Wednesday, February 10, 2010

The Beach Boys 20/20

{"Before the album commenced recording, Dennis had befriended a struggling musician named Charles Manson and decided to help him in the music industry by recording his song "Cease to Exist" for the Beach Boys, under the new title "Never Learn Not to Love". Manson explicitly told Wilson that the words were not to be altered, though he could do what he liked with the music (in the event, the basic melody was largely unchanged). When "Never Learn Not to Love" was first released by the Beach Boys as a B-side in late 1968, and credited solely to Dennis Wilson—with altered lyrics and a new bridge—Manson threatened Wilson with murder. According to Brian's collaborator Van Dyke Parks, when Manson once showed up to make good on his threat, Dennis beat him up. The Manson incident gave everyone a scare in the Beach Boys' camp—especially after his well-known crimes came to light. Some fans have also suggested that Charles Manson wrote "Be with Me", but this is likely due to a simple misunderstanding: "Never Learn Not to Love" has a line containing the words, "be with me". Furthermore, unlike "Never Learn Not to Love", the Beach Boys' "Be with Me" does not resemble any of Manson's own recordings."}
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/20/20_(The_Beach_Boys_album)#Recording