qxmag.co.uk

Charles Manson left Spahn’s Movie Ranch in January 1969 and re-positioned himself and the Family in a yellow house in Canoga Park. This move was apparently inspired by the Family’s need to monitor the ‘tension’ in Los Angeles. Manson called the house the ‘Yellow Submarine’ as it enabled the group to remain “submerged beneath the awareness of the outside world”. The Family waited in the ‘Yellow Submarine’ for the impending apocalypse, dubbed the ‘Helter Skelter’ by Manson.

Manson decided in February 1969 that the Family must create an album whose songs would instigate the imminent chaos. Manson foresaw a war between whites and blacks and then a war between whites who would be split between racist and non-racist elements, eventually leading to the complete annihilation of the white race. The Family would then rule over the victorious black race, the Family waiting for the race to succeed in “the bottomless pit”, a secret city supposedly beneath Death Valley. The Family spent their time at the Canoga park house plotting the Family escape to “the bottomless pit” and preparing their album. What a bunch of weirdo’s – I bet they didn’t have uhrens!