There are multiple artists that perform under the name 'Desert Sun':

1. Formed up in late 2000 with the intention of being louder and fatter than every other band of the franconian desert. - first 4-Track-EP June 2001 - cool stuff!!! - many great live concerts with cool bands like Brant Bjork, The Awesome Machine, Dozer, Therapy? and many more - new Drummer in 2002 - Features in many magazines, radio-stations, online-zines, cd-compilations etc. etc. - fantastic album "american sound normal" in 2005/2006 - new drummer in 2006 - "comedown" released at decibell records may 2007 - tbc

2. Psychedelic folk-rock band from Tecopa, California formed in 1971 by former Manson Family members Paul Alan Watkins and Brooks Ramses Poston. Vocalist Jane Boltinhouse was recruited after the band's formation, along with two other musicians. As with many obscure bands from before the modern age, there is scarce documentation regarding their musical history. All of the following information is alleged by fans and enthusiasts; though contact has been attempted with them, none has been established. Thus, you should take the following information with a grain of salt, as it is mostly original research.

Desert Sun toured in the 70's in the Tecopa / Shoshone areas of California. It has been reported that "most of their performances were taped". In 1973, Poston and Watkins recorded the soundtrack for Robert Hendrickson and Laurence Merrick's crime documentary "Manson." Several Desert Sun tracks can be heard throughout the film, such as "Bright Yellow", "Young Girl", and "Is It That You Recall? (Moments)". The tracks recorded for this documentary are the only known professional recordings of Desert Sun.

Paul Watkins and Brooks Poston performed as a duo prior to forming, or during the formation of, Desert Sun. It is unclear whether they had adopted the Desert Sun title prior to expanding their group. Footage of at least one performance exists from 1973. Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KZ_uHZoWAc

Desert Sun did have some of their music recorded professionally at Reice Hamel Recording USA, 1712 Birch St., Las Vegas, NV. Purportedly, the owner of said studio was involved with President Nixon and the Watergate scandal. It is claimed by one Last.FM user that the studio was locked down by the FBI.

During live performances, Desert Sun would frequently perform compositions written by Charles Manson. A live recording of "Your Home Is Where You're Happy" opens with Poston claiming that the track is one of the only non-original compositions performed by Desert Sun. "Look at Your Game, Girl" has also been recorded live by Desert Sun, along with a composition called "The Son of Man", with no known affiliation to Manson.

At some point, Desert Sun split due to a falling out between Poston and Watkins. Watkins remarried, raised a family, pursued a mining career and wrote a book about his time with Manson's Family. Brooks and Boltinhouse ended up following a guru called Paul Crockett to Northern Washington. Brooks and Boltinhouse formed Northern Lights following their move to WA and continued to perform a number of Desert Sun's original songs.

Northern Lights allegedly reappeared in the Southern California area during the mid-1980's and performed a few concerts. Three cassette tapes were sold along with some posters and t-shirts. All three cassettes are said to sound professional and contain choirs and orchestral compositions on them. The band once again relocated after being called back to Washington by their "mentor" (Crockett).

With regards to Desert Sun's release chronology, very little is known. Poston and Watkins were credited as performers on Hope Organ's 1991 7" single "Young Girl / Harmony", indicating that a reunion of Poston and Watkins may have occured. On some represses of Manson's studio album, LIE: The Love and Terror Cult, Watkins is credited as a hornist. Poston and Watkins were both involved with The (Manson) Family Jams, a group initially led by Manson and continued into the early 70's following his arrest. In 2009, a 7" re-release of "Young Girl" from the 1973 Manson crime documentary was released by private-presses Helter Skelter Records and Celebrate Life. An eight-minute studio recording of "Young Girl" with Jane Boltinhouse on lead vocals was uploaded to YouTube with no release information.

Releases:

* A release titled "Desert Sun Presents a Potpurri of PB&J" was allegedly recorded in 1974. This release had at least 19 tracks and was issued on CD by DiRT Productions at an unknown date. Stream here.

* A release titled "Jazzacide" was recorded and released by DiRT Productions on CD at an unknown date. This release had 17 tracks.

* "Live in Death Valley" was released on CD by DiRT Productions at an unknown date. It has 18 tracks and scans of the front and back cover are available. This release seems to have been their most shared on P2P networks, though no audio source is available currently.

* "Live at Furnace Creek": Nothing is currently known about this release. 18 tracks; full audio source and incomplete tracklisting is available.

* "Live in June Lake, California at Sierra Inn's 'Sierra Belle'". This release had 18 tracks with a full tracklist and audio source available.

* "Live in Independence": At least 19 tracks; allegedly recorded in 1973. Tracklist is available for 17 tracks, missing tracks 17 and 18.

* "The Un-Official 'MANSON' movie soundtrack": While no official copy of this was ever released, a bootleg from DiRT Productions was released on CD. 11 tracks; tracks 7-9 are recordings by The (Manson) Family Jams of which Watkins and Poston both sing on.

* Young Girl: A (presumably studio) version of this song was uploaded to YouTube as an eight-minute studio recording with Jane Boltinhouse on lead vocals. It is not known where this recording is sourced from and no info was provided by the uploader in the description. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.