Rating: 
Summary: The Ken Mansfield Story as it involves the Beatles.
Review: If it was either a biography or a Beatles book, it could be good. He tells of three things: life with The Beatles, life after The Beatles(involving Ringo), and his spiritual revelations. It seems to me he merely throws The Beatles in here to draw readers, as he has nothing important to say about them. The other portions of his life have Beatles reference thrown about liberally, which gets very annoying. Ultimately, I guess it is a partial autobiography with The Beatles as advertisement. I guess I'm just vaguely annoyed at how much he uses The Beatles in here, despite this not being about them. I guess it could be interesting if you happen to be particularly interested in Mansfield.
Rating: 
Summary: remarkable
Review: Ken Mansfield has written (with a little help from his FRIEND) the most Interesting (Beatles), Powerful (Biblical references and outstanding prayers!) and Beautiful (in it's entirity) book that I have read in a very long time. The insight into the Beatles is refreshingly honest and believable which is rare in books on the Beatles and the story of his travel down the path of life to Real Love is awesome. I loved this book and so will you!!!
Rating:
Summary: remarkable
Review: Ken Mansfield has written (with a little help from his FRIEND) the most Interesting (Beatles), Powerful (Biblical references and outstanding prayers!) and Beautiful (in it's entirity) book that I have read in a very long time. The insight into the Beatles is refreshingly honest and believable which is rare in books on the Beatles and the story of his travel down the path of life to Real Love is awesome. I loved this book and so will you!!!
Rating: 
Summary: The Journey
Review: Ken Mansfield's book is a touching story of a man on a journey. A jouney of fame, fortune, sorrow and peace. A man who was close to one the most famous and well known musical groups of all times. I fell on to this book by accident, and I'm glad I did. The book's facts and pics of the fab four along with the personal stories and perspectives on the characters of the group is worth it alone to read the book. But that just gets your foot in the door. Ken as he is pouring out his heart and thoughts is pulling you into reaching for more insight, more intamacy and more of the Creator. A must read!
Rating:
Summary: From one extreme to the next
Review: Ken Mansfield's direct involvement with The Beatles, started as far back as August 1965 when Ken, then working as the West Coast district promotion manager for Capitol Records, played host to the fab four during the time they spent in Los Angeles (Hollywood Bowl concerts, press conferences, etc.) and his relationship with them was further formalised when in August 1968 he was asked to become the U.S. manager of Apple Records. His formal relationship with Apple ended in September 1969 when he resigned his position at Apple to join MGM records. Throughout the years he has however stayed in contact with The (ex-)Beatles and quite a few old Apple people.Like so many before him, Ken has written a book about the time he spent with The Beatles and their entourage, before and after the break-up. Looking at the role Ken played at the time, he is indeed a candidate to do so. The book he has written is however not a straightforward account of what happened. Ken is a born again Christian. His time as a hot shot record executive was filled with the proverbial sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll (no details about this side of him provided in the book) and Ken has since learnt to regret the error of his ways. Ken has seen the light and likes to hammer that point home. The structure of the book is therefore such that you get a chapter of Beatle history, followed by a chapter with Ken's religious experiences and so on.. If you're not a religious person, like myself, this gets pretty irritating after a while. Like so many other repenting 'sinners', Ken would seem to go from one extreme to the next, so much so that on page 28 he frankly admits that he would like to grab the first unbeliever he finds by the nape of the neck and drag him to the beach to look at the glorious sunset and dare him to deny God and his immense glory. Religious Zero Tolerance. If you look beyond the objections stated above (and those will not apply to everyone), it's actually quite a good read. In what is overall a pleasant style, Ken tells an insiders story of the days at Apple. It's unfortunate that he deemed it necessary to interject many a Beatles song title as a play on words in the text (with the phrase 'de-tripper- ja vu' (page 278) as the tragic highlight of his efforts). The Beatle (-related) photographs in the book are all in black & white, but are all photo's I hadn't seen before. The photographs printed with the religious chapters are full colour views of stunning sunsets, etc. All in all it's a good quality book in terms of lay-out, etc. An interesting story is the one about the mayhem that occurred whenever a new Beatles record was released. In his days before his direct involvement with Apple, Ken was responsible for promoting Capitol product, which of course included The Beatles. Of course, every radio station wanted the record first, while Capitol's goal was to get the record to every station at the same time. If a particular station managed to play their copy of the record first, this seriously impacted radio play for other Capitol artists as the radio stations that didn't get the new Beatles record in time, would refuse to play other Capitol product. Listener ratings are everything to radio stations, as it determines the amount of advertising that is going their way and with that makes a big financial difference. Competing radio station even played their call letters over any new Beatles song (usually a 3 or 4 letter code) so other stations couldn't simply tape the song and then broadcast it themselves. As it was next to impossible to maintain complete security over the release of a Beatle record, it was decided in the end to send copies to all stations well in advance of the official release and to determine a time and date when the record could be broadcast for the first time. Stations that violated the agreement would then not be sent an advance copy when the next Beatles record was about to be released. Sounds simple, but it worked. When Ken came to London in August 1968 to start his career as the U.S. Manager for Apple Records, Peter Brown (Executive Director of NEMS Enterprises, the Beatles' management company) set up a complete schedule so that he would get to spend time with all four Beatles (and Yoko). So he had lunch with the five of them, had dinner with Ringo, breakfast with George, and went nightclubbing with Paul. Ken didn't get to spend a lot of time alone with John during all those years. The best anecdote in the book for me is the one about Ken and Allen Klein. Klein, as we know, wanted to take over Apple and The Beatles and had the support of John (+ Yoko), Ringo and George. It's also well known that Paul wasn't having any of it. Klein started firing people all over the place, but Ken had resigned to join MGM Records. Klein tried to keep Ken on board before ken had officially left Apple and a 'severance conference' between the two was agreed in the Beverly Hills Hotel. Klein tried everything he could to keep Ken at Apple (he offered to triple Ken's salary and not only would The Beatles be Ken's responsibility, but also The Rolling Stones and Donovan!). Ken was still drawn to MGM Records, but found it impossible to say NO to Klein outright. To decide the issue, Ken then challenged Klein to a set of tennis (bear in mind that Klein didn't project the most athletic posture). They would play at the Bel Air Tennis Club the next day. If Klein could win, Ken would be on the plane to London with him the next day. Klein proved to be a much tougher opponent than Ken had ever imagined him to be and Klein talked all through the match, trying to persuade Ken to stay with Apple, regardless of the outcome of the match. In what seemed to be a set that would never end, Ken eventually beat Klein 15-13 (no tie-break then) and never saw him again. In the first chapter of his book, Ken describes his feelings as he's flying to London in August 1968 to meet with the formidable fab four (who then accounted for approximately 50% of Capitol's business- Keep it together, Ken!) and concludes that chapter with 'God, I'm scared'. In the last chapter (December 1996) he reveals that he has been diagnosed with incurable cancer and tells the reader that he can deal with it thanks to his re-found faith. He ends that chapter with 'God, I'm no longer scared'. I sincerely wish him strength, from whatever source it can be drawn from.
Rating:
Summary: Before and Now
Review: One person's journey through life as he/she searches for meaning is as personal as a name. Ken Mansfield's search is eloquently and joyfully presented in his book. The fact that his life intersected with 4 of the most famous musicians ever makes his journey even more fascinating. The old life/new life style of the book helps the reader see a "before" and a "now." This book is a wonderful and very personal view of how God guided Mr. Mansfield to the place he now calls home. I laughed, and cried as I read this book and would recommend it to anyone who is searching for meaning in his or her life.
Rating:
Summary: Inside the Beatle's; Lovingly Presented by Ken Mansfield
Review: This book about the Beatles definitely stands alone in the vast collection of archival histories, trivia and purported authoritative "insider" books on these four icons of popular music. It stands alone in its innate dignity, not reverence for the four men who comprised the Beatles and lived "in the eye of the hurricane",as John Lennon said. Its humanness is as vulnerable as it is readily apparent. Mr. Mansfield delivers an extraordinarily unique account of his work with the Fab Four without bending to third-hand recollections and racy rumours. He is not out to prove anything. As one of the few people specifically asked by the Beatles personally to help hold Apple together, his perspective is wholly noteworthy and refreshingly devoid of self-promotion and self-praise...much as we have come to expect from and respect in Sir George Martin. I heartily recommend this book for all Beatle fans who are bored with the old, hackneyed retelling of the same tired stories, or those interested in an inside look into this specific eye-of-the-hurricane told by an intelligent man who was actually on the boat in "the perfect storm." Mr. Mansfield, in the end, becomes much more than an itinerant historian...he becomes a friend. Bravo.
Rating:
Summary: The Day in the Life of a True Man
Review: This book was more than just another Beatles memory road book. I started out reading it for that reason & found myself continuing it for other reasons that you just have to read it to understand. It did not end the way I thought it would & every story made me feel like apart of the life he led. His words to & from God were touching. I definately have to go to Bodega Bay now..No two ways around it. Thanks Ken!
Rating:
Summary: The Day in the Life of a True Man
Review: This book was more than just another Beatles memory road book. I started out reading it for that reason & found myself continuing it for other reasons that you just have to read it to understand. It did not end the way I thought it would & every story made me feel like apart of the life he led. His words to & from God were touching. I definately have to go to Bodega Bay now..No two ways around it. Thanks Ken!
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful!
Review: This is a really well-crafted book, perfectly balanced between his personal history with the Beatles and his present spiritual journey. He writes in a way that I relate to: you feel what he felt. Deeply moving. Now I'm waiting for my wife to finish reading it, so that I can read it again.
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