The Twisted Tale Behind The Beach Boys' "Never Learn Not To Love"
“Never Learn Not To Love” may not be The Beach Boys’ most famous track but, it definitely has one of their more interesting backstories. The song, credited to Dennis Wilson, is an altered version of "Cease to Exist", written by the Manson Family cult leader Charles Manson.
Release and Initial Reception
The Beach Boys released “Never Learn Not To Love” in 1968 as the B-side to “Bluebirds Over the Mountain.” The A-side reached number 61 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 33 on the UK Singles Chart. It later found a permanent home on the album 20/20 the following year. In his review of the album, Arthur Schmidt of Rolling Stone, wrote that "'Never Learn Not to Love' is a fine vocal, though the material itself is an uncertain mixture of pop and soul influences."
The Manson Connection: Genesis of "Cease to Exist"
Around the same time, Charles Manson’s “Helter Skelter” conspiracy was starting to come to a head. His band of followers would go on to commit a series of tragic murders mere months after The Beach Boys’ album was released.
In the summer of 1968, two members of the Manson “family”-Patricia Krenwinkel and Ella Jo Bailey -were picked up by The Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson. The pair of hitchhikers then spent the night with Wilson at his home in Pacific Palisades. The following day, Manson (having heard all about the incident) went over to the drummer’s house to strike up a friendship. The pair grew increasingly close as the months went on and Manson began to have his big break in the Los Angeles music scene.
Manson discussed and presented Wilson some of his self-penned material, and in exchange, Wilson paid for studio time to record songs performed by Manson. That summer, Manson booked a session at Brian Wilson's home studio for several tracks that were co-produced by Brian and Carl Wilson. Much of the recordings were not demos, but rather polished studio productions of songs that possibly included "Cease to Exist".
Read also: Perpetual Learning: A Biblical Perspective
One of Manson’s now-infamous songwriting efforts was a song called “Cease To Exist.” According to Manson, he had penned "Cease to Exist" specifically for the Beach Boys to record. He explained, "[The Beach Boys] were fighting amongst themselves, so I wrote that song to bring them together. 'Submission is a gift, give it to your brother.' Dennis has true soul, but his brothers couldn’t accept it." Manson Family member Squeaky Fromme said of the song, "Charlie made up a song for Dennis, and we wrote down the words".
Wilson's Intervention and Transformation of the Song
After hearing the song Wilson offered to buy the song for use in the latest Beach Boys effort. “Wilson indulged Manson’s musical grandiosity,” wrote authors Dylan Howard and Andy Tillett of The Last Charles Manson Tapes: Evil Lives Beyond the Grave. “He and Manson jammed together and made a few attempts at collaboration. He arranged for recording time in a Santa Monica, California, studio.”
Manson's original version of the song was a loose, bluesy number that waxed poetic about an all-encompassing relationship. The lyrics read, Cease to resist, come on say you love me / Give up your world, come on and be with me / I’m your kind, I’m your kind, and I see.
The band reworked the song's bluesy structure, adding vocal harmonies and another bridge. According to Desper, "Manson only had a song with basic chords on the guitar and a melody lead line. It was the 'Boys who took that basic concept and turned it into a real commercial tune. … Dennis took Manson's original concept and made something of it-- something Manson could never have done."
The Dispute and Fallout
Manson agreed to give up the song on the condition that it would not be changed from its original format. Wilson and the rest of his bandmates blew right through that request, turning Manson’s blues number into a classic West Coast pop hit.
Read also: Colorful Idioms Explained
The lyrics were partially altered (the opening line "Cease to exist" modified to "Cease to resist"), and the title was changed to "Never Learn Not to Love", much to Manson's indignation.
In exchange for the publishing rights to "Cease to Exist", he received a sum of cash and a BSA motorcycle which he later gave to Family member Paul Watkins. Asked in a 1971 interview as to why he did not credit Manson, Wilson answered, "He didn't want that. He wanted money instead. I gave him about a hundred thousand dollars' worth of stuff." Conversely, band engineer Stephen Desper stated that the decision to leave Manson uncredited was retribution for "the stuff of value that Manson ripped off from Dennis".
Apparently, Manson happily took some money and a motorcycle as payment for the song but became enraged when he found out the lyrics had been altered. Manson threatened Wilson with murder for changing the lyrics. He delivered a bullet to Wilson in response. “One day, Charles Manson brought a bullet out and showed it to Dennis, who asked, ‘What’s this?’” The Beach Boys collaborator Van Dyke Parks once recalled. “Manson replied, ‘It’s a bullet. Every time you look at it, I want you to think how nice it is your kids are still safe.’ Well, Dennis grabbed Manson by the head and threw him to the ground, and began pummeling him … I heard about it, but I wasn’t there. The point is, though, Dennis Wilson wasn’t afraid of anybody!”
Recording Details
The Beach Boys recorded "Never Learn Not to Love" at their private studio on September 11 and 16-18, 1968. In December 1968, Wilson recorded cymbal sounds, titled "The Gong", that were later reversed and added to the beginning of the 20/20 version of "Never Learn Not to Love". Other parts of the session were dedicated to a spoken-word monologue that went unreleased until the 2018 compilation I Can Hear Music: The 20/20 Sessions.
Legacy and Impact
Many people, including Wilson, credit the rights dispute over this song as the moment Manson got pushed over the edge. The theory goes that the loss of an industry connection, alongside a number of rejections from the music community as a whole, caused Manson to lash out by proxy of his family members. The official theory put forth by the prosecutor in the Tate-LaBianca murders, Vincent Bugliosi, was Manson’s obsession with starting a race war as part of his end-of-the-world scenario.
Read also: Comprehensive Reading Guide for Adults
At any rate, Wilson was forever shaken by his connection to Manson. Mark Dillon, author of Fifty Sides of The Beach Boys: The Songs That Tell Their Story, credits Wilson’s brush with Manson as a key factor in his drug and alcohol abuse escalating drastically. Consumed with guilt for his role in bringing Manson into the entertainment industry and getting Sharon Tate killed, his already considerable drug and alcohol abuse got far worse. His alcoholism would ultimately be the cause of his death in 1983. After drinking all day, Wilson drowned in Marina del Rey.
A Disturbing Juxtaposition
There you go…a deeply disturbing story behind a classic, blithe Beach Boys track.
The Beach Boys' scrubbed some of the strangest lyrics from Manson's original song, turning them into safe love-song niceties. The command to "cease to exist" becomes the innocuous "cease to resist."
The "Cease to Exist" line, "Submission is a gift, go on give it to your brother" indicates the spiritual gobbledygook that Manson used to rope his followers in. By simply changing "brother" to "lover," Wilson and the Beach Boys sterilized it into a line of romantic seduction.
tags: #never #learn #not #to #love #meaning
