Ken Mansfield: Remembering the Beatles
CBN.com It was 1964: The British invasion. Four young lads from Liverpool began a musical revolution that changed history and defined modern rock 'n' roll. John, Paul, George and Ringo were the envy of millions of screaming fans, but to Ken Mansfield, author of The Beatles, the Bible, and Bodega Bay, they were just clients.
Ken was the U.S. manager of Apple Records. Later he was a producer for some of pop and country music’s most famous artists. But Ken’s walk of fame left his heart and his bank account empty.
I spoke with Ken to learn more about the Beatles, the Bible and Bodega Bay.
SANDY ENGEL: You’ve written an unusual book, a beautiful poetic odyssey and at the same time an inside look at your life working with the Beatles. How did you come to work with them?
KEN MANSFIELD: I was in the right place at the right time. I had gotten a job with Capitol Records in promotions on the West Coast and, typically, when a band came into our area, then we worked with that band in our area. So categorically, they were just another band.
It’s almost like the whole idea of me and this book was to tell you how normal and natural these guys really were. They came from a small town, they grew up with working class values and moral code and honesty, and that kind of thing. When you got inside all this stuff that was going on around, they were just very, very normal.
SANDY: What was your overall impression of the chemistry between the Beatles?
KEN: There was chemistry between the four of them. That’s why they were the Beatles. That’s never happened. Individually, each one was just so natural, so easy to be around. You never got this impression that 'I’m a star and your not.'
SANDY: If you had to pick a highlight of all your experiences with the Beatles, what would that be?
KEN: The last concert on the roof. I can’t believe I was in London at that time working in the Apple building when we decided to go ahead and do that. It was the last time they performed. They hadn’t performed for years. It was basically the end, so on that day, there were maybe just 12 of us, counting the camera men and a couple of Apple staffers, that really saw them do that show, and I was standing just a few feet from them. I’ll never forget that as long as I live.
SANDY: I know there’s a dark side obviously to rock and roll, drugs, sex and violence. How were you involved?
KEN: For me, on a level of one to ten I would say I was at a nine during that period in terms of just being immersed in the whole thing. The funny thing about how Satan works is I swore I was never going to do this. I was never going to get into this thing. I see all these other stars and how their lives fall apart, but it’s so gradual. It’s just a day at a time. You give up one little thing and pretty soon one day you’re there. You’re just like the rest of them.
SANDY: Your association with George Harrison took you on a 10 year foray into vegetarianism and the metaphysical -- some pretty scary stuff.
KEN: I was doing crystal healings; I was astro projecting. I was responsible for teaching a lot of people their practices, and I became a favored Chala. In the New Age thing, a Chala is like a disciple to a very famous guru, at the time, guru Roshinananda. It took me nowhere, absolutely nowhere. I often have wondered, I don’t see too many old successful New Agers. You know, you really think about it. It doesn’t pay out in the end.
SANDY reporting: After the Beatles, a series of disappointments brought Ken’s brilliant career to a screeching halt. Even in Nashville, where Ken had produced several successful country artists, he met a dead end.
KEN: I thank God my career just totally went away, because if I would’ve stayed as successful as I was -- and I was successful young, and for the longest time was the biggest artist in the world -- I never would have needed Him. I wouldn’t have even considered it. He had to, I think, maybe see how far down He could really take me. Of course, He could take me down quite a ways.
SANDY reporting: Even as Music City was proving to be more like Heartbreak Hotel, Ken met Connie.
KEN: We fell in love and it came to the point where it was getting serious. She spent a year preparing herself to meet a husband. She’d actually prayed about it. She wanted a man from the streets who wouldn’t go back to the streets. She was very specific in her prayer. She didn’t’ really quite expect someone as much from the streets as I was, but it just came to the point where we had a constant argument. We would go out to dinner and I would say, 'Yes, Jesus is A way,' and she would say, 'No, He’s THE way.' I said, 'Well, there are many paths up the mountain top and I can accept your Jesus as a master. Why can’t you accept my guru and my beliefs? We just couldn’t get through it, so one day she just said, 'I cannot be unequally yoked. I have to make a choice and I choose Jesus.' When she did that, I just realized how much it meant to her and I thought, 'I want some of this.'
SANDY reporting: Ken was so moved by Connie’s faith that he became a Christian, and eventually they married. Ken’s career took them back to California and they settled in Bodega Bay. But Ken’s career disappointments weren’t over yet.
KEN: We moved to the coast and that fell apart in three months, which just was this continuation of this thing of just trying to get my hopes up and then being dashed and all that. And that’s what threw me on the beach in Bodega Bay. And here I am sitting out here on the edge with nothing. We had moved lock stock and barrel to Bodega Bay. That’s where most of the book was written, down on that beach with nothing.
SANDY: Almost at the end of the book you write a sentence, 'Today I find that I have incurable cancer and I have an incredible peace.' How is that possible?
KEN: It’s in God’s hand. There is a purpose in it. I don’t think that there’s anything in my life that doesn’t have a purpose, His purpose. To me it’s like He’s revealing something to me through this, and it’s like I said, maybe I don’t want to move from Bodega Bay, and of course I don’t want to have cancer, but if I’m going to be moved out of any comfort zone, I’m in. Then it’s His move. I’m trusting Him on this. I just think something good is going to come out of it. I really do.
SANDY: You have written a spiritual odyssey that starts with the Beatles, goes through the Bible, and to Bodega Bay. What message is it that you want people to take from this book?
KEN: There is nothing that is worldly or that you and I can create that has a lasting value if He’s not involved. I was at a position one time where I had an estate and guest houses, a summer home and all the toys, all the prestige and everything, and I could have walked away 25 years ago and cashed in and had enough to live on the rest of my life. I had it made. It went away, and I swear it went away in about a year’s time. I think the point is that without Him you’ve really got nothing. In looking back, that was the big void there. Now I don’t have anything and I feel great. I’m happy, and that is the difference.
Ken was the U.S. manager of Apple Records. Later he was a producer for some of pop and country music’s most famous artists. But Ken’s walk of fame left his heart and his bank account empty.
I spoke with Ken to learn more about the Beatles, the Bible and Bodega Bay.
SANDY ENGEL: You’ve written an unusual book, a beautiful poetic odyssey and at the same time an inside look at your life working with the Beatles. How did you come to work with them?
KEN MANSFIELD: I was in the right place at the right time. I had gotten a job with Capitol Records in promotions on the West Coast and, typically, when a band came into our area, then we worked with that band in our area. So categorically, they were just another band.
It’s almost like the whole idea of me and this book was to tell you how normal and natural these guys really were. They came from a small town, they grew up with working class values and moral code and honesty, and that kind of thing. When you got inside all this stuff that was going on around, they were just very, very normal.
SANDY: What was your overall impression of the chemistry between the Beatles?
KEN: There was chemistry between the four of them. That’s why they were the Beatles. That’s never happened. Individually, each one was just so natural, so easy to be around. You never got this impression that 'I’m a star and your not.'
SANDY: If you had to pick a highlight of all your experiences with the Beatles, what would that be?
KEN: The last concert on the roof. I can’t believe I was in London at that time working in the Apple building when we decided to go ahead and do that. It was the last time they performed. They hadn’t performed for years. It was basically the end, so on that day, there were maybe just 12 of us, counting the camera men and a couple of Apple staffers, that really saw them do that show, and I was standing just a few feet from them. I’ll never forget that as long as I live.
SANDY: I know there’s a dark side obviously to rock and roll, drugs, sex and violence. How were you involved?
KEN: For me, on a level of one to ten I would say I was at a nine during that period in terms of just being immersed in the whole thing. The funny thing about how Satan works is I swore I was never going to do this. I was never going to get into this thing. I see all these other stars and how their lives fall apart, but it’s so gradual. It’s just a day at a time. You give up one little thing and pretty soon one day you’re there. You’re just like the rest of them.
SANDY: Your association with George Harrison took you on a 10 year foray into vegetarianism and the metaphysical -- some pretty scary stuff.
KEN: I was doing crystal healings; I was astro projecting. I was responsible for teaching a lot of people their practices, and I became a favored Chala. In the New Age thing, a Chala is like a disciple to a very famous guru, at the time, guru Roshinananda. It took me nowhere, absolutely nowhere. I often have wondered, I don’t see too many old successful New Agers. You know, you really think about it. It doesn’t pay out in the end.
SANDY reporting: After the Beatles, a series of disappointments brought Ken’s brilliant career to a screeching halt. Even in Nashville, where Ken had produced several successful country artists, he met a dead end.
KEN: I thank God my career just totally went away, because if I would’ve stayed as successful as I was -- and I was successful young, and for the longest time was the biggest artist in the world -- I never would have needed Him. I wouldn’t have even considered it. He had to, I think, maybe see how far down He could really take me. Of course, He could take me down quite a ways.
SANDY reporting: Even as Music City was proving to be more like Heartbreak Hotel, Ken met Connie.
KEN: We fell in love and it came to the point where it was getting serious. She spent a year preparing herself to meet a husband. She’d actually prayed about it. She wanted a man from the streets who wouldn’t go back to the streets. She was very specific in her prayer. She didn’t’ really quite expect someone as much from the streets as I was, but it just came to the point where we had a constant argument. We would go out to dinner and I would say, 'Yes, Jesus is A way,' and she would say, 'No, He’s THE way.' I said, 'Well, there are many paths up the mountain top and I can accept your Jesus as a master. Why can’t you accept my guru and my beliefs? We just couldn’t get through it, so one day she just said, 'I cannot be unequally yoked. I have to make a choice and I choose Jesus.' When she did that, I just realized how much it meant to her and I thought, 'I want some of this.'
SANDY reporting: Ken was so moved by Connie’s faith that he became a Christian, and eventually they married. Ken’s career took them back to California and they settled in Bodega Bay. But Ken’s career disappointments weren’t over yet.
KEN: We moved to the coast and that fell apart in three months, which just was this continuation of this thing of just trying to get my hopes up and then being dashed and all that. And that’s what threw me on the beach in Bodega Bay. And here I am sitting out here on the edge with nothing. We had moved lock stock and barrel to Bodega Bay. That’s where most of the book was written, down on that beach with nothing.
SANDY: Almost at the end of the book you write a sentence, 'Today I find that I have incurable cancer and I have an incredible peace.' How is that possible?
KEN: It’s in God’s hand. There is a purpose in it. I don’t think that there’s anything in my life that doesn’t have a purpose, His purpose. To me it’s like He’s revealing something to me through this, and it’s like I said, maybe I don’t want to move from Bodega Bay, and of course I don’t want to have cancer, but if I’m going to be moved out of any comfort zone, I’m in. Then it’s His move. I’m trusting Him on this. I just think something good is going to come out of it. I really do.
SANDY: You have written a spiritual odyssey that starts with the Beatles, goes through the Bible, and to Bodega Bay. What message is it that you want people to take from this book?
KEN: There is nothing that is worldly or that you and I can create that has a lasting value if He’s not involved. I was at a position one time where I had an estate and guest houses, a summer home and all the toys, all the prestige and everything, and I could have walked away 25 years ago and cashed in and had enough to live on the rest of my life. I had it made. It went away, and I swear it went away in about a year’s time. I think the point is that without Him you’ve really got nothing. In looking back, that was the big void there. Now I don’t have anything and I feel great. I’m happy, and that is the difference.
