Dennis started writing songs and Carl acted as a producer. Everything seemed to be going well until terror crossed their paths.
Ironically, of all the band members, the only one who knew how to surf was Dennis. He was tall, handsome, fit, with black hair, which made it quite easy for him to attract the girls he wanted.
Thus, one day in 1968, he picked up two hitchhiking girls whom he housed in his home. During one of their conversations, he told them that he followed the beliefs of the Maharishi, founder of transcendental meditation. The young women, who ended up moving in with him, told him that they also had a guru named Charlie who had just been released from prison after 12 years. It was Charles Manson.
At that time, Dennis felt quite vulnerable. Occasionally, he remembered the tough childhood their father had given them, a drunken abuser who spread terror. On one occasion, the singer said, "We had a crappy childhood... my father was a tyrant. If he saw us cry, he would beat us. I don't know any kids who suffered like we did."
Shortly after, when the Beach Boys drummer returned to his Sunset Boulevard mansion, he found not only those two girls but a dozen more, some topless symbolizing the era's sense of freedom. Manson, who was trying to make a name for himself in the music world after learning to play the guitar from a gangster while in prison, was also at Wilson's house.
Charles Manson: 50 years of the eternal trial of a disturbed man
When Brian Wilson heard one of Manson's songs, he commented, "Charlie is cosmic, man. He's deep, listens to Beatles records and discovers messages." However, it was Dennis who fell under his spell, investing over $100,000 in Charlie's music dream to become someone in the music industry.
In an interview with Record Mirror, Dennis even said, "When I met Charlie, I discovered he had great musical ideas. Now we write together. He's a bit foolish in some aspects, but I accept his approach and have learned from him." Gradually, the Manson family influenced Wilson's life to the point where they practically took over his residence. In the mentioned interview, Dennis revealed, "I gave away between 50% and 60% of my money. Now I live in a small room, with only one candle, and I am happy finding myself."
The friendship became so intense that the ex-convict wrote the song Never Learn Not to Love (1968) on one of The Beach Boys' albums, although the authorship was attributed to Terry Melcher, son of actress Doris Day, a prominent producer and key figure in the emergence of the California rock sound.
It was said that they paid Manson $100,000 for the rights, but he disagreed. Therefore, a few days after the album's release, Manson's sect destroyed two of Dennis's cars. This threw him into a panic. He had lost himself so much that he lost his way in life, until he saw the light and realized he was surrounded by the wrong people.
Upon learning the terrible news of the murder of Sharon Tate, Roman Polanski's heavily pregnant wife, and six others on the night of August 8-9, 1969, Dennis plunged into a severe depression, worsened by his addiction to alcohol and drugs. He tried to find peace and calm, but without success. To David Leaf, a Beach Boys biographer, he confessed, "I know why Charles Manson did what he did. Someday I will tell the world. I will write a book explaining why he did it." But he didn't have time. He chose to continue sinking into drug use, dying in 1983 at the age of 39 drowned on a beach. He was completely broke.
He left behind his widow, Shawn Marie Love, whom he had married a few months before his death, and with whom he had his son Gage Dennis (43). Previously, Dennis had been married to Carole Freedman (from 65 to 68), with whom he had his daughter Jennifer (59) and son Carl (53); with Barbara Charren, from 70 to 74, and with Karen Lamm, whom he married twice, from 76 to 77 and from 78 to 80.