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DENNIS WILSON: DEATH AND THE MANSON FAMILY

The most gorgeous of the Beach Boy's Wilson brothers, Dennis Wilson lived on the edge and walked on the wild side. His hard partying with drugs and alcohol and associations with undesirables led to his untimely death at age 39. He was buried at sea before such things became illegal.

The tale commences with the Beach Boys' Dennis Wilson, who first encountered Manson and his dreams of rock stardom in Southern California sometime in 1968.

The Beach Boys drummer was blown away by the demos written and recorded by the recently freed ex-convict -- suffice to say Wilson was equally impressed by the free-love attitudes of the female members of the Manson Family cult.

The charismatic leader and his followers went as far as relocating lock, stock and barrel to Wilson's house, and the Beach Boy proceeded to shop Manson's songs to various record labels, even introducing him to hip young producer and Columbia Records A&R man Terry Melcher, son of the famous singer-actress Doris Day.

Terry Melcher had just moved out of !0050 Cielo Dr. and Poor Sharon Tate moved in with her husband director Roman Polanski. Insiders have said that Manson picked that house planning on murdering Terry Melcher for rejecting his desire for a recording contract. Dennis is said to have felt terrible guilt for the rest of his short life.

So Manson was desperate for a record deal. Wilson was his connection to Melcher, who agreed to meet the twisted guru and some of his gang at Wilson’s home. But the music magnate grew more interested in one of Charlie’s girls, Ruth Ann Moorehouse, the runaway daughter of a former Congregationalist minister, than the group’s leader.

Melcher wanted to move Moorehouse into his Cielo Drive home as a housekeeper, “but Candy Bergen knew what kind of housekeeping chores Terry had in mind and vetoed the plan,” says Guinn.

Manson grew livid that he never got an invite to attend Melcher’s star-studded parties, and felt doubly humiliated when the record exec was a no-show to hear Charlie sing at Spahn Ranch, the family’s San Fernando Valley base.

The snub was the kiss of death to Manson, who wanted Melcher butchered. But Melcher and Bergen moved into a beach house Doris Day owned – saving them from certain death. Instead, Tate and her guests – hairdresser Jay Sebring, aspiring screenwriter Wojciech Frykowski and Folger coffee fortune heiress Abigail Folger – paid the deadly price of being in the house that fateful night.

Writes Guinn, “Manson had NO idea Melcher didn’t live at Cielo anymore.”

Dennis was once questioned about the integrity of recording that song, and he responded by saying that Charlie didn’t want writing credit – he wanted cash. He’d stolen enough from Dennis that he felt justified in recording the song, and not giving Manson any residuals.

Nice pics of Dennis in this video

THE BEATLES AT THE CAVERN CLUB

The Beatles had a landmark moment on my birthday...Feb 09 1961. The first Beatles lineup of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Pete Best played a lunchtime gig at famous Cavern Club

From their website:

The Cavern Club ...Where it all began...

The Cavern Club located on Mathew Street in Liverpool featured " beat groups" that changed the course of music for all time. The Beatles played at the Cavern about 300 times between March 1961 through August 1963. An endless stream of famous groups came out of the Cavern, such as Gerry and the Pacemakers, The Searchers, Billy J Kramer and the Dakotas, and many others. It was the birthplace of the British Invasion. In the early days Cilla Black was in charge of the cloakroom. Pete Best was the Beatles drummer , later being replaced by Ringo Starr, who had been playing with Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. The club is full of history.

Of course I wasn't to hear them until my birthday in 1964 when they played on Ed Sullivan and I fell in love with Paul McCartney. Being in love in second grade was tough and heart breaking... But I made up for unrequited love by buying Beatle lunch boxes, notebokks, shoes, dolls, posters and more... I loved the Beatles perhaps more than any other band of my life time.

KOKO TAYLOR: QUEEN OF THE BLUES

CHICAGO – Hundreds of mourners turned out Thursday at a music-filled wake and memorial service for Chicago blues icon Koko Taylor, whose regal bearing and powerful voice earned her the nickname "Queen of the Blues."
Among those who paid tribute to Taylor were Mayor Richard Daley and musicians Delores Scott and Vance Kelly. The "Queen" lay in a glass-topped casket at the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition headquarters on Chicago's South Side, dressed in an elegant off-white silk brocade dress, gloves and a tiara .... RIP Queen Koko

MACHINEGUN THOMPSON: NEW YOU TUBE VIDEO

Machinegun Thompson

Machinegun Thompson and Kimmer were talking about filming a “Round Table” discussion featuring MGT meeting with young musicians to discuss the music industry and current world news events.Ran into a friend of mine from way back Jim King’s son Al on My Space one night and emailed him about putting this meeting together.

Al King is quite a high energy young drummer with Mazinga and other bands as well. Asked Al to find a kid with a camcorder to film this round table discussion. Al gets Dan Boyd a very talented Video Engineer at Madonna University in Livonia, MI

Al brought his friend, the fabulous Chris Taylor a band mate from Mazinga. Talented high energy guitarist, Chris brought a wide variety of things to the table and contributed some very interesting thoughts to the discussion Thanks Chris and Al!

Here is the new Video!

SONNY AND CHER RIPPED OFF

LOS ANGELES – Cher has sued Universal Music Group, claiming the company owes her and Sonny Bono's heirs more than $5 million.

The lawsuit filed Tuesday in Santa Monica claims Cher and Bono's widow and children are owed royalties on songs that were included in recent greatest-hits compilations. The suit also states UMG has failed to provide key records that would show how much is actually owed.

UMG spokesman Peter LoFrumento (Lo-FROO'-men-toe) says the lawsuit is "without merit" and the company expects to win in court.

Bono and Cher were married for nearly 10 years before divorcing; their daughter Chastity stands to receive some of the royalties if the suit prevails. Bono later became a U.S. congressman and died in a skiing accident in 1998.

THE BEACH BOYS FROM HAWTHORNE CA

The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in Hawthorne, California in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Initially managed by the Wilsons' father Murray, the Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962. The band's early music gained popularity across the United States for its close vocal harmonies and lyrics reflecting a Southern California youth culture of surfing, cars, and romance. By the mid-1960s, Brian Wilson's growing creative ambition and songwriting ability would dominate the group's musical direction. The primarily Wilson-composed Pet Sounds album and "Good Vibrations" single (both released in 1966) featured a complex, intricate and multi-layered sound that represented a departure from the simple surf rock of the Beach Boys' early years.