Los Angeles , 1965 : Hundreds of eager , fresh - faced youthful men are describe up for an audition , guitar slung across their backs . They ’re all answering an ad looking for " kinfolk & rock musician - singers " and " four harebrained son , age 17 - 21 " for acting roles in a new TV serial call off " The Monkees . " But one among them does n’t quite fit the bill , except maybe in the " insane " department . He ’s a disheveled 30 - year - old X - gyp with a by all odds unsound flavor in his eye . It ’s Charles Manson , who would go on to become one of the most notoriouscultleaders and murderers in American story . Yep , Manson want to be a Monkee , too .

Amazing story , right ? It ’s kind of mind - boggling to retrieve about what would have happen if Manson had become a Monkee . The band certainly would have had a different moral force with Manson in the wholesome Davy Jones role . Would he have eventually sucked Peter Tork , Micky Dolenz and Michael Nesmith into his " family , " leading them on a homicidal spree during time of year four ? perhaps Manson would ’ve become a teen heartthrob , buy jillion of innocent young lady friend with subliminal subject matter in hit songs like " Last Train to Clarksville " and " Daydream Believer . " The possibilities are really dateless . American culture might have totally change ( and many animation may have been lose ) if Manson had set about that fishgig .

Except , the story is n’t lawful . Not only was Manson almost a decennium too old to try out , but he was also mesh up inprisonat McNeil Island Corrections Center in Washington State at the time . So , fount closed . It ’s just another one of those amusing show - biz urban legend that swim around and never quite go forth . No one ’s ever totally indisputable how they start ; sure rumors just take handle for some reason . But there ’s something else that ’s a small off about the whole affair – Both Dolenz and Jones need credit for start the hearsay .

Snopes.com , which generally has the last word in the urban legend department , say that the Manson - Monkees story does not have a classic origin . But in December 2014 , Dolenz say that he jokingly made up the story year ago during an interview on a Los Angeles wireless show , the host of which was Jones ' base - in on " The Monkees . " Problem is , Jones plainly told a similar tale in 1999 to FlashNews.com , claiming that he had jokingly made up the story during an interview .

Jones die in 2012 , so he is n’t able-bodied to defend his call . We do n’t , and most probable never will , bang if Dolenz has been confront with the news that Jones might have one - upped him with the Manson - Monkees storey . But maybe it ’s OK if both of them wanted to put down claim to the title of starting one of Hollywood ’s most enduringurban fable . Who would n’t ?

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