchy on everyone.





29 comments:

Max Frost said...

Not trying to toot my own horn or anything, but...I'm the one who originally scored the complete uncut of 9-11-67.

Very interesting tape...

CrisPOA said...

Wow, this is amazing...Thanks DebS and Max! Is that really him - singing all along? It seems like a time travel!

He was good, I like the style very much, but you can see the scorn toward society (cities) already.
And that little laughter...man, i would be like...this guy is weird.

Suze said...

He actually had some potential didn't he CrisPOA?

I think he was getting on the nerves of the studio people, or am I imagining that?

CrisPOA said...

Hi Suze, yeah i can see why people liked to hear his music. Specially the girls. He had a pleasant voice too.

It's different to hear him here, because he seems natural and not that mad as he was post trial interviews.

DebS said...

Max. I had no idea that you scored this one. We really ought to talk more often!!!

Max Frost said...

That was at Goldstar Studios and, from what I remember, he was "discovered" by some producer who arranged the recording session.

Deb, you mean we should talk more often about something other than dirty criminals who try to to steal elderly women's properties?

Anonymous said...

Max was actually in the studio that day.
He made like Rerun at a Doobie Brothers concert.

Lee Lee said...

from the same recording session

https://soundcloud.com/longleelee/home-is-where-youre-happy-lee-lee-mix

Sun King said...

Yeah the laugh is a bit unnerving. His singing is pretty good. Weird he seemed so nervous.

Spent the day out at Spahn Ranch, man is it dry out there! Found the cave without s problem following the directions posted online. Afterwards got lost in all the tall brush lol!

Max Frost said...

I just realized that is only a 10 minute clip.

Anyone interested should get the complete uncut version - I believe it's roughly 90 minutes.

I think Aes-Nihil sells it as "The Psychedelic Soul of Charles Manson."

Jenn said...

Manson never learned to tune his instrument. He's out of tune in every recording I've heard.

Gold Star was a legendary studio. It closed around '83 or '84 and is now a dumbass strip mall. It was on Santa Monica just down from Vine.

Robert Hendrickson said...

MAX: I have the same uncut music tapes also. BUT the 1/4 inch tape box's have hand written on them: "The Family Jams" VOX 9-5-68 and 9-6-68 SUNSET transfer 12/22/69. There is also a name Keith Randall.

Which is the real recording date: 1967 or 1968 and which is the real recording studio "Goldstar" or "VOX'?

hendythefifth said...

On a side note, are there people out there who still believe Charlie auditioned for the Monkees?

Matt said...

Was that before or after he tried out for the Washington Senators?

Anonymous said...

Neither, he was too busy killing Bobby Fuller.

Max Frost said...

Robert, are you positive it's the SAME recording?

The guy who recorded it (can't remember his name) kept the tapes stashed away in his garage until around 1998. He then handed them over to a trusted friend who planned to release the recordings on CD one volume at a time. He never made it past volume one:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000OVP8AW?pc_redir=1411725999&robot_redir=1

Included in that CD is a copy of the track list from the day, which is clearly dated 9-11-67.

Sun King said...

I was surprised to see that these tapes were recorded at Goldstar. I thought the only pro session Manson did was at Brian Wilsons home studio.

Are there more details about the Goldstar session written anywhere? So this was before Melcher?

Max Frost said...

Yes, it was only 6 months after he got out of prison - very early on.

Paul Watkins claimed they had many pro recording sessions.

Robert Hendrickson said...

MAX:

CM talking and laughing in this clip is the same. Manson singing "Garbage Dump" in "Inside the MANSON Gang" and him talking about WAR is from the tapes I have, which Squeaky gave us.

I'm 99 percent sure the tapes are a match. If you are certain about the date, someone wrote the wrong date on the box I received.

It also seems to me that the Family could have come up with the money for recording time, from time to time, and do these sessions without any record producer.

It was also possible that ANYONE could rent a portable Naga sound recorder for a day and jam in the saloon 24 hours. We did the 1970 Family Jams there ON FILM.

What is very significant though is the words "The Family Jams" written on the box. It's purely Manson's music, but his including the FAMILY, both in presence and the label, demonstrates HIS "We are all one." thought.

Why THEY / He even thought they needed a "record producer" like Melcher is a mystery to me - especially when they were so obviously independent - OR maybe they thought they were still dependent on the "establishment."

BI-POLAR ?

Paul in Raleigh said...

Long time follower here. The blog that is. My name is Paul and I live in Raleigh NC. Doesn't Matt live in NC as well? I am a true crime enthusiast and the TLB case is by far the most interesting. I have purchased tThe Manson Gang from Hendrickson and also follow the other TLB blogs but this one is tops! I feel as if I know all of you due to the daily viewing for about 5 years now. Charlie really did have some musical talents but I'm not sure the world would have embraced his music commercially. I wonder if if Dennis Wilson would have kept promoting CM if Charlie hadn't gottten so scary to him?

Max Frost said...

Robert, in the case of 9-11-67 at Goldstar...I was told something along the lines of Manson was playing/singing somewhere in public and was "discovered" by the guy who arranged the session.

Then there's Dennis Wilson's efforts trying to get Manson recorded.

Just two examples that jive with what Manson said about other people trying to put him out there - as opposed to him TRYING to get recorded or trying to get a producer, etc.

Max Frost said...

And there's also Phil Kaufman himself saying how HE encouraged Manson to get in touch with him after Manson got released...because Phil had connections in the music biz and wanted to promote him, essentially.

Matt said...

Hi Paul, thanks for the kind words and welcome to the discussion. Yes, I also live in NC and yes I get up at 4am. Lol.

Anonymous said...

Then there's this:
untitled Charles Manson album
recorded ?early 1969
produced by Brian & Carl Wilson

Although the band have frequently - and strenuously - denied the existence of any such project, the fact is that Brian and Carl - and not Dennis, as has often been stated - co-produced several tracks for Charles Manson at Brian's home studio in the Bellagio Road house: according to Manson himself, "we did a pretty fair session, putting down about ten songs". Steve Desper, who engineered the session, concurred, considering that some of the material was "pretty good... he had musical talent". Again, contrary to percieved BB history, these were not demos but completed songs - or as completed as Charlie wanted. Reportedly he rarely took more than one pass at a vocal. What titles were recorded isn't known, but it's a safe enough supposition that the songs that later appeared on the Lie album (released after Manson's arrest but recorded in 1968/69) numbered amongst them. The tracks on that album were: "Look At Your Game Girl/Ego/I Am A Mechanical Man/People Say I'm No Good/Home Is Where You're Happy/Arkansas/Always Is Always Forever/Garbage Dump/Don't Do Anything Illegal/Sick City/Cease To Exist/Clang Bang Clang/I Once Knew A Man/Eyes Of The Dreamer". Very important point - the songs on the Lie album are not the Bellagio recordings.
Possibility of release: not a hope in hell.

Anonymous said...

Not ashamed to say I like some of Manson's songs, especially 'Sick City' and 'Mechanical Man'. Same goes for The Family Jams, 'Ride Away' and 'Get on Home' both make me tap my foot. Thanks for this, interesting to hear him just chatting rather than trying to be Scary Jesus.

Max Frost said...

I second that Vermouth.

Don't forget 'Look at Your Love' from the Family Sings (Family Jams) album.

Anonymous said...

And 'Always is Always Forever'. Like the creepiest nursery song ever, and there's a lot of contenders out there for that title. :)

mrgroove said...

As Sun King said, Charlie sounded really nervous while being taped.

And I don't know if that machine-gun style giggling was typical of his speech pattern then or not, but it was unnerving to my ears. It sounds like he had a really hard time staying focused and confident with a microphone in his face and studio people and recording equipment behind the glass booth. If this is in any way near how he sounded in front of Terry Melcher, there's no doubt in my mind that Melcher would not have been able to sell the idea of signing Manson to any recording company A&R people and/or executives.

dawnn said...

I find that most of the songs he did have the same guitar rythm.He can not play guitar but he knew how to talk and he did have a few songs that where good I like Bright Yellow Look at your Game Girl Young Girl And Cease to exist Listening to them it would be easy to see how he could influence these young people But how did it change its hard to imagine.