To keep
in the holiday spirit, here is something somewhat Christmassy.
Today’s
post is about the Eggnog riot, something that happened on Christmas
eve and day back in 1826.
At the
West Point military academy’s barracks, cadets were told that their
eggnog was to be alcohol free. Possession of alcohol was against the
rules, with the consequence of being expelled. Of course, alcohol was
smuggled in anyway, into the north barracks.
In the
late hours of Christmas Eve into the early morning of Christmas,
there were 9 cadets that were found partying after being rowdy and
drunk. Captain Ethan Allen Hitchcock heard the voices, and went to
the room where the cadets were, ordering them to leave. Two of the
cadets, James Berrien and Billy Murdock, responded negatively, with
Murdock wanting to organize a riot against Captain Hitchcock.
Cadets
knocked on Hitchcock’s door when he went to bed, though the three
times that he went to check, no-one was there. He saw Jefferson
Davis, a cadet at the time, go to another room where 13 more cadets
were partying.
With
Hitchcock trying to stop the cadets from their rambunctious partying,
they ended up becoming more rowdy, with several windows being broken.
When reveille played in the morning, the cadets from the north
barracks were hungover, point blank. Some were still drinking, and
others appeared in formation while still drunk. Cadets from the south
barracks were appalled at the condition of the place, since they were
not drunk and well rested.
To keep
a long story short, six cadets resigned, 19 court marshaled, and
others were confined for a month.
James Beck Gordon
was born on July 14th, 1945, in California. He began
playing the drums as a kid, and at the age of 17, he played drums for
the Everly Brothers, as a session drummer, of which he passed up a
scholarship to UCLA to do. Gordon gained a lot of traction, appearing
on many recordings for multiple bands and musicians, having been
recommended as a studio musician by Hal Blaine, a famous studio
musician, who was busy with more work than he knew what to do with.
Blaine stated, “When I didn’t have the time, I recommended Jim.
He was one hell of a drummer. I thought he was one of the real
comers.”. Soon enough, Gordon would be flooded with plenty of
studio work, having 2-3 recording sessions a day, sometimes up to 7
days a week. At the height of his studio musician career, he would
fly from Las Vegas to Los Angeles every day to do a session, then
back to Nevada to play the nightly show at Caesars Palace.
Near the
end of the 60’s Jim Gordon ended up on multiple recordings for big
acts such as ‘Pet Sounds’ by the Beach Boys, “Gene Clark with
the Gosdin Brothers” (Gene Clark), “The Notorious Byrd Brothers”
(the Byrds), and “Classical Gas” by Mason Williams.
Gordon later created
a band, which broke up after one album. In 1969, the music duo
Delaney and Bonnie were getting ready to tour in England when their
drummer Jim Keltner either pulled out of the band, or made the
agreement with Jim Gordon to switch Jim’s studio sessions with
Keltner’s tour, since Jim wanted to go on the tour to be part of
the backing band (I’ve seen different sources that say either
happened). Either way, Jim Gordon got to go on tour with the band,
and Keltner started doing more session drumming, later becoming an
extremely renown session musician.
At the time, the
backing band for Delaney and Bonnie included Eric Clapton, and George
Harrison. The tour was a huge success, with the band being more
popular in England that the U.S., even still, shows were sold out.
While it seemed that the combination would have been everlasting,
most left to join Leon Russel for Joe Cocker’s Mad Dogs and ENGLISHMEN tour. “When they left,“we were the last to know, and it
broke out hearts.” one of the Bramletts said.
Delaney and Bonnie
The tour with Joe
Crocker would include sex, drugs, forgetting lyrics, and sharing lots
of different women. There was heroin, mescaline, MDA, cocaine, and
acid. Jim Keltner, who appeared on the tour, said of it, “Sharing
girls. Screwing every chick in sight. Most were there for that
purpose. The drugs were just as easy to get. I wasn’t a stranger to
them myself. Now I feel like I’m just lucky to have survived them.”
Jim Gordon
participated in many of these drugs, even being able to power through
many of the affects of them, including on stage. Before a show in
Seattle one night, Gordon slipped some acid with Keltner, and later
while playing “Bird on the Wire”, Keltner couldn’t continue.
Gordon allegedly tried to coax Keltner on, but he couldn’t do it,
and left in tears. Apparently, Jim did many drugs during the tour,
virtually doing anything he could.
Gordon stated that,
during this time he felt like he was being watched but it was all in
the background.
It was around this
time that Jim would hear murmurs, but he ignored them.
Instead of
participating in groupies, Jim got into a relationship with fellow
musician, Rita Coolidge. They spent their spare time together, would
joke laugh, until one day he hit her. They were staying at the
Warwick Hotel in New York when he called her into the hall, and left
a black eye. She had a the bruise for the rest of the tour, and from
then on, wanted nothing to do with him. While he would leave books of
poetry and be apologetic, she wouldn’t budge.
Gordon continued on
with more incidents. It was seemingly the start of his paranoia.
After the tour
ended, Jim worked with George Harrison on the album “All Things
Must Pass”, and later joined Eric Clapton to create Derek and The
Dominoes. Gordon and Clapton would later create the hit song “Layla”
with Gordon adding the piano melody. The band also used drugs, heroin
being the one of choice.
After its only tour
in 1972, the group broke up. Even though they stated it had to do
with musical differences, drugs were a factor too. Allegedly, Gordon
wasn’t paid for the song “Layla”, because the producers “said
I would be dead in six months anyway.” Even still, Jim still did
drugs, mainly heroin.
Jim still had plenty
of work, from playing on Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain”, John
Lennon’s “Imagine” album, to touring with the band Traffic for
their album “The
Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys”.
Eventually,
Jim tired of all the drugs and work, and wanted to go home. He had
totaled his ferrari. Word had spread of his drug use, how he hit Rita
Coolidge, and how he even crashed his car. But this didn’t stop him
from finding work, and he was still in extreme demand. Jim still
ended up choosing dates to work with musicians. During this time, he
played on “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number” for Steely Dan,
“Midnight At The
Oasis” for Maria Maldaur, and “L.A.” Reggae” for Johnny
Rivers.
During
this time, Jim also worked with Frank Zappa, and was part of his
“Petite Wazoo” and “Grand Wazoo” bands (10 piece and 20
piece). Jim played on the song “Apostrophe’” with Zappa and
Jack Bruce, of which both latter musicians received writing credit.
When Zappa would
introduce Gordon on stage, he would call him ‘Skippy’, because of
his youthful appearance.
While
there were rumors that he had lost his touch, these songs, among
others the worked on proved the rumors weren’t true.
In
1973, Jim’s father passed away, and he took a break from drugs. He
bought a house, saw his daughter, and married Renée Armand. He went
from drugs to alcohol, where he would end up drinking all day. He
said of the time, “Before, I was drinking every night, but I wasn’t
getting up in the morning for a drink; I would put a needle in my
arm. When I stopped taking the heroin, I began to drink all day.”.
Eventually
he went back to drugs, doing speedballs. Still, he had work, and even
played with acts that had no participation in drugs. Gordon never
stopped production or did drugs during his studio time.
Jim
was noticeably changing during this time period, becoming more
paranoid, less talkative, and even standing in the corner talking to
himself in between sessions. Gordon told a friend not to give out his
number, since he didn’t want to talk to anyone. He eventually
retreated into isolation more, became self doubtful, and was full
blown paranoid.
One
day, Jim’s wife Renee came home from grocery shopping, having
barely placed the groceries on the floor, when he came up to her with
a menacing glare. He said, “I know what you’re doing.”, though
she had no idea what he was talking about. Gordon then pointed at the
groceries, saying, “The Magic Triangle”. He then accused her of
being responsible for evil spirits in the house. To which she denied,
and then he punched her, cracking several of her ribs. Renee stated
that while she loved him so much, she couldn’t stay with him after
that. She had no idea what had happened to him. Their marriage ended
after 6 months.
When
Jim was completely sober, he heard the voices. They came back, and
were everywhere. There was a family of voices, with faces he could
see in his mind but whose names he did not know. The leader was a man
with a white beard, along with a young blonde woman. Some of the
others were his brother aunt and mother.
Originally
the voices started out friendly, telling him how to do things, and
giving pointers in his life. “How to take care of myself and the house.
How to shop. I was glad for the help. I was getting ready for the
rest of my life. I thought it was pretty strange, but there was
nothing I could do about it. I heard them all the time. They would
tell me if I was doing right or wrong. And I took it in like a fool.
They said I had some kind of responsibility to God and country. I was
the king of the universe, they said. I had to make sacrifices, and I
had to do what they said. That’s when my mother started making me
eat half my food.”
When
Jim would only eat half of his food, he would supplement the other
half with alcohol. He would consume a fifth of scotch or vodka, and
still work.
Eventually
he got into another relationship, this time with a woman named Stacey
Bailey. Jim would tell Bailey about the voices, while also
complaining about how his mother was trying to take over his life.
He’d complain that he would try to please his mother, but it was
never enough for her. One night, Stacey woke up unable to breath. Jim
was choking her. She tried to say whatever she could to get him to
stop, and when on the verge of passing out, he loosened his grip. He
repeated it over and over, and eventually fell back laughing, saying
that it was a joke. Bailey ran to the neighbors, hysterical, while
Gordon begged her to come back. He told her, “I just wanted to see
if you really cared about me”.
While
people heard and knew of his abuse to women, most didn’t say
anything.
Gordon
tried to cut back on drugs and alcohol, but only stayed off of them
for a short amount of time. The voices were getting worse, and he
later went back to drinking to try and quiet the voices.
In
1977, Gordon was in session recording with Johnny Rivers, when he
started to glare at the guitarist, Dean Parks. Jim apparently rose to
his feet, and said, “You’re messing with my time. You’re moving
my hands, I want you to stop it.” Parks told Jim that there was no
way he could be messing with him from across the room, and eventually
they went back to playing. Not long later, Jim tried to get at
another person.
Eventually,
it became known that Gordon was turning into a liability, and
producers didn’t want to hire him anymore. In turn, Jim started
taking lower paying work, such as TV and
commercials.
The
voices got worse, to the point that they would only allow him to eat
one bite of his food. His mother’s voice was the worst in his head,
never relenting. He called his mother, who didn’t know what was
even going on. His mother told him that he needed help, and so he
checked into the Van Nuys Psychiatric Hospital. This would be the
beginning of over 14 times he’d check himself into hospitals, over
the next 6 years.
When
with the doctors, he told them that he heard his mother’s voice,
among others. His mother, Osa, would visit, and he’d tell doctors that
she was the only friend that he had. He was able to get permission to
go home with her on weekends, but the voices would still torment him.
Eventually, Jim checked himself out of the hospital after two months,
against his doctor’s recommendations. Jim agreed to see a doctor
outpatient, but on his September 3rd
appointment, he didn’t show up.
Gordon’s
mother found him at home, unconscious, having attempted suicide. He
stated that the voices didn’t care if he killed himself. He refused
to continue therapy, and reluctantly went back to work. Gordon
went on tour with Jackson Browne in 1978, but ultimately, it didn’t
change things. When he came back from the tour, the industry was
slow, and he found it hard to get work. When he was out of work, he
would drink to drown out the voices, but it didn’t help.
Gordon
got a call to go on tour with Bob Dylan, but the voices made him say
no, which saddened him to have missed the opportunity. Later, he got
a call to do a job in Las Vegas, to which he initially agreed, but
the voices told him to leave, so he did. This was another blow, since
Gordon really wanted to perform.
When
he came back, he was severely depressed, and checked himself into
Valley Presbyterian Hospital. While there, he threatened to kill a
nurse, who he claimed, “Wouldn’t leave me alone.”. Once again
he checked out of the hospital, against the doctor’s orders.
By
the time the 80’s started, Jim Gordon was barely considered a
professional musician anymore. He stopped playing his drums, stopped
bathing at times, and would go days without shaving or changing his
clothes. He checked into a hospital on June 5th
of 1980, but left the next day. When he came to hospital, he had
already consumed two thirds of a bottle of cognac and half a gallon
of wine.
When
he would leave the hospital, he would always go back to Osa, his mom,
despite having the voice in his head of her. At times, he thought
that his mother wanted him to die. He felt that this purpose was
over.
Jim on the far left
On
October 22nd,
1982, Jim checked himself into another hospital. He said that he felt
he was dying of “hate” and that his “world was falling apart.”
Having not seen her son in two years, Osa wrote Jim a letter.
He never opened it. The voices in his head told him not to. Her
letter stated that she thought of him, loved him, and was moving in
with his brother in Seattle in a month.
On
June 1st
of that year, at 9:30 pm, Gordon called his mother. He told her,
“You’re bugging me again. I’m going to kill you.” Osa
denied the accusations, and he hung up. She then called the Medical
Center of North Hollywood and asked if her son had been there. The
nurse told her that Jim was admitted that day, had been drinking, and
when he asked for the antipsychotic drug Thorazine, become agitated
that the doctor wasn’t in; so he left. His mother then called the
police, but they told her that there nothing they could do, and
suggested that she leave the lights on in her house, while also
wishing her luck. His mother called her other son, John, but no-one
was home.
Gordon
called her again, at 11:40 pm, with an essential repeat of the
previous conversation. Afterwards, she decided against calling John,
because it was too late in the night. The next day, she called the
city attorney’s office about a restraining her, but the process was
unsuccessful.
The
next day, Gordon appeared at her apartment.
Jim
hadn’t ever raised a hand to her before, and none of the doctors
ever warned her that he would either.
Neighbors heard screaming, and
called the police.
Law
enforcement went to Jim’s apartment the next morning to inform him
of his mother’s death, to find him face down on the living room
floor sobbing. He wasn't on any drugs when he killed his mother, then
afterwards went to a bar and consumed a large amount of different
types of alcohol after.
Gordon stated that he had no
interest in killing her, but her voice wanted him to do so. “Good
riddance to her” he stated. He
attacked her with a hammer, hitting
her in the head. Then he
stabbed her with a butcher
knife in
the chest three times.Jim’s mother, Osa
Marie Gordon, was 72 years old at the time of her murder.
Recent Picture of him
In
1984, he was sentenced to 16 years to life, and is still
incarcerated. As of 2016, he is serving his sentence at the
California Medical Facility, in Vacaville, CA. He
has been denied parole every time, most recently in 2018, for 3 years.
In March of 2019, there was an administrative review to advance the
his parole hearing date. On April 16th,
and July 16th,
the parole suitabilities were postponed until November 14th,
2019. On November
14th,
2019, Gordon was to have his latest parole hearing, but waived the
right to a hearing for 3 years. His next hearing was postponed, won’t
be until November of 2022.
Osa Marie Gordon is buried in Los Angeles National Cemetery, in California.
If I could, I would give this book 3.5 stars, but what can you do? I feel like 3 is more fitting than 4.
First
off, I would say that my biggest gripe with the book is just the way
that it's written. Sometimes the writing is really good, and then it can
be flat out confusing at times. I liked how in the earlier and mid
sections of the book, that the author would segue into other pieces of
information, that overall help the reader understand more on the
background of the time period, family members, or general atmosphere
they were trying to portray. But I've noticed odd gramatical spacing,
wrong tenses of words used, or just general odd ways of saying things in
their book. Especially near the end, the book feels rushed, and it
seems like they were really just trying to get to final pages of the
book. Granted, I understand trying to finish the book sooner than
later...the entire thing is over 500 pages if you include the
bibliography and post script notes. In reality, the main story is only
400 pages.
What I really wish the author focused more on was the
psychology of Manson, more on his childhood and info from when he was
in the reform school, and the trials. While I realize that the book is
to be more of a Manson biography plus insight on the family, there were
some people that they just kind of fell off talking about. While it
stated that Beausoleil went to trial, it kind of just ends his parts of
the story there with him. The trials in general was a section that was
talked about pretty fast, in comparison to parts of the book that focus
over a 100 pages on the Family's way of life. To me, it would be just as
interesting to go over what the girls and Charley felt during the trial
phases, as it was to know that people ate out of the garbage (I guess
freegans are a 50+ year old concept). I've watched interviews where
Krenwinkel and Van Houten said they acted like the way they did during
the trials because they figured that they would die anyway. It would
have been nice to see that in the book. It always gets me how arrogant
everyone seemed in the trials. I guess the author's main focus was to
talk about the daily Family life, as opposed to the post murder
going-ons.
On the other hand, I do enjoy the book as a piece of
knowledge. It was really interesting at times to read how f'd up the
whole Family was. Incredibly sad how so many were fooled, and even more
were staunch in their beliefs. I can't gloss over the fact that Charlie,
and others engaged in pedophilia. But considering the Epstein stuff
lately, I guess I can't be surprised that the music biz breeds that
stuff. The insight of Manson's childhood was good, though as stated
before, I wish it was delved into more. The more I read about his
mentality as a whole, it really appeared that Charles has psychological
problems. I couldn't help but wonder if he was born in this time period,
if he would have been formally diagnosed with a behavior problem.
At
the end of the book, the author stated that people mostly remember
Manson because he lived past the murders. They said that no-one
remembers the names of Columbine teens because they killed themselves.
Not only is that a weird comparison, that is completely untrue. Everyone
remembers the names of Klebold and Harrison, more than anything just
because the tragic event happened 20 some years ago, as opposed to the
Tate murder's 50. Comparisons and general writing like this made the
story a bit of a drag to read. Others have stated it in their reviews
also, and the book has bad pacing at times. I completely agree, just
like my comments about the ending about. The ending is quick...but the
middle can take forever. And sometimes, the ending had paragraphs that
kind of didn't need to be there. It almost felt like a rookie's first
book or something.
In conclusion, I'd say that if you have a deep
interest in the Manson rabbit hole, this'd be a good book to read. If
you have a ton of prior knowledge about the Family before, I'd say that
it wouldn't hurt to skip parts. I'd imagine that any seasoned Family
interestees would be more curious about the childhood part than anything
else. If you only have a passing interest in this subject, this may not
be the book for you. It'd be way too long for anyone with a passing
glance.
I wouldn't re-read it again in entirety, but it's a good resource for making blog posts or something.
Also, I forgot to say that there seems to be conflicting evidence at times. Everywhere on the internet, it says that Terry Melcher wanted to make a documentary about the Manson Family, but in this book, it makes it seem like it was Gregg Jakobson's idea only. There are other times too, but conflicting ideas like this one makes the book a bit confusing at times.
Ricky
Lancelotti was a musician that was featured on many songs in Frank
Zappa’s band. He is most notably known (in my opinion) as the voice
of the Zomby Woof on the song of the same name.
Ricky
was born in New Jersey, on August 25th, 1944 (though some
records state that he was born on August 23rd) as Anthony
Richard Lancelotti. Not much seem to be known of his early life.
Between 1965-66, he went by the name ‘Ricky Lancelot’, and
released several singles for RCA Records, unsuccessfully. During this
time, he also appeared on the show ‘Shindig’, a music series on
ABC-TV; he was the in-house singer. Ricky also sang on the show ‘The
Banana Splits’ (a late 60’s early 70’s kid’s show), as one of
the unaccredited lead vocalists, he also appeared on the album
released in 1968 for the show.
The
Banana Splits Theme:
The
Banana Splits-Doin’ The Banana Split:
I’m
Gonna Find a Cave:
With
Zappa, Lancelotti is featured on the albums, ‘Over-nite Sensation’,
‘The Lost Episodes’, and ‘Lather’. As stated before,
Lancelotti was on the song ‘Zomby Woof’. He also features on
‘Fifty-Fifty’, ‘Wonderful Wino’ on the lost tapes (the
original version of the song? The final version is on Zoot Allures. I
prefer Lancelotti’s vocals better honestly.)
Zomby
Woof:
Fifty-Fifty:
Wonderful
Wino:
On
April 7th, 1980, Lancelotti passed away at the age of 35.
Wikipedia doesn’t list a cause of death. It barely touches on the
time that he spent with Zappa. Wiki Jawaka almost doesn’t talk
about him all.
[Anecdotal]
When I
first got into Zappa in my teens, ‘Zomby Woof’ was one of the
songs that I played constantly, especially on trips to other high
schools on my debate trips. Lancelotti had a voice that was very
distinct, and I noticed that it was missing in the later albums by
Zappa. Since I knew that Zappa had a plethora of musicians that
worked with him, I figured that this unique voice had perhaps went on
to do other things. It wasn’t until many years later, that I read
he had passed away.
The
saddest part to me, is that with such a unique and strong voice,
Lancelotti has relatively little known about him. Yes, 1980 is almost
40 years ago now, but he was also on one of Zappa’s most famous
albums. It always interested me how there was relatively nothing said
about him, even in 2019 internet.
Thankfully,
through the power of the internet, I found some information earlier
this year that talks a bit more about what happened to him.
[/Anecdotal]
On this
google group link (
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/alt.fan.frank-zappa/Ix71sn_dEEo
), a person asked about Lancelotti, curious about him much like I
was. Interestingly, this question was first post in 1995… I didn’t
realize that google groups were that old. The initial question was
posted in 1995, 15 years after Ricky’s death. A person responded,
saying that Lancelotti “auditioned, passed, was in the band for a
couple weeks, and flunked out.” under what is presumed to have been
drug or alcohol use. Unfortunately, the user said that Lancelotti
OD’s sometime later in the 70’s or 80’s (I’m assuming they
didn’t know his exact date of death).
Way
over a decade later, really, almost 20 years later, a person replied
to the google group message, and stated that they were Lancelotti’s
only son, having been born in 1965. They claimed that their mother
was his girlfriend, and Lancelotti crashed his car in 1980 after
having overdosing on drugs, on Mulhulland Road. They also posted that
Ricky was a great artist, had eating disorders and substance abuse
problems, and was sidelined instead of getting an intervention that
he needed, and that Zappa actually cared for Ricky.
Three
years after that a person
replied to the alleged son of Lancelotti, stating the poster was a
poser-not really Lancelotti’s son. The final person stated that
Ricky was their cousin, and he passed away way too soon. The final
poster goes on to say that Ricky was in their parents’ wedding, and
while he does have a
son, the previous person was not them.
On
the United Mutations website, it talks a bit more about Lancelotti.
He recorded with Zappa in 1973, on the albums mentioned above. It
also talks a little about the liner notes of The Lost Episode’s
version of ‘Wonderful Wino’, which said, “The
version of this song is especially notable for the presence of one of
the most powerful and disctinctive singers to perform with any Zappa
band, the late Ricky Lancelotti.”
Frank
himself had said, “"He
auditioned for the band, passed, went home and got ripped, and broke
his arm. I said 'Rick, you're not going to make the tour.' He used to
carry a .45. He had a cassette in which he imitated 100 cartoon
voices in 60 seconds. I thought he was really talented. He wanted to
get work as a cartoon voice guy, but never did. O.D.'d. An old New
Jersey tough guy."
In the
final paragraph, it talked about a time in 1972 at the Hollywood
Palladium MOI concert, where Ricky and Frank did a bit where Frank
would move his hand like a mouth, and Lancelotti would magically
appear on stage and begin “bellowing”.
At the
bottom of the page, there are recollections of Ricky, where people
who either played with him, lived with him, or were related to him,
talked about his life.
In the
end, Ricky Lancelotti seemed to be a happy and fun person, who may
have overindulged himself a bit. It is extremely unfortunate that he
passed away that he did, and that it is still so hard to find much
more about him. He had many friends and family that seemed to love
him, and enjoy being around him . It honestly saddens me that he
passed away the way he did. I respect his music greatly, and am now
finding myself listening to The Banana Splits music, just to hear
him. While I know no-one will read this, I just personally want to
thank the people out there who took the time to talk about him in the
past. It keeps his memory alive.
Photo Courtesy of Find of Grave
Ricky
Lancelotti is buried in San Fernando Mission Cemetery, in Mission
Hills, California.
Las Ketchup is a Pop girl group from
Spain. Having formed in 2001, the group is most known for ‘The
Ketchup Song’, or ‘Aserejé’, which
was released in 2002 and is one of the best selling singles of all
time.
The
song itself was part of a controversy where it was speculated to be
Satanic. The idea was that the song, ‘Asereje’ made a reference
to a demonic being. The chorus of the song goes like this:
“
Aserejé, ja, de je, de jebe tu de jebere
sebiunouva, majabi an de bugui an de buididipi“
It
is really a reference to the song ‘Rapper’s Delight’ by the
Sugarhill Gang, and the premise of the song is that the man in it is
singing along wrong to the Sugarhill Gang song. Though in Spanish,
‘hereje’ means heretical, and ‘ser’
means to be. Put together, the argument that the song being satanic
was that the lyrics were saying that, “It’s not witchcraft that I
find him sinning everyday…. A heretic being leaves (your body)”.
The
group has said the lyrics are supposed to be nonsense instead of
Satanic.
Bobby Beausoleil, was born Robert Kenneth
Beausoleil on November 6th,
1947, in Santa Barbara, California. He is most notorious for having
been a member of the Mansion family, where he murdered Gary Hinman.
Gary Hinman
On July 25th,
1969, Beausoleil, Mary Brunner, and Susan Atkins went to Hinman’s
house. There have been reports that Beausoleil was sold bad mescaline
from Hinman, which he later sold to bikers and the bikers wanted
their money back. Another report has stated that Charles Manson
believed Hinman owned his house, cars, had money in stocks and bonds,
and was to come into an inheritance of 20,000 dollars, the equivalent
of 138,000 in 2019. When asked for the money, it turned out that
Gary Hinman had no money to give them. Beausoleil called Manson, who
told him to keep Hinman captive and try to get the money from Gary.
Eventually Manson and another family member, Bruce Davis, came to the
house with Beausoleil and the others.
Mary Brunner
Once Manson arrived, he took a sword and
struck Gary Hinman on the head, slicing the left side of his face and
ear. Hinman, a practicing Buddhist, did not believe in violence, and
asked Manson to take the others and leave. Charles left with Bruce
Davis in one of Gary Hinman’s cars, while the others stayed behind.
Mary Brunner and Susan Atkins stitched Hinman’s ear together with
dental floss while he repeatedly asked them to leave.
On July 27th,
Beausoleil felt that he had no other choice but to kill Gary Hinman,
as he thought that if he let him go, Hinman would tell the cops on
Manson and the family. Beausoleil then stabbed Hinman in the chest
twice, while Hinman repeated a buddhist chant. While Hinman was
dying, Beausoleil, Susan Atkins, and Mary Brunner smothered him with
a pillow. Once he died, Beausoleil wrote “Political Piggy” on a
wall in Hinman’s blood, then dipping his hand in the blood to print
a paw print, in an effort to make it seem like it was all the doing
of the Black Panthers (As a part of the plan to initiate Helter
Skelter, a race war that Manson and the family believed in).
On April 18th,
1970, Beausoleil was convicted of first degree murder, and sentenced
to death. In 1972, the state of California ruled that the death
penalty was unconstitutional, and thus his sentenced was commuted to
Life.
In the meantime, Beausoleil has created
multiple pieces of art, and a musical discography. His albums span
from 1981 all the way to 2018, with singles and compilations in
between. Allegedly, a majority of his music was created with
permission from the prison authorities, when he was transferred to a
different prison in Oregon.
Somehow, he has been able to have some
sort of social media presence, whether it’s maintained by him or
people that he knows, I do not know. Interestingly, there is a
tumblr, vimeo, facebook page, bandcamp, twitter, and more for him.
Honestly, it was shocking to know this, considering how so many other
people from the Manson family seem to have no contact with society
otherwise.
The Mothers of Invention, with sex offender Roy Estrada in the front right.
What shocked me the most, was that
Beausoleil was a background singer on the album Freak
Out! By
Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention. I have been a Zappa fan for
over ten years, and had no idea about this. Apparently he is not
credited on the album itself, though you can find him credited on the
Frank Zappa Wiki, Wiki Jawaka. I am not sure which songs he is on in
particular, though I can only guess them potentially being ‘I’m
Not Satisfied’
(though those vocals sound like Frank and Jimmy Carl Black),
‘Motherly Love’
(Where the intro seems to have multiple voices, including ones I
can’t identify), the end of ‘Help
I’m a Rock’
or better known as ‘It
Can’t Happen Here’
on certain rips of the CD, ‘I
Ain’t Got No Heart’,
and/or ‘Go Cry On
Somebody Else’ Shoulder”. It's ironic how he was on this Zappa album, which includes the song 'Trouble Every Day' an anti-racism song, then later tried to frame the Black Panthers after the Hinman murder.
video: https://youtu.be/YNLMY9A07Tc
Post script edit: I would just like to say, that I've been doing a lot of reading about Manson, the family, and those involved. I don't know everything. But I want to clarify that in many sources, Beausoleil has stated that he wasn't ever a member of the family. In some books, they list him as an associate, never really a family member, and other sources I have found online, would say that he was. From now on, I will say that he was associate, unless I come across more information.
