Few cultural symbols better represent the innocence of the 1960s than the Beach Boys. They ushered in the “California sound” with songs that evoke pleasant thoughts of surfing, cars, romance, and youth. That is why the sinister origin of one of their songs is particularly shocking and creepy.

Charlie wanted to strike it big in the music industry. It seems like you have to know someone just to get your foot in the door. Fortunately, Charlie had some family connections. A couple of family members had forged a relationship with Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson. That’s why Charlie showed up at Dennis’ door in the summer of 1968.

Charlie and Dennis hit it off from the start and became quick friends. It was Dennis who encouraged Charlie to pursue his musical aspirations. They jammed together and shared ideas and suggestions for songwriting. Dennis even got Charlie some time in a Santa Monica recording studio.

Charlie showed real promise. His style was a bit more bluesy and florid than Dennis and his bandmates preferred, but Dennis encouraged him, anyway. The encouragement paid off when Charlie composed “Cease to Exist.” Some of the melancholic lyrics expressed the longing of an enamored young man, singing to the love of his life:

Pretty girl, pretty, pretty girl
Cease to exist
Just come and say you love me
Give up your world
C’mon you can be

I’m your kind, oh, your kind and I can see
You walk on, walk on
I love you, pretty girl
My life is yours
Ah, you can have my world

Other parts of the song were addressed to brothers. Charlie was concerned by some of the things he saw that appeared to threaten the cohesiveness of the Beach Boys. In warning, he wrote:

Submission is a gift
Go on, give it to your brother
Love and understandin’
Is for one another

I’m your kind
I’m your kind
I’m your brother

When Dennis heard “Cease to Exist,” he was intrigued. He shared it with the rest of the Beach Boys, and they liked it, too. They offered to buy the song from Charlie. Charlie was more than delighted. According to Dennis, “I gave him about a hundred thousand dollars’ worth of stuff” such as a BSA motorcycle.

Charlie had no interest in being credited as the song’s creator, as long as the band agreed not to make any changes to the words. “I don’t care what you do with the music,” he said repeatedly. “Just don’t let anybody change any of the lyrics.” He had a message that needed to be proclaimed, and modifying a single word would jeopardize its meaning.

The song was released as the B-side to their 1968 record “Bluebirds Over the Mountain.” It was also included in their album 20/20 later that year. When Charlie heard it, he was furious. The Beach Boys had taken his song but ignored his condition about leaving everything intact. It had a new title: “Never Learn Not to Love.” As for the lyrics, Charlie didn’t get past the first word before seeing changes. The references to “pretty girl” were gone, and “cease to exist” had become “cease to resist.”

When Charlie next knocked on Dennis’ door, it was a much different encounter than the first time. Dennis opened the door and was met by a hand clutching a bullet. “Every time you look at it,” Charlie growled, “I want you to think how nice it is your kids are still safe.”

Dennis did not appreciate the threat. He grabbed Charlie by the head and threw him to the ground. He pummelled the man mercilessly until there was no doubt about what Dennis thought of the threat. Charlie departed, leaving Dennis horribly shaken. In his book Fifty Sides of The Beach Boys: The Songs That Tell Their Story, author Mark Dillon credits that violent encounter as a key factor in the drug and alcohol abuse that led to Dennis’ death in 1983.

As for Charlie, his plans to be a songwriter and his friendship with the Beach Boys were in shambles. More than shambles — they were helter-skelter. Perhaps that is why he found such a connection to another 1968 song. It was on the Beatles’ White Album and was entitled “Helter Skelter.”

As Charlie listened to the Beatles’ song, he felt that the words were speaking directly to him. He heard lyrics that foretold an impending apocalyptic race war. He told his family about this coming conflict and convinced them that they would be the ones to get the whole thing started. Among those family members were the two who introduced him to Dennis on that fateful summer day. Their names were Ella Jo Bailey and Patricia Krenwinkel. Who could have guessed that one year after making that introduction, Patricia and two other family members would murder actress Sharon Tate, as well as Jay Sebring, Abigail Folger, Wojciech Frykowski, and Steven Parent? It was through these grisly murders that the world learned about Charlie and his “family” — a cult that would come to represent the absolute worst of human depravity.

As for the Beach Boys, it was a good thing that Charlie did not insist upon being credited as the creator of the song that became “Never Learn How Not to Love.” Imagine how differently we might think about the artists who brought us “Fun, Fun, Fun” and “Surfin’ USA” if we had to look at the name of one of their collaborators: Charles Manson.

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