Content Warning: Discussion of violence, racism, misogyny, and sexual assault.
When we speak about music, it is often about its beauty and wonderfulness. While music undoubtedly positively impacts our psyche, it is a matter of public health to explore all aspects of music and how a manipulative abuser might use music in a toxic or antisocial manner to gain control over someone's mind and free will. As a composer and music therapist, I am all too aware of how music can influence the people with whom I come into contact, whether audience members, fans, colleagues, patients, clients, etc., and how it has served as the focal point for numerous relationships, and how it has a direct impact on how people somatically perceive their surroundings in any given situation.
To be clear, I will not identify serial abusers by name or the groups they may be operating. These individuals are often narcissists, and mentioning their names can unintentionally feed their narcissism by giving them the unhealthy attention they crave. This essay will only identify occurrences and locations centering on the victims rather than the abusers. Future narcissistic abusers who might be reading this essay must understand that we, as a culture, are not impressed by them and that their names will not be part of the narrative, only the names of the people they hurt. For the remainder of this essay, I will use the abbreviation N/A whenever I refer to a narcissistic abuser, partially because those are the first initials for a narcissistic abuser and partially as a tongue-in-cheek way of expressing not applicable. After all, these insecure people are not worth the attention they so desperately crave, and they won't get it from me.
Entrainment
The first concept we need to understand music's literal impact on human beings is the concept of entrainment. Entrainment is an unconscious body response to an externally perceived rhythm or, in layperson terms, hearing music, and your body moves without thinking about it (e.g., head bobbing, toe-tapping, etc.). Although there are observable examples of entrainment occurring in nonhuman individuals (see Snowball the Cockatoo), humans are the only species where all members experience entrainment. If you have ever heard a piece of music and a part of your body begins to move, you are experiencing entrainment. Entrainment happens in groups as well. Consider how a crowd begins to dance in sync with one another at a concert, religious service, or dance club.
There is a hypothesis that the human ability to entrain is necessary to attain a specific altered state of consciousness known as battle trance. They enter an altered state of consciousness by beating a drum, chanting, and using body percussion. Through this process, each human relinquishes their individuality, feels no fear or pain, becomes bound through community bonds, and behaves following the most practical needs of the group, which was necessary for our ancestors' survival in the face of giant carnivores. We have an inherent piece of our core humanity that connects to this ability. However, we must be wary as predators are out there. They will exploit and manipulate anything meant for beneficial reasons at the earliest depth within the human psyche for personal egoistic benefit. We need to be careful.
Songwriting In Hollywood
One N/A was an ex-convict pursuing a career in California as a singer-songwriter between 1967 and 1969. He eventually became friends with Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys, attending several recording sessions at Brian Wilson's studio. Wilson even considered signing him to the band's Brother Records label after N/A showed him some of his compositions in exchange for studio time. N/A booked a session at Brian Wilson's home studio that summer for several co-produced tracks by Brian and Carl Wilson. The Beach Boys reworked and recorded one of his compositions, released as the B-side to their "Bluebirds Over the Mountain" single.
This N/A claims he wrote the song expressly for the Beach Boys, saying, "The Beach Boys were fighting amongst themselves, so I wrote that song to bring them together. 'Submission is a gift; give it to your brother.' Dennis has true soul, but his brothers couldn't accept it."
Al Jardine recalled, "It was just irritating 'cause they were always around, and it was 'N/A this, N/A that.' And then he had this little thing that he and N/A worked out. It was just a melody, a melody in '*****.' Not the melody, but there was a mantra behind that. Then Dennis wanted to put it in everything. I thought, 'Oh boy, this is getting to be too much.'"
According to band engineer Stephen Desper, not crediting N/A was a decision purposefully made in retribution for missing items belonging to Wilson found in N/A's possession. Desper says N/A was a "thief and did not play by civil rules" and "was "compensated as far as they were concerned." N/A began threatening to kill Wilson for changing some lyrics, and Wilson abruptly broke ties soon after.
The most bizarre aspect of this group is how N/A made use of the Beatles' song Helter Skelter as a racist prophecy to justify the cult murders of Leno LaBianca, Rosemary LaBianca, Abigail Folger, Wojciech Frykowski, Steven Parent, Jay Sebring, Sharon Tate, and Tate's unborn child Paul Richard Polanski. N/A prophesized an African-American rebellion in America, inciting an inter-racial war, stating that The Beatles had made the same prophecy, telepathically sending coded messages to N/A and his group to record their album to set off the foreseen apocalypse. According to N/A, the lyrics portray the moment he and his followers emerge from an abandoned mine shaft in the desert outside Los Angeles. African-American militants would have killed off most white people during the uprising, and N/A would then govern over the African-Americans since they were "unsuitable to rule" the new United States.
"Are you hip to what the Beatles are saying?... Dig it, they're telling it like it is. They know what's happening in the city; blackie is getting ready. They put the revolution to music... it's 'Helter-Skelter.' Helter-Skelter is coming down. Hey, their album is getting the young love ready, man, building up steam. Our album is going to pop the cork right out of the bottle."
After murdering Rosemary and Leno LaBianca, the cult members painted the phrase (misspelled as "HEALTER SKELTER") in the victims' blood on their refrigerator door.
Other songs written by N/A were publicly released after the Tate murder trial began, including an album of his music and spoken word recordings. Following his arrest in 1970, his followers, who were not facing charges, recorded and released his original songs to the public. In 1993, a bootleg album containing live recordings created by N/A directly from his cell was recorded and distributed. The tracks have poor sound quality, and noises from the prison interject throughout the album. Well-known musicians and artists such as Guns N' Roses, Marilyn Manson, and The Lemonheads have covered and recorded several of his songs.
Sunday Service Music
Chick Corea is unquestionably one of the most influential jazz pianists and composers of the second half of the 20th Century and was a pioneering influence in the jazz fusion movement. He is an expert musician on both piano and synthesizers, and he was among the first artists to completely embrace the potential of electronic instruments. Corea's 1967 trio album, "Now He Sings, Now He Sobs," garnered widespread critical recognition. He performed electric piano on Miles Davis's landmark 1970 album "Bitches Brew," paving the way for the 1970s jazz fusion movement. His distinctive style is rhythmically precise and pianistically pragmatic. Yet, it is brimming with exploratory reharmonizations, meticulous harmonic weavings, organic phrasing, and experimental approaches such as plucking the strings of his piano and a percussion-like treatment to many of his compositions.
In 1971, the writings of one notorious fraudster N/A and his organization prompted Corea to explore a more structured musical environment toward audience engagement than creative depth. He even played on a 1982 album by N/A to accompany one of his science fiction novels. He stated: "I came into contact with N/A's material in 1968 with *main text*, and it kind of opened my mind up, and it got me into seeing that my potential for communication was a lot greater than I thought it was." He even considered the cultic leader and teachings to be "the second great discovery of my life" (after Jazz). N/A recognized Corea's skill and capitalized on it, receiving free labor from his musical expertise, connection with prominent musicians, and skillful ability to communicate with audiences. The Cults archives and copyright subsidiary organization marketed the concept album as the only original soundtrack ever produced for a book before it became a movie in a 1983 press release. All of the musicians participating were cult members at the time.
Corea is hardly the only musician who has succumbed to N/A. N/A is said to have given detailed instructions and recordings to the musicians and engineers throughout the recording process, which multiinstrumentalist Edgar Winter produced, arranged, and performed. Winter wrote, "N/R's technical insight of the recording process was outstanding," and characterized his understanding of counter-rhythm in rock as "nothing short of phenomenal." The album credits like "all music is composed by N/A. Arranged and additional writing by Edgar Winter.
In 1990, the group made a music video singalong depicting a chorus of members excitedly singing with various organization officials in the first and second rows, many of whom have since openly renounced the Church's methods or have disappeared. The music video alternates between stock footage of cult counseling sessions, missionaries handing out literature, and historical footage of their founder carrying an electronic device utilized in their rituals. There is footage of various famous members, cult real estate, gathering footage, and a cruise ship christening ceremony. It is all bizarre.
To be continued…