The Way I Heard It with Mike Rowe - 67: Charlie's Big Break

Episode Date: July 25, 2017

This aspiring songwriter was a family man who really wanted to be famous. 

This is the way I heard it. Charlie knew he had a hit the moment he picked up the guitar. The tune just seemed to write itself, and the words tumbled out of his mouth as though he had known them all his life. Now, like every other aspiring musician who had come to L.A. with stars in his eyes, Charlie hoped and prayed for a break. And finally, he was about to get one. Seated across from him were two of the biggest names in the music industry, the legendary drummer, who befriended him a few weeks earlier, and the legendary producer, the man credited with shaping the California sound, a man who could literally make him famous overnight. Charlie stroked the neck of his acoustic

guitar, took a deep breath, and began to play. And really, it couldn't have gone better. The legendary producer nodded in time with the music. The legendary drummer hummed along in harmony. In short, It was the kind of audition every performer dreams of giving. And when the song came to an end, Charlie knew he was one step closer to stardom. The legendary drummer said, hell yeah. And the legendary producer said, damn, let's make an album. And so they did. Over the next few weeks, Charlie recorded 14 original songs.

With the help of the legendary drummer and two of his legendary bandmates, Charlie found the magic every famous musician tries to capture in the studio. But the legendary producer had some issues with his lyrics. He wanted something softer, something more relatable. But like any true artist, Charlie was not inclined to compromise his work. He pushed back. He had something important to say, damn it, and no producer, however legendary, was going to boss him around. I mean, really, who did this guy think he was?

These were Charlie's songs, and he would sing them the way he wanted. Long story short, Charlie blew it. He alienated himself from the very people he needed most. The legendary producer stopped taking his calls, and the legendary drummer went back to being a rock star. Charlie took it hard, and by all accounts handled the rejection very badly. One day, after weeks of being ignited, He confronted the legendary drummer at his home on Sunset Boulevard.

There, he presented him with a gift, a single bullet. What's this for? asked the legendary drummer. It's for you, said Charlie. Every time you look at it, I want you to think how nice it is. Your kids are still safe. That did it. The legendary drummer was not one to take a threat lightly, especially toward his family. Charlie should have known that.

He beat Charlie like the drums he pummeled for a living. Then he threw him to the floor and beat him some more. He beat him till he wept like a baby. But the hardest blow had yet to fall. A year later, broke and unemployed, Charlie was in a record shop when he saw a poster of the legendary drummer playing on stage with his legendary brothers. They had a new single out called Bluebirds Over the Mountains.

a cover of an old rockabilly song. Jesus said Charlie, what a bunch of hacks. They don't even write their own songs anymore. The B-side, however, was an original called Never Learn Not to Love. Charlie was curious, naturally, so he shoplifted the record. And later that night, seconds after dropping the needle on the vinyl, Charlie dropped the beer on the floor and collapsed on the sofa in a stupefied rage.

They had changed the title. They had altered a few of the lyrics, but the rest was identical. It was the same exact song he had auditioned with, now being sung by the legendary drummer, Dennis Wilson. No one can say if having his song stolen by the Beach Boys was the incident that caused Charlie to snap.

On the other hand, no one can deny that very shortly thereafter, Charlie paid a visit to the home of that legendary producer, Terry Melcher. Terry had recently moved to Malibu, which was good news for him, but not so good for the new residence at his old address. Those people were all murdered in the most brutal fashion imaginable. Thus began the killing spree that led to the trial of the century and the eventual fame that Charlie had so desperately sought for himself from the first day of his long and miserable life. His audition song, for what it's worth, was originally called Cease to Exist, which, ironically, is precisely what Dennis Wilson and Terry Melcher have proceeded to do. ironic, since the only one still alive is the only one sentenced to die.

The not-so legendary musician still rotting in a California jail cell, still waiting for his big break, a common murderer called Charles Manson. Anyway, that's the way I heard it.