The Family Jams is an album featuring members of the Manson Family recorded in 1970, with all songs written by Charles Manson, and first released in 1997. Manson himself does not perform on the album; most of the male vocals are sung by Steve "Clem" Grogan. Other members appearing on the album are Sandra Good, Catherine "Gypsy" Share, Catherine "Cappy" Gillies, Nancy "Brenda" Pitman, and Ruth Ann "Ouisch" Moorehouse. The album was released in 1997 by both Transparency Records and Aoroa Records simultaneously. The first disc contains a remaster of the limited-release white vinyl record The Manson Family Sings the Songs of Charles Manson. The second disc contains previously unreleased material and alternate takes.

Production

The Manson Family gathered together in late 1969, including Bruce Davis (then wanted by the FBI), in the Spahn Ranch saloon, to record music for Robert Hendrickson's Manson film. This was the beginning of the Family Jams, though the earliest tapes remained buried in a vault. Audio was recorded as the murder trial was ongoing, with the song "Get on Home" containing the eerie line referring to the killers carving crosses into their foreheads: "When you see the children with x's on their head, if you dare to look at them, soon you will be dead."

Track listing

All songs written by Charles Manson.

Disc one

Disc two

Influence

The British Doom Metal band Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats recorded a version of "Get on Home" to use as a b-side for the single release "Mind Crawler" from their 2013 album Mind Control.