The Beatles, The Bible and Bodega Bay by Ken Mansfield
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 the insider’s scoop about the Fabulous Four. Ken’s talks about friendship with Ringo which is both fresh and intriguing.
Ken Mansfield has experienced a life that most people have only read about. He was in the heart and heat of the music industry when it was young and vibrant—back when creativity and passion made the music. Beginning with being the leader of the successful southern California folk group “The Town Criers” he graduated to becoming a top music industry executive and
producer in Hollywood and Nashville. As a Capitol Records executive he had the great fortune of being part of the classic era of pop and jazz working with artists such as Stan Kenton, Peggy Lee, George Shearing, The Four Freshmen, Nancy Wilson, Judy Garland, Lou Rawls, Glen Campbell, Bobbie Gentry, and Al Martino as well as the early careers of legendary country artists Buck Owens, Merle Haggard and Sonny James. But then the tempo really picked up and the pace quickened when he began working with bands like The Beach Boys, The Beatles and The Band.
A simple young man from the Indian reservation lands in Northern Idaho Ken found himself propelled into the center of a rock and roll whirlwind when the Beatles asked him to be the US Manager of their Apple Record label as well as acting as their personal liaison between the UK and the US. When the Beatles breakup seemed inevitable he moved on to become a Vice President at MGM Records and then President of a CBS label owned by Andy Williams.
Wanting to fly even higher and faster he left the corporate world to set up his own company Hometown Productions Inc. where he began producing famous artists of that era such as WaylonJennings, Jessi Colter, Don Ho, David Cassidy, Andy Williams, Claudine Longet, The Flying Burrito Bros. and more. His downfall was inevitable but the eventual result was incredible— from the ashes came the beauty and joy of the Risen Lord and in time he was commissioned to produce the renowned Imperials and eventually earned a Grammy and a Dove Award when he produced the Gaither Vocal Band’s classic “Homecoming” album.