Classic rock has never been known for being mild, drama-free, or without the occasional crime committed, with legal cases involved. However, some rock musicians from the 20th century have been involved in cases that one could only describe as grizzly. Let’s take a walk through the dark side of classic rock music history.
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The Beatles
It’s important to mention that The Beatles are completely and totally at no fault when it comes to this stain on history. To this day, I still feel bad for the band because of how they were dragged into it, based arbitrarily on one of their songs that a horrific cult leader decided to use for his own dark agenda.
Charles Manson, the infamous cult leader who ordered the grisly murders of a number of people in the 1960s, including actress Sharon Tate, believed that the song “Helter Skelter” by The Beatles was full of conspiracy theories and secret messages, thus influencing his horrific actions.
“It’s The Beatles, the music they’re putting out,” Manson said during his trial. These kids listen to this music and pick up the message. It’s subliminal … It is not my music. I hear what it relates. It says ‘Rise.’ It says ‘Kill.’ Why blame it on me? I didn’t write the music.”
To this day, the song “Helter Skelter” is still associated with the Manson Murders.
Keith Moon
Keith Moon of The Who was no stranger to legal issues. He had a habit of being a bit impulsive, after all. But this tragic accident in 1970 almost landed the drummer in prison for life.
That year, after a night at a pub in Hertfordshire, Moon’s car was surrounded by a group of skinheads who weren’t happy to see the rock star. Neil Boland, Moon’s chauffeur, exited the car to try and reason with the group and diffuse the situation. Moon, unfortunately, panicked and stepped on the gas. Sadly, Moon was drunk and unaware that he had accidentally trapped Boland under the car, dragging him through the street. Boland died as a result of his injuries, and Moon was charged with his death. He was later cleared of that charge, but was found guilty of a number of other vehicular charges.
Joe Meek
This classic rock tragedy remains one of the darkest legal cases in the genre’s history. Joe Meek was a rock and roll songwriter and record producer active in the 1950s and 1960s. He was considered by many to be a creative genius. Sadly, he was also a very troubled man. Meek became obsessed with contacting the dead via audio devices, and as his mental health deteriorated, he became convinced that spirits and aliens were trying to control his mind.
It all came to a peak in 1967 when Meek became convinced that his landlady, Violet Shenton, was working as a spy for Meek’s rival producer, Phil Spector. During an argument over noise, Meek took a shotgun and shot her before turning the gun on himself.
Photo via Getty Images
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