Anybody know what's going on with Debra Tate's Book?

Is there anyone in the know who knows what's going on with Debra Tate's book? I pre-ordered it, but now the publication date has been pushed back and the description of the book has changed. I thought it was going to contain "hundreds of rare and unpublished photos". I was actually excited. Now I'm not so sure it's going to be the same book I pre-ordered.

cielodrive.com

 This is the book description I ordered - the yellow highlights are the major changes:

Considered by many to be the most beautiful woman of her generation, Sharon Tate remains a fascinating pop icon and a poster child for the 1960s. What most struck those who knew Sharon was her gentle nature and the sheer perfection of her face, but she was far more than just a beauty. The few films she made during her brief career, including Valley of the Dolls, Eye of the Devil, and The Fearless Vampire Killers, have taken on a cult status. Over forty years since her last film, Sharons spirit and charisma lives strong in the memories of those who knew her best, and her style continues to inspire the worlds of fashion, beauty, art, and film.

Sharon Tate: Recollection is a one-of-a-kind celebration of Sharons life and career, her influence as a fashion icon throughout the world, and in effect presents a sociological portrait of the 1960s - its youth culture, the sexual revolution, Hollywood's changing studio system, and the rise of independent cinema. In this dazzling photo book, Sharon Tates story emerges through quotes and short essays -recollections- by her sister, Debra Tate, as well as by those who knew and who have been influenced by her. An all-star cast contributing memories and thoughts on Sharon includes Jack Nicholson, Warren Beatty, Robert Evans, Mia Farrow, Raquel Welch, Hugh Hefner, Michelle Phillips, Patty Duke, Barbara Parkins, Jane Fonda, Drew Barrymore, and Kelly Osbourne. The book is filled with hundreds of rare and unpublished photos of Sharon Tate taken by the likes of Milton Greene, David Bailey, Terry ONeill, Richard Avedon, Bert Stern, Norman Parkinson, Philippe Halsman, John Engstead, and more.

What emerges from these pages is a stunning tribute to an unforgettable life.

This is the description of the book I'll supposedly get:

Considered by many to be the most beautiful woman of her generation, Sharon Tate remains a fascinating pop icon and a poster child for the 1960s. What struck most about Sharon was her gentle nature and the sheer perfection of her face, but she was far more than just a beauty. The few films she made during her brief career, including Valley of the Dolls, Eye of the Devil, and The Fearless Vampire Killers, have secured her position as a Hollywood legend. Over forty years since her last film, Sharon’s spirit and charisma lives strong in the memories of those who knew her best, and her style continues to inspire the worlds of fashion, beauty, art, and film.

Sharon Tate: Recollection is a one-of-a-kind celebration of Sharon’s life and career, her influence as a fashion icon throughout the world, and in effect presents a sociological portrait of the 1960s—its youth culture, the sexual revolution, the rise of independent cinema, and Hollywood's changing studio system. In this impressive photo book, Sharon Tate’s story emerges through quotes and short essays—recollections—by her sister, Debra Tate, as well as by those who knew and have been influenced by her.

What emerges from these pages is a stunning tribute to an unforgettable life.

Highlights include:

A foreword note by Sharon's husband Roman Polanski.
An introduction and remembrances by Sharon's sister Debra Tate.
Previously unseen childhood photos from the Tate family album.

Original quotes and recollection essays written specially for this book by Jane Fonda, Kelly Osbourne, Bert Stern, Michelle Phillips, Patty Duke, Lee Grant, Elke Sommer, Joan Collins, Viva, Tony Scotti and Trina Turk.

Retrospective quotes by Truman Capote, Diana Vreeland, Richard Avedon, Dominick Dunne, Warren Beatty, Mia Farrow, Orson Welles, Barbara Parkins, George Harrison, David Niven, Deborah Kerr, Yul Brynner and Kirk Douglas.

Rare and classic photographs by David Bailey, Milton Greene, Philippe Halsman, Shahrokh Hatami, Terry O'Neill, Peter Basch, John Engstead, Peter Brüchmann, Neal Barr and Jean Jacques Bugat.

Never-before-seen or published images of Sharon in the classic film Valley of the Dolls, digitally reproduced from their original negatives and transparencies specially for this book by the 20th Century Fox archive.

Also, two of these has-been actors are people who hurt Sharon - one in life, Michelle Phillips by boinking her husband, and one after death by publishing false rumors about her (Elke Sommer who along with her husband Joe Hyams trashed Sharon's character in the media with all kinds of crazy stories).

At this point I feel a little ripped off. I was told a photo book with 100's of rare and unpublished photos with an all-star cast of recollections. Now I feel like I'm getting a bunch of re-ashed, easily found on the internet photos and quotes from Beatty, Farrow, Parkins, and Dominick Dunne etc, new recollections only from has-been actors looking to cash in, and, wait, what? Kelly Osbourne commenting on what fashion is? Is this a joke?

Scramblehead: The Brains of the Outfit?

Have you ever wondered why Steve Grogan aka Scramblehead aka Clem Tufts aka Grant Mollan aka "One Lucky Muther-F*cker" was ever given the chance to experience freedom again after being handed a death sentence from a jury of his peers? Well, it seems you aren't alone. I've often wanted to know how this guy, who supposedly was a dull-normal convinced a dour, solemn, slit-mouthed parole board to release him unto society after knowing his part in an extremely horrid murder. What makes Clem so much different, than, say, Bobby Beausoleil? What were the factors in his parole hearings that actually persuaded these people to release him? Here are a few things I thought helped this lucky bastard:

1. He had the FORTUNATE luck to not have Deputy DA Patrick Sequeira there to interrogate & harass him for answers, to bring up the Tate/LaBianca cases, to ask him irrelevant questions that had nothing to do with the murder of Donald "Shorty" Shea, to completely get his facts wrong, and mention "hanging witchy things from trees during creepy-crawly missions." (Has anyone else noticed this about Sequeira? He always mentions the Family hanging shit from trees, but always explains it wrong.)

2. He didn't have to deal with the California Victims' Bill of Rights of 2008,(Proposition 9, Marcy's Law) which wasn't in place at that time.

3. He did not have Debra Tate there as a supposed "victims advocate" to read letters of opposition of his release. Also, Barbara Hoyt wasn't there in her official title as "Manson Family Expert" to tell the board of her remarkable skill at judging whether a particular defendant has changed, or is being truthful.

4.) He didn't have the overwhelming media coverage like the other defendants have nowadays with 24-hour news feeds, etc.

5.) He didn't write a book, or give any kind of interviews, which the parole board would of used against him. At least I am not aware of any he did. I could be wrong.

6.) He didn't really become a born-again, fundamentalist, ultra-Christian, and use religion to try swaying the board.

7.) He made himself look remorseful when he told the authorities where Mr. Shea was buried. (very self-serving, if you ask me.)

8.) He made sure to call the victim by his real name, which was "Jerome" which, in my opinion made him seem more on intimate terms with the victim, instead of just calling him by his nickname of "Shorty." The board probably thought he was showing more respect for the victim by doing so.

9.) He showed the board photos of his wife, and child, which made him seem more wholesome, and family-oriented, not Manson Family-oriented.

10) He demonstrated to the board his realistic parole plans, which included numerous job skills he could use on the outside, like being a certified aircraft welder, etc.

In closing, did ol' Scramblehead deserve to get out of the joint? Na, probably not. Did he minimize during his last parole hearing? Hell yes! Don't they all? Does he still wonder how on earth he wasn't charged in the LaBianca murders, since Sadie was in the same position as him, but was charged? Hell F*CK YES! Could he still be hiding the fact that his ex-friends/lovers murdered more people back then? Well, we all probably know the answer to that. Clem, Scramblehead, or whatever the hell you want to be called nowadays, if you are reading this, I would just like to say, sir that you are one lucky murdering mutherf*cker! If you, and your creep friends would of pulled the same stunt here, in Texas, all of you sorry sacks would be dust in the wind right about now! Thank you, and have a good day.

Linda Kasabian

(2013)

(1970)

Laraine Newman and Jane Curtain as Red and Blue

From the SNL archives:

Aired on 10.25.1975 (Segment 7 of 20) "Dangerous But Inept"
Laraine Newman as Squeaky Fromme

Aired on 07.24.1976 (Segment 5 of 15) Commercial "Human Hair Potholders"
Jane Curtin as Sandra Good
Laraine Newman as Squeaky Fromme






Youtube doesn't allow SNL skits, do they? So, Patty is not really sure how to find the footage. Got link?

 

Book Report: Road Mangler Deluxe, by Phil Kaufman

I finally got around to reading this one. My favorite books are the ones that make me laugh out loud all the way through. This was one of those books. Kaufman has certainly led an interesting and colorful life. I won't report on the entire book, just the Manson-related stuff.

Interestingly, the first person related to the Manson saga that Kaufman knew was Harold True. Kaufman dealt pot for two stints of his young life and got popped both times. He wisely decided to change careers, but not before having to pay the piper. While on bail for his first pot bust he borrowed a birth certificate from Harold True who was a UCLA student. He used it to travel Europe to avoid prison, but got nailed again selling weed across the pond!

He eventually is extradited back to the US and after several stops, winds up at Terminal Island prison where he makes Manson's acquaintance. In one early memory of CM he says Manson was playing his guitar & singing (a talent at which Kaufman thought Manson was quite good). A prison guard went up to him (Manson) and said, “Manson, you’ll never get out of here.” Charlie replied, “Get out of where, man?” and just kept playing his guitar.

Sounds like him, right?

Harold True visited Kaufman at Terminal Island and brought him “Space Cakes”. He says he got so zonked that he was afraid of being noticed by the guards and get "loss of good time" and delay his release. He requested that True not visit him again. LOL.

Kaufman gave Manson some contacts he had in the LA music business, including the Beach Boys. Upon his own release he headed out to look for Charlie. Of  Manson he says:

Charlie was manipulative, but not violent, so it was hard for me to believe that he had been behind any vicious crimes. It was all love and peace and flowers. But Charlie really, really hated blacks. He was pissed because the blacks had overrun Haight-Ashbury. The Fillmore district became a terrible place to go. The blacks came and started manipulating the girls and selling them bad drugs. Charlie would say, “Let’s bring the white girls back and make more white-baby babies.” I thought it was a great idea. “Hey, count me in!”

Once when he and I drove up to San Francisco, I realized he was trying to indoctrinate me into his way of thinking. He’d tell me something and then say, "You know that, don’t you?” or, “What do you think about that?” He would try to make me think I thought of whatever he just said, which was the way he manipulated the girls. I knew then that I had to get away from him. I said, “You got a good road game here, Charlie. Don’t blow it.” He said, “I haven’t got a road game.” Finally he said to me, “You’re too smart. You don’t want to be around here.” Those were his words, “You’re too smart.” In other words, I wasn’t necessarily brilliant, but I was thinking. I was thinking. Not good for Charlie. I thought, “He’s fucking looney.”

Charlie was the kind of guy that would just drop a hint and everybody would think that they had made it up. He'd say, "I know what we'll do. Let's do this."  And they'd think that they had thought of it, but Charlie had already planted the seed. So all the girls thought that they were "in tune" with Charlie and that they knew what they were doing. I could see through that shit. One thing Charlie couldn't tolerate was outsiders - I guess it was loss of control. One time in Topanga, a good friend of mine came by, and Charlie turned real strange. That's when I got together with him and said, "Charlie, I'm out of here, man." Although LSD was an important part of our life, the only bad trip I had was when I was trying to get away from Charlie. No matter where I went, he could find me until I eventually made the final break.

He says of Harold True at this time that he "really liked Manson's setup because there was always a girl available for him. (Harold could't get laid in a whorehouse with a fistful of twenties)."

Not that he blamed Harold:

I joined the little band of merry humpers, mainly for the sex. It was just that. "Oh, it's sex time." It was really good, really fun.

... When I looked at the papers later and read the names of the perpetrators and their accomplices, I realized that I'd I'd had sex with every one of those murderesses.

I, for one am glad he used the female agreement of that word...

Kaufman to this day believes that the TLB was Manson's revenge on the music business that had rejected him. He says:

Manson had the LaBiancas killed when he was looking for Harold and me. I had previously fallen out with Charlie over his music, and he was after me. That fateful night Charlie & co. took some LSD, then came looking for us. They went to my house first, then they went to Waverly Drive where Charlie and his tribe had crashed some parties earlier. But the house was vacant; Harold [True], Al and Ernie had moved out a short while before. They then went next door and killed the LaBianca couple. It wasn’t just coincidence.

I don’t think he ever did physically murder anyone. He planted the seeds, and other people did it. Charlie was too jail-smart to kill anybody… He did direct the thought traffic, though.

Of the Manson Family:

Somebody made the observation that the reason Charlie was so good at what he did was that the “family” had a common insanity. They all had the “same crazy”, and he was able to manipulate that and direct it. As long as “family” members adhered to the common craziness, they could stay.

As soon as Charlie & the girls were sentenced, it all fragmented. He wasn’t there to direct the mental traffic. Nobody knew what Charlie wanted until he told them. It was all “Helter Skelter” with people running around saying, “I know what Charlie wants”, but nobody did. People were running in different directions knowing what Charlie wanted.

Kaufman produced the LIE album, released in 1971. He says 3000 albums were pressed but the project failed miserably. He couldn't get any distributors interested and small record shops were afraid to carry them. On top of that, the Family stole about half of them before he figured it out.

Of the theft of the LIE albums:

 I had been in Arizona doing a film. When I came back, Al told me, "Some people are crawling over the wall, and every night at midnight, they crawl to your house and then they leave." I thought it had to be some Manson people. So, the first night I was back, I waited up and, sure enough, at midnight, they came over the fence. I had a shotgun and so did Einstein Eddy. I told my old lady to fetch Eddy. I saw the Manson people coming across the lawn and I was thinking, "What am I going to say?" I thought of a classic yet profound line I had learned from my earlier movie-extra days: I yelled, "Stick 'em up!" And that worked, just like it did in the movies. Their hands went up. I said, "What the fuck are you doing?" They said that Charlie had sent them to get the music back. Just then, Einstein Eddy came running around the driveway, ball-ass naked, with the other shotgun. They saw this weird guy running down the alley with his balls swinging and said, "Are you going to fuck us or shoot us?" I said, "Let me have those knives." They said they needed the knives. "We always carry our knives."

It's very intimidating to have a gun pointed at you, but it's even more intimidating to be touched with a gun. One guy had his hands up in the air, and I was touching him on the face with the shotgun. That cold steel, that's a frightening thing. Then I said, "Now you get the hell out of here and don't you ever come back." They turned around to walk away and I said, "Get out the way you came - crawl out!" They started crawling across the yard, and Eddy fired a shot at them just to make them dance. You've never seen people wriggle along so fast.

They still kept coming back. The next time they tried, the girls came in the back and surrounded my house. The said, "Phil, Phil, give us the music, give us the music." I said, "It's the Manson people with knives and guns." The cops arrested them and then let them go. Sometime later, I had a party at my house. This Manson guy came by with a gun. He had escaped from county jail (Como???) by climbing down a wall. There was a long article in the paper about the escape. He came to my house with some of the girls to get the money from the album. I got home just as they left, and a friend quickly told me what had been happening. I had a .357 Magnum and fired it after them down Chandler Boulevard. I had just about had enough of it all by that time.

This book isn't going to win a Pulitzer, but I enjoyed it immensely. Recommended!

Road Mangler Deluxe is available at amazon.com

Parade Magazine January 11,1970

Parade Magazine is a newspaper insert that's been around forever.  This article is mostly about Susan Atkins and contains a few things I did not know about Susan.  It predates much of what has been written about her.

Hi Beth!

Is that sexy, or WHAT?

Bobby Beausoleil = Herbert the Pervert? - Click to Read

Sassy Bottoms, or Sassy Deputy District Attorney? - Click to Read

Sassy Bottoms - Click to Read

Available...Bobby Beausoleil's 1985 Parole Hearing Report with mention of Sassy Bottoms - Click to Read

Questionable Questions from B&B Enterprises Questionnaire! - Click to Read

Kenneth Anger talks about Bobby in recent interview

Dear Sir or Madam,

It has come to our attention that your blog has displayed and published our copyright protected photo of Bobby Beausoleil (which appears on his copyrighted website as well as his Facebook page) today without permission.  This is a request for a cease and desist.  If you fail to discontinue the illegal use of our copyrighted materials, we may, without further notice to you, take legal action to prevent such infringement.

Thank you,

Beth Hall
Webmaster

E-mail: Beth.Hall@BobbyBeauSoleil.com
Website: www.BobbyBeauSoleil.com

-------------------------------

Dear Beth,

See below that we have complied with your request. I think you would agree that the new photo is entirely more appropriate.

Matt
mansonblog.com

-------------------------------

Thanks Matt for taking the picture down.  I will have Bobby’s lawyer contact you on this further.

I am not cool with you posting this email I sent to you and Austin Ann on your blog.  Please take it down immediately.  It was not my intention to become your latest news.

Thanks,
Beth

-------------------------------

No

I found a rare Kenneth Anger interview on YouTube which was recorded on somebody's cell phone. This is a recent interview from last year, and in it, Anger talks about how Beausoleil is in prison for a murder he committed over a "drug deal gone bad." Hmmmm.....Interesting....Anyway, I could barely hear it, so you might need to turn up the volume when listening. Let us know what you think!

Strange Guy from the Sing-A-Long Scene in the "MANSON" Movie

The smallest DETAIL can relate to the most significant CLUE.

When everyone else watches this scene (in MANSON at 3 minutes 50 seconds - also opening credits is a great clear face shot of the "red headed" man) in the woods behind the Spahn Ranch - as the Family sings "One is One is One" - I think of LSD and MIND Control.

By now most can identify by name everyone in the group, EXCEPT for one. Yes, he's barely visible and mostly insignificant and known only as the red headed man. And he would have remained insignificant, except that recently Matt has me asked me who he is, and recently the story broke about how LSD has been used successfully to modify the brains of criminals.

FIRST you must understand that LSD was developed for the purpose of ridding mental patients of traumatic events and or troubling pasts. In 1967 I was discharged from the Army to attend college.  My second semester I took a psychology class where I met a woman who was an early LSD experimental patient.  She explained the entire process where a would-be doctor give her a dose of LSD and then talked her through a trip where he would direct her to disguard certain past experiences and or people from her brain.  The result? A step-by-step purging of her brain's "hard drive."

Fast forward to another day in 1970 at Spahn's Ranch when I was filming the 'Sing-a-Long" for the MANSON movie.  The "red-headed man," I assumed, was just another soul who wondered in for a day to experience the far-out life style of the Manson Family.  I never saw him again at Spahn and never questioned the matter.

But months later, I attended a birthday party for someone very special in the Hollywood's metaphysical community. I could hardly believe my eyes, nor he his, but there he was - the "red headed man."  We had a great conversation and YES - he explained to me exactly how the Manson Family performed the LSD operation on him - which was exactly the same way as the early LSD patient explained it to me a couple of years earlier.  And now, some 40 years later, the government has apparently learned via LSD how to cure criminals of their EVIL ways.

Oh! ye troubled souls, Dr. Frankenstein is taking appointments from 9 to 5!

RH's films, "MANSON", "Inside the MANSON Gang", and his book "Death to Pigs" 

are available to mansonblog.com readers HERE.

Charles Manson Wins Lifetime Achievement Award

(Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons)  

LOS ANGELES – Next year’s recipient for the Cecil B. Demille Award just leaked, and it’s none other than famous musician and murderer—Charles Manson! In an official press release, the Hollywood Foreign Press issued this statement:

“We apologize for spoiling the surprise, but I think we all knew that it was about time such a prolific entertainer got the recognition he deserves.”

Not everyone was happy with the announcement, including the family members of the people Manson conspired to kill, and pretty much ever other decent human being on the planet.

“Sure, Manson’s done some questionable things, but we need to look at the recipient’s entire life when we bestow this honor,” said HFPA president Theo Kingma, “I think we can forgive a few measly sins when the person has given the public so much joy with their entertainment—I mean, have you heard ‘I’m Scratching Peace Symbols on Your Tombstone’ or ‘Garbage Dumb’?”

The leak  occured soon after actor, director, and alleged child molester, Woody Allen, received the same award at the 2014 Golden Globes. Both his ex-wife Mia Farrow, and his son, future MSNBC host Ronan Farrow, tweeted their discontent about Allen receiving the prestigious award:

(See the article for the Tweets)

Farrow’s adopted daughter Soon-Yi Previn when she was 19, was accused of molesting his adopted 7-year-old daughter “Dylan” in 1992. He denies all allegations.

“It’s just so great that the HFPA can look past some of my past blemishes,” said Manson while blushing. “To be in the ranks of someone like Woody Allen, I’m just such a huge fan of him and everything that he stands for.”

Original Story HERE