This is all wonderfully illustrated with priceless, never before seen pictures and memorabilia from his personal collection. He even tells the story of nearly selling one such piece — a handwritten and signed note from John Lennon — to a used record dealer when he was later down on his luck. As soon as he realized what he almost did, he snatched back the picture as well as the 25 cents the dealer was about to pay him for it.
Mansfield describes the thrill of being at the Beatles historic final London rooftop concert for the Let It Be film, with all of the excitement and awe of being a kid in what had to be the world's greatest candy store. He also details the negotiation tactics of a ruthless Allen Klein as he was in the process of taking over Apple. In what came down to a tennis match for Mansfield's job, Mansfield won, enabling him to wisely walk away from Klein's offer. He talks about how Capitol Records handled the "Paul Is Dead" rumors which swirled about after the release of Abbey Road. They eventually got a handwriting expert to verify that everything Paul had signed for Capitol came from the same man.
There are also the numerous personal stories of his private moments with the most famous four men on earth. Such as the time Mansfield had to be literally saved by Paul McCartney at a meeting where he was first shown the nude photographs of John and Yoko for the Two Virgins without prior warning. Or when he witnessed an impromptu living room jam session at George's house with the likes of Eric Clapton, Donovan, and the Jefferson Airplane's Jack Casady taking turns trying to one-up each other.
Of course there are also tragedies as Mansfield recounts the deaths of close friends such as Beatles confidant Mal Evans, who was found shot under mysterious curcumstances while Mansfield was across town accepting a Grammy Award. The two had spoken earlier the same day and Mansfield recalls sensing there was something terribly wrong. When Mansfield got the news of John Lennon's death, he was in the process of going through his archive of Lennon photos at his home in what proved to be a moment of bittersweet, poetic irony.
Article comments
1 - Gordon Hauptfleisch
Nice write-up, Glen--evocative.
2 - Glen Boyd
Thanx Gordon.
I not only found Mansfield's memories absolutely fascinating, but I found his perspective to be the purest I've ever read on the Beatles.
This is a guy who was unquestionably there, and witnessed everything first hand, yet came out of it not only relatively unscathed, but with his very soul rejuvenated at the end of the day.
In my personal opinion, it is the single best book I have ever read about the phenomonon that was the Beatles.
But more impotantly it's about a guy who lived through it all from the inside, and came out on the other side with his soul not only intact but unscathed.
As a guy who has experienced the "music business" (albeit at a far lesser level than Mansfield did), I know exactly of what he talks about in this book.
I cannot recommend Mansfield's book highly enough.
Thanx for publishing the review Gordon.
-Glen
3 - Natalie Bennett
This article has been selected for syndication to Advance.net, which is affiliated with newspapers around the United States. Nice work!
4 - Glen Boyd
Wow...very cool. Thanx for the good news Natalie.
-Glen
5 - The Eggman
Sounds like a pretty good book. From his lofty position, Mr. Mansfield had to have seen it all. As a Christian, I'd be very interested in hearing his thoughts this many years later as to what exactly motivated Lennon's statement about the Beatles being bigger than Jesus. Everybody knows that Lennon, despite his genius, could be a very impulsive guy...and the quote heard round the world was also clearly cast out of context. I just wonder how Mansfield feels in retrospect about it...now that he has found his peace with the Lord himself. Good review and I'm sure I'll check out the book.
6 - Glen Boyd
Mr. Eggman,
I wouldn't mind hearing Mansfield's take on that question myself. Unfortunately, it isn't addressed in the book. Maybe in the sequel?
Goo Goo Ga Joob Mr. Eggman.
-Glen
7 - Scott Marshall
This is one of those times when I realized I had the book on my shelf but had not read it. Thank you, Glen, for the pleasant review (a sensation I normally don't experience when reading a book review--be it a positive or negative review).
As for the Lennon/Jesus controversy, I suspect (although it occurred a year before I entered the planet) it was overblown and what Lennon was saying was more of a tough truth than him saying "they" were "better" than Jesus.
8 - Glen Boyd
Scott,
My reviews have been called a lot of things over the years, but I don't recall "pleasant" ever being of them. So thanks for the compliment, I guess anyway...LOL. Glad you enjoyed reading it.
I remember the Lennon comment about Jesus pretty well, though I was just a young kid myself at the time. And I think you have the gist of it correct. Lennon was not saying his band was "better" than Jesus at all, but like you say making a comment on the ridiculous popularity of the Beatles at the time.
Like Eggman though, I still would be interested in Mansfield's take on this all these years later in light of the author himself having found his own faith in the Lord though.
Anyway thanks for the comment Scott and I'm glad you enjoyed the review.
-Glen