Murry Gage Wilson (1917–1973) was a musician and record producer, best remembered as the father of The Beach Boys members Brian Wilson, Dennis Wilson, and Carl Wilson, uncle of bandmate Mike Love, and the husband of Audree Wilson. Murry Wilson was also the original manager of the band and served as their music publisher.

The Wilson brothers had a legendarily complicated relationship with their father. Many stories of abuse have surfaced, including a supposed incident where the elder Wilson hit Brian Wilson in the head with a 2x4 lumber, resulting in the permanent loss of hearing in his right ear.

Known as a domineering and manipulative man, Wilson was a tough negotiator on behalf of the boys, earning them a contract with Capitol Records. However, his constant obsession over every detail of the group’s appearance and sound, diverging musical opinions, and lingering resentment over his often abusive behavior towards his sons soon led to estrangement. Brian Wilson relieved his father of his management responsibilities in 1964.

In 1964, his wife Audree left him and they separated. The marriage ended in divorce in 1966.

Wilson later sold The Beach Boys’ publishing company, Sea of Tunes, in 1969, against the group’s wishes, and for a fraction of what it proved to be worth in later years. Brian Wilson has also suggested that his signature was forged by his father on several related business documents, making the sale illegal.

Even after Wilson’s formal business relationship with the Beach Boys ended, he continued to take an active interest in the group’s career, and continued to give them advice (both solicited and unsolicited) until his death.

In a 2004 interview, Brian Wilson recalled his father: “He was the one who got us going. He didn’t make us better artists or musicians, but he gave us ambition. I’m pleased he pushed us, because it was such a relief to know there was someone as strong as my dad to keep things going. He used to spank us, and it hurt too, but I loved him because he was a great musician.”

Murry Wilson was portrayed in two television movies: in 1990’s “Summer Dreams: The Story of the Beach Boys,” by Arlen Dean Snyder, and in 2000’s “The Beach Boys: An American Family,” by Kevin Dunn.

Upon his death, Murry Wilson’s signature eyeglasses were given by Dennis Wilson to friend Kathie Nagle, who later sold them to a private collector.

Charlie Manson (born 1934) is a criminal who led what became known as the Manson Family, a quasi-commune that arose in California in the late 1960s. He was found guilty of conspiracy to commit several murders carried out by members of the group at his instruction. Manson believed in what he called “Helter Skelter,” an impending apocalyptic race war. He believed his murders would help precipitate that war. From the beginning of his notoriety, a pop culture arose around him in which he ultimately became an emblem of insanity, violence and the macabre.

Before the murders, Manson was a singer-songwriter on the fringe of the Los Angeles music industry, chiefly through a chance association with Dennis Wilson, drummer of The Beach Boys.

The events that would culminate in the murders were set in motion in late spring 1968, when Dennis Wilson picked up two hitchhiking Manson women and brought them to his Pacific Palisades house for a few hours. Returning home in the early hours of the following morning from a night recording session, Wilson was greeted in the driveway of his own residence by Manson, who emerged from the house. Inside the house, Wilson discovered 12 strangers, mostly women. Over the next few months, as their number doubled, the Manson Family members who had made themselves part of Wilson’s Sunset Boulevard household cost him approximately $100,000. This included a large medical bill for treatment of their gonorrhea and $21,000 for the accidental destruction of his uninsured car, which they borrowed. Wilson would sing and talk with Manson, whose women were treated as servants to them both. Wilson paid for studio time to record songs written and performed by Manson, and he introduced Manson to acquaintances of his with roles in the entertainment business.

In the summer of 1969, Manson was involved in the gruesome killing of at least eight persons (among them movie actress Sharon Tate, wife of famed director Roman Polanski, and eight and a half months pregnant). Manson’s 1971 death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment the following year. He is still incarcerated at Corcoran State Prison.

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