Dennis wilson and charles manson

After a long night of recording with The Beach Boys—the platinum-selling band he had started with his brothers Brian and Carl and their cousin, Mike Love—drummer Dennis Wilson, at three o’clock on an April morning in 1968, steered his Ferrari into the driveway of his rented Los Angeles mansion.

Wilson noticed lights blazing inside and a beat-up school bus outside. The rock star enjoyed visitors—he loved a good time and encouraged friends to drop by—but didn’t recognize the bus. Wilson, 23, parked.

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As he walked warily toward his house, a long-haired man with a scraggly beard stepped out.

“Are you going to hurt me?” Wilson asked.

“Do I look like I’m going to hurt you, brother?” the stranger replied, smiling. He knelt and kissed Wilson’s feet, then stood and, like a welcoming host, gallantly ushered the musician into his own house.

Inside, a Beatles album was blaring from the stereo.

A dozen young women, several of them topless, were partying. Wilson recognized two girls. Wilson d