Charles Manson: Music Mayhem Murder

by Tommy Udo

A portrait of Manson's affiliations with the musical world traces his attempt to break into the Los Angeles scene of the mid-1960s, bizarre relationship with the Beach Boys, obsession with the Beatles and their alleged instruction to murder, demo releases from prison, and the resultant lawsuit to ban his royalties. Original.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

260 pages, Paperback

First published August 30, 2002

Reviews

[Hyperbolus · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hurled this one away after one session of reading. Absolutely misleading. Instead of being an actual account or biography of Charles Manson the book seems to be a collection of dislocated ramblings about every faucet of culture sort of related to Charles Manson. You can tell the writers absolutely biased about the topics he's writing about as well.

1/10-Can these criminology writers get it together!

[Ian · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very poor. Far too much opinion without facts. There are lots of books about Manson but the best one (in my humble opinion) is Tom O'Neill's 'Chaos' from 2019.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok, I'm wierd and I like to read books about Charles Manson. I've read several and still say the best ones out there are Helter Skelter by Buliosi and The Family by Sanders. In this one, Tommy Udo tried to understand how Manson became the monster he was to become. He looks at his childhood, time spent in prison even before the murders and other possible motives for the murders. At first I thought he was going in the direction of saying he was a victim of circumstance and not guilty of the murders, but all his research does bring him back to the ultimate conclusion. The book also looks at Manson's influence on the world of music as well as the world itself. Definitely an interesting book w/ a different perspect that makes for an interestng read.

[Ckbiffster · Rating 3 out of 5]

i've read other books about manson, but this one is unique in that it examines the effect his myth & public persona have had on pop culture. the connections he had with some of the most important musical forces of the 60s is pretty amazing, considering the brief time he was loose in the world; & he has had quite an impact on the collective unconscious of our culture since, despite being jailed & rarely seen or heard from since the late 60s.

[Caitlin M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Where Bugliosi's true crime thriller takes a look at the murders from the outside in, Tommy Udo goes from the inside out. He gives a history on Manson I'd never heard before--about his life in the Haight-Ashbury of San Francisco, which religious cults were flourishing during that time and where Manson learned how to assemble and control his family. There's also a lot of great info on the bands who play his music and the people who idolize him.

[Maria · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was okay. I wasn't very impressed with it and I did think that the author spent too much time talking about Manson and his music than what really happened with the killings etc. I just didn't like it much and I found the writer slightly irritating. He seemed to have empathy for Manson and his life....That's just my opinion of it.