Pattie Boyd

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Patricia Anne "Pattie" Boyd (born 17 March 1944 in Taunton, Somerset, England), supermodel and photographer, is best known as the wife of two famous rock musicians and the inspiration for several monumental rock love songs. After meeting on the set of A Hard Day's Night, Pattie married George Harrison on January 21, 1966, during the heyday of his group, The Beatles. Harrison's friend Eric Clapton, first of The Yardbirds, then of Cream, also fell in love with her. Pattie went on to divorce Harrison on June 9, 1977, and later marry Clapton on March 27, 1979. She and Clapton divorced in June 1988.

Pattie was a successful model during the 1960s and early 1970s. She was known to frequent trendy clubs as well as the company of the era-defining designers Mary Quant and Ossie Clark. She also appeared several times in the covers of the best-known British magazines, including the UK and Italian editions of Vogue.

Pattie was the inspiration for Harrison's most famous Beatles tune, "Something." The song was called "the greatest love song ever written" by Frank Sinatra. George told Pattie that "Something" was written for her, but after she left him Harrison denied Pattie was his muse. However, most of his songs up until 1974 (the year of their split) were clearly inspired by her, for instance "For You Blue," "I Need You," and "So Sad."

During Clapton's tenure in Derek and the Dominos, their only studio album, Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, focused on his unrequited love for Pattie, which consumed Clapton. Clapton's tortured passion for his best friend's wife produced one of his most famous songs, "Layla," a rock song that became a pop hit in three different decades, with two different versions. Clapton's desire for Pattie drove him to a heroin addiction that forced him to go on a music hiatus for several years in the early 1970s. After Harrison's increasing religious exploration and relentless infidelity irrevocably alienated her, Pattie left him for Clapton; from then on she became Clapton's muse. On Sept. 7, 1976 Clapton wrote the famous love song "Wonderful Tonight" for Pattie while waiting for her to get ready to go out to Paul and Linda McCartney's annual Buddy Holly party. He also penned other tunes for her: "Pretty Blue Eyes", "Golden Ring", "Never Make You Cry" (from Behind the Sun) and "Pretty Girl" (from Money and Cigarettes).

However, just like her marriage to Harrison, the outward image of the perfect couple Clapton and Boyd projected masked deep pain and struggle. She divorced him in 1988 after years of violence and alcoholism on his part, as well as numerous affairs and several illegitimate children. (Pattie herself has never had children.) She was favoured by the judge during her divorce trials due to Clapton's extensive misbehaviour. In 2005, her partner of 14 years, Rod Weston, left her after she refused to marry him. She has repeated in interviews that she will never marry again.

Harrison and Clapton remained very good friends despite the struggle with Pattie. Clapton cited his reasons for being with Pattie as human nature, moreover pointing out that it was not done with ill-will towards Harrison. Clapton even organized, emceed, and performed at the Concert For George, the commemoration concert for George Harrison following his death.

An exhibition of photographs taken by Boyd during her days with Harrison and Clapton opened at the San Francisco Art Exchange on Valentine's Day 2005, titled "Through the Eye of a Muse." The exhibition also ran again in San Francisco in February 2006, and for six weeks in June/July 2006 in London.

Pattie's younger sister Jenny Boyd (born Helen Mary Boyd, but nicknamed Jenny after one of Pattie's childhood dolls) also experienced a musician love triangle: she was the muse for some of Donovan's pop hits, most notably "Jennifer Juniper." However she eventually chose Mick Fleetwood of Fleetwood Mac fame, marrying Fleetwood in 1970 and bearing him two daughters.

John Lennon and Mick Jagger were known to have had crushes on Pattie, with the latter admitting in the 1980s that he'd tried (but failed) to seduce her for years. She also had an intense affair with Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood throughout 1973, as her marriage to Harrison was ending. However, Boyd left him heartbroken, influencing yet another musician's recordings, such as the song "Breathe on Me."

[edit] Trivia

• Pattie's first husband George Harrison was one year her senior while her second husband Eric Clapton is one year her junior.

[edit] Reference

• Leopold T. Harrison, Clapton and their muse: Pattie Boyd's life and images put classic rock era in focus. CNN.com, February 3, 2005. Accessed on October 6 2005. 

[edit] External links

• Dollyrocker: A site on Pattie Boyd with many Beatles/Clapton artifacts and article reprints. Includes dated fashion advice and "Letters from London" published in 16 Magazine from February to August 1965, as well as an interview from 1992.
• A Pattie Boyd site: detailed biography, many images, and FAQ.