Sunday, August 28, 2016

Charles Manson's Musical Legacy: A Murderer's Words in 9 Tracks

From Beach Boys to GN'R, how Manson made his way onto other musician's music

By Elisabeth Garber-Paul (Rolling Stone)

Axl Rose, the Beach Boys and Marilyn Manson all reinterpreted Charles Manson's music in their own ways. Central Press/Getty, Dave Benett/Getty, Rolls Press/Popperfoto/Getty, Catherine McGann/Getty
Charles Manson wanted to be bigger than the Beatles. Today his name may be almost as well-known, but his original goal was to achieve that end via a recording contract – not multiple life sentences.

When Manson arrived in Los Angeles in the fall of 1967, he was a career criminal who'd learned guitar in prison and was trying to parlay a vague prison contact into a legitimate deal. Over the next year-and-a-half, he met some people who might have made it happen – Beach Boy Brian Wilson, producer (and Doris Day offspring) Terry Melcher – but between his creepy demeanor and clear lack of talent, Manson wasn't able to get anything off the ground. After his disillusionment with the music scene – and perhaps because of it – Manson, a small-time hippie guru, ordered his followers to murder Sharon Tate, Jay Seabring and four other people on the nights of August 9th and 10th in 1969. They were arrested that fall, and Charles Manson has been a national bogeyman ever since.

Following the murders, there has naturally been an unending stream of Manson-related pop culture, from tell-all books to made-for-TV movies to strange bits on 1990s sketch shows. But what about his non-murderous dream – his music? His voice and words have appeared on more than a few tracks over the years, offering him a place in musical history, courtesy of some morbid artists who found inspiration in his creative output. Here are nine times Charles Manson showed up in other people's music.



Beach Boys, "Never Learn Not To Love" (1968)

The only entry on this list that was recorded before the murders. Since Charles Manson and Dennis Wilson met in early 1968, the drummer had introduced Manson to his friends and even set up a session to record a demo – which would be released in 1970 as Lie: The Love and Terror Cult – but no one was willing to give Manson a deal. Dennis did, however, manage to get one of his songs onto his band's 1969 album 20/20, which was a small coup for Manson. Though the song's lyrics about getting a girl to submit went largely untouched, they changed the original title, "Cease to Exist." Worse, Manson didn't even get a writing credit on the LP. Needless to say, he was not pleased.



The Lemonheads, "Your Home Is Where You're Happy" (1988)

For this track off 1988's Creator, college radio rockers the Lemonheads did a pretty faithful cover of the Manson demo of the same name, keeping the lyrics intact and performing it on acoustic guitar. Manson was listed as a writer on the song and thus was entitled to royalties, though according to Jeff Gunn's 2013 biography Manson, all the profits went to murder victim Voytek Frykowski's son Bartek.



Crispin Glover, "I'll Never Say Never to Always" (1989)

It's perhaps not surprising that child-actor-turned-Hollywood-eccentric Crispin Glover decided to cover the notorious Angelino – the surprise was that he put out an album in the first place. After coming up on sitcoms like Happy Days, Glover had found mainstream success as Marty's dad George McFly in Back to the Future. But by 1989, he was bored with the industry and took a hiatus from acting to make his debut album The Big Problem Does Not Equal the Solution, The Solution Equals Let It Be, which included this Manson-penned track. For his version, Glover layered falsetto, crying babies and distant whistles to make the track even more menacing than the original – yet somehow not even the creepiest song on the album.




Skinny Puppy, "Worlock" (1989)

For this track off its album Rabies, the influential industrial act Skinny Puppy added a clip of Charles Manson singing the Beatles' "Helter Skelter" – the song Manson claimed was a call for him to start an apocalyptic race war – over the Fab Four's guitar intro to their White Album track. Though Cabaret Voltaire had sampled him a few years earlier, this seems to be the first time Manson's voice was fully been incorporated into a song – but it wouldn't be the last.




Nine Inch Nails "Gave Up" video (1992)

Not technically an appearance of Charles Manson, but weird enough to make the cut. In 1992, after the success of 1989's Pretty Hate Machine, NIN founder Trent Reznor moved into Sharon Tate's former home on Cielo Drive in Los Angeles to record his follow-up EP, Broken. For the beginning of the single's video, Reznor decided to splice in shots of the home’s manicured exterior over menacing synth – and like the opening moments of a horror movie, they are used to a surprisingly chilling effect. But Reznor would eventually feel guilty about using the Manson imagery. He recalled to Rolling Stone in 1997 that, after a chance encounter, Sharon Tate's sister asked him point-blank if he was living there to exploit Sharon's death. "I realized for the first time, 'What if it was my sister?'" he said. "I thought, 'Fuck Charlie Manson.' I don't want to be looked at as a guy who supports serial-killer bullshit."




Guns N' Roses, "Look at Your Game, Girl" (1993)

Marilyn Manson would later take credit for Axl Rose's interest in Charles Manson, which led to this macabre addition to the Spaghetti Incident? and by far the most well-known song on this list. Another straightforward cover from Charlie Manson's 1970 album Lie, it's a rather unimpressive track on first listen – a half-assed attempt at seducing a woman via Axl's nasal croon over a vaguely caribbean beat – until you realize that the guy who wrote it led a female-heavy cult.




Marilyn Manson, "My Monkey" (1994)

As if it weren't enough to name himself in an homage to Charlie, Marilyn Manson also repurposed a verse from Charles Manson's "I'm a Mechanical Man" for this track off his 1994 debut Portrait of an American Family, creating an ominous chant about a monkey sent to his death in the country, layering in samples of Charles's real voice for effect. The shock rocker had long wanted to cover the song – he'd discovered it in high school, later saying it was "the beginning of my identification with Manson." When he first met Trent Reznor – who was living on Cielo Drive – Marilyn told his new friend how much he'd like to cut the track at Sharon Tate's old home. While that didn't happen, he was there late one night mixing another American Family track including samples of Charlie's voice. He eventually gave up for the night, and the next morning the samples were gone from the tapes. "There was no real logical or technical explanation for it," he later said in an interview, albeit one punctuated by him doing lines of cocaine. "It was a truly supernatural moment that freaked me out."




Brian Jonestown Massacre, "Arkansas Revisited" (1999)

Though it doesn't exactly feature Manson's words, "Arkansas Revisited" makes the list because of it's a genuinely thoughtful reinterpretation of the song. What began with Manson as "Arkansas" was transformed into something beautiful – and that expresses desires that sound an awful lot like Charlie. As on the original track, the San Francisco psych-folk band with the cult-y name kept the instruments largely acoustic and maintained the original bluesy beat. But instead of Manson's somewhat incoherent rant about squatters in the south and men with droopy beards, singer Anton Newcomb tells the story of a person returning home to Arkansas to kill his parents because of the emotional damage they caused during his childhood.





Monday, August 22, 2016

Blurred Lines - The Legacy of Charles Manson


"Look down at me and you see a fool. Look up at me and you see a God. Look straight at me and you see yourself"

        - Charles Manson

"Carve your name on hearts not tombstones. A legacy is etched into the minds of others, and the stories they share about you."

       - Shannon Adler 


Today I am floating off an island in the Southern Florida Keys, watching the sunset thinking about life and things like that. I am happily cruising along without much of a care in the world, and then a friend of mine walks over and asks me if I am still reading about Manson. I just laugh, and he knows the answer. He kinda shakes his head, and asks if I will ever outgrow it? As I sip on an icy cold Coors-light, I start wondering about that myself. How and when will this subject come to an end for me? As sure as the Sun is about to touch the water, Charlie is going to come to the final end of his trip. Most likely, sooner rather than later. It makes me start to wonder about what the final legacy of Charles Manson will ultimately be? I ask my friend what the name Manson means to him and he answers, "Crazy cult killer". I guess that is the answer most people give. But, to me it just does not tell the whole story. Manson will mean much more to that when all is said and done. All of a sudden, today as I watch the sunset over Key West, I feel the urge to reflect on what it all might mean when Charlie is no longer around to be the subject of our discussion.

First a quick look at who, and what, Charlie will leave behind.

ATWA: Star, and Greywolf and those who still fall under the category of Believers. ATWA warriors. These are the ones I am most curious about? What will a young lady like Star do with the rest of her life after Charlie is gone? Does she really spend the rest of her life talking about a Man she really only ever met behind bars as if he was an environmental savior? This group includes those who are later life friends of Manson. Confidants, and those who have corresponded through mail and calls over the years. How will they move on once their motivator and inspiration is no longer around giving them small pieces of soundbites, or a few sentences to unscramble for hidden meaning? In any case, there will be a Non-Profit Organization registered in California which Manson inspired, as well as many people who consider him a friend, who will carry on his name and causes.

 The Family: Secret network of remaining family members loyal to Charlie to this day. We do not need to go into names. Suffice to say, a few remain loyal to this day. A life of dedication to this man has been a long, and costly road. Some have made many sacrifices. Some have gone to great lengths to remain as close as possible, even after all of these years. They get very little back in return with the exception of a chance to communicate with Manson. What to do, when decisions about life can be made without the considerations of how it affects the relationship with a permanently incarcerated man. How are they going to handle the first few weeks, and months, in 50 some odd years without this man they have cared for this long? Charlie will leave behind some people who know him personally and care for him deeply.

The Children: From the ones we know exist to the ones who may exist, and including those such as Matthew Roberts who think they exist. There will be those who aspire to the gene and those in possession of the gene. His real children will be the real legacy of Charles Manson. In any case, I hope they all find some peace on their own terms. Its a tough legacy to live with. We all want to love our dads.

Media: For sure, there will be a renewed round of interest in Manson and the TLB case after Charlie passes on to teach the children in his next life. There are still to this day movies, TV specials, documentaries, and books being developed about Charlie and his Family. Does that ever end? Probably as not as long as the next group is still interested. That brings me to.....

The Curious: Us lol. The Bloggers,researchers, TLB'ers. The people all over the country who go to various websites and media outlets to study and learn about this Man and what his group of friends were into. Will the end of Charlie be the end of this community? Will we ever be satisfied that either we know all there is to know, or that the rest we will just never find out? Or does the lust for more go on forever? How long will the public interest in Manson continue after there is no more Manson? My guess is the public curiosity over those specific crimes will be another lasting legacy of Charles Manson.

The Name: The word Manson in itself is iconic. It is my guess for the rest of my living days, at least, people will never ask "Manson who?" The name is forever etched into the American psyche. Stories will get distorted, and legends will grow greater, with time. However, the Name Manson will forever be a one word symbol of Evil and Horror. 

The Music: Of course there are the albums (Family Jams and Lie being my favorites) Then there are the songs and covers. From the Lemonheads to GNR, bands have been covering Charlies songs for years. Never Learn Not Love, released by the Beach Boys, as we know, was a Manson original. Did you know the actor Crispin Glover ( "Back to the Future"- and he played Warhol in "The Doors" movie) once released an album in the 80's and covered "I'll never say never to always"? And of course, there are Trent Reznor and Marylin Manson- who in my opinion took it too far, but who have both earned my respect over the years nonetheless. Charlie's Musical legacy is quite interesting in itself.

The Legend: Part of the lasting legacy of Manson will be the stories of the Guru on the rock under the stars at night  preaching to his children, then leading them in music and song, only to culminate the night in fantastical drug fueled orgy's. Isn't that the mental image we all paint of the times around Spahn in the glory days? There will always be a segment of the public who remembers Charlie for the legendary tales of Sex, drugs, and Rock and roll. The peace and love element of the 60's in all its glory, before things took a turn in another direction.

The Betrayed:  Look. For the purpose of this post, I will not argue the motive. But, I have read, watched, or listened to almost all of the parole hearings for over 30 years. When Charlie goes, there will be a few people in the clink who will feel like they lost their life to a lie. I will also not argue if they have valid points or not. I read, watched, and heard them say it over and over. They feel humiliatingly duped. When Manson passes on, a few people will wonder how in the world they gave away all of these years for him. What will be the legacy of Charles Manson To Patricia Krenwinkle, Bruce Davis, or Leslie Van Houten? 

P.S.- I did not include Tex Watson. If not for Charlie it would be Tex, deservedly, who would have the life-long label of Maniac Killer. Tex is very fortunate that the world directs their hate and fear at Manson, because Tex scares me as much as any jackass walking the planet. He is the much worse maniac than Charlie in my opinion. Tex just was smart enough to close his mouth and clean up afterwards. 

The Questions: Unless Charlie has a come to Jesus moment, it seems he is not going to have that sit down conversation where he coherently lays out for us what really went down. Another of the great legacies Manson will leave behind is the unsolved questions. Are there any more bodies out in the desert? Why those two houses? Who else really was involved with the Family and what were the connections? Charlie will have the last laugh in the sense he will leave a lot of us all chasing his story for answers long after he is around to offer any.

The Destruction and Carnage: Sorry Charlie this comes with the baggage as well. Fair or not, deserved or not. This is not a debatable issue as far as legacy. You don't get to chose your own. You can help create it. Which is appropriate in this case, because Charlie did- at least- that. Manson will be remembered, as well, for the pain, and anguish and death brought upon quite a few people. Part of the Manson legacy will be fear and Evil. To many- this will be Manson's ultimate and lasting legacy.

So, there will be a few things Charlie leaves the world when he moves on to his next trip. The public fascination will most likely endure for some time. In the eyes of the public he will always be the ultimate boogeyman. Manson will be remembered by most for Helter Skelter. Thanks to a best selling book, and he and his "Families" willingness to act out exactly the type of sub-human behavior that book described, Charlie will go down in most minds a mind controlling guru of young hippies. Manson and crew put on a public show over the course of that trial which will never be forgotten by anyone who saw, read, or heard about it. Charlie can thank himself for his own public legacy. Fair or not, He gave the people all they needed to see, and believe, that every word Bugs told them must have been true. It will take a revelation of epic proportions to change the public perception of Charlie Manson. And, Charlie is probably the last person who can provide it, and does not seem interested in the slightest in doing so. Which means that once he is gone there will be no one left to change what is certainly the prevailing idea of most people in the public: Charles Manson is the face of Evil.


As to a final thought about what it all means to me....

Blurred lines. Cheesy pop song playing on the boat I'm floating on. Hey, I hang with all kinds of people lol. But, the title is very appropriate to me. This subject has blurred many lines for me. And as I sit here getting super close to hammered at sea, I can imagine Charlie using similar lyrics to lure his young loves in lol Dancing around them and singing...

If you can't hear, what I'm trying to say
If you can't read, from the same page
Maybe I'm going deaf
Maybe I'm going blind
Maybe I'm out of my mind
OK, now he was close
Tried to domesticate you
But you're an animal
Baby, it's in your nature
Just let me liberate you
You don't need no papers
That man is not your mate
And that's why I'm going to take you 

cause your a  Good girl....

Ok. I am really high lol What are you going to do????

I started studying this case as a hobby almost 10 years ago. It amazes me how far It has gone for me personally. I never thought that anyone would ever know who I am, let alone that someday I would be sitting side by side with people who sit side by side with Charlie Manson himself. At some point my personal line started to blur. Don't get me wrong. It has provided some thrills. I have met some great people along the way. I have seen some amazing places like Spahn and Barker Ranches. I walked to the gate at Cielo, and stood at the bottom of the driveway at Waverly. Ate a terrible burrito at El Coyote, but met some legends in the process. However, whereas I question the thinking of those who take their personal relationship with Manson too far, I have to ask myself when I have crossed my own personal line with the TLB case as well? When did the line between reading on internet about a subject, and getting personally involved get so blurry? Charlie and his "Family" are like that house on the other side of town where the "crazy" family lived my mom warned me to stay away from when I was a kid. Over the years, my curiosity kept making me inch closer and closer. Emboldened each time I take another step nearer to the fire without getting burned. At some point you either wind up getting caught up in the flames, or you go up in flames. But, you pay either way. Yet, I still keep pushing forward. Charlie both scares me, and makes me scared of myself. I never thought I could do some of the things I have done in the name of getting closer to all of this madness. But the line has blurred to me. And, I ponder, if Charlie has blurred the lines for me, what of those who have gone so much further, and gotten so much closer?

That leaves me with this: What will be the legacy of Charles Manson to me?

I guess that the closest to an answer I could offer is that the Legacy of Charles Manson to me will be The influence Charles Manson has had on the people around him. From those he met and stayed with through his life, to those he harmed, to those who sought him out after his imprisonment, to those of us who feel compelled to study him so closely to this day. Good, bad, or ugly, it seems that Charlie makes a strong impression on every path he crosses. He has been the cause for many people to blur the lines of good and bad, and right and wrong, for a variety of reasons and to different extremes. I wont deny- Charlie has a strange pull. I have no doubt as disgusted as he must be with the whole thing by this point, it still brings a smile to his face when he considers how so many people still scoot a little closer to listen, and hang on to, his latest words. He must get some small kick out of the fact that so many are still hoping he will finally say something to make no sense, turn into some kind of sense we can understand.

My guess he is will never give us that final peace/piece lol. I think when his time comes, he will simply, quietly, head off into the sunset leaving us to sort it out for ourselves. And although I am no fan of  Charlie Manson, I can certainly dig that....



- Your Favorite Saint







Thursday, August 18, 2016

The Last of the Manson Girls - NEW Trailer







Monday, August 15, 2016

The Manson Trial In Art News

The Summer 2016 issue of Art News magazine is dedicated as a "Crime Issue" and  includes an article entitled "Trial & Image" by Phoebe Hoban about the artists who make illustrations for news outlets during criminal trials. 



One of the artists mentioned, Bill Robles, is responsible for what the article calls "perhaps one of the 20th Century's best-known court images," namely Robles' sketch of Charles Manson leaping over the defense table to attack Judge Charles Older with a pencil after Older refused to let Manson ask questions of a prosecution witness whom the defense lawyers had declined to cross-examine.

"Robles' famous Manson lunge is an exciting blur 
of motion rather than a minutely detailed drawing."

The article also gives some space for Robles to reminisce about his time at the Manson trial:


Robles' recollections are interesting to any student of the Manson case, but I was surprised by his claim that Manson's co-defendants "would sometimes stand up and say 'Heil Hitler.'

Heil Hitler?  I've read a lot about the Manson trial, but I don't recollect ever hearing that the girls stood up and said that. Can anyone direct me to a source that corroborates Robles' memory?  

Or did Robles misremember? 

(Or was the author of the article just sloppy in recording whatever it was Robles said that the girls said?)







Monday, August 8, 2016

Tom O'Neill Interview on the Tex Tapes


This interview has been made available to MansonBlog readers by the copyright holder (not the interviewee or the interviewer).

The participants are the interviewee (Tom O'Neill) and the interviewer (Catscradle77), and has been edited for length and continuity.

The subject is the Tex Tapes. The date is October 4, 2014. For one reason or another this interview has been suppressed until now.

Enjoy.






Saturday, August 6, 2016

Farmersville/Copeville TX

I will be passing through the Farmersville/Copeville TX area (Watson's childhood stomping grounds) on Tuesday Oct 11 to take a few pics and maybe chat with some of the locals. If any readers are within driving distance and would like to meet me there shoot me an email.






Monday, August 1, 2016

The Unhappy Odyssey of Linda Kasabian

As we all know Linda Kasabian was born Linda Darlene Drouin on June 21, 1949. But what happened before and after that.

Before Tate-LaBianca

She attended Milford High School in Milford, New Hampshire in 1964 and 1965. After her sophomore year she dropped out to marry Robert Moses Peaslee.



1. 1964 Yearbook -  Girls Basketball

L. Drouin is pictured as a member of the freshman girls’ basketball team.

Unfortunately, back in 1964 the Freshman Class did not get a class picture in the yearbook.



2. 1965 Yearbook Class

I am not sure where Linda is in this picture from 1965, her sophomore year. I suspect Linda is the young woman indicated by the arrow I added. Unfortunately, they also did not provide names with their class shots in Milton in 1965.

At some point during 1964-65 Linda began dating a young man named Robert Moses Peaslee (Class of 1964).






3. 1964 Yearbook - Marriage to Robert Peaslee

Peaslee appears to have been a bit of a wild child wracking up several traffic citations and listing as his contribution to the ‘Senior Will’ in the 1964 yearbook: “Robert Peaslee leaves to the surprise of the students, the relief of the teachers and with the luck of the Irish.”



4.  1965 Car Accident

Linda married Robert Peaslee on August 14, 1965 but not before she and her fiancé were involved in a fairly serious car accident on July 2, 1965.





5. 1965 Peaslee Marriage

This is a record of the marriage from The Town of Milford, New Hampshire, Annual Report of 1965. The marriage date is recorded as August 14, 1965





6.  1966 Peaslee Divorce

The Peaslee/Drouin marriage didn’t last very long. By January 1966 the couple had divorced. The article refers to the court’s last ‘term’ and was written in May of 1966. However, if a ‘term’ is the same in New Hampshire as what I am familiar with she was actually divorced in 1965.

Peaslee sued and was granted a divorce claiming that his wife’s conduct was such as to “endanger seriously his physical and mental health” according to an article written in 1976 (see, The Unhappy Odyssey of Linda Kasabian, below). Peaslee’s case was uncontested but supported by the testimony of one Dr. Raymond P. Galloway a local physician. This is interesting as the allegation is not the typical ‘fault based’ mental and physical cruelty allegation I am familiar with from those days.

In the small town of Milford (pop: 5,000) this may have been a minor scandal.  Linda moved shortly after to live with her father in Florida.

Peaslee went on to have several run-ins with the law. He pled guilty to eluding a police officer in 1966 and in 1967 was convicted of public intoxication and assaulting a state police officer. He served a tour of duty in Vietnam in 1969 where he was wounded and passed away in 2002.

Linda Drouin returned to New Hampshire after a few months in Florida but didn’t stay. She moved to Boston sometime prior to April 1967.




7. 1967 Boston Arrest

While her name is misspelled, Linda Drowing is Linda.

On April 14, 1967 Linda Drouin was arrested in a narcotics raid conducted by state and federal law enforcement in Boston. This appears to be a fairly big bust involving state and federal authorities and $20,000 worth of LSD and pot.  Robert Kasabian was not involved.

She was charged with ‘being present where narcotics are used'. Linda was 17 and based upon other cases I looked at before finding hers it appears to have been common for the authorities in 1967 to release female, juvenile offenders to their parents after arrest. Reading between the lines a bit that is what happened with Linda and she returned again to Milford dodging her first bullet.

Linda’s mother states that Robert Kasabian continued to pursue her daughter after she returned to Milford following her arrest in April 1967 (see, What Linda’s Mother Learned).  Mom clearly was not a fan of Kasabian and blames him for her daughter’s ‘downfall’.

At some point between April and September, 1967 Linda Drouin returned to Boston and Linda got pregnant.




8. 1967 Kasabian Marriage

On September 20, 1967 she married Robert Kasabian.  She listed as her address at the time of the ceremony the American Psychedelic Circus (commune). (See, Odyssey [Exhibit 14, below] which also has a wedding picture).




9. 1968 Tonya Birth

‘Tonya’ Kasabian was born less then nine month’s later in Los Angeles on March 3, 1968. This places Linda in LA during the timeframe February-April (?) 1968. It might be interesting to see what else happened on the Manson timeline during this time - Harold True?






10. 1969 Kasabian - No License

By May 1969 Linda had again returned to Milford where she had an intriguing run-in with the law.

On May 2, 1969 Linda pled guilty to operating a motor vehicle without a valid driver’s license. Given this event occurred a little over two months before she allegedly was chosen to accompany Watson et al on two nights of murder solely because she had a valid driver’s license it would be interesting to know which version of the offense was involved here.

It could either be she didn’t have a license with her when asked to present one and later produced it or it could mean she simply didn’t have a valid drivers’ license at all.  All I have been able to determine is that both resulted in fines in New Hampshire in 1969 and I have not been able to find the fine schedule.





11. 1969 Not Gonna Talk

Here’s one I threw in just to challenge the ‘I was always going to testified anyway’ claim. She wasn’t on December 4, 1969.





12. 1970 Book Plans

Linda intended to write a book after the trial. While not stated here Joan Didion was going to be the author. At Vincent Bugliosi’s request Ms. Didion bought Kasabian several dresses for the trial and likely had her change her hairstyle.













13. 1970 Mom’s Story

Written by Boston Globe reporter James Stack this series is Ms. Joyce Byrd’s story about her daughter. Stack wrote the piece as if it were written by Kasabian’s mom and even gave her the author credit.

It has some interesting information like mom noting Linda wanted to lose weight so she started taking three diet pills (speed) instead of the prescribed one to lose three times as much weight. Sure she did.




After

After her testimony ended Linda Kasabian gave a memorable press conference where she stated her intention to ‘move to the wilderness’, ‘find God’ and raise her children. Now let’s take a look at what really happened.














14. 1976 Odyssey

After Helter Skelter came out James Stack (author of mom’s story) tried to do a follow-up story about Kasabian and traveled to Milford for that purpose.

By 1976 Robert Kasabian is described as a ‘Jesus Freak’, which might explain the name change to ‘Christian’.

The Unhappy Odyssey of Linda Kasabian provides some interesting insights into the real Linda Kasabian.

A few quotes:

“Kasabian is a women with a capacity for mysterious shifts of moods and a talent for controlling them. She can be elated one minute, brooding the next, gay in the morning and unlaughing tomorrow.

She can be disarmingly sweet to those whose friendship or favor she seeks. She can be querulous, bitter and suspicious of those she no longer has use of.”

*****

“Kasabian is also thoroughly intolerant of newsmen, and hostile to the point of addressing them as “pigs,” generally with a colorful adjective or two.”

*****

“Continued Globe efforts to report her story drew out another side of Kasabian’s personality.

She lunged at a photographer who had taken her picture as she emerged from the Milford District Court, where she appeared in connection with three traffic violations. She spat on the hood of the cameraman’s car, then charged at him, spewing out a torrent of abusive language.

Kasabian then turned to a Globe reporter and shouted obscenities so shocking as to leave those in a small ring of onlookers in slackjawed disbelief.”

So much for the 'innocent hippy chick’.

This same article discusses the watch placed on Kasabian when President Ford came to New Hampshire in 1976.





15. 1976 Bonfire

She was arrested for an incident involving her efforts with others to prevent firemen from putting out a bonfire. The charges were reduced from ‘inciting a riot’ and the court appears to want the whole thing to go away.





16. 1982 Indecent Exposure

This is a fun one: in 1982 she was arrested for flashing a motorcycle rally on a public street.




17. 1987 DUII

In 1987 she was arrested under the name Linda Chiochios in Florida near Cape Canaveral at 4:00 a.m. for DUII.




18. 1997 Possession

And in 1997 she and her daughter Quanu were arrested for possession of a controlled substance (meth) in Tacoma, Washington. The Pierce County court website can be used to pull up several of her family members and their friends. Kasabian, still Chiochios, successfully completed drug classes and her charges were dismissed.