I'd like to do a song for a guy who had ten heads and ended up in jail. I don't feel sorry for him though. Neil Young Universal Amphitheater, Universal City, California, USA January 23, 1983

Here's one about a guy's in jail now. I think you will recognize him. He hasn't been around for a while though. Neil Young Cow Palace, Daly City, California, USA January 25, 1983

NY: That was based on my experiences with Charlie Manson. I met him a couple of times, and er.... very interesting person. Obviously he was quite keyed up. AS: Gulp. Before or.... after the Sharon Tate killings? NY: Before. About six months before. He's quite a writer and a singer, really unique - very unique, and he wanted very badly to get a recording contract. I was at (Beach Boys) Dennis Wilson's house when I met Charlie. Coupla times. The thing about Charlie Manson was you'd never hear the same song twice. It was one of the interesting things about him. He had a very mysterious power about him which I'm hesitant to even fuckin' think about, it's so strong and it was so dark, so I really don't like to talk about it very much. I don't even know why I brought it up. AS: Young stopped talking for a moment. Thought we'd lost him, but he continued. NY: There is a saying that if you don't look the devil in the eye you're alright, but once you've looked him in the eye you'll never forget him, and there'll always be more devil in you than there was before. And it's hard to say, you know. The devil is not a cartoon character, like God is on one side of the page and he's on the other. The devil lives in every one and God lives in every one. There's no book that tells you when the devil said to God 'fuck you' and God said (makes a raspberry noise). All those books that are written are just one person's opinion. I can't follow that, but I can see these things in other people. You can see it and feel it. But Manson would sing a song and just make it up as he went along, for three or four minutes, and he never would repeat one word, and it all made perfect sense and it shook you up to listen to it. It was so good that it scared you. AS: A couple of years later, then, Young wrote Revolution Blues: well I'm a barrel of laughs with my carbine on, I keep hopping till my ammunition's gone.... AS: So how did the superstar community take it, Neil? NY: Well, see, I wasn't touring at the time, so I didn't really feel the reaction of On The Beach. Then when I went out on the road I didn't do any of it, so.... Neil Young Melody Maker/Adam Sweeting September 7, 1985

BF: "Revolution Blues" (On the Beach) was a great portrait of the distance between being a rock star, a supposed counter-culture leader, and a revolutionary with dreams of "dune buggies coming down the mountains." What inspired that? NY: Living in L.A. knowing Manson. BF: How did you know Manson? NY: I met him through Dennis Wilson. He wanted to make records. He wanted me to introduce him to Mo Ostin at Reprise. He had this kind of music that no one was doing. He would sit down with the guitar and start playing and make up stuff, different every time, it just kept comin' out, comin' out, comin' out. Then he would stop and you would never hear that one again. Musically I thought he was very unique. I thought he really had something crazy, something great. He was like a living poet. It was always coming out. He had a lot of girls around at the time and I thought, "Well, this guy has a lot of girlfriends." He was very intense. I met him two or three times. BF: This is a weird kind of speculation but I've got to ask: Do you think if the guy had gotten an outlet he would have been a worthwhile artist? NY: I think he was a worthwhile artist anyway. I don't know why he did what he did. But I think he was very frustrated in not being able to get it - and he blamed somebody. It had to do with Terry Melcher, who was a producer of records at that time. He wanted very much to make a record. And he really was unique. BF: And thank goodness. NY: But I don't know what happened. I don't know what they got into. I remember there was a lot of energy whenever he was around. And he was different. You can tell he's different. All you have to do is look at him. Once you've seen him you can never forget him. I'll tell you that. Something about him that's...I can't forget it. I don't know what you would call it, but I wouldn't want to call it anything in an interview. I would just like to forget about it. Neil Young Interview with Bill Flanagan 1985

That '74 tour was really the swan-song of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young for me. I remember when we started the tour and I wanted to play one of my On The Beach songs, "Revolution Blues", which I wrote about Charles Manson. And Crosby and the rest ... Man, they didn't know if they wanted to stand on the same stage as me when I was doin' it. I was goin', "It's just a fuckin' song. What's the big deal? It's about culture. It's about what's really happening." See, that's why I always return to Crazy Horse over CSN&Y Neil Young The Dark Stuff - Neil Young and The Haphazard Highway That Lead To Unconditional Love by Nick Kent 1993

I played it for Crosby and he said, "Don't sing about that. That's not funny." It spooked people. It was spooky times. I knew Charlie Manson, so it spooked the hell out of me. He wasn't what you call a song writer. He was like a song spewer. But he got turned down. He got turned down by record companies. He got turned down by Reprise. I remember I told Mo Ostin, "This guy, you know, he's good. He's just a little out of control." But when he got turned down, that really pissed him off. He didn't take rejection well. It was the ugly side of the Maharishi. You know, there's this one side ... nice flowers and white robes and everything. And then ... something that looks a lot like it, but just isn't it all. Neil Young Don't Be Denied documentary, BBC October, 2008

Letter: I have long wondered what guitar Neil is playing on “Revolution Blues” and “On The Beach.” The tone and style of the soloing are different to my ear than what I hear elsewhere from that era. Thanks! NY: OLD BLACK, Silvertone amp. Not the deluxe amp. Neil Young NYA - Letters To The Editor April 22, 2019