Charles Manson and The Family
Helter Skelter
Charlie Milles Manson
• “No name Maddox” was born a bastard child to his 16
year old mother in Cincinnati, Ohio.
• His mother was an alcoholic, and once sold him for a
pitcher of beer to a childless waitress.
• When he was fourteen a court placed him in the Gibault
School for Boys. He ran away to his mother, but his
mother rejected him.
• From the time he was fourteen, he had been in and out
of prison for all sorts of theft.
• He was illiterate until the age of sixteen, when he
learned to read in a maximum security institution.
His Release
• Manson had been in institutions for more than half of his
life, and right before his release from prison in 1967, he
requested that he be permitted to stay.
– Tom Snyder: Let's go back to 1967, the time you were winding
up serving a term of a number of years, ten years, and written
accounts indicate that you told the authorities, "Don't let me out, I
can't cope with the outside world". Do you have a recollection of
that? And do you -– Manson: You're making a desperate plea out of something, man.
There's no desperate plea out of it. I said I can't handle the
maniacs outside, let me back in.
– Snyder: I didn't use the word desperate; that's your word,
Charles.
– Manson: Yeah, well, your inflection and your voice tones were,
uh, implications there.
The Rising of the Family
• Manson moved to San
Francisco in 1967.
• He established himself as
a guru, and preached
about scientology.
• Young females were
attracted to his charisma,
and started following him.
• The use of LSD, a
hallucinogenic drug,
helped Manson hook,
control, and manipulate
his followers.
The Growth
• The Family lived at 636
Cole Street, in San
Francisco during the
summer of 1967.
• In November, Manson
and nine of his followers
painted a bus, took out
the seats, and went on a
drug ridden ride up and
down the west coast of
America.
• They picked up more and
more followers along the
way.
Rules of the Family
• No one in the family was allowed to see doctors in the
beginning
• Women in the family were required to have children
• For a baby’s delivery, the mother would be held in the air
by the family, Manson would “catch” the baby, and cut
the umbilical cord with a guitar string.
• Manson would beat members if they looked as if they
were “thinking”
• All members were required to take LSD, smoke
marijuana, and participate in orgies.
– This included Manson, the men, the women, and all of the
children.
– The majority of the children were born while their mothers were
taking LSD
The Beach Boy
• Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys became part
of the family when he picked up two hitch hiking
girls who were part of the family.
• The next day Manson and his family moved in
with Wilson.
• Over the next few months Wilson paid for
Manson to record in studios, and introduced him
to several musicians and producers.
• Wilson also paid a $100,000 bill for the medical
treatment the family needed for gonorrhea.
Helter Skelter
• Manson was convinced shear calamity was on its way.
He believed that the tension between whites and blacks
was growing, and that the blacks would rise in rebellion
against the whites.
• He convinced his followers, “The Family”, that they
needed to be together to survive during the chaos.
• Manson believed the The Beatles had also predicted the
racist turmoil, and wrote the White Album filled with
subliminal messages, made solely for the Family.
• Manson is thought to have believed that The Beatles
were angels sent from God to tell him to take control of
the “race-war”
Piggies
Lyrics
Have you seen the little piggies/
Crawling in the dirt/ And for all
those little piggies/ Life is getting
worse/ Always having dirt to
play around in. Have you seen
the bigger piggies/ In their
starched white shirts/ You will
find the bigger piggies/ Stirring
up the dirt/ Always have clean
shirts to play around in.
In their styes with all their
backing/ They don't care what
goes on around/ In their eyes
there's something lacking/ What
they need's a damn good
whacking.
Everywhere there's lots of
piggies/ Living piggy lives/ You
can see them out for dinner/
With their piggy wives/ Clutching
forks and knives to eat their
bacon.
Manson
Interpretation
Manson interpreted "piggies" to
mean members of the
Establishment. He saw the song
as telling him that the
Establishment needed "a damn
good whacking." Manson
frequently quoted the line
referring to the need for a
"whacking."
Comment
The song refers to forks and
knives. Rosemary LaBianca
received 41 knive wounds, Leno
LaBianca received 12 knive
wounds and 7 fork wounds. On
a wall in the LaBianca home, in
Leno's blood, was written the
phrase "Death to Pigs."
The Hinman Murder
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In June of 1969 Manson told a male family member that Helter Skelter was
ready to happen.
During a discussion between Manson and family member Bobby Beausoleil,
Manson told Bobby “Blackie never did anything without whitey showin' him
how," he said, "It looks like we're gonna have to show blackie how to do it.“
Manson was telling Beausoleil that in order for the blacks to revolt, to cause
Helter Skelter, The Family was going to have to show them how.
One month later, on July 27, Manson ordered Beausoleil to murder their
former friend, Gary Hinman.
Before leaving Hinman’s residence, Beausoleil wrote “Political Piggy” in
Hinman’s blood on the wall of his house.
Beausoleil was arrested nine days later, caught in Hinman’s stolen car. The
murder weapon was in the tire.
The Tate Murders
• On August 8th, Manson told the Family Helter
Skelter was here.
• Manson directed Tex Watson to take Family
members Atkins, Linda Kasabian, and Patricia
Krenwinkel to "that house where Melcher used
to live" and "totally destroy everyone in it, as
gruesome as you can.” He told the girls to do as
Tex would instruct them.
• The four members gruesomely murdered Steven
Parent, Wojciech Frykowski, 8 and a half month
pregnant Sharon Tate, Jay Sebring, and Abigal
Folger.
The LaBianca Murders
• The following night Manson and six Family members
drove to the Los Feliz section of Los Angeles.
• They broke into the home of Leno LaBianca, a
supermarket executive.
• They proceeded to stab LiBianca and his wife,
Rosemary.
• Leno LaBianca was stabbed by Manson with a bayonet
over a dozen times.
• Manson wanted all of the members to participate, so
everyone had a chance to stab Rosemary.
Conviction
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The trial began on June 15, 1970.
The prosecutions main witness
was Kasabian, who, along with
Manson, Atkins, and Krenwinkel,
had been charged with seven
counts of murder and one of
conspiracy.
However, since she (Kasabian)
did not participate in the murders,
she was granted immunity in order
to testify.
On January 25,1971, guilty
verdicts were returned against the
defendants on all counts.
They were all sentenced to the
death penalty, but since California
abolished the death penalty, their
sentences were reduced to life in
prison.
Revolution Blues by Neil Young
Well, we live in a trailer
at the edge of town
You never see us
'cause we don't come around.
We got twenty five rifles
just to keep
the population down.
But we need you now,
and that's why
I'm hangin' 'round.
So you be good to me
and I'll be good to you,
And in this land of conditions
I'm not above suspicion
I won't attack you,
but I won't back you.
Well, it's so good to be here,
asleep on your lawn.
Remember your guard dog?
Well, I'm afraid
that he's gone.
It was such a drag
to hear him
whining all night long.
Yes, that was me with the
doves,
setting them free
near the factory
Where you built your computer,
love.
I hope you get the connection,
'cause I can't take
the rejection
I won't deceive you,
I just don't believe you.
Well, I'm a barrel of laughs,
with my carbine on
I keep 'em hoppin',
till my ammunition's gone.
But I'm still not happy,
I feel like
there's something wrong.
I got the revolution blues,
I see bloody fountains,
And ten million dune buggies
comin' down the mountains.
Well, I hear that Laurel Canyon
is full of famous stars,
But I hate them worse than
lepers
and I'll kill them
in their cars.
The Tate House
Happy Landing
• When people thought the 1
world was flat that we
all could slide off. Now its
the sun coming up in the
East
people think the TV would all
go off there big fear no more
beer or
the price of gas rent jobs
payments
the big danger they never
think about
no thought about - air water AW is not
even in a dream - oh well happy landing
Happiness is a Warm Gun
• http://youtube.com/watch?v=itfms556DgE
Bibliography
• http://www.law.umkc.e
du/faculty/projects/ftri
als/manson/mansonb
eatles.html
• http://en.wikipedia.org
/wiki/Charles_Manson