LIKE A CHRISTIAN ON ACID

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Ken Mansfield freely admits that he writes "like a Christian on acid." In his splendid book, Between Wyomings, My God and an iPod on the Open Road he spills his guts about his thirty years in the entertainment business. He recalls an old saying, "If you remember the 60's, then there's a real good chance you weren't there!"

Ken is honest about his life in the entertainment business when he says, "Long periods of being submerged within its abstraction does leave a person with the mind-bends when finally floating up from the depths. Those of us who survive this immersion find our salvation even more precious than some believers--because we have paid for it so dearly. It's not because we are more saved or more loved; it just might be because once we emerge from that degenerate mire, we are startled by the purity we experience through His unconditional love, mercy, and grace. The contrast is rather extreme."

In Between Wyomings, Mansfield embarks on an emblematic three-month road trip determined to face off with the good, the bad, and the tragic of his life as a famed music producer to some of the biggest names in music history and personal experiences with icons such as Waylon Jennings, Dolly Parton, Glen Campbell, Roy Orbison, Andy Williams, Don Ho, Willie Nelson--oh--and an obscure little band called The Beatles.

Ken Mansfield is a splendid story teller. He begins his cross country journey in the little town of Bodega Bay on the northern California coast. As he and his wife travel along listening to music on their ipods he thinks back on his fabulous career and wild but excitiing life. He tells the story of how he gave his life to Christ and how that changed everything--but it wasn't easy. He found Christ but he still had a struggle in finding himself. I like his words close to the end of the book, "How delicious it is when I know in my heart God is all I truly need."