The Manson Family
In 1968, Beach Boy
Dennis Wilson introduced Melcher to ex-con and aspiring musician
Charles Manson. Manson and his "family" had been living in Wilson's house after Dennis had picked up two girls from the "family" hitchhiking. Wilson expressed interest in Manson's music and even recorded two of Manson's songs with The Beach Boys. For a time, Melcher was interested in recording Manson's music, as well as making a movie about the "family". During that time, Manson met Melcher at
10050 Cielo Drive, the home Melcher shared with his girlfriend,
Candice Bergen, on different occasions. Manson eventually auditioned for Melcher, but Melcher declined to sign him. There was still talk of a documentary being made about Manson's music, but Melcher abandoned the project after witnessing his subject becoming embroiled in a terrifying fight with a drunken stuntman at
Spahn Ranch.
[3] Both Wilson and Melcher severed their ties with Manson, a move that angered Manson.
[6]
After severing ties with Manson, Melcher and Bergen moved out of the Cielo Drive home. The house was then leased to director
Roman Polanski and his wife, actress
Sharon Tate. Manson continued to turn up at the house looking for Melcher. On at least one occasion, Manson was informed that Melcher had moved.
[3]On
August 9,
1969, the house that was once occupied by Melcher was the site of the brutal murders of Sharon Tate (who was eight months pregnant at the time), coffee heiress
Abigail Folger (known as Gibby to her friends), hairdresser
Jay Sebring, writer
Voytek Frykowski, and
Steven Parent, by members of
Manson's "family".
At that time Melcher was producing
Jimmy Boyd for
A&M Records.
Herb Alpert had previously visited a recording studio where Melcher and Boyd were recording a session for
Vee Jay Records. Vee Jay Records was the first record company to release
The Beatles records in the USA, then lost a major law suit over the rights to the Beatles with
Capitol Records and went bankrupt. The record never got released. Herb Alpert was impressed enough to invite Melcher to produce Boyd for A&M Records. After the initial tracks were recorded the Manson murders took place, Melcher went into seclusion and the session was never completed.
After
Manson was arrested, it was widely reported that he had sent his followers to the house to kill Melcher. Manson "family" member
Susan Atkins, who admitted her part in the murders, stated to police and before a
Grand Jury that the house was chosen as the scene for the murders, "to instill fear into Terry Melcher because Terry had given us his word on a few things and never came through with them".
[3] The police discounted this theory after learning that Manson knew that Melcher no longer lived there. In this aim, the
Manson Family was quite successful. Melcher took to employing a bodyguard and he told prosecutor
Vincent Bugliosi that his fear was so great, he had been undergoing psychiatric treatment. Melcher was the most frightened of the witnesses at the trial, even though Bugliosi assured him that, "Manson knew you were no longer living there".
[3]
Later years
In the 1970s, Melcher again became a producer for the Byrds, but the results were not well received; one critic referred to the album
Byrdmaniax as "Melcher's Folly". During this time, he also dabbled in real estate and served as the executive producer on his mother's CBS series,
The Doris Day Show. He later recorded two solo albums titled,
Terry Melcher and
Royal Flush. In 1985, Terry co-produced the cable show,
Doris Day's Best Friends, and worked as the director and vice president of the Doris Day Animal Foundation. He and his mother, to whom he remained extremely close throughout his life, also co-owned the Cypress Inn, a small hotel in
Carmel-by-the-Sea, California.
[5]
In 1988, Melcher earned a
Golden Globe nomination for co-writing the song
Kokomo with The Beach Boys. The song was featured in the 1988
Tom Cruise film,
Cocktail, and rose to number one on the pop charts that year.
[5]
Death
On November 19, 2004, Terry Melcher died at his home after a long battle with melanoma. He was 62 years old.[7]He was survived by his wife Terese, son Ryan Melcher and his mother Doris Day.
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by WendyK
b/4 he died of brain cancer. It's your body and it's your life just use protection and a little birth control of some kind.
