Mark Lindsay and Terry Melcher at Cielo Drive
Lindsay recently gave an exclusive interview to the Reporter-Telegram in which he talked about his current tour, his music, and a few life-changing moments in his life that include falling off a 75-foot cliff, living in the infamous house where the followers of Charles Manson brutally murdered five people -- including actress Sharon Tate -- in 1969, and traveling around the country in an RV with his wife and three cats.
Linsday said 1967 was a magical year. "We were gonna change the world. Well, it didn't work out quite as well as we thought. We might have been in a war in 1967 but the music of that period is a slice of kinder, gentler times when things were a lot less stressful."
Regarding Cielo Drive:
"We lived there about two years," Lindsay said. "About two or three months before the lease was up, Terry and Candy Bergen started having this big, torrid affair. I'd come home off tour and they would be on the couch or wherever doing what lovers do. I told Terry I felt like a third wheel and wanted to move out. So I did."
While many officials and prosecutors claim Manson picked that address because he wanted revenge against Melcher for rejecting a music collaboration, Lindsay said that wasn't the case.
"Everybody speculated that Manson sent his minions up there to get rid of Terry because he was angry about not getting a record deal. But Terry and I talked about it later and Terry said Manson knew (Melcher had moved) because Manson or someone from his organization left a note on Terry's porch in Malibu," Lindsay said.
Lindsay still says he gets creeped out thinking about that period so he'd rather focus on what keeps him busy nowadays.
In February, Lindsay released "Like Nothing That You've Seen," ultimately described by Little Steven on Sirius/XM Radio's "Underground Garage" as the "coolest song in the world." A full album will be coming out this summer via online outlets such as Amazon and iTunes.
Full Article Here:
http://m.mywesttexas.com/top_stories/article_471dbd11-a57f-5840-960b-ec33249c4f41.html
49 comments:
"Indian Reservation" by Paul Revere & The Raiders hit No. 1 in 1971, selling more than four million copies, which made it the biggest selling single for Columbia Records for almost a decade.
The hit followed quite a few that came before it from the band including "Kicks," "Hungry," "Just Like Me" and "Good Thing," as well as the Mark Lindsay top 10 solo hit, "Arizona," from 1970.
In all, the band would achieve 15 Top 40 hits, five going Top 10.
Melcher sub-let Cielo to Roman? I thought Sharon found the house and the Polanskis rented it from Altobelli...
It's the first I've heard of it myself, Carol.
You'd have to contact the author of this article (Nancy Adamson), regarding the accuracy of that statement.
She has an email contact, on the main article.
I assume Mark Lindsay's commentary is accurate.
As far as the "backstory" narration by Nancy Adamson, it may very well contain inaccuracies.
Truth be told... I didn't even read the article very closely before posting.
I'm always pressed for time.
I just read the article closely.
You're correct Carol... Ms. Adamson is full of shit.
I removed her narration from the post, and left Mark Lindsay's commentary only.
Enjoy! LOL
It seems, the original interview with Lindsay, was conducted by an outfit called "The Reporter-Telegram".
Nancy Adamson did not conduct the interview.
This article by Adamson, is evidently a "re-telling" or "re-posting" of the original interview.
Evidently, this woman (Adamson) attempts to provide a "backstory" to the interview, but provides inaccuracies.
If anyone wants to track down the original "Reporter-Telegram" interview... please post a link here, or email it to me.
The original interview will likely include more commentary by Lindsay, as well.
Peace!
I thought Mark Lindsey was the guy who played Goober.....
Sharon picked-out the Cielo house with a woman named Elaine Young, etc. etc.
Everything you ever wanted to know about the house selection and transaction is here on Cielodrive.com:
http://www.cielodrive.com/updates/?p=295
From Cielodrive.com:
Three months later, and 11 miles west of Los Feliz, Sharon Tate Polanski had plans to spend the day with real estate agent Elaine Young. Sharon and her husband Roman Polanski had spent much of their first year of marriage living at 1600 SummitRidge Drive.
The 2-story Cape Cod styled house at 1600 SummitRidge Drive sat high up on the hill overlooking Benedict Canyon. The Polanski’s were renting it from Sharon’s Valley of the Dolls co-star Patty Duke.
Columbia pictures had hired Bruce Lee to give Sharon martial arts lessons in preparation for her role in The Wrecking Crew. After Sharon introduced Lee to Roman, the martial artist would come by and teach the couple kung fu in the driveway of the SummitRidge house.
Sharon loved the SummitRidge Drive house, so Roman made an offer to buy it. But for whatever reason, Polanski and Patty Duke’s husband Harry Falk, couldn’t agree on a price.
In February of 1969, a newly pregnant Sharon began looking for a more permanent place for the couple to live and raise their child. Roman was scheduled to work on the script of Day of the Dolphin in London. Sharon herself, was booked to star in the Thirteen Chairs. With filming in Italy two months away, Sharon had little time to find a place to call home.
Elaine Young and Sharon looked at properties all over Los Angeles. Sharon finally settling on the secluded home at the end of Cielo Drive. The rustic farm house at 10050 Cielo Drive had been vacant for about a month. It’s previous tenants, Terry Melcher and Candice Bergen, had moved out shortly after New Year’s.
Roman Polanski signed the extended lease on February 12th, the same day opening statements began in the Sirhan Sirhan trial at the Hall of Justice.
LOL, Doc!
I believe that was George Lindsey. LOL
http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/george-lindsey-mayberrys-goober-pyle-dies-at-83/2012/05/07/gIQAgjIz7T_gallery.html#photo=1
"Everybody speculated that Manson sent his minions up there to get rid of Terry because he was angry about not getting a record deal".
"But Terry and I talked about it later and Terry said Manson knew (Melcher had moved) because Manson or someone from his organization left a note on Terry's porch in Malibu," Lindsay said.
Interesting.
I had never heard that tidbit before...
http://www.marklindsay.com/store/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=GS&Product_Code=FPIC&Category_Code=PIX
katie8753 said...
Charles Manson is just a big PUSSY. If a man gets other people to do his dirty work, he's a pussy, but if he gets WOMEN to do his dirty work, he's a yellow-bellied, lilly-livered, skunk-tailed, low-life, scumbag PUSSY.
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You forgot Choad.....
Thanks, Lynyrd, for doing all the checking on the Cielo house rental.
I think I agree with Katie - Melcher didn't have to still live at Cielo for Manson to "send a message" to him.
You're welcome Carol!
from my research tate/Polanski did sublet the house through Melcher because Melcher had lease that wasn't up. Elaine Young did show tate the house and drew up the paperwork. also the "note" left at the Malibu house was actually manson and/or the family taking the telescope.
very good thread Lynyrd.
Mark Lindsay had also lived in the "Wonderland Murder" house.
I remember seeing Paul Revere and the Raiders on American Bandstand in the mid-sixties. Their hats were cool but they were ripping off the Stones' Satisfaction...
Besides Terry Melcher and Candice Bergen and Paul Revere, I have heard of so many famous people who at one time or another lived at 10050 Cielo: Cary Grant and Dyan Cannon, Henry Fonda, and Audrey Hepburn. Did any one these people actually live there or is this nonsense?
^I meant to write "Mark Lindsay" not "Paul Revere."
LOL!
I know what you meant. : )
Carol, Cary Grant and Dyan Cannon did live there, there are photos of them and their baby, Jennifer, that were supposedly taken there. (sorry, no time to look for them right now)
I've heard that Henry Fonda lived in the guesthouse. Others who lived in the main house there included Lillian Gish.
Beauders was right about the house details and beat me to posting the details! :-)
Interesting, Venus. I thought it was all just an urban myth.
I first ran across the interview of Mark Lindsay (or one very similar) about a year ago. One thing I read is that Candice Bergen said she and Melcher basically "fled" the Cielo house. She said Melcher came home on a Monday and basically said "we're getting out of here" and by Friday they were gone. They apparently went to a house in Malibu. I clearly got the impression Melcher was scared of something and my guess is it was Charles Manson.
I can't remember the exact details from memory, but at sometime before the Tate murders Manson asked someone about a green telescope on the deck of Melcher's new house. I've read that the telescope was stolen, or just moved to the other side of the deck. Either way, the inference was that the Manson family had "creepy crawled" Melcher's Malibu house and were well aware of where he was "hiding". I think I read that soon after the Tate murders the cops knocked on Melcher's door and the first thing they said was "does anyone want to kill you"?
Also, the history of the Cielo house is pretty well documented, a Wikipedia article including many of the people that live there can be found HERE.
Thanks for your input Sunset.
Peter (a friend of the blog) sent me an email, which reads:
"I wanted to add that Mark Lindsay must be the worst renter in the world because he was loosely associated with not one but two famous mass murders.
Paul Revere and the raiders rented the house on Wonderland Ave that later became the scene of the Wonderland Murders in 1981, in which porn star John Holmes is believed to have participated. That crime was also referenced in Boogie Nights.
Anyway, I thought you’d enjoy that little bit of LA crime trivia."
Sunset, I assume that when the police asked Melcher if anyone wanted to kill him, Melcher told them about Manson. So why couldn't the police connect the dots? Thanks for the Cielo link.
Didn't Dennis Wilson also flee his own home (and everything in it) because he was so terrified of Manson?
So if Mark Lindsay asks to be my roomate, you would advise me to:....?
The Happy Together Tour is playing for free at the NY State Fair on Sept 1st I believe.
Starship!
Starship asked:
"So if Mark Lindsay asks to be my roomate, you would advise me to:....?"
Run like hell, evidently. LOL
"The Raiders" were the first rock group signed by Columbia Records and were produced by Terry Melcher, the son of actress and singer Doris Day. Lindsay and Melcher became friends, and shared a house for a while. It later became infamous as the site of the horrific murders of actress Sharon Tate and others, committed by members of Charles Manson's "family."[5]
According to Wikipedia (LOL), the above quote is excerpted from the following book:
"Happening ’10: A Conversation with Mark Lindsay". Confessions of a Pop Culture Addict. Tweedle, Sam (2010).
That might be an interesting book.
@ CarolMR:
My personal opinion is that Dennis Wilson fled his house to get away from the Manson family, as did Terry Melcher.
I don't know if the police actually asked Melcher "is there anyone that wants to kill you", but I read that somewhere. I try not to post speculation and conjecture as there is far too much of that surrounding this case already.
If the police did ask him that, it's possible Melcher didn't make the connection, I'm not sure the exact date him and Bergen fled, but it was over 1 month before the murders I think. He might have figured the murderers attacked the people at Cielo for some reason they had against them, probably 99% of murders are because of a related or personal motive, as opposed to "sending a message".
It's also possible Melcher didn't mention Manson to the police because he was afraid of the Manson family. That would be likely if he fled the house because of that.
Manson had an "army" of followers, they didn't have tanks and helicopters, but they had small arms and edged weapons and went through a type of training and indoctrination. There were about 20 hardcore followers that would have done anything Manson said, the title of Watson's book is probably a quote from Manson, "Will You Die for Me". Terry Melcher might have "known better" than to snitch on these people.
I think Melcher testified at the first trial, there is a pic of him leaving the court room on the CieloDrive website, I don't know how much, if any, of his trial transcript is online, but I think I seen some of it somewhere.
Thanks, Sunset!
Sunset, I doubt Terry Melcher's move out of Cielo Drive had anything to do with Charles Manson. Terry moved out in January of '69. In May of '69 Terry visited Spahn twice to hear Charlie play. Terry also invited some of the family up to his place in Malibu.
it was Melcher himself who said the police asked him if there was anyone who wanted to kill him. I heard it on an radio interview done in England titled "the rock 'n' roll history of Charles manson." it is a great radio interview and if anyone has a copy they should post it. it shines a different light on manson and his passions.
personally I find the non blood and guts of the manson tale much more interesting than the blood and guts, that's why I like that radio documentary so much.
Thanx for your comment CieloDrive.com, I was just re-reading Melchers transcript from what I assume is Watson's trial Aug. 23, 1971.
Now that I am more aware of the dates, you are probably correct that Melcher did not flee the house because of Manson. I got that impression from reading Candice Bergen's story that he left that house in a big hurry, I don't even remember where I read it, like many things, it may not even be true. It seems to me Melcher and Bergen broke up not long afterwards, Melcher might have been trying to flee Candice Bergen. Why he left that house in a hurry in Jan. 1969, I don't know.
Melcher describes in his testimony meeting Manson for the first time in the summer of 1968, he said Dennis Wilson drove him home to Cielo and Manson was in the back seat, they went in the gate to the parking area.
Melcher estimates that Watson was in his house at Cielo 6 times in the summer of 1968. Melcher left the house in Jan of 1969, and says he didn't see Manson again until May of 1969.
Melcher describes going to Spahn Ranch in May of 1969 to hear Manson sing as a favor to Greg Jacobson. He says he went there on 2 separate occasions with Jacobson and Mike Dacy being present on the second trip. I assume Melcher was living in Malibu by this time.
My personal opinion is there is too many connections between Manson, Melcher, Watson, and the Cielo house for what happened there in August to be a "coincidence", but that's my own personal speculation.
The portion of Melcher's transcript I summarized can be found on CieloDrive.Com HERE.
Terry always said that he moved to his mom's house in Malibut to take care of it as it was sitting vacant. That's always been the official story anyway. I think it's in Doris Day's book too, but I don't have enough time to go look for it.
Ok Lynyrd, I don't really care who wins tonight but because I dig your blog I'm going to root for Boston. Any predictions?
Predictions...?
Pain.
Clubber Lang, Rocky III
LOL
Hey Doc!
On a serious note, I really hope we win this one.
It would be great to come home to Boston, with a tie series.
If we fall behind 2-0, it won't be good.
The Blackhawks are a tough team.
In short... tonight's win, is very important.
Happy Father's Day to all the Dads, Granddads, etc.
BRUINS WIN 2-1 IN OVERTIME (Last Night), TO TIE THE SERIES 1-1
CHICAGO — After being dominated for more than a period and a half, the Boston Bruins turned the tables on the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup finals Saturday night.
The Bruins controlled most of the game’s final 40 minutes, and Daniel Paille’s overtime goal gave them a 2-1 victory that evened the series at one game apiece.
Describing his feelings after scoring the winner, Paille, a tenacious third- and fourth-line forward, said: “Just relief that the game was over and that we were able to go back 1-1. We’re happy with our result tonight.”
GO BRUINS!!!!!
Happy Father's Day Everyone!
LynyrdSkynyrdBand said...
BRUINS WIN 2-1 IN OVERTIME (Last Night), TO TIE THE SERIES 1-1
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So I guess Mr Skynyrd slept well last night?
LOL
It was a good night, but it's not over, 'til it's over. LOL
last part of this interview discusses charles manson and mark linsay / terry melcher connection. pretty interesting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzrvKY6ATlA
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