'The White Book' is essentially a glossy coffee table book that offers some interesting recollections from retrospective diarist Ken Mansfield who was managed the American division of Apple records at the time of the Beatles recording The White album.

Of course the book covers a much wider scope of time and subject matter, but as with the book, the album musically crystallizes events of the time. Ken Mansfield comes across as a likeable, reliable, confident, and effective record company man, but he is no writer. Rather than shedding any light on the interpersonal dynamics of the Fab 4 or indeed offering any revealing insight as to how the songs came about he makes an observation but rarely follows it up.

When recounting some time spent with McCartney in writing mode he says, 'I got wrapped up that afternoon in the words and intent of 'Ob-La-Di-, Ob-La-Da' and 'Back in the USSR'. On the way home over Mulholland Drive that night, I realised I had, in a sense, just spent the afternoon song writing with Paul McCartney'.

Yet having offered this revelation he concludes, 'Of course, later on when the album came out, I wasn't surprised when I didn't see my name as co-writer.' It's a revealing passage as it sets the tone for the book, sweeping over several interesting and key moments in the Beatles career, without digging deeper, and offering any but the most general comment.

In fact enjoyable as this glossy book is with its full complement of previously unseen photos, and a sprinkling of lively anecdotes, the highlighted quotes rarely have enough substance to warrant further investigation. The ironic thing of course is that given Ken's marketing background, he would understand the eternal question, 'where's the beef'?, as for the most part this is at best an entertaining account of a handful of reminiscences, that very rarely go any deeper than scratching the surface.

The best parts of the book always concern those little incidents that reveal one of the Fab 4's real personalities. So for example, it becomes apparent that George was a laid back character who quietly but effectively went about his business. Musically speaking there's a lovely sequence when George heads a jam at Ken's place in Hollywood Hills, what Ken calls a 'Guitar pull' - with mates Clapton, Jackie Lomax, Jack Cassady, and Donovan. And he recounts the unlikely fact that 'The last act that night was definitely the headliner. Donovan politely took over and absolutely blew everyone away'.

He offers a delightful insight in the spontaneity and drive of McCartney, who contrary to some of the press he receives, comes across as someone who always looked after the people that did a good job for him. Lennon on the other hand is portrayed fairly consistently as the same character featured in countless other biographies, an aggressive, complex mix of genius, wit, sarcasm and wicked humour.

Mansfield is also good at recounting the politics involved in the record business as seen through the eyes of someone who was busily involved balancing the corporate impetus with Beatles requirements.

The strange thing is that for a person who several times mentions his Idaho upbringing as a counterpoint to his urbane existence as American manager of Apple records, he seems at times to be totally lost in an alien European and UK environment. Revealingly he erroneously references Lennon's Tittenhurst home as being in Sunnydale rather than Sunningdale. And having been treated to a paid-for trip to Copenhagen by McCartney says simply, 'Nice town, very clean'.

Perhaps the biggest problem with this book is Ken continually seems to have to justify his role in events as they unfold, when in fact he was an integral part of much of what was going on.

Like many of us at the time he seems to have been caught up in the rapture of Beatlemania, but several times reminds us how he was amazed at how down to earth our heroes were, particularly at the dawn of their world wide popularity. And yet, having read about the author's ridiculous work and travel schedules at the time, it is amazing that he has managed to recall so many incidents, characters and to find so many wonderful pics to make this an enjoyable if not a particularly insightful tome.

****

Review by Pete Feenstra