Jan. 23 – Charles Manson, hoping to be remembered for something other than brutal murders, will soon release an album of songs he’s composed while in prison.

The album expresses Manson’s concern about the human condition in a style that’s been likened to country/western and reggae, said David Grossack, a Boston lawyer who heads Kenberma Associates, a promotion company for prisoners’ creative efforts.

“The songs are emotional, with some bitterness and some hope. They express Manson’s concern with the relationships between people, and some of his disillusionment with society,” said Grossack.

Manson, a frustrated musician among other things, reportedly auditioned before Beach Boy Dennis Wilson in the months before the Sharon Tate and LaBianca murders. In trial testimony following the 1969 murders, members of the Manson “family” attributed the crimes partially to Manson’s twisted interpretation of lyrics on the Beatles’ White Album.

“[Manson] has a professional voice and a creative mind. If he had been given more breaks by society, maybe he wouldn’t be in prison today,” said Grossack.

The album will be released in late February or March by a Los Angeles record company yet to be named. As to whether it might attract a public protest, Grossack says he’s “ready for anything,” hastening to add, “Prisoners have a constitutional right to express themselves.”