Ken Mansfield first worked with the Beatles in the 1960s when he was the American manager of Apple Records. More than likely it was his brush with Beatles fame that landed him this publishing contract, but it is his writing talent and depth of personal story that makes this spiritual memoir rock. Mansfield jumps back and forth, from his childlike fear of landing in London for the first time to his mature and reflective life in the California fishing community of Bodega Bay (seen in Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds). Beatles fans will love all the insider's scoop about the Fabulous Four, although the more recent information about Mansfield's friendship with the currently drug-free and sober Ringo Starr seems the most fresh and intriguing.
Occasionally the Beatles references seem overdone, such as the numerous chapter headings named after Beatles songs or the conspicuous song lyrics stuck into the middle of the narrative. For example, when the 50-something Ringo Starr makes a deal with the 50-something Mansfield that will make the narrator globs of money, he writes, "It was nice to get a little help from a friend!" Biblical quotes are also sprinkled throughout. Take this memoir as a long and winding road or a joyful spiritual romp that travels here, there, and everywhere but ultimately leads to the riches of contemplative living. --Gail Hudson
From Library Journal
Written by the American manager of Apple Records (the Beatles!s well-intentioned, if ill-conceived, label), this is a ruminative and ultimately very spiritual and personal journey through a
man's life. Mansfield is personal relationships with each member of the Fab Four (especially, in recent years, Ringo Starr) are illustrated with some fascinating signed artifacts that illustrate a great portion of the book and complement stories within its framework. A fly-by-night fan or first-time reader of the Beatles will probably be frustrated by the more philosophical aspects of
Mansfield's story. Ultimately, this insider's work is too anecdotal and personal to interest anyone but hardcore Beatles fans. An optional
purchase. Colin Carlson, New York. Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Product Description
Ken Mansfield can write authoritatively about the music business of the sixties and the Beatles because he was there in the midst of it-making it happen. As a young record label executive at Capitol Records, the Beatles were his clients, and they became his friends. When the lads from Liverpool began their own record label, Ken Mansfield became the first American manager of Apple Records. The Beatles, the Bible, and Bodega Bay contains his reflections on those heady days of the Beatles era, including his personal recollections of the members of the Beatles and personal reflections and commentary on the times and the people. But that is only part of the story. Ken Mansfield reconstructs his journey of discovery that led him to faith. His personal reflection on the Bible and his faith bring the narrative into the present tense and places everything into perspective. A life that has seen the wealth and power that fame and fortune can offer, now reflects on the inescapable spiritual realities, tying together The Beatles, the Bible, and Bodega Bay.
About the Author
Ken Mansfield has been record producer to many famous recording artists. During the sixties, he was an executive with Capitol and the American manager of Apple Records. Now out of the music business, he lives in Bodega Bay, California.
If I had to single out one event that stood out above all the others during the time I worked with the Beatles, it would by far be their last concert. It presented the end of a time warp, an intimate gathering, a worldwide event. I'm referring to their concert on the roof of Apple Records during the cold midday of Thursday, January 30, 1969. The fact that I ended up becoming a small part of the historical musical phenomenon called the Beatles began with being in the right place at the right time. The fact that I was working at Apple in London when this event took place is probably the penultimate example of this good fortune in my entertainment business life.
The "Let It Be" recordings, (which were called "Get Back" at that stage) were wrapping up, and we still hadn't accomplished the live footage segment that was planned for the movie. Apple executive Jack Oliver, who was the head of the production department and the foreign department, told me that they had tried to schedule a club in Germany by booking the Beatles under a different name: Ricky and the Red Streaks. The idea was to sneak the lads in, and when the local patrons showed up at this small club to see this new group from England, they would get the surprise of their lives when the Beatles walked out on stage and did an " la Cavern" show. This club gig would be filmed for footage in the Let It Be film. Of course this was a great idea, but as you can imagine, it was in reality an unkeepable secret. Word would always get out before the show date and the usual mania madness would begin.
Then came the craziest and most short-lived idea for a concert: Mal and I had the brief assignment of scouting out deserts for a giant one-time, free Beatles concert. Mal was to check some African deserts, and I was to look at locations in our southwestern United States. The idea was to set up in the middle of nowhere, announce a date, and then invite anyone and everyone who wanted to, to come see the Beatles perform live-for free!
It didn't take long to realize that the logistics and realities of this idea were preposterous, to say the least. First of all, every kid in the world would trek to this location, and the mass numbers would be overwhelming. Forget about staging, sound systems, accommodations, travel, etc. It was the stark reality of not enough toilets that killed this idea. Besides, who was going to pay for all this? How would you like to look for an insurance underwriter for this Fab Four fiasco?
The Beatles had a frustrating problem. They were a performing, live-in-your-face rock and roll band. Their immense fame swept them up and away from the very thing they did best and loved the most-rocking out in the purest rock and roll sense to a breathing, sweating live audience with the front row only a few feet away. I remember conversations that addressed this performance issue all the way back to the original Apple meetings. They were in the awkward position of suffering from their own colossal celebrity. John expressed it best when he said that "people have built us up so big in their minds that there is no way that we could go out on stage and live up to their expectations." Sgt. Pepper only made matters worse. A formal "live" concert tour was out of the question, no matter how many times it was brought up, but the need and a desire for a live show was still there.
The roof was a last minute and logical answer to getting live footage for the film. Apple staffers, stage crews, and carpenters readied the roof surface as well as the video and recording electronics. It was an actual gig. There was a time, a place, and a band. There was no advance publicity, but we definitely ended up with an audience. As zero hour neared (I think it was Mal who locked the downstairs doors), staffers, stagers, and stars alike all became willing prisoners of love of history and music that wonderful day at 3 Savile Row. . . .
London was the center of cutting edge music, and in the neighboring buildings of this vibrant city, secretaries, bankers, and deliverymen alike were jolted alive by some magnificent men making Mersey memoric music in Mecca! Everyone within a mile of that place that day will proudly state for the rest of their lives that they were there the day the music came wafting down the streets, echoing and slamming up against the red brick buildings. Melodies and rim shots blew in through the cracks and into board meetings, while lords and loonies alike stood frozen up and down the row, blended and surrealized, side by side, necks craned upward to the rooftops. They knew immediately who it was-they were just trying to figure out how it was happening. These were not the usual sounds coming down the roads of London's financial district at lunch time. . . .
For a while I stood a few feet from George with four lit cigarettes between my fingers so he could reach over and warm the tips of his fingers. Chris O'Dell (Peter Asher's assistant), Yoko Ono, Maureen Starkey, and I huddled together against the smokestack on the roof for warmth. My unlined light beige raincoat became frozen stiff and offered little protection from the cold. By this time I was a total Southern Californian who hadn't experienced a real winter in many years and hated it when the weather started dipping down into the low fifties, but you could have hosed me down in my shorts with ice water and I wouldn't have left this "happening" on the roof for all the money in the world!
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Ken Mansfield is also the author of two
other excellent books:
Once Life Matters is a second
chance ministry founded by minister/author Marty Angelo that brings hope to
those who are weary from the weight of the world with the love of Jesus Christ
Once Life Matters Ministries, Inc is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, gifts to which may be deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes.
