Chaos: The Manson Murders spends a lot of time focusing on Terry Melcher, a music producer who Charles Manson originally targeted, and here’s how he was involved with the Manson Family and what happened to him. The story of the Manson Family and their murder spree is one of the most fascinating crime stories in American history, with its drugs, cult behavior, and connections to Hollywood giving it lots of intrigue. The Manson Family’s ties to the Beach Boys and music producer Terry Melcher is always a topic of conversation, and here’s why.

Chaos: The Manson Murders is the newest Netflix crime documentary about the notorious Charles Manson, the leader of the Manson family who was convicted on charges of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. The documentary tackles the highly-discussed topic of the Manson Family, but looks at it from a new angle. Most of Chaos: The Manson Murders is focused on the conspiracism that surrounds the murders, with the documentary proposing its own theories as to why the Manson Family did what it did. While it spends a lot of time highlighting connections to the CIA, it also takes a look at Terry Melcher.

How The Manson Family’s Tate Murders Connected To Terry Melcher

They Met Through The Beach Boys

Dennis Wilson, one of the members of the Beach Boys, met two Manson Family member hitchhikers who introduced him to Charles Manson. Wilson was fascinated by Manson, with him beginning a friendship with Manson and several members of the Manson Family. Wilson was Manson’s bridge into the music industry, with him introducing Manson to Terry Melcher. Terry Melcher was the producer for the Byrds, with him and Dennis Wilson allowing Charles Manson to do recording sessions in the home studio of fellow Beach Boys member Brian Wilson.

Eventually, the Beach Boys recorded the song “Never Learn Not to Love,” which was released in 1968. The song was originally written by Charles Manson, with it first being тιтled “Cease to Exist.” However, Melcher was credited as the songwriter upon its release, with him claiming that Manson gave up his writing credit in exchange for compensation. Manson apparently disagreed with this account, with this creating a rift between the Manson Family and the Beach Boys. Shortly after the song’s release, the Manson Family destroyed two of Wilson’s cars, signaling that tensions were rising.

This is where Chaos: The Manson Murders comes in. The documentary explains that Terry Melcher previously lived on the property that was occupied by Sharon Tate on the night of the murder of Sharon Tate and four others. The documentary proposes two theories. It could be that Manson mistakenly believed that Melcher still lived there. Manson showed up to the property in March 1969, asking to see Melcher, where he was informed that Melcher had moved to Miami. The other theory is that Manson knew Melcher wouldn’t be at the house, with the murders acting as a threat.

Did Terry Melcher Continue His Relationship With The Manson Family After The Murders?

Based On The Chaos Book

Terry Melcher’s actions after the Tate-LaBianca murders are also the subject of a lot of speculation. Chaos: The Manson Murders is based on the 2019 Tom O’Neill book CHAOS: Charles Manson, the CIA and the Secret History of the Sixties. In the book, O’Neill claims to have found documents that were hidden by LA District Attorney Vincent Bugliosi. According to O’Neill, these documents are evidence that Melcher continued to ᴀssociate with the Manson Family after the Tate-LaBianca murders but before the arrests.

These documents allegedly reveal that the Tate murders were designed to scare Melcher, with the Manson Family using it as a threat against Melcher after he refused to sign Charles Manson. The book also claims that Melcher was in a Sєxual relationship with a 15-year-old member of the Manson Family. The girl’s father lived on Melcher’s property according to O’Neill’s book, with this being a big part of the theories discussed in CHAOS: Charles Manson the CIA and the Secret History of the Sixties and its Netflix adaptation.

Terry Melcher Continued His Career In The Music Industry Before His Death In 2004

After The Manson Family Murderers Were Arrested

After the events surrounding the Manson Family, Terry Melcher went back to his life as a normal music producer. He continued producing for the Byrds, with him even recording his own albums. Melcher continued to produce for various music artists while also dabbling in television production. Melcher then died of melanoma on November 19, 2004, forever leaving the mysteries discussed in Chaos: The Manson Murders up in the air.