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bbreferencearchive · 5 years

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Viola Bonaldi interviews Bobby BeauSoleil

This is the raw interview Viola Bonaldi did with Bobby BeauSoleil in the summer of 2018. Viola Bonaldi wrote an article incorporating the raw material below for Salmuria.

You can read the English version here: https://salmuria.it/emailing-with-bobby-beausoleil/

… Or if your first language happens to be Italian, read it here: https://salmuria.it/corrispondenza-con-bobby-beausoleil/

How did your passion for art — first music and then visual art — come about? Do you remember a specific moment or an episode that enlightened you? Did the Sixties atmosphere play an important role?

As far as I can tell, I mean, to the best of my recollection, I already had a passion to express myself in creative ways when I was born. According to what my mother told me later, about the time I took my first steps I was playing her pots and pans and making drawings on the walls of the house.

Honestly, I can’t remember a time when I didn’t feel like I had something to say in the arts. I believe this is the case with most if not all artists. For some a passionate desire to express in the arts may lay dormant for a time, and then suddenly something happens that triggers the calling, awakening the latent artist within. In my case it seems that I was born turned on. I didn’t need the social explosion that happened in the 1960s to bring the creative urges out of me, but it did provide a playground for them, and sometimes I found inspiration in the passions of people I encountered during that period.

When you haunted the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles you were known as “Cupid”, the archaic Roman primordial god of love, because of the way girls liked to be around you, a young, vibrant, beautiful, multicolored artist. From that capricious god you eventually turned yourself into “Lucifer”, the “angel of light”, fallen from Paradise as a consequence of his pride. Your life is largely connected to archaic myths, and this is often reflected in your work as an artist, both musically and visually, which is full of esoteric symbolism. Now, more than four decades after your work on Lucifer Rising, who are you? Lucifer, Cupid, or some other “creature”? And how do you explain your interest in the arcane?

Wow! Big questions! Well, first of all, I have never pretended to actually be any “creature”, as you put it, that I’ve been associated with. I am just me, an innately nameless soul. As an artist, I have sometimes used my own physical being as a canvas, willingly adopting personas from mythology that others have seen in me. My parents gave me a name at birth and I have been happy to be that person most of the time. Occasionally I have taken on the personifications of archetypes from myth as a way of allowing them to live for a brief time, and in a limited way, in the world of the mundane. There are, by the way, some common traits between Cupid and Lucifer. Both of these mythological beings are imagined as angelic, both known to have a naughty streak, to be creatively rebellious, and both are associated with love. I can think of far worse things to be known for expressing in the world.

What attracts me to the myths is the wealth of story and allegory that can enrich our larger capacity for understanding. Myths are often used as a tool for deepening cultural identity, and to give a hand up by way of providing context and instruction to those who aspire to higher truths. And mythology is an artform that can inspire new art, and thus myths can be alive and continue to grow and influence. As for other arcane interests, I have found little of any real substance in the so-called “dark arts” or silly practices like devil worship. However, as a mystic seeker I have found that treasures are often hidden in dark places. Following a shadow to its source will invariably lead one to the light.

You write that your works are rarely borne out of direct observations of the natural world, from the perception of real things, but come instead from your own mental reinterpretations and from the world of dreams. Is this a consequence of your limited conditions in terms of the space you live it? What is your process for drawing subjects from your recurrent dreams?

Certainly, there are no beautiful vistas to be seen through the dirty windows of the place where I live. I can see moving images from nature in photographs and films, and sometimes these inspire me to produce a visual interpretation. For the most part, though, I tend to see the beauty of nature as paintings made by God, ever changing in the light of consciousness, awesomely inspired and breathtaking, far beyond the capabilities of any human artist to do them justice. Rather than producing poor imitations of the moving paintings created by God, my natural inclination is to make a few humble additions to God’s creation, as one of the forces of nature.

So, for the most part, I draw inspiration from my unfettered and fertile imagination. You can fly in your dreams, right? What can be seen, imagined or experienced is not limited to what is possible in the physical world in some states of mind. I cultivate some of these states of mind, such as lucid dreaming, as a source for concepts that may be made manifest in the physical world through my arts. This works for visual imagery and for music as well, and even sometimes for written words, like poetry. In the vast territories of dreams especially — both daydreams and the kind that happen during sleep — the mind plays freely, in safety, amorphously creating odd mash-ups, evolving patterns, astonishingly wonderous sounds. Much of my work is an attempt to bring these experiences into the physical realm, or at least to hint at them.

What does a young man think when he is sent to death row? You couldn’t play an instrument or have contact with other people, right?

When I arrived on San Quentin’s death row in 1970 I was a total wreck, broken and shattered, far more devastated than I ever let anyone know during that period. As difficult as it was, in some ways that 26 months I was on death row was a blessing. I needed that time alone to grapple with my conscience, to fully face what I had done head-on, to begin to learn how to think things through and begin the process of accepting responsibility for how I was going to deal with the consequences of my actions and eventually find a way to redeem myself. It was a tall order, one that seemed utterly insurmountable at the time. Think of a complicated picture-puzzle with about a million pieces.

Having a guitar was not allowed on death row, like you say, but I could get a little manual typewriter and a few pencils and sketch paper. Writing and drawing helped me to focus on my inner world and begin the process of putting the pieces of myself back together.

Where did you learn to create musical instruments? How did you manage to do that in prison?

Finding ways of making new or different kinds of sounds has been a fascination for me since I was a small boy. The first time I built a musical instrument was when I was about 8 years old. It was a contraption I called a “jazz band” — basically a percussion instrument made out of a wooden crate, with a variety of found objects like tin cans, pie plates, glass jars, spoons and whatnot nailed or attached to the crate in some way. I made a lot of noise on that thing, beating on it with sticks. A couple of years later I made an electric guitar — or rather, something that looked like a guitar I had seen in the window of a music store — in the workshop class at my school. It didn’t work, but from that experience I learned a lot about what is needed to make one that would. I have customized, or “hot-rodded”, every guitar I’ve had since, and built a few guitars from scratch.

In the mid-1960s, when I was putting together a band that would become known as The Orkustra, I was faced with the challenge of figuring out how to go about electrically amplifying different kinds of woodwinds and stringed instruments. This was a necessary step in fulfilling my desire to assemble the first electric orchestra. This experience became invaluable ten years later when I took on the Lucifer Rising soundtrack project. After I was given a permission from the warden at the prison to produce recordings for the project I successfully sought an additional permission to build some of the instruments I would need in the prison handicraft shop. I was allowed to build several guitars and keyboard instruments, and to experiment with music electronics and synthesizer design. This led to the invention and development of some instrument innovations.

Things have changed in prisons since then, with most of the prison handicraft programs having been shut down. Though I’m not able to build instruments at present, I still manage to find ways to hot-rod guitars. Fortunately, the technical skills I acquired earlier opened doors to my being in prison jobs that have given me access to advanced tools for producing work in various media, including video and sound design. I have been blessed with some unusual opportunities to employ my abilities in ways that are helpful and beneficial to others. Despite the imprisonment, I count myself fortunate to have had these opportunities, and I am grateful.

How can a human being detained for decades in prison survive in such a place without becoming a “monster”, as you have reflected in some of your writings? Can we say that Lucifer Rising saved you?

Prisons are unnatural places. They are ill-conceived responses to social problems like crime and mental illness — and in the US, anyone who breaks a law, mentally ill or not, is subject to incarceration in the prison system. In practice, imprisonment worsens these types of problems, generally speaking. Imprisonment warps the mind, not only of prisoners but also of the people who are paid to supervise them and keep them locked in.

Fairly early in my incarceration I became aware of the effects being in prison was having on me, and on others around me. By that time, I had already begun to slip into involvement in violent situations. When I saw what was happening I began to take steps to mitigate those negative effects. I resolved that I would never allow the prison environment to define me. Making a personal vow of non-violence that I have maintained to this day was one of those steps. By pouring myself into creative expression as an artist, along with promoting and maintaining healthy relationships with people on the outside, I have been able to gird myself against the insanity around me. It takes continuous effort and resolve, and a lot of vigilance, but it is possible to empower oneself to rise above the snares and pitfalls of prison life and maintain one’s personal integrity.

Yes, you could say that the Lucifer Rising soundtrack project saved me, in a way. It took years to complete the soundtrack compositions and recordings. During that time the project consumed me utterly. And it did so in a positive way. My concept for the Lucifer Rising themes was to musically describe the fallen angel’s desire to redeem himself, tracing his path through the dark passages he would pass through in his journey toward reconciliation and the light. The story, as I decided to interpret it, has certain resonances in my own life, so working on the project was cathartic.

Did you like Charles Manson’s music?

Sometimes I did and sometimes I didn’t. Charlie was a uniquely talented musician, but he had a tendency to be inconsistent in the way he approached musical performance. Much of this had to do with context. Some of his songs were a lot like songs for children, and were obviously meant to be sing-along songs for the people in his commune. Those songs would not have had much appeal to a general audience, and I have seen them used in sensationalist media to ridicule his musical ability. There were songs of Charlie’s that would not stand the tests of time, like much of the music that was made during the sixties, but many of his songs were entirely relevant for that period and some of them had real depth of meaning. The ones I liked best were those that he sang and played spontaneously, in a stream-of-consciousness style, like some rappers of today. As an improvisational player, I particularly enjoyed playing with him on songs he created in this mode. My accompaniment seemed to inspire him and helped to bring out the best qualities in his performances. This type of collaboration formed the basis of my relationship with him, such as it was. Unfortunately, no good recordings have survived.

You appear to have a deeply spiritual conception about purpose in relation to destiny. You have written that every person is born with some special ability or message they are meant to express in the world, a unique hand of cards to play in life. If you had not done “a bad thing” as your Professor Proponderus character said in the animated film you made, and been sent to prison, what do you think your life would have been like? Who would Bobby Beausoleil have become outside of jail? How would he have played his cards?

Taking my cue from the cards metaphor seems like the best place to begin a response to your questions ... The thing is, most human beings are not dealt only one hand of cards in life. Each time one makes a major decision in life, or has a significant accident, Destiny deals the individual a new hand of cards to play. It is impossible to say what my life might have been like had I not made the dire decisions that caused me to be sent to prison.

Some imaginative writers have postulated that each major decision creates a new timestream in a parallel universe. Well, I don’t know if that’s true, and it’s doubtful any of us ever will in our lifetimes, but let’s play along for the sake of giving due respect to what you are asking. Had I played my hand of cards differently in 1969 it’s conceivable that the Bobby Beausoleil of that alternate universe would have become a famous rock star, as I once hoped to be. Just as conceivable, the Bobby Beausoleil of another parallel universe might have wound up in some dark alley, dead of a drug overdose, something I have never had any aspirations to be.

We don’t get to choose beyond playing the cards we are dealt as well as we can in the hope that our decisions will take us to where we want to go. It is when we play our cards willy-nilly, without care, that we may instigate disasters in our lives and the lives of others. That said, I have done my best to play my cards well in the intervening years, and to overcome, to the extent that may be possible, the failings of my past. We shall see what the cards I play now will bring in the future.

Reading the transcript from your last parole hearing one can note that your artistic activity, and publishing communications with people outside of prison via the internet, has sometimes been used against you and your release. But you still do it. Do you do this out of a philosophical sense of duty, or because you feel safer in prison and don’t really want to be released? I mean, it seems like you’re shooting yourself in the foot ...My idea is that it’s only an excuse. It doesn’t matter what you do. For some people you will always be condemned because you have the Manson stigma on you.

Excuses are made by people who shirk the responsibilities they have agreed to accept, and who fail to have the courage to do the right thing and uphold those responsibilities. After long and very careful consideration, I resolved years ago that I would not restrict or limit my life in accordance with the excuses made by other people.

This is not an act of defiance by any means. I carefully follow the rules I am given to follow; none of my art or publishing actually violates any of them. And I assure you, I have no desire to wrap myself up in the dubious security of prison life. I want to get out of prison as much as any imprisoned person ever has. In the end, what it comes down to is that my spiritual obligation to fulfill my purpose in life trumps any of the rationalizations or excuses that may be used to justify keeping me in prison, and all the nonsense related to them.

A soul comes into the world for only a brief time and for the purpose, however slight it may be, to contribute to bringing sentience to the physical universe through expression of a God-given ability. This is called dharma, the purpose in life. Failing to uphold this responsibility is a breach of the sacred covenant a soul makes when coming into the world.

As an artist, it is my role to express creatively and to share the work I produce in such efforts with the world. Perhaps this will serve to uplift another soul, or to inspire someone to make their own dharmic contribution to the human mission. Or maybe it’s of no real value at all. In any case, I feel very strongly that I must remain true to my calling, and to fulfill my sacred obligation as a sentient soul, come what may.

In the years past I fought long and hard to restore myself to integrity. Too great an investment has been made to retreat from what I know I’m here to do, or to otherwise compromise my integrity out of fear of some arbitrary, politically motivated resistance. Clearly, nothing in the work I create is indicative of any violent tendencies. Excuses aside, this is what should be the focus in a parole consideration hearing. At some point I may be fortunate enough to have my case in front of arbiters who recognize that my creative efforts have been the instrument of my rehabilitation, restoring me to a responsible human being, and who will, in consideration of this, support my release from prison.

From your experience, what do you think of the use of social media and the internet?

My direct exposure to the internet has been limited by restrictive prison policies, but studying technological advancements is a hobby of mine. I won’t be left behind like Rip Van Winkle! As a multi-media artist, I am interested in how computers and computer devices like tablets and cell phones can be used to express creatively in new ways. There are artists out there who are doing amazing things with these new technologies!

The internet is a mixed bag, mostly because it is still like the wild west — a work in progress. For the everyday person to have rapid access to so much information is truly marvelous, extremely empowering, but this is only beneficial if the information is accurate. With every person able to have their very own pulpit there is way too much fake news and click-bait gossip poised to ensnare the unwary. I believe this will improve in time as the search engines incorporate better algorithms to snag and tag the suspicious content. On the other hand, there is the wonder of streaming media. I can’t wait to be able to catch up on come of the films and music I’ve been missing!

There is a lot about social media that doesn’t seem very sociable to me. The ability to communicate across vast distances in real time via texting and chatting on Facebook and other social media sites, with pictures and video, makes for an extremely valuable tool. That’s just it: a tool. There is no replacement for real sensory contact between human beings. We are hardwired for touch and direct eye contact. There are reasons why suicides are occurring more frequently in these times; it seems to me that too much reliance on social media platforms is part of the reason for this. It worries me that many young people will sit side-by-side and text to each other instead of looking at one another and talking. And too many people are cocooned in their personal bubbles, insulated from empathic connection to humanity, making derogatory, harsh, even hateful judgements of other people, often only because they are isolated and lonely and need to share their misery. Emojis are cute but they are a poor substitute for communicating real emotions. Humans are complex creatures. We can actually choose to be less anxious and depressed as a species by relying less on virtual socializing.

You took your freedom early, still a child, but soon you lost it. Unlike the stories of most prisoners, however, you affirm that your family situation was very positive when you were a child. Do you remember the happiest episode of your childhood, and the saddest one? Do you recall your childhood home and the scents of that time?

I remember my childhood home vividly, smells and all. Although I tended to be more adventurous than most of the kids I knew, my childhood was pretty average, growing up in a tract house nearly identical to all the other houses in the neighborhood. My happiest times were when I was sent off to stay with my grandmother during the summer, because the world seemed so much bigger in the Los Angeles area where she lived. My happiest memory there was finding an old guitar in my grandmother’s attic. Destiny dealt me a new hand of cards that day! The saddest day of my childhood was, at age 15, going with my family to my grandmother’s funeral. That was the day I left home for good, for some reasons that didn’t actually have anything to do with my grandmother’s death. I loved my family, but the family home was just too small.

Silvio Pellico, an Italian writer and patriot imprisoned for life in 1820, then given a commuted sentence and released after 10 years, stated that, without a doubt, free living is much better than living in prison, yet even in a miserable prison you can enjoy life. What do you think about this?

Prison is generally a pretty miserable place, that’s a fact. Spending my time in a puddle of self-pity has always been an option, just as it is for people on the outside. Choosing that option is what turns a miserable place into a hell. Many people in prison do just that. There is not only misery but a good deal of anger and rage in here as well. I mentioned earlier, I made the decision to not allow prison to define me. As a result, I have managed to do the extraordinary while in prison, and I have inspired some other prisoners to do similar things. While prison is a miserable place, being a miserable prisoner is not a must. Transcendence of misery is always possible no matter how hard it gets.

Your answer to a question no one has ever asked you ...

“Do you wear boxers or briefs under shorts?” No, I don’t.

Describe the room you live in and what your days are like at the prison where you live. What do you do for entertainment. How are you feeling?

My mind is much younger than my body, so naturally I have my share of aches and pains to deal with. To help preserve my health and activity I do hatha yoga on a semi-regular basis. I am also one of the two teachers for the yoga class here. A couple of times a week I play with other musicians here and once in a while we perform together in the prison house band. We have a music class once a week and I help with teaching guitar to students. Even though my spiritual orientation is grounded in the traditions of West Asia, I’m perfectly comfortable playing in the Gospel band in the prison chapel. Also once a week I take my guitar to the Hospice part of the prison hospital, and play music for men who are in the process of dying.

My cell is about the size of a typical bathroom in someone’s home. There’s a door in one end and a window in the other end that lets in daylight; there is a small sink, a toilet, and a large metal locker for storage. I use the top of the locker as my work surface. I’m using it now while typing these words. My bed is the size of a cot, a concrete block with a mat stuffed with jute fiber; of course, it serves also as a seat and a place where I set my art materials when working on a painting or drawing. My guitar shares the space, and I’ve got a small television and a radio. I would say that I live like a monk if my cell were not so cluttered with stuff for work, play, eating and sleeping. I manage to figure out ways to make the space work for me fairly well under the circumstances.

I currently have a job five days a week in the prison library. It takes up a bit too much of my time and sometimes conflicts with things I’m trying to do. But then, most people who have jobs have similar problems.

Much of my time has been going into writing and editing. A couple of books are in the works, one of which is scheduled for publication in 2019. This leaves me little time for reading, though I manage to find some time to read, mostly books on spiritual philosophy, mythology, media technology. But when it comes to words it’s the writing that gets most of the juice. I love good films and some television dramas, if they are done well. I will watch the TV for two or three hours in the evening if there is something on worth my attention. Some of my writing time naturally goes to communicating with family and friends, creative collaborators, and, when I can fit it in, some of the fans of my work as well.

My long-awaited double vinyl LP, Voodoo Shivaya, a concept album I worked on for seven years, recently debuted. The response has been gratifying, quite favorable so far, even though the music does not fit in any of the established categories or genres. So I’m feeling pretty happy that I’ve been able to share this music with the world.

Do you have a suggestion you can give us?

Try to avoid killing anyone, if you can. It is very very difficult to come back from something like that. And if you find yourself faced with a seemingly insurmountable challenge, don’t be too shy to ask for help. The best place to look for help is deep within yourself where you will surely find great resources of strength and courage you may not yet be aware of. And remember, there is always at least one way to play your cards that will allow you to prevail over and ultimately transcend any challenge.

#bobby beausoleil #bobby beausoleil interview #bobby beausoleil salmuria #bobby beausoleil viola bonaldi

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cherryfloyd-blog · 6 years

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Jimmy Page - Behind Closed Doors

There are so many cookie crumbs to this story and I truly put as much research into this as my brain could handle. What started as a fun idea, soon turned into a late night adventure of notes sprawled across my bed, snacks to keep the energy going, glasses on; with a pen sticking of my mouth as I thumbed through as many pages of literature that I could get my hands on. There are several parts of this but for the sake of remaining unbiased I will keep it as straightforward and simple as I can. There has been a rumour floating around for fifty odd years, that Led Zeppelin; more specifically Jimmy Page, had made a deal with the devil. In this article, I will break down the events that have lead people to believe such things. In the end, it will remain impartial and will be open to interpretation which we can discuss further.

To begin, let’s talk about Jimmy’s growing idolisation and obsession with Aleister Crowley, famous for being an occult leader and magician. For more back story, Crowley was a British occultist who became known for pioneering the practice of black magic (or magick as he would call it). Aleister called himself Beast 666 and wrote literature on black magic and the occult, making him a major cult figure. He joined a few popular organizations to begin with, but ventured off into his own self created philosophy. Crowley believed himself to be the prophet entrusted with guiding humanity into the Eon of Horus, thus founding the Religion of Thelema.

(Below is the logo of Thelema)

Pictures of Crowley have since been discreetly used in pop culture, as if a small tribute. For example; The Beatles featured Crowley on their album cover art for Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club, he can be seen in the back row, if I’m correct. Building off of Page’s affinity for Crowley, which began to noticeably build by the mid to late 60’s, Page financed to own a bookstore in Britain which specialized in selling publishings of the occult and black magik. Needless to say, Jimmy was in deep at this point but still only scratching the surface of infatuation. The bookstore was named “The Equinox” which was also the name of a book that Crowley himself had written on the occult and magic. To this day, Jimmy Page has the second largest collection of Crowley memorabilia and literature, which is no small expense. His bookstore is now closed, but back in the day had been in stock of some very pricey and hard to come by black magik publications.

Another thing I found interesting, was Page being heavily influenced by very iconic blues artists, such as Robert Leroy Johnson (okay, maybe not that interesting, everyone in rock cites him as being the backbone of rock n roll today) nonetheless, Johnson died at the age of 27 from unsolved and suspicious causes. He never became famous while he was alive, but rumour has it that Johnson had also sold his soul to the devil in return for fame, at a crossroads, which Robert mentions in a few songs. A very small, unrelated tidbit of information, but it makes you wonder if our rock star idols gave up more than a normal life, to become internationally loved and recognized.

Around the year 1970, Jimmy had supposedly asked the band to perform a ritual with him, one that would bring them power and something along the lines of everlasting life? I know right, no biggie, just dabbling with some dark forces. Anyone that knows black magik, can tell you that spells like this are not something to be taken lightly or messed with. John Paul Jones was allegedly the only one to not take part in this pact, which you’ll later realize why that makes all of this so much more strange than it already is. If you think about it, had they made such a pact it would make sense. Robert Plant has made it to the list of top 100 best singers of all time in Rock history, not only that but made it to number one (1). Jimmy Page? Well he’s seen as a god and legend by almost every guitar player in the modern world, and has been ranked number two, only one spot behind Jimi Hendrix. John Bonham has been recognized as one of the best double kick drummers in history, quite literally, every drummer looks up to him as also an almost god like figure. As for John Paul Jones? There is no doubt the man is wicked talented, but not nearly as talked about or famed. We can all acknowledge the man has serious talent, and yet seems to be left in the shadows of his peers.

The first evidence of this pact can be seen with the album Led Zeppelin III, between the end of the last song and the paper label is the outro groove written into the vinyl was “So mote it be” on one side and “Do what thou wilt” on the other. The are basic phrases that are the core of Crowley’s belief system. By this point people were determined that Jimmy had become a member of O.T.O , and organization and cult who’s most influential and iconic member was none other than Crowley. More about the organization can be read about in a link below, but it should be noted that they have four pillar rules; one of which is to not speak of the organization to others or discuss the practices of which they studied. A rule, that Jimmy Page is believed to have broken at one point.

The second piece of evidence was apparent with the release of Led Zeppelin IV, when symbolism became a driving force. Inside the album is a painting of the hermit (a powerful tarot symbol), later in life Jimmy would refer to himself as being something of a hermit despite being a major public figure. The album provides no title, and shows no band name on the cover, but on the inside are four brightly printed logos across the sleeve. From left to right, these symbols represent Page, Jones, Bonham and Plant. Page has said in interviews that the symbols (for the most part) were taken from Rudolf Koch’s 1955 Book of Signs. Plant’s symbol is probably the easiest to decipher - as it is the feather of truth and courage, from the origins of Egyptian goddess Ma’at. John Bonham’s is believed to be either a drum kit, or the symbol of trinity of a family unit (meaning father, mother, child). John Paul Jones, which was likely picked by Jimmy, was the a celtic sigil for confidence and competence. However, Jimmy’s logo has always been the hardest to breakdown and figure out. While most people believe his logo represents saturn (which controls the Capricorn sign, Jimmy is a Capricorn so it would make sense), there is a certain level of mystery behind it. Page has famously said he will never tell anyone what it means. Thought Plant has once said that Page revealed the full meaning of all four signs, including a detailed discussion of what Zoso meant. Admittedly, Plant expressed he was too drunk to remember by the next morning, and when he had asked Page about it again, page replied with saying he couldn’t/wouldn’t discuss it. Now this could very well be Jimmy’s antics, or just general mysterious persona, or perhaps he simply cannot discuss or reveal information. Perhaps, this is the one of the four pillar rules of O.T.O that Page had broken. Jimmy is an all around very private person, who very rarely, if at all, talks about his religious or spiritual beliefs or practices.

It is worth noting that Sandy Denny (pictured below) of Fairport Convention, the voice on The Battle of Evermore track, was given her own sigil. The logo is translated to Godhead or the power of female.

According to Pamela Des Barres, Pages girlfriend of this era, has said that at this point Jimmy got very deep into the studying of Crowley, and had even asked her to search San Francisco and Los Angles for Crowley memorabilia. She had not fallen short on this task, and managed to dig up some very impressive artifacts, manuscripts, and even “magical” robes that Crowley has worn. In 1970, around the time of the ritual, Page had dropped a large chunk of cash to acquire Crowley’s mansion, Boleskine, located on Loch Ness. The home, once owned by Crowley, had a large history of suicides and an even bigger turnover rate of employees as they found the home to be no doubt inhabited by dark entities. Regardless of what one may believe, the house holds a sinister vibe. Page later sold the home in 1992, and had actually been very wary of ever living there and had left the estate in a caregivers possession. Of the 22 years that he had owned the house, he only spent 6 weeks in total living there. In 2016, the house unexplainably burned down. (pictured below is Jimmy at the mansion)

Now this next part is where shit gets bonkers, so to speak, the rest so far has been rumours and back stories and alleged encounters. Just a man with an obsession, and depending on your personal beliefs, you may find that he took his practices too far. Perhaps his intentions were pure, but looking at his life in general, what did Jimmy have to sacrifice to become quite literally a noteable person in history. Well let’s see.

Introducing Kenneth Anger; a fellow Crowley disciple and filmmaker, drug taker and subversive. He spent most of his time drawing magic circles, burning incense and chanting spells in Enochian - trying to do a real ritual exorcism. Plans for his film Lucifer Rising began to fall apart when Bobby Beausoleil (lead actor) - had to quit. Bobby, who later stole rough cuts and cameras from Anger would soon regret this. To take revenge, Anger supposedly made a talisman to curse Bobby. Within a year, Beausoleil had ended up convicted of murder with a life sentence for the murder of Sharon Tate as part of the Manson family murders. Wild, I know. Possibly just a coincidence, or even just a tall tale.

Cue Jimmy Page, who had agreed to do the soundtrack for Angers film, and the music Jimmy had produced is exactly what you’d expect. Dark, eerie, and perfect for a film of satanic proportions. Some of which can actually be heard in the intro for “In The Out Door”, his melancholy and devilish sound coming through in the song “In The Evening”. Kenneth and Jimmy had a love/hate relationship, and what started as a mutual appreciation and dedication to Crowley’s practice and image, soon turned to ugly turmoil just as quickly. Anger moved into Boleskine, where him and Page shared a love for Crowley memorabilia. However, as their friendship deteriorated, Anger was asked to leave the Crowley mansion. At the height of Led Zeppelin’s career, Jimmy had pulled out of the film project in 1975. Allegedly, Anger soon stated that he had cursed Page and Zepp with a major spell, a spell so big that it took all of Crowley’s teachings he could muster up, to cast upon them.

Almost immediately, the band started to experience turbulence and the eventual downfall of their career as one tragedy after another struck them to the core. Robert Plant was in a car crash, plunging off a cliff in Greece in 1975, nearly killing himself, his wife and his son Karac. Which meant cancelling the Physical Graffiti tour and having to record in a wheelchair. The make up tour was littered with negative events starting with Plant getting Laryngitis. Followed by ticketless fans in Cincinnati rioting and storming the gates. In San Francisco, manager Peter Grant and John Boham had gotten into a fight with Bill Graham, and nearly beating a Bill Graham employee to death. Both Grant and Bonham narrowly escaping serious charges and incarceration. Karac eventually fell ill, and no amount of money would make him better, as doctors had no idea what was wrong, by 1977 Karac had passed away and the tour was cancelled. At this point, Plant had quit the band and music in general in response to Page and Jones not showing up to his sons funeral.

Around this time, Page was nearly comatose on a daily basis due to a crippling Heroine addiction, and Bonhams alcoholism was raging out of control, becoming increasingly violent and unpredictable. In 1978, Sandy Denny, the goddess of the Battle of Evermore, drunkenly plunged down a flight of stairs; breaking her neck and died. The tip of the iceberg was the incident that occurred in September of 1980. Handlers had tucked Bonzo into bed after a band rehearsal, following a night of heavy drinking; assuming he would be okay, he’s done it a million times before, right? But as well know, John tragically died in his sleep from asphyxiation. It’s worth mentioning, that in the middle of all of this mayhem, John Paul Jones had remained completely untouched. While the loss of Karac and Bonham had affected John, being as they were family, he was never really directly affected. Could this be because he stayed as far away from the pact as possible? Could these events be natures way of taking something, in return for giving something such as power? Is this all the work of Angers alleged curse?

Robert Plant once addressed these very claims, as some people point fingers at Jimmy being the cosmic reasoning behind the passing of Karac and Bonham. Though, he says it’s a cheap shot. This is what Plant had to say about the matter - “The comments about how it was all connected with Jimmy’s dalliance with the dark side or whatever, that was cheap. I’ve never shared the preoccupations with him and I don’t really know anything about it. Fate is already written”. I suppose it has less to do with whether Page “sold his soul” and more to do with the possible repercussions of playing against nature, and whether such practices have a domino affect. The piling strange circumstances does make one wonder how involved Page really was, and how much the involvement took a toll on the band. Just how much of it can account for Led Zeppelin’s massive success, to the point of making history in music forever (everlasting life?). At the end it could all very well just be a bunch of mumbo jumbo non-sense. I am curious as to what you all think, feel free to leave comments or shoot me a message!

*Note; Do not take this too seriously, it’s all speculation and open for interpretation. Below are some interesting sites that I used in my search!

Resources:

https://forums.ledzeppelin.com/topic/15027-jimmy-and-crowley/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleister_Crowley

https://carwreckdebangs.wordpress.com/2015/06/09/aleister-crowley-jimmy-page-and-the-curse-of-led-zeppelin-when-myth-magick-and-weird-facts-collide/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ordo_Templi_Orientis

https://zososymbol.com/

#uhm I think I covered all the basis #im SO nervous to post this omfg #jimmy page #led zeppelin #robert plant #john paul jones #John Bonham #myposts

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brokehorrorfan · 7 years

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Charles Manson: The Final Words will premiere this Sunday, December 3, at 9pm ET/8pm PT on Reelz. The documentary is narrated by Rob Zombie and directed by James Buddy Day (The Shocking Truth).

The film tells of the infamous Manson family murders from Manson’s perspective using never-before-seen case files, pictures, and exclusive interviews with Manson himself from inside California State Prison before his death.

Charles Manson: The Final Words includes Manson’s eerie and disturbing conversations about modern society, justice, his decades behind bars, the Bernard Crowe shooting and the murders along with digitally restored audio recordings from the original investigations to reconstruct a path of events that led to the brutal slayings of movie star Sharon Tate and four of her friends on August 8, 1969 in addition to the murders of Gary Hinman and Donald “Shorty” Shea.

The documentary also includes compelling new interviews with members of the Manson family which reveal never-before-heard details that help uncover the real story and motives behind the grisly murder spree. Viewers will hear from accused Manson family members Bobby Beausoleil, Barbara Hoyt and Catherine “Cappi” Gillies along with prosecutor Stephen Kay, defense attorney Gary Fleischman, music producer Phil Kaufman as well as other investigators and authors.

#charles manson #charles manson: the final words #rob zombie #serial killer #serial killers

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nightmareonfilmstreet · 7 years

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[Trailer] CHARLES MANSON: THE FINAL WORDS Narrated by Rob Zombie

New Post has been published on https://nofspodcast.com/charles-manson-final-words-rob-zombie-documentary-trailer/

[Trailer] CHARLES MANSON: THE FINAL WORDS Narrated by Rob Zombie

Although Charles Manson has died, his notorious family and their murders have continued to grow in intrigue. Manson recently passed away while incarcerated, November 19, 2017. Over the last year a documentary has been in production detailing the crimes of the Manson Family, with a more intimate approach. REELZ has released a trailer ahead of the upcoming air date December 3, 2017.

Charles Manson: The Final Words will feature interviews with Manson himself in what would be the last year of his life. Like a majority of the world, Rob Zombie has expressed an almost obsessive interest in the cult leader, lending himself to narrate the documentary. The acclaimed horror director and musician has been noted to be influenced in many ways by Manson.

Narrated by musician and director Rob Zombie, the documentary focuses on the Manson family murders told from Manson’s perspective using never-before-seen case files, pictures and exclusive interviews with Manson himself from inside California State Prison.

Manson has, by circumstance, influenced countless entries in the horror genre. The murders of his cult have played a small role in shaping the background stories for films such as Annabelle, and Quentin Tarantino’s forthcoming film. Charles Manson: The Final Words will definitely be the last we hear from the man himself regarding his legacy.

Charles Manson: The Final Words will air this upcoming weekend, Sunday December 3, 2017 on REELZ.

#Charles Manson #charles manson documentary #charles manson: the final words #doc #documentary #horror #manson family #manson family murders #reelz #rob zombie #Sharon Tate #trailer #true crime #true crime documentary

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damnhattan · 6 years

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Just paroled in early Jan. 2019 after 50yrs in jail for committing the 1st murder attributed to the Manson Family, Bobby B. aka Cupid also played “Lucifer” in Kenneth Anger’s “Invocation of my Demon Brother”, a short film (with an all Moog synthesizer soundtrack by Mick Jagger) assembled from scraps of another film, “Lucifer Rising”, for which Beausoleil composed and recorded the soundtrack from prison. From the history books I’ve been reading what I find interesting is how much of a music insider Manson really was when LA’s Laurel, Benedict and Topanga Canyons were home to many of the soon to be huge rock stars of the late 60’s . This interview shines a curious light on how fascinated many fellow musicians were of Charlie’s musical abilities.

PS Now waiting for Tarantino’s ingloriously bastardized version of the Tate/La Bianca carnage.

https://youtu.be/1rCGiB-77vo

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marialauveyson483-blog · 6 years

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Please, read this post! VERY IMPORTANT!

Please read this post

Very Important!!!!

As we all know, on January 3, 2019, the California parole Board found the killer of musician Gary Hinman, Robert Kenneth Beausoleil, acceptable for parole!

This decision will be considered by a special Commission another 120 days and the people of California and adjacent areas can still appeal to the new Governor of the State and to help Deborah Tate in her current struggle to the decision of the Commission was blocked and he was left in prison, what needs to happen in the end, because it is right!

Anyway, my new post today isn't about him, and about a monster whose release from prison is even more dangerous than Bobby's freedom!

This post will be about Leslie Louise Van Houten, who is currently awaiting a new hearing on her early release...

This hearing scheduled for January 30, 2019, and for now, we can all help the California parole Board make the right decision this time!

This woman is a mortal danger to normal society!

For all her very long stay in different prisons (1971-2019), she never admitted her guilt in her own actions!

She's a professional liar, smart enough to learn over the years, even remotely from Charles Manson, how to falsify all the facts to be considered clean and worthy of parole!

At the time of the crime she was only 19 years old! and this fact is just one of many others that make this woman even more unfit for liberation...

Let's not be deceived by her youth in 1969 and old age now!

This woman was cruel from the very beginning, long before meeting Robert Kenneth Beausoleil and Charles Manson!

I can write for you an example of an excerpt from the Prosecutor's book on the Charles Manson cult and many other cases-Vincent T. Bugliosi Jr.:

- Leslie Van Houten often beating her younger sister on the head with her Shoe when she did not like something..

She was very tough from her youth hurting those who couldn't answer her!

This behavior is one of the classic signs that characterize maniac tendencies in humans and reveal all their hidden dark sides...

Parents knew about everything,but did nothing, so the daughter continued to do everything she wanted until she was convicted, naively believing that for all her actions she would not be punished...

A story that demonstrates her cruelty and desire to please Charlie Manson:

It was a late evening on August 8, 1969...

Charles Manson ordered Susan Denise Atkins, better known as" Sadie Mae Glatz", to find and bring to the car Linda Darlene Kasabian (née druin) because she was the only one who had a driver's license and Patricia Diana "Katie" Krenwinkel...

After that he took Charles Danton " Tex " Watson, wrapped with him behind Danny DeCarlo's car and gave him a knife and a revolver, saying that he and the girls will need to get in the car and go to the former residence of Terry Melcher to kill everyone there, whom they will only see such terrible and bloody methods as he can ...

Seeing that Tex, Sadie, Katie and Linda were going somewhere and changing into all black , Leslie Van Houten came to Manson herself and began to persuade him to send her with them!

She didn't stop even when Charlie told her they were going to that house to kill everyone who would be there on the night of 8 to 9 August!

She just wanted become a monster and get her hands dirty in the blood!

The Murder Of Rosemary La Bianca....

The next day, just hours after Tex, Sadie, Katie and Linda came back from Cielo Drive, Charlie outfitted them for a new case...

This time they were joined by Leslie Van Houten, Clem and Manson himself...

They spent several hours looking for new victims and only about two o'clock in the morning choosing a beautiful house of the spouses La Bianca,stopping in the Parking lot in front of the house, where they many times before that night took LSD...

Leno was the owner of a small supermarket chain, and his wife rosemary La Bianca owned her own flower shop...

Manson snuck into their house, tied them up when they preparing go sleep and promised them that they will only Rob them...

He then went back to Watson and gave him instructions to "kill everyone without a fuss", sending him, Patricia and Leslie Van Houten to "murderous work" instead of Susan,who by then had still not moved away from LSD ...

Rosemary La Bianca received a total of 41 stab wounds, she desperately resisted Patricia with Leslie wanting to help her husband, who at the same time had already been killed by Watson, but cruel monsters in the form of harmless, cute teenage girls, did not give her the opportunity to leave the bedroom, tying her and killing the poor woman in four hands!

Regardless of Leslie's subsequent words, which she repeats so far in each of her interviews and in all of her parole hearings, she doesn't repent because she has elementary never pleaded guilty, and it's the likes of her that most often have "relapses" despite all the efforts to correct them at the California Institute For Woman`s...

At the moment,all of us, despite the cities and countries in which we live, can show that the entire world community is AGAINST the release of people like her from prison....

To do this, you need to do quite a bit:

just find a couple of minutes in your schedule, follow the link in this post and sign Deborah Tate's petition...

Such dangerous killers should never walk among normal people!

The link to the petition

https://www.change.org/p/keep-charles-manson-cult-killer-leslie-van-houten-from-being-paroled

#SharonTate,#VictimsRights,#NoParoleForMansonFamily,#CharlesManson,#HelterSkelter

#sharon tate #VictimsRights #NoParoleforMansonFamily #CharlesManson #helter skelter

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rolandfontana · 5 years

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The Man Who Murdered the Sixties

It’s been a half-century since Charles Manson and his loopy minions conspired to commit a series of murders that still fascinate and flabbergast the world.

Manson, who died in prison in 2017, would savor the attention he continues to attract, including in this summer’s Quentin Tarantino film (“Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood”) and several new books, including my own.

In March 1967, at age 32, Manson was a fresh federal parolee who stumbled into San Francisco as American ingenues in peasant dresses and bellbottoms—runaways, hitchhikers, and lost souls—were streaming in for the Summer of Love. His timing was impeccable. The patchouli-scented sexual revolution created a perfect petri dish for his predation.

Using prison-honed talents as a con man and middling skills as a guitarist and singer-songwriter, Manson soon began building a cult of as many as 35 young hippies, three-quarters of them women.

He would spin campfire lectures for his stoner clan featuring Psych 101 dogma about projection and reflection. He basted their brains in a mix of Jesus Freakiness, Dale Carnegie hucksterisms, Norman Vincent Peale’s sunny-sided platitudes (“You are perfect!”), and the buggy self-help triangulations and “dynamics” of his prison-library Scientology.

Charles Manson. courtesy Oxygen

They believed he was a godly mystic.

The writer David Dalton nailed Manson in eight words: “if Christ came back as a con man.” Joe Mozingo of The Los Angeles Times said, “He was a scab mite who bit at the perfect time and place.”

Using the playbook of pimps and cult patriarchs, he isolated troubled young women from their past lives and controlled their bodies and minds. He was the Wizard of Oz for libertines, and he as much as told them so.

Susan Atkins, who became one of Manson’s most prolific killers, said Manson often mocked his own followers’ blind faith.’

“He said, ‘I have tricked you into doing what I want you to…It’s like I’ve got a bunch of slaves around me,” she told a grand jury in December 1969, after her arrest.

The Enigma of Charles Manson

Manson was an enigma on many levels.

The “Manson Women” Photo courtesy Oxygen

He was a racist and sexist imbued with the old-timey sensibilities of an Appalachian upbringing. He preached female subservience and racial segregation, and his young followers lapped it up in the midst of a flowering civil rights movement and on the cusp of modern women’s liberation.

Many were willing to kill for nothing more than Manson’s validation.

“You can convince anybody of anything if you just push it at them all of the time,” Manson once said, “…especially if they have no other information to draw their opinions from.”

Just 29 months after Manson began assembling his naifs into a communal Family, these “heartless, bloodthirsty robots…sent out from the fires of hell,” as a prosecutor would describe them, carried out a series of proving-ground murders in Los Angeles over four weeks in the summer of ‘69 that still has a place of prominence in America’s storied pantheon of crime spectacles.

The primary motive was money to allow the Family to finance a retreat to California’s Death Valley to ride out the race war that Manson predicted was coming.

The first victim, the Family’s good friend Gary Hinman, was Killed on July 27. Two weeks later, on Aug. 9 and 10, Manson followers killed the pregnant actress Sharon Tate, coffee heiress Abigail Folger, Leno and Rosemary LaBianca, and five others in acts of casual savagery that remain a peerless mashup of celebrity, sex, cult groupthink, and bloodlust.

Police outside 10050 Cielo Drive in Hollywood where the blood-splattered bodies of Sharon Tate and her four friends were found. Photo by George via Flickr

“It had to be done,” one of the killers, Leslie Van Houten, explained after her arrest. “For the whole world’s karma to be completed, we had to do this.”

Writer Dalton, who covered Manson for Rolling Stone, called him “the perfect storm” for 1969.

“It was the conflation of mystical thinking, radical politics, drugs, and all these runaway kids fused together,” Dalton told me.

“The world seemed to be in death spiral of violence, and we thought the whole hippie riot was about to begin to save use all. We were going to take over and everything would be cool. In fact, the opposite was happening, embodied by Charlie Manson.”

The implausible Manson story cannot be separated from the context of its era, as some Americans were asking essential questions about what their country ought to be.

The half-decade of 1965 to 1970 saw ghetto riots, the emergence of a vibrant new psychedelic culture, shocking political murders, riveting space exploration, escalation of the war in Vietnam, and burgeoning protests of the same.

Two months alone in the summer of 1969 brought an extraordinary series of events. On June 28, a police morals-squad raid on the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York’s Greenwich Village, touched off three days of rioting—and ignited the gay rights movement. On July 18, Ted Kennedy, surviving male heir to the American political tragi-dynasty, fled the scene of a fatal car wreck on Chappaquiddick Island, Mass. On July 20, the world watched on TV as Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin took their stiff, bouncing strolls through moondust.

Among the viewers was a small group of friends and kin gathered at the home of Sharon Tate. Twenty days later, on Aug. 9—50 years ago today—four members of the same group would be savagely murdered by Manson’s second kill team. A week after that, more than 400,000 peopled endured organizational bedlam to attend the Woodstock Festival, 100 miles north of New York City. That same weekend, Hurricane Camille pounded ashore on the Gulf Coast, east of New Orleans at Pass Christian, Miss., killing 256 people.

The Sixties created Manson, and his crimes were an exclamation point to a turbulent decade.

A ‘Child of the ‘30s’

But as he liked to say, “I am a child of the ’30s, not the ’60s.”

He was born to a prostitute mother and drive-by father in 1934 and raised by relatives in Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia coal country. He became a chronic juvenile delinquent who flailed his way through a Dickensian childhood. A tiny boy who grew into an elfin but sinewy man, he was locked up in reform school, jail or prison for all but a few years of his life from age 13 to the grave.

He spoke or wrote a million words about his life and crimes—in court, in letters, in media interviews. He bleated many excuses for his wasted life, almost always beginning with a lack of parenting and proper education.

Manson often played crazy, but that was a studied tactic. As Vincent Bugliosi, his prosecutor and biographer, told Time magazine before he died in 2015.

“His moral values were completely twisted and warped, but let’s not confuse that with insanity. He was crazy in the way that Hitler was crazy…So he’s not crazy. He’s an evil, sophisticated con man.”

Manson preached a homespun version of liberation theology—the freedom to be you. But a switch was flipped in the fall of 1968, when the Beatles released their White Album.

Manson convinced his followers that the world’s most famous band was sending him direct messages in the lyrics, including those of “Helter Skelter.” He imagined that Paul McCartney’s song presaged a race war that would induce the Family to retreat to a desert hideout, then emerge heroically and install Manson as a world leader and master breeder.

Manson recast his horny young stoners into a classic apocalyptic cult, prepping for end times. Growing impatient for the race war, Manson decided to “show blackie how to do it” by committing a series of murders and leaving clues meant to implicate the Black Panthers, that era’s subject of America’s ever-changing moral panic.

The starry-eyed plan was a failure on every level.

Before Manson “got on his “Helter Skelter” trip,” according to Paul Watkins, another follower, “it was all about fucking.”

Five former members of the Family, all senior citizens now, are still imprisoned, 50 years along: Leslie Van Houten, Patricia Krenwinkel, Charles Watson, Bobby Beausoleil and Bruce Davis.

Manson follower Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme was imprisoned for the attempted assassination of President Gerald Ford. Photo via YouTube

Many others have died, including Watkins and Susan Atkins.

Most renounced Manson long ago, although Lynette (Squeaky) Fromme, an early acolyte who served 34 years in prison for a 1975 assassination attempt on President Gerald Ford, self-published an autobiography last year that was largely dedicated to minimizing Manson’s culpability.

Atkins, who once seemed to enjoy her public profile as an illustrious sexpot murderess, had a personal reckoning before her death from brain cancer in 2009.

“In hindsight,” Atkins wrote in her memoir, “I’ve come to believe the most prominent character trait Charles Manson displays is that of a manipulator. Not a guru, not a metaphysic, not a philosopher, not an environmentalist, not a sociologist or social activist, and not even a murderer.

David Krajicek

“His long-term behavior is one predominantly of a practiced manipulator.”

She called him “a liar, a con artist, a physical abuser of women and children, a psychological and emotional abuser of human beings, a thief, a dope pusher, a kidnaper, a child stealer, a pimp, a rapist, and a child molester. I can attest to all of these things with my own eyes.

“And he was all of these things before he was a murderer.”

This essay is adapted from David J. Krajicek’s new book, Charles Manson: The Man Behind the Murders that Shook Hollywood (Arcturus).

The Man Who Murdered the Sixties syndicated from https://immigrationattorneyto.wordpress.com/

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metalbuzz-net · 6 years

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The Devil’s Blood: A Quick Chat with Guitarist Selim Lemouchi

While Selim Lemouchi, the guitarist for satanic rockers The Devil’s Blood, who goes by just SL, opted not to answer a handful of questions pertaining to songs on ‘The Thousandfold Epicentre’, and another couple were abruptly answered with “No,” I did briefly engage him on subjects such as his writing process, F’s voice, Satan, the lack of protesting bible thumpers and Guns N’ Roses as rock n’ roll inspiration. Plus, I got a long ass list of music that he’s into. Sweet!

Ken Kopija: Hello SL. It’s Ken over at METALBUZZ in Chicago. We are the Internet’s number one source for real metal news, reviews, interviews and more. First off, I am a huge fan & supporter of The Devil’s Blood, which has graced the digital pages of METALBUZZ off and on now for several years. SL: Thanks for your time and energy so far.

How are you doing today? Today is a good day, the weather is quite downcast and grey which makes for a good walk in the forest.

I spoke with you about a year and a half ago, right around the US release of ‘The Time Of No Time Evermore’. That is the album that introduced me to and got me hooked on The Devil’s Blood. How do you feel the band has progressed musically from ‘The Time Of No Time Evermore’ to ‘The Thousandfold Epicentre’? I feel that, as a band, we have become better at performing and better at recording, perhaps that might not seem like much, but that is the kind of progress that allows a band to stay evolving. When it comes to the creation process of the material, nothing has changed.

‘The Thousandfold Epicentre’ was released on 11-11-11 in Europe. Is there any signifigance to it being released on that date? 11 is our most significant numerological correspondence and we always try to gather as many of them around as possible, in the artwork, in the music, in the lyrics, in the number of minutes and seconds, volume differences etcetera, etcetera. It signifies Chaos, renewal, freedom and at the same time, it signifies the structure of Satan and Death to us.

And the album dropped in the US via Metal Blade on January 17th. Do you have any special rituals that you followed on release day? To be honest, no, I have let this record “go” already. The release date in Europe was for me the ultimate moment and our Ritual at Groningen’s Vera Club was our perfect way of celebrating our Child’s birth into this “world of gravity gone mad.” For the glory of our first official American release, we shall wait with rituals and rites until we are on American soil again.

As I understand it, in addition to being one of the bands guitarists, you are also the primary songwriter. How much of the songwriting were you involved with on ‘The Thousandfold Epicentre?’ All of it. With the exception of the lyrics of “Fire Burning” and the last guitar part of “Everlasting Saturnalia,” which were done respectively by Tommie Eriksson (Saturnalia Temple) and Rob Oorthuis (NOX/Centurian).

That being said, other than topics like Satan and the occult, what other subjects or entities were your inspiration for the new record? All of it can be caught within the three principalities of Adversity; The Death, The Chaos and The Satan. There is nothing more to me.

Which comes first, the music or your words? Usually at the same moment, sometimes months apart, in which case music usually pre-dates the words. I guess this has to do with the fact that my instinctual understanding of music is still stronger than my understanding of language.

Can you elaborate a little on the whole writing process? There is not much to say, you have an idea, you pick up a guitar and a pen, you don’t stop till you are done.

Your sister, ‘F’, the bands lead singer, sounds a little more produced this time around. Was a different approach taken with the recording of her voice? Funny you should say that as she was most certainly less produced. We simply let her sing the song and apart from that nothing, except some choir parts, were doubled or added. This is as close to absolute purity as we could come this time around.

In my opinion, it sounds like The Devil’s Blood have re-invented themselves on ‘The Thousandfold Epicentre’, while at the same time maintaining that definitive sound that is unique to the band. Would you agree with that statement? We simply have done what we could, no more and certainly no less. We ourselves were quite surprised and of course immensely proud with what manifested itself, but to claim any kind of control of what the outcome came to be would be grossly overstating the importance of the musician in the creative process.

As far as I know, The Devil’s Blood have never done a concept video. Is that true? Yes it is.

Are there any plans to do a video(s) for ‘The Thousandfold Epicentre’? We would love to do that of course, it is mostly a financial thing. These things costs money and we have none.

Along with several European dates in the spring, I see that the band is scheduled to play ‘Maryland Deathfest X’ May 24th – 27th. Please tell me that those are not your only US dates this year? They are not.

Is a US tour planned? We will be doing a full North American tour which will be officially announced very soon.

The Devil’s Blood has played with the likes of Watain, Pentagram, Root, Venom and Tryptikon. Are there any bands that you’ve never toured with that you would really like too? Not any that jump to mind immediately.

I have never been to one of your live shows, or “rituals” as they are referred to, but I’ve watched videos online of the band performing live. There seems to be a lot of sweat and blood. Can you describe your live show to someone who has never witnessed it before? Explanation is empty, it is better to withhold all information and allow each individual the chance to experience freely and without priorly enforced parameters of expectation.

I know that there are a lot of bible thumpers out there who would probably jump at the chance to protest one of your shows. Do you every get those types hanging around your gigs? To be honest it has not happened yet, which is a shame of course.

The Devil’s Blood is based out of the Netherlands. What is the metal scene like there these days? I don’t really know, apart from a handful of bands and people I am personally in contact with. I am terribly uninformed about these things. I no longer read magazines and I rarely go to concerts and have no real desire to be on top of things any more.

The Metal Blade website has the following listed for band members: SL/TDB/A-O and F/TDB/MOS. Can you please tell me a little about what this means and who all of the members of the band are? No and no.

Well alrighty then. Have you ever put on headphones and listened to any of your music on vinyl? Of course.

Who or what inspired you to start playing music? If I had to name one person who has that dubious honour it would have to be Slash and Axl Rose of Guns ‘n Roses. That band really showed me the power of rock n’ roll and its insidious flair for rebellion and independence. And Slash’s personal style of playing and his careful ear for sounds and harmony combined with Axl’s uncanny talent for writing anthems is something that has definitely found its way into my music at various levels.

What is your favorite guitar to play? At the moment, it is a Haar Stratocaster, a custom built machine that seems to fill my needs wonderfully. But it does change from time to time.

Assuming you have one, if I got a hold of your iPod, what would I find on there? Danzig, Morbid Angel, Pentagram, The Doors, Merciless, Death, Judas Priest, Jimi Hendrix, Iron Maiden, Entombed, Slayer, Aphrodite’s Child, Slayer, Autopsy, Nick Cave, The Who, Root, Dr Feelgood, Nazareth, Aerosmith, MC5, Iggy and The Stooges, Mercyful Fate, Uriah Heep, The Byrds, The Rolling Stones, Bathory, Type O Negative, Charles Manson, The Beatles, Blue Öyster Cult, Coil, Joy Division, Ministry, Sepultura, Tiamat, Roky Erickson, GG Allin, Carnivore, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Jefferson Airplane, Blood Axis, Hawkwind, Motorhead, Cro-Mags, Mayhem, Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath, Burzum, Kiss, Alice Cooper, Velvet Underground, In Slaughter Natives, Samael, The Pretty Things, The Golden Earring, ZZ Top, Master’s Hammer, Shadows, Thin Lizzy, T. Rex, Guns ‘n Roses, Bobby Beausoleil, King Crimson, Bolt Thrower, Dissection, Wishbone Ash and many, many more.

We have time for one more question, and it’s from a fan… Fred from St. Germain wants to know… “I grew up listening to a lot of Mercyful Fate and King Diamond. Would you consider them/him an influence on your music and are you a fan?” I consider Mercyful Fate to be one of the most important heavy metal bands that ever existed, apart from that I am not sure how much they actually inspired me, it is hard to say how these things work.

Once again, SL, thanks for taking time out of your busy day to chat with METALBUZZ. It has been my pleasure talking to you and I look forward to seeing The Devil’s Blood in Chicago soon. Thanks for you attention.

(с) Ken Kopija

#the devil's blood #metal #black metal

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samanthasroberts · 7 years

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Manson Family Murders Fast Facts

(CNN)Here is a look at Charles Manson and the 1969 Manson Family cult killings.

Death date: November 19, 2017

Birth place: Cincinnati, Ohio

Birth name: Charles Milles Maddox

Father: Father’s name unavailable publicly

Mother: Kathleen Maddox

Marriages: Rosalie Jean (Willis) Manson (1955-divorce date unknown); was also married to a woman named Leona in the early 1960s, whose last name is not publicly known.

Children: At least two: with Rosalie Jean (Willis) Manson: Charles M. Manson Jr. (1956-1993); with a woman whose name is not publicly known: Charles Luther Manson.

Other Facts: Reportedly, during his childhood, Manson’s mother sold him for a pitcher of beer to a woman who wanted to have children. His uncle had to find the woman so that he could get his nephew back.

He later took his stepfather William Manson’s last name.

According to the California Parole Board, Manson had a history of manipulation, controlling behavior and mental illnesses which included schizophrenia and paranoid delusional behavior.

The killings inspired the best-selling book, “Helter Skelter,” written by prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi.

Timeline: 1947 – At age 12, Charles Manson is sent to Gibault School for Boys in Terre Haute, Indiana, for stealing. Over the next twenty years, he is in and out of reform schools and prison for various crimes.

March 21, 1967 – Manson is released from prison. He tells the prison officials that he doesn’t want to be released, “Oh, no, I can’t go outside there…I knew that I couldn’t adjust to that world, not after all my life had been spent locked up and where my mind was free.” After his release, he moves to San Francisco.

1967-1968 – Manson meets Gary Hinman, a music teacher who introduces him to Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys.

— Manson attracts a group of followers. The group moves to the Spahn Ranch, outside of Chatsworth, California.

— Dennis Wilson introduces Manson to record producer Terry Melcher, the son of actress Doris Day. After initially showing interest in Manson’s music, Melcher declines to work with him further.

— Melcher later moves out of his home on Cielo Drive, and the house is then leased to film director Roman Polanski and his wife, actress Sharon Tate.

July 1969 – Gary Hinman is killed by Manson follower Bobby Beausoleil, accompanied by Manson Family members Mary Brunner and Susan Atkins. The murder is committed at the behest of Manson.

August 8-9, 1969 – At Manson’s command, a small group of his most ardent followers brutally murder five people at the Benedict Canyon home of director Roman Polanski, near Hollywood. The victims are Polanski’s pregnant wife, actress Sharon Tate, writer Wojciech Frykowski, coffee heiress Abigail Folger and celebrity hair stylist Jay Sebring. Also killed is Steven Parent, who was a friend of the family’s gardener. The murders are committed by followers Tex Watson, Susan Atkins, and Patricia Krenwinkel. Linda Kasabian accompanies them as a lookout.

August 9-10, 1969 – Manson, displeased at the sloppiness of the previous night’s murders, accompanies a group of followers on a search for victims. In the car are: Watson, Atkins, Krenwinkel, Kasabian as well as Leslie van Houten and Steve “Clem” Grogan. After several hours, the group comes upon the house of supermarket executive Leno LaBianca and his wife, Rosemary. The couple are brutally murdered by Watson, Atkins, Krenwinkel and Van Houten.

October 1969 – Manson and his followers are arrested at another remote location, called Barker Ranch, on suspicion of auto theft.

November 6, 1969 – Manson Family member Susan Atkins, already charged in the murder of Gary Hinman, tells inmate Virginia Castro that she killed Sharon Tate, “Because we wanted to do a crime that would shock the world, that the world would have to stand up and take notice.”

November 12, 1969 – The LA Sheriff’s detectives interview Al Springer, motorcycle gang member who had some association with Manson. Springer tells them that Manson told him about killing people days after the Tate murders.

November 16, 1969 – The LAPD interviews inmate Ronnie Howard about her conversation with Susan Atkins concerning the Tate/LaBianca murders.

November 18, 1969 – Deputy District Attorney Vincent T. Bugliosi is assigned the case.

November 30, 1969 – Watson is apprehended in Texas. His lawyers fight extradition to California for nine months.

December 8, 1969 – Manson, Watson, Atkins, Krenwinkel and Kasabian are indicted for the murders of Sharon Tate and her friends. The grand jury also indicts the five, plus Van Houten, for the LaBianca murders.

June 16, 1970 – Trial begins for Manson, Atkins, Krenwinkel and Van Houten.

— Manson appears in court with an “X” carved into his forehead.

— He defends himself in court with the help from attorney Irving Kanarek.

August 1970 – Kasabian is given immunity in exchange for her testimony against Manson and the others.

January 15, 1971 – After a seven-month trial, jury deliberations begin. The jury finds all the defendants guilty on January 25.

March 29, 1971 – Manson, Krenwinkel, Atkins and Van Houten receive the death penalty.

1971 – Charles “Tex” Watson is found guilty of the murders of seven people and is sentenced to death.

1972 – The death penalty is abolished in California. The sentences for all Manson Family members are commuted to life in prison.

April 11, 2012 – Manson is denied parole for the 12th time. According to the California Parole Board, he has accrued 108 serious disciplinary violations in prison since 1971 and has shown no remorse for the murders. Manson’s next parole hearing is set for 2027, when he will be 92.

November 20, 2013 – A 25-year-old pen pal, who calls herself “Star,” tells Rolling Stone magazine that she considers Manson her husband. The imprisoned cult leader says, however, that Star’s story is “garbage.” She began sending letters to Manson when she was in high school.

November 18, 2014 – Sources tell CNN that Manson and Star have, in fact, obtained a marriage license.

February 2015 – The wedding is called off, according to tabloid reports.

June 6, 2015 – Manson prosecutor and author of “Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders” Vincent Bugliosi dies in California.

November 19, 2017 – Two days after being transported to the hospital, Manson, 83, dies of natural causes.

Major Players (“Manson Family”): Susan “Sadie” Denise Atkins: September 24, 2009 – Dies in prison.

Bobby Beausoleil: 1969 – Convicted of the murder of Gary Hinman. He is serving a life sentence.

October 14, 2016 – Beausoleil is denied parole for the 18th time.

Bruce Davis: April 21, 1972 – Convicted of the murders of Gary Hinman and stuntman Donald “Shorty” Shea. He is serving a life sentence.

February 1, 2017 – Is recommended for parole.

June 23, 2017 – Governor Brown denies parole for Davis. This is the fifth time a California governor has refused to release Davis.

Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme: 1975 – Attempts to shoot President Gerald Ford.

August 14, 2009 – Is released on parole after serving 34 years.

Steven “Clem” Grogan: 1986 – Grogan is released on parole after revealing the location of the body of ranch-hand Donald “Shorty” Shea, killed in 1969.

Patricia “Katie” Krenwinkel: 2014 – Krenwinkel provides an interview for the documentary “Life After Manson,” her first on-camera appearance since 1994.

December 2016 – California parole board members delay their decision on freeing Krenwinkel after her attorney raises claims of abuse by Manson, or another member of the cult. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation issues a statement that the information presented at the hearing does elicit cause for an investigation.

June 22, 2017 – Krenwinkel is denied parole for the 14th time. She will be eligible again for consideration in five years.

Leslie Van Houten: April 14, 2016 – A parole board panel recommends Van Houten’s release, and the full Board of Parole Hearings will review the decision over the next four months.

July 2016 – Governor Brown denies parole to Van Houten, saying that the murder convict “currently poses an unreasonable danger to society.”

September 6, 2017 – A two-person state commission panel grants Van Houten parole for the second time. The decision will go through a 120-day legal review before Governor Brown will have 30-days to decide whether Van Houten will be granted parole and released.

Charles D. “Tex” Watson: October 27, 2016 – Watson is denied parole for the 17th time.

Source: http://allofbeer.com/manson-family-murders-fast-facts/

from All of Beer https://allofbeer.wordpress.com/2018/01/25/manson-family-murders-fast-facts/

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allofbeercom · 7 years