Never Learn Not to Love

File:Dennis Wilson 1968.jpg in 1968]]

In late spring 1968, Dennis Wilson struck a friendship with cult leader Charles Manson. At the time, Manson was an ex-convict seeking a career as a singer-songwriter, and Wilson, convinced of his talents, was interested in signing him as an artist on the band's Brother Records label.{{sfn|Love|2016|p=208}} Music journalist Dan Caffrey commented that "it's understandable to see why Wilson felt a musical kinship with Manson", and while using Wilson's recent "Little Bird" and "Be Still" as examples, explained that Manson and Wilson shared a similar unprofessional approach and an interest in "fraying the edges of traditional forms".{{cite web |last1=Caffrey |first1=Dan |title=Hitchhiking with Evil: The Beach Boys' Surreal Relationship with Charles Manson |url=https://consequenceofsound.net/2017/11/hitchhiking-with-evil-the-beach-boys-surreal-relationship-with-charles-manson/ |website=Consequence of Sound |access-date=June 17, 2018 |date=November 21, 2017}}

Manson discussed and presented Wilson some of his self-penned material, and in exchange, Wilson paid for studio time to record songs performed by Manson.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}} That summer, Manson booked a session at Brian Wilson's home studio for several tracks that were co-produced by Brian and Carl Wilson.{{sfn|Badman|2004|p=222}} Much of the recordings were not demos, but rather polished studio productions of songs that possibly included "Cease to Exist". These recordings remain unavailable to the public.{{cite web|url=http://www.esquarterly.com/bellagio/unreleased.html|title=Unreleased|publisher=Endless Summer Quarterly|last=Doe|first=Andrew|access-date=January 8, 2017}}

According to Manson, he had penned "Cease to Exist" specifically for the Beach Boys to record. He explained, "[The Beach Boys] were fighting amongst themselves, so I wrote that song to bring them together. 'Submission is a gift, give it to your brother.' Dennis has true soul, but his brothers couldn’t accept it."{{sfn|Webb|2001|p=81}} Manson Family member Squeaky Fromme said of the song, "Charlie made up a song for Dennis, and we wrote down the words. Part of it was from a man to a woman, and part from a man to his brothers."{{sfn|Fromme|2018|p={{page needed|date=August 2021}}}} Fromme added, "Dennis would later talk the Beach Boys into recording the song, but someone would talk him into changing the rhythm and words, and failing to even mention Charlie."{{sfn|Fromme|2018|p={{page needed|date=August 2021}}}} Mike Love claimed that he was not aware of the song's author at the time, and assumed that Dennis had written it.{{cite magazine |last1=Kraps |first1=Daniel |title=How a Stolen Beach Boys Song Helped Lead to Charles Manson's Murderous Path |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/premieres/watch-charles-manson-discuss-beach-boys-song-theft-w472580 |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=March 17, 2017}}

File:Manson1968.jpg

Manson was not given a label credit for the song. In exchange for the publishing rights to "Cease to Exist", he received a sum of cash and a BSA motorcycle which he later gave to Family member Paul Watkins.{{sfn|Sanders|2002|p=64}} Asked in a 1971 interview as to why he did not credit Manson, Wilson answered, "He didn't want that. He wanted money instead. I gave him about a hundred thousand dollars' worth of stuff."{{cite magazine |last=Nolan |first=Tom |title=Beach Boys: A California Saga, Part II |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/beach-boys-a-california-saga-part-ii-19711111 |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=November 11, 1971|authorlink=Tom Nolan (actor)}} Conversely, band engineer Stephen Desper stated that the decision to leave Manson uncredited was retribution for "the stuff of value that Manson ripped off from Dennis". Desper continued, "If Manson had been a decent person, the Beach Boy organization would have given him credit and treasure, as they did with other writers. But Manson was a thief and did not play by civil rules. By those rules, he was compensated as far as they were concerned."

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The band reworked the song's bluesy structure, adding vocal harmonies and another bridge.{{sfn|Carlin|2006|p=138}}{{sfn|McKinney|2003|p=284}} According to Desper, "Manson only had a song with basic chords on the guitar and a melody lead line. It was the 'Boys who took that basic concept and turned it into a real commercial tune. ... Dennis took Manson's original concept and made something of it-- something Manson could never have done." Al Jardine recalled of Dennis and Manson: "it was just irritating 'cause they were always around and it was 'Charlie this, Charlie that.' And then he had this little thing that he and Charlie worked out. It was just a melody, a melody in 'Never Learn Not To Love.' Not the melody, but there was a mantra behind that. Then Dennis wanted to put it in everything. I thought, 'Oh boy, this is getting to be too much.'"{{cite magazine|last1=Sharp |first1=Ken |title=Alan Jardine: A Beach Boy Still Riding The Waves |url=http://troun.tripod.com/al.html |magazine=Goldmine |date=July 28, 2000}} Conversely, Desper credited "all the added vocal arrangement throughout the entire song" to Brian and Carl Wilson.

The lyrics were partially altered (the opening line "Cease to exist" modified to "Cease to resist"), and the title was changed to "Never Learn Not to Love", much to Manson's indignation.{{sfn|Carlin|2006|p=138}}{{sfn|McKinney|2003|p=284}} Manson threatened Wilson with murder for changing the lyrics.{{sfn|Sanders|2002|p=261}} Gregg Jakobson remembered, "Charlie always said, he just asked one thing, he said to me, 'I don’t care what you do with the music. Just don’t let anybody change any of the lyrics.' That was one of his big beefs with Dennis. Dennis had taken some of his songs and changed the lyrics around, which really infuriated him."{{cite magazine|last1=Felton|first1=David|first2=David|last2=Dalton|title=Charles Manson: The Incredible Story of the Most Dangerous Man Alive|magazine=Rolling Stone|year=1970}} After realizing Manson's growing erratic behavior, Wilson ended his friendship with him soon after.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2003/dec/14/popandrock|title=The Lonely One|work=The Guardian|author=Webb, Adam|date=14 December 2003|access-date=January 8, 2017}}

The Beach Boys recorded "Never Learn Not to Love" at their private studio on September 11 and 16–18, 1968.{{cite web|url=http://esquarterly.com/bellagio/gigs68.html|title=Recordings sessions: 1968|publisher=Endless Summer Quarterly|access-date=January 8, 2017}} In December 1968, Wilson recorded cymbal sounds, titled "The Gong", that were later reversed and added to the beginning of the 20/20 version of "Never Learn Not to Love". Other parts of the session were dedicated to a spoken-word monologue that went unreleased until the 2018 compilation I Can Hear Music: The 20/20 Sessions.{{cite magazine |last1=Hermes |first1=Will |title=How the Beach Boys' Lost Late-Sixties Gems Got a Second Life |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/how-the-beach-boys-lost-late-sixties-gems-got-a-second-life-779012/ |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=January 2019}} Desper said that "Manson was only in the studio one evening, by himself and his silent girls. He never conferred or worked in any way with the group."{{cite web|last=Desper|first=Stephen|authorlink=Stephen Desper|title=Response to inquiry on recording Charles Manson|website=Mansonblog.com|year=2017|url=https://www.mansonblog.com/2017_05_15_archive.html}}

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| quote = It's probably the strangest record The Beach Boys have ever made. It really is so odd, disjointed and confusing. I can only see it being a hit because they're here in person [on a tour].

| source = —Reviewer Penny Valentine in Disc & Music Echo, 1968{{sfn|Badman|2004|p=232}}

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"Never Learn Not to Love" was released as the B-side to "Bluebirds over the Mountain" on December 2, 1968.{{sfn|Badman|2004|p=232}} The A-side reached number 61 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 33 on the UK Singles Chart. The single edit is shorter than the album version with no backward cymbal opening and an echoed ending reminiscent of Little G.T.O. In February 1969, the song was released as a track on 20/20. In his review of the album, Arthur Schmidt of Rolling Stone, wrote that "'Never Learn Not to Love' is a fine vocal, though the material itself is an uncertain mixture of pop and soul influences."{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/20-20-19690419|title=The Beach Boys: 20/20|last=Schmidt|first=Arthur|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=January 8, 2016|date=April 19, 1969}} On April 1, the group performed the song during their appearance on The Mike Douglas Show. The episode was broadcast on April 9.{{sfn|Badman|2004|p=242}}

In his retrospective assessment of the song, Richie Unterberger commented "Never Learn Not to Love" is far more notorious for its relation to Manson, not the music itself which he describes as "average".{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/20-20-mw0000118177|title=20/20 – Review|publisher=AllMusic|author=Unterberger, Richie|access-date=January 9, 2017}} Colin Larkin, in The Encyclopedia of Popular Music, wrote the track "had the ironic distinction of putting Charles Manson in the charts".{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_NNmFiUnSmUC&q=the+beach+boys+never+learn+not+to+love&pg=PA2006-IA390|title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music|author=Larkin, Colin|page=125|publisher=Omnibus Press|year=2011|isbn=978-0-85712-595-8}} Journalist Nathan Jolly called the song "softer but still eerie", also noting how fans of the Beach Boys who listened to the song over the years "had no idea of the inherent evil of its actual composer".{{cite web|url=http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/music/the-strange-history-of-the-beach-boys-and-serial-killer-charles-manson/news-story/75d4b2b780675240238ba699669ac319|title=The Beach Boys and Charles Manson|publisher=News.com.au|author=Jolly, Nathan|access-date=January 9, 2017}}

{{listen|filename=Cease to Exist.ogg |title= "Cease to Exist" |description=Excerpt from Manson's 1968 recording of "Cease to Exist", as released in 1970 for Lie: The Love and Terror Cult.

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During Manson's trial for the murders of seven people, his debut album, Lie: The Love and Terror Cult, was released in March 1970. Consisting of 13 tracks recorded between 1967 and 1968, it included Manson's original arrangement of "Cease to Exist".{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/lie-the-love-and-terror-cult-mw0000268437|title=Lie: The Love and Terror Cult – Review|publisher=AllMusic|access-date=January 7, 2017}}{{cite web|url=http://ultimateclassicrock.com/charles-manson-lie-the-love-and-terror-cult/|title=How Charles Manson's Music Finally Saw the Light of Day|publisher=Ultimate Classic Rock|author=Lofton, Daniel|date=6 March 2015 |access-date=January 8, 2017}}

In an AllMusic review of Manson's album, his rendition of "Cease to Exist" was regarded by Theodor Grenier as "one of Manson's signature performances, and has justifiably invited comparison with Jim Croce and José Feliciano". Critic Michael Little considers Manson's version superior to the Beach Boys', having praise especially for Manson's vocals: "you expect a tattered, raw, and raggedy voice, with a touch of lunatic rage, but what you get is a smooth-voiced folk singer".{{cite web|url=http://www.thevinyldistrict.com/storefront/2014/08/graded-curve-beach-boys-bluebirds-mountain-bw-never-learn-love/|title=Graded on a Curve: Beach Boys "Bluebirds over the Mountain" b/w "Never Learn Not to Love"|publisher=The Vinyl District|author=Little, Michael|date=August 2014|access-date=January 9, 2017}} He also wrote that Manson's raw, stripped-down take "gives the song an impressive lo-fi immediacy that is a million miles away from the Beach Boys' treatment".

Per Craig Slowinski.{{cite magazine |last=Slowinski|first=Craig |date=Spring 2019|title=20/20: 50 Year Anniversary Special Edition|issue=|volume=|magazine=Endless Summer Quarterly Magazine |location=Charlotte, North Carolina|editor-first=David|editor-last=Beard}}

The Beach Boys

• Al Jardine – backing vocals
• Bruce Johnston – backing vocals
• Mike Love – backing vocals
• Brian Wilson – backing vocals
• Carl Wilson – backing vocals, bass, guitar
• Dennis Wilson – lead and backing vocals, piano

Session musicians

• John Guerin – drums, percussion, sleigh bells
• Don Randi – piano, organ
• Lyle Ritz – upright bass

{{See also|List of cover versions of Beach Boys songs}}

• 1994: Sean MacReavy, Dumb Angel
• 2020: Psychic Ills, Never Learn Not to Love / Cease to Exist 7" single

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• Charles Manson sessions with the Beach Boys
• "Look at Your Game, Girl" {{clear}}

{{Reflist|20em}}

• {{cite book|last=Badman|first=Keith|title=The Beach Boys. The Definitive Diary of America's Greatest Band: On Stage and in the Studio|url=https://archive.org/details/beachboysdefinit0000badm|url-access=registration|publisher=Backbeat Books|year=2004|isbn=0-87930-818-4}}
• {{cite book|last=Carlin|first=Peter Ames|author-link=Peter Ames Carlin|title=Catch a Wave: The Rise, Fall Redemption of the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson|publisher=Rodale Inc|year=2006|isbn=1-59486-320-2|url=https://archive.org/details/catchwaverise00carl/page/138|url-access=registration}}
• {{cite book|last=Fromme|first=Lynette|authorlink=Squeaky Fromme|title=Reflexion|publisher=The Peasenhall Press|year=2018|edition=Kindle}}
• {{cite book|last=Love|first=Mike|author-link=Mike Love|title=Good Vibrations: My Life as a Beach Boy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ioG0CwAAQBAJ|year=2016|publisher=Penguin Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-698-40886-9|page=208}}
• {{cite book |title=Magic Circles: The Beatles in Dream and History|first=Devin |last=McKinney |publisher= Harvard University Press|year=2003 |isbn=978-0-674-01202-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/magiccirclesbeat00mcki|url-access=registration}}
• {{cite book|authorlink=Ed Sanders|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=20n2VPmoiQoC&q=the+beach+boys+never+learn+not+to+love+recording&pg=PA64|title=The Family|publisher=Da Capo Press|last=Sanders|first=Ed|year=2002|isbn=1-56025-396-7}}
• {{cite book|last=Webb|first=Adam|title=Dumb Angel: The Life & Music of Dennis Wilson|publisher=Creation Books|year=2001|isbn=978-1840680515}}

• [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KiLdR7afoljKOlGMR5xizWTlC75Wvunm/view Cease to Exist: The Saga of Dennis Wilson and Charles Manson] – compendium of first-hand accounts edited by Jason Austin Penick
• {{YouTube|4zHj2jHFykc|Never Learn Not to Love (Track And Backing Vocals)}}
• {{YouTube|XGZqpNvSXfA|Never Learn Not to Love (A Cappella)}}
• {{YouTube|QWgYRcHtczU|Never Learn Not to Love (Sean Macreavy version)}}

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{{The Beach Boys singles}}

{{Manson Family}}

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Category:1968 songs

Category:Capitol Records singles

Category:Song recordings produced by Dennis Wilson

Category:Songs written by Charles Manson

Category:Songs written by Dennis Wilson

Category:The Beach Boys songs

Category:Songs about the Beach Boys