Write this down as one of the more intriguing potential music collaborations in recent memory: Charlie Manson, after realizing that Phil Spector had been transferred to the same prison, has reached out to the legendary producer, hoping to collaborate on a musical project. According to New York Post’s Page Six, following Spector’s transfer to Corcoran State Prison in central California for the murder of Lara Clarkson, Manson, who is housed in a separate wing of the prison complex, sent a message to Spector via a guard. Spector’s wife, Rachelle Spector, tells Page Six, “A guard brought Philip a note from Manson, who said he wanted him to come over to his [lockup]. He said he considers Philip the greatest producer who ever lived. It was creepy. Philip didn’t respond.”
Manson’s brief musical career has revolved mostly around self-recorded projects that have been released intermittently on CD since his imprisonment. Prior to engineering the massacre that took the life of Sharon Tate and four others on August 9, 1969, Manson socialized with Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys and Terry Melcher, son of Doris Day and a record producer. Spector is revered for his work on a multitude of albums, including the Beatles’ Let it Be and tracks such as “Be My Baby” and “Da Doo Ron Ron.”
Spector’s publicist Hal Lifson, commenting on Manson’s communique, said, “I think Manson wants to glean some musical advice from Phil, who was a ’60s music god with his ‘Wall of Sound,’ but Phil’s like, ‘I used to pick up the phone and it was John Lennon or Celine Dion or Tina Turner, and now Charles Manson is trying to get a hold of me!’ “
