1968
  February   Mike travels to Rishikesh, India for several weeks, to study (with The Beatles and
  Donovan) at the Maharishi's ashram and becomes an ardent convert to Transcendental
  Meditation.
  April   "Friends/Little Bird" single released; it will peak at #47. Brian & Marilyn's daughter
  Carnie is born on the 29th. The band begin a package tour with Buffalo Springfield and
  The Strawberry Alarm Clock which is slightly disrupted in the wake of the assassination
  of Martin Luther King Jr. (but nowhere near as badly as had long been supposed).
  May   Mike & Suzanne's second child, Christian, born on the 23rd. The band commence a
  second tour, this time with the Maharishi. The tour after is abandoned after five dates
  are played when The Maharishi pulls out to concentrate on a film project, at a cost
  estimated at between $250,000 and $500,000. Combined with the problems of the
  earlier tour, the financial losses are devastating.
  late spring   Dennis comes home one day and finds Charles Manson installed in his house on Sunset
  Blvd.
  summer   Dennis & Carl allegedly produce an album for Manson in Brian's home studio. Brian
  reportedly plays some part in the proceedings, as do members of 'The Wrecking Crew',
  the elite of the LA studio musicians used by Brian & Phil Spector. For a short period,
  Brian is committed to a psychiatric hospital, possibly of his own accord.
  June   Friends album released, the Beach Boys first 'official' stereo album and, at #126, their
  worst charting release, LP or 45, to date.
  July   formula summer single "Do It Again/Wake The World" is released, and proves to be the
  last Top Twenty hit (at #20) for eight years.
  August   Best Of The Beach Boys Volume 3 is released and charts at a new low of #153, a record
  which is swiftly beaten when Stack O' Tracks - a bizarre compilation of classic BB songs
  minus the vocals - becomes the first ever record bearing the Beach Boys name not to
  chart. Dennis moves out of the Sunset Blvd. house (Manson & co. are subsequently
  evicted  as the rent wasn't being paid). Brian produces a poetry album with musical
  backing for his friend, poet Steve Kalinich. A World Of Peace Must Come remains
  unreleased for forty years.
  September   Brian produces a Columbia single, "I'll Keep On Loving You/As Tears Go By", for Ron
  Wilson (not the Surfaris drummer !).
  December   "Bluebirds Over The Mountain/Never Learn Not To Love" single is released and,
  "Surfin'" excepted, is, at #61, the lowest charting Beach Boys 45 of all time. Although not
  credited, the B side is a Charles Manson song minimally altered by Dennis. Mike &
  Suzanne separate on Christmas Eve.
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