Ken Mansfield
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ken Mansfield is a Grammy Award-winning record producer, former U.S. Manager of Apple Records, a high-ranking executive for several record labels, songwriter and the author of two books.
Since the 1960s, Mansfield has been associated with an array of notable performers including The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Waylon Jennings, James Taylor, Roy Orbison, Don Ho, the Imperials, Tompall Glaser, Harry Nilsson, Glen Campbell, Buck Owens, Lou Rawls, Andy Williams, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Eric Burdon, Badfinger, Ray Stevens, Jackie Lomax, The Four Freshmen, Judy Garland, Dolly Parton, David Cassidy, Nick Gilder, Claudine Longet and Jessi Colter. In the 1970s, he helped popularize the Outlaw movement in country music by producing Waylon Jennings' top-selling album, Are You Ready for the Country as well as the crossover hit "I’m Not Lisa" by Jessi Colter. In 2000, the former record executive-turned-producer embarked on a literary career with The Beatles, The Bible and Bodega Bay. His follow-up, The White Book - The Beatles, the Bands, the Biz: An Insider's Look at an Era, was released in 2007.
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[edit] Early life
Mansfield was born in Noxen, Pennsylvania on October 14, 1937. Moving west at age 5, he grew up in Lewiston, Idaho (population 12,000) - the son of a sawmill worker and housewife. The remote area in the northern Idaho panhandle was called the “Banana Belt” because of the comparatively moderate weather. In 1955 when Mansfield turned 17, he joined the Navy to leave his small town roots behind.
Upon his discharge from active duty in 1957, Mansfield enrolled at the University of Idaho eventually transferring to San Diego University, where he received a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Marketing. His first job was doing computerized cost, budget, and program analysis for the Saturn and Surveyor space programs in San Diego. At the same time, Mansfield sang with a folk group called The Town Criers and opened a nightclub in San Diego's suburb of La Mesa. The popular club, called The Land of Oden, was La Mesa’s former City Hall.
[edit] Capitol Records
Through his music contacts, Mansfield learned of a job opening at Capitol Records in Los Angeles. Armed with his marketing degree and a borrowed suit, the 27-year-old was hired in January 1965 as the company's District Promotion Manager West Coast, making him one of the youngest executives with the firm.
Mansfield was promoted quickly and was one of the first young American executives the Beatles worked with since their ascension to stratospheric stardom. Up until then, everyone they met in the executive world outside their isolated and insulated realm was a Lord of EMI (the parent company that owned Capitol Records), a corporate chairman or a high-ranking executive. Mansfield's age made him more accessible to the Beatles, who soon invited him to become a member of their inner sanctum.
In addition to the Beatles, he was also responsible for overseeing the recording careers of the Beach Boys, Glen Campbell, The Band, Bobbie Gentry, Lou Rawls, Buck Owens, The Steve Miller Band and Quicksilver Messenger.
[edit] Apple Records
In 1967 when the Beatles decided to form their own corporation, they turned to Mansfield to run their record division and named him the U.S. Manager of Apple Records in 1968. Mansfield joined his four new bosses setting up the worldwide launch of Apple Records and the U.S. management of subsequent projects such as The Beatles (aka The White Album), Yellow Submarine, Abbey Road, Let It Be and Hey Jude. In addition to the Beatles, Mansfield looked after the careers of Apple artists such as James Taylor, Mary Hopkin, Badfinger and Jackie Lomax.
At the time of the Apple debut, everyone agreed that the Beatles first single on the new label had to be a smash. The group was stymied on whether to release “Hey Jude” or “Revolution” as Apple's first single. “Hey Jude,” which clocked in at an unprecedented 7:11, was the obvious choice. However, it was still the era of the less than three-minute record and Top 40 stations gained listeners by playing the most hits in an hour. Mansfield came up with the solution by bringing an advance copy of the two songs from the UK to American and playing them to a few trusted radio station managers, who were unanimous in their decision that “Hey Jude” was the hit. They were right. When the song was released in September 1968, it topped the Billboard charts for nine weeks and became the Beatles' best selling single of all time.
In his position as an Apple executive and personal liaison between the UK and US, Mansfield was among a handful of eyewitnesses to watch The Beatles’ last-ever gig on the rooftop of their London headquarters on January 30, 1969, which was captured in the Academy Award-winning documentary, Let It Be. Mansfield is easy to recognize as he was the only one on the roof that day wearing a white coat.
When the Apple empire began to crumble Mansfield turned down an offer by businessman Allen Klein to stay despite the promise of his salary being tripled. Mansfield saw the writing on the wall and moved over to MGM Records as its vice president in charge of marketing and artist relations. Two years later he was hired by Andy Williams to be the president of his CBS record company, Barnaby Records in 1971 - an artist roster that over the years boasted Ray Stevens, Jimmy Buffett, the Everly Brothers, Paul Anka, Lenny Welch and Claudine Longet.
Mansfield's tenure with Barnaby lasted two years (1971-'73) chiefly because he wanted to take the label heavy into the emerging contemporary country market, which evolved into the exciting “Outlaw” movement. Williams saw things differently and Mansfield resigned over the dispute.
[edit] Record producer
When Mansfield left CBS/Barnaby Records in 1973, he finally fulfilled his longtime career goal of becoming a full-time record producer. He set up Hometown Productions Inc. and went on to produce the acts that he wanted to bring to Barnaby Records – Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Jessi Colter, Tompall Glaser and other cutting-edge and Outlaw country artists.
Mansfield's five-year producer tenure with the Outlaws started in 1973 with the track “We Had It All” from the classic Waylon Jennings album, Honky Tonk Heroes. Mansfield went on to produce approximately 30 songs for the Outlaws, including Jennings' No. 1 top-selling album Are You Ready for the Country and No. 1 single "Amanda" from his Rambling Man album as well as Jessi Colter's No. 1 crossover single, “I’m Not Lisa” and No. 1 album Jessi Colter. A series of Top Ten albums and singles produced by Mansfield with both artists found a place on the charts and playlists in country and pop categories. The personal relationship between Jennings and Mansfield grew so close that one time the singer asked Mansfield if it would be OK to list him as next of kin on his emergency medical records.
Mansfield also produced The Flying Burrito Brothers, David Cassidy, Don Ho, Nick Gilder and David Geffen’s boy band OXO, before making his way to Nashville in the 1980s.
[edit] Born again
While the 1980s were a decade of prosperity for most Americans, they were not for Mansfield. Facing insurmountable debt, he was financially and spiritually broken when he arrived in Nashville in 1984. Mansfield had gone from having servants, gardeners, housekeepers, cooks, gofers, drivers, Mercedes cars, expensive toys, guest houses, fame, bucks and glory to bankruptcy and desperation. He arrived in Tennessee with three suitcases and three cardboard boxes – the only mementos of his heady days in Los Angeles.
After a born-again experience in the late 1980s, Mansfield rebounded in his personal and professional life. He produced the legendary Imperials and the Gaither Vocal Band's 1991 album, Homecoming. The Grammy Award-winning album featured a who's who of gospel artists including the Gaither Family, the Speer Family, Jake Hess, Hovie Lister, Howard and Vestal Goodman, George Younce, Glen Payne, James Blackwood, Eva Mae LeFevre, Buck Rambo, J.D. Sumner, The Stamps and Rudy and Larry Gatlin of the Gatlin Brothers.
The new millennium brought even greater fortunes to Mansfield, who penned The Beatles, The Bible and Bodega Bay in 2000. Published by Broadman & Holman, the work had three printings and was the only book every approved by the Beatles (Yoko Ono on John Lennon's behalf) outside their own Anthology. That literary endeavor was followed by The White Book, The Beatles, the Bands, the Biz: An Insiders Look at an Era (Thomas Nelson) in 2007.
'The White Book' has been endorsed by many Apple/Beatles related people including Andrew Loog Oldham, Peter Asher, Alan Parsons, Robin Leach and former Apple President Jack Oliver.
Mansfield's third book, Between Wyomings, will be published by Thomas Nelson and is set for a May 2009 release.
Today Mansfield has a traveling ministry with message that draws heavily from his record industry days.
[edit] References
- Mansfield, Ken (2000). The Beatles, The Bible, and Bodega Bay: My Long and Winding Road. Broadman & Holman Publishers. ISBN 0-80542289-7.
- Mansfield, Ken (2007). The White Book, The Beatles, the Bands, the Biz: An Insider's Look at an Era. Thomas Nelson. ISBN 978-1-5955-5101-6.
- Granados, Stefan (2002). Those Were the Days: An Unofficial History of the Beatles' Apple Organization 1967-2001. Cherry Red Books. ISBN 10"190144712X (UK only).
- Spizer, Bruce (2003). The Beatles on Apple Records. Four Ninety-Eight Productions. ISBN 10: 0966264940.
- Daytrippin' magazine, Fall 2004/Winter 2005.
