I don’t know if any of you do ‘Threads’. It’s an Instagram offshoot, that I suppose aims to be a bit more intellectual and a bit less random than whatever Twitter (or ‘X’ as it’s now called), has become. I’m finding it quite interesting because I can connect with and ask serious questions and opinions from other musicians. I might be doing a gig later in the year as a result of it…. I digress.
Anyway….back to Threads, and I saw somebody ask a question, or at least attempt to confirm a rumour that I’d never heard before. Namely, did Charles Manson audition to be in The Monkees? A few months back Manson’s name came up whilst I was reading Neil Young’s autobiography, ‘Waging Heavy Peace’. I knew he had hopes of being a very serious musician, and Young’s account of their meeting is purely in that context. Obviously knowing however that he would ultimately be sentenced to life imprisonment as one of America’s most notorious cult leaders, the connection with The Monkees seemed a bit flippin’ unlikely, so I went digging.
In September 1965, a small group of Hollywood bigwigs hit on the idea of manufacturing a Beatles style pop band specifically for a TV show. They placed an advert in Variety magazine for “four insane boys, aged 17-21”.
The rumour was, that of the 400 or so auditionees to turn up, Charles Manson was one. Manson had been taught to play guitar whilst in prison for fraud, and you might imagine that this alone might have put any potential employer off. I think we can assume that in the case of The Monkess, the “insane” requirement of the audition listing was meant more in a “uncontrollably zany” way, not the wide eyed, murderous stare of cult leader. Peter Tork got the job. I think that proves the point.
Allegedly undeterred by this setback, Manson latched onto the Beach Boys drummer Brian Wilson, eventually moving in with him in 1968 and attempting to convince him to record one of his compositions, "Cease To Exist". Wilson reworked the track however, to ultimately become “Never Learn Not To Love”, which appeared as the B-side to "Bluebirds Over The Mountain". By August 1969 Manson had ordered his followers to murder an actress called Sharon Tate and her four friends, and the rest is history. So did Manson’s rejection from The Monkees steer him towards this terrible outcome?
Well, no. To put it bluntly, Manson was in prison throughout 1965 when the auditions took place, and didn’t return to L.A. until 1967. He would also have been 30, too old and likely far too serious to even wish to be associated with the manufactured pop malarkey of The Monkees. From what I can tell, I think he would’ve wanted to sell his own music on his own terms, which in itself isn’t unreasonable…..but still…..
Join me next time when I investigate Nick Cave’s tenure in Westlife, and Timmy Mallet’s attempt to oust David Gilmour from Pink Floyd. #yeahright
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