Thanks for sharing those, MB. Those both strike me as very odd references. I suppose the second one is written by someone under 30, who does not remember how widespread color television was by 1971--or, for that matter, 1969, when Manson and his gang committed those horrendous murders. Were any shows still broadcast in black and white in 1969? I don't think so. I believe at that point, even all the soaps and morning shows were color.
I saw a CD once of recordings Manson had made in his jail cell. I believe some of them were his own compositions, accompanying himself on the guitar. It didn't mention whether or not he covered "Helter Skelter" on the recording.
G.