Wonderful Tonight: George Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Me [DECKLE EDGE] (Hardcover)

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A Q&A with Pattie Boyd, Author of Wonderful Tonight

Why are you writing the book now?

I have been asked for the last 15 years to write a book, and it is only now that I feel the time is right. My confidence in myself was restored after two successful exhibitions of my photography, and it occurred to me that I was finally ready to take a look at the unique experiences of my life and to share them--including all the ups and downs.

Tell us about the first time you met George Harrison.

Working as a model, I occasionally went for castings, mainly for television commercials. I went for an interview with one of the directors I had worked with in the past, and he cast me in his first movie, A Hard Day’s Night, to play the part of a schoolgirl. When I first saw George on the set, I thought he was the best-looking man I’d ever seen. I was so surprised when he asked me out on a date at the end of my first day of filming.

Tell us about the first time you heard George Harrison's song, "Something."

George said he had written a song for me, and he played it on the guitar at home without the words. Then when I heard the song after it had been recorded I couldn’t believe how utterly beautiful it was. It was released on a single in October 1969, and I felt so thrilled and flattered.

Tell us about the first time you heard Eric Clapton's "Layla."

Eric invited me to his band's flat one day and played a rough recording of "Layla" on a cassette recorder. I was sitting on a sofa and he on the floor as it played, and he kept looking up at me for a reaction. I was stunned; the intensity, passion and tenderness came across so strongly--I knew, as he said, it was written for me.

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Review

"[T]he appeal of Wonderful Tonight is as self-evident as the seemingly simple but brash opening chord of 'A Hard Day’s Night'… a charming, lively and seductive book, and like all good memoirs it also works as a cultural history… The prose is clear and unpretentious, and although she writes candidly about the pain her husbands ’ infidelities caused her…this isn’t a bitter tell-all. There’s an aura of sweetness around Boyd’s approach."
—New York Times Book Review

“A scrumptious memoir…There is exactly one big question for Ms. Boyd to answer here: What made her leave Mr. Harrison for Mr. Clapton, her husband’s close friend? To its credit the book answers that question plausibly and fully.”
—The New York Times

"They say if you can remember the '60s, you weren't really there. Well, Pattie Boyd was there, and she remembers it all." Wonderful Tonight "is a unique gospel of a turbulent time by someone who was in the very eye of the rock 'n' roll hurricane."
—Sydney Morning Herald

"Pattie Boyd married two Sixties legends and inspired three of the era's greatest love songs, but life was far from glamorous. The ex-wife of George Harrison and Eric Clapton speaks out in this compelling autobiography."
—The London Sunday Times

"There are so many wonderful stories in Pattie Boyd's life: Falling in love with a Beatle. Falling in love with another famous rock star, Eric Clapton, and being serenaded with 'Wonderful Tonight' . . . "But there is much that is excruciating in her life story." Boyd "was taught by her parents that she didn't deserve to be loved; she was told by her husbands that she wasn't worth very much, but here she is: not dead, not on drugs, not an alcoholic, but a survivor."
—London Daily Mail

“Will ... --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Harmony; 1 edition (August 28, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307393844
• ISBN-13: 978-0307393845
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.5 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (270 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #30,055 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

385 of 423 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Admirable Woman, August 29, 2007

By	Journalist (USA) - See all my reviews

I'm a Beatles fan too, but am dismayed to see some Beatles and EC acolytes posting not just harsh and unwarranted, but arguably libelious, comments here. "Groupie"?? "Call Girl"??!!

It's sad to see people so rabid and in such denial about their heroes' imperfections that they're smearing a lovely woman because she had the temerity to leave those rock gods before they destroyed her. I fear this sends a message that if you're an abused woman, but your husband is a beloved celebrity (or a popular guy in your community), then keep your mouth shut and put up with it. This is the story of a woman's triumph over abuse and that should be celebrated!

Pattie Boyd gained fame in her own right as was one of the top fashion icons and models of the Swinging London '60s. She was and is a dignified, intelligent woman. She was NOT a "groupie" or a "call girl"; in fact, she initially rebuffed the two men she would later marry.

After being talked and sung about for four decades, Pattie has every right to tell her side of the story. She's said in recent interviews, she chose to NOT reveal graphic details of the abuse she suffered from Slowhand, who has already admitted he repeatedly raped Pattie during their marriage. (See the June 27, 1999, London Sunday Times, recounted here, by the BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/379240.stm

Pattie chose to omit the ugliest details from her memoir, but still gives a very vivid description of the fear, panic, and disillusionment that reigned during her marriage to the alcoholic guitar god and her subsequent nervous breakdown.

There are no truly salacious, graphic details in this book -- Pattie is much too classy for that. Much of the "dirt" in this book has been previously reported; the point of the book is to allow Pattie to offer her perspectives on those scandals. Boyd also makes clear she's let go of (most of) the bitterness and has come to accept that she made the mistake of playing enabler.

George, her true love, did indeed let her down and it's a sad story, filled with lingering regret. Her second husband professed to adore her, then turned into a menacing sociopath. It turns out we fans who envied Boyd during her marriages bought into a fantasy; we should have instead staged a mass intervention for her.

Pattie is to be admired for pulling herself out of a decades-long melodrama and creating a new life for herself in her mid-40s. She is now a respected portrait and travel photographer for Harper & Queens magazine, and is clearly living a full and enjoyable personal life. Wonderful Tonight should be mandatory reading for all abused women: there is a better life ahead for you, but only if you leave your abuser.

Shifting from the soap operas, I was surprised to find the most interesting parts of the book are about Pattie's childhood in Africa, her early adulthood (including the early years of her marriage to George), and her exotic adventure/spiritual travels around the world after her second divorce.

Unfortunately, this is not quite the book we Boyd admirers have long been waiting for and that is the fault of co-author, veteran journalist Penny Junor, whose writing is often rushed, disorganized, and cliched. I'm afraid Pattie once again deserved better than she got. (For instance, there is no mention, at least in the UK edition, of SHARP, an organization for co-dependents, which Pattie co-founded. Why was that left out? Why is this book so truncated? Shame on you, Random House/Headline Review!)

Still, Pattie is to be admired for her courage in standing up to the powerful men who tried, but ultimately failed, to dominate her, and for telling her story with grace -- but I feel she exercised too much discretion in this telling.

Pattie Boyd is not a groupie, or a call girl, or a sell-out. She is not only the greatest muse in music history, in this book she shows why so many of British rock's aristocracy have maintained their close friendships with her: she is a deeply spiritual, empathetic woman who, despite her tragedies, has maintained her sense of humor while learning to stand on her own two feet.

If you're an abused woman -- or an addict's enabler (also an abusive relationship) -- who is afraid to leave, or if you're struggling to rebuild your life after leaving your abuser or addicted partner, Pattie's story will not only give you hope, but guidance on your psychological recovery.

Well done, Ms. Boyd! (And please consider publishing a book of your marvelous travel photos and essays!)

93 of 103 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing..., September 13, 2007

By	Tracy L. (USA) - See all my reviews

Ultimately, the responsibility of the outcome of this book rests on Pattie Boyd's shoulders, but I can't help feeling that she could have used a better co-author here. There are so many problems with this book I'm not sure where to begin. It's unfortunate because I really believe that Pattie has an amazing story to tell.

Clinical is the best way I can describe the telling of this story. Pattie tells us that "this happened, this happened and this happened," but never gives us a real sense of what it was like to experience all these different things. I could accept that if chronologically she wasn't all over the board. One moment she's telling us about something that happened before she was married to George, jumps to something that happened after they were married, and then she's right back to before they were married.

I've seen some complaints about the name-dropping. Quite frankly, I'd be surprised if she didn't drop a few names. What bothered me was that I have never even heard of a lot of these people (sorry, but I'm just not as up as I should be on all the models, photographers and club owners that roamed around swinging London of the 1960's.)

There is something about the way she describes her relationship with George that left me feeling a bit cold. She doesn't even tell us when she knew she was in love with him. Based on what I read, their relationship seemed to be that of roommates. She paints a picture of him as being quite aloof and distant with her, yet quite joyful and generous with her family.

Then there's Eric. This is really were Pattie lost me. I'm still not sure what she saw in this guy that made her leave her husband (yeah, I know, he wrote a song about her...and?) He is not portrayed in a pleasant light at all. Pattie doesn't reveal too much here that wasn't previously known about Eric's drug and alcohol addictions. If anything, she makes it sound a great deal worse. Because of this, it made her come off as being quite stupid for hooking up with this guy. I laughed and did a bit of eye rolling when she talked about how, after seeing both Eric and her sister Paula struggle with heroin addiction, she decides it would be great fun to try heroin herself!!

I can only assume that she dictated her story to her co-author, who than put it into "book" format. I think a better co-author would have drawn a bit more out of Pattie and given us a more cohesive, introspective book. Again, I believe Pattie has an amazing story to tell, it just wasn't told here.

96 of 110 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Revisit to the 60s and 70s, September 14, 2007

By	R. Spell "raspell" (Memphis, TN USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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Having just read the biography of Phil Spector and the girlfriend of Lindsey Buckingham, I'm beginning to see a pattern. Rock Stars are narcissistic creatures who do what they want when they want, don't like no for an answer and want to be waited on hand and foot. Oh, one more trend. There are plenty of people willing to do that from wives, girlfriends, managers and roadies.

But this is a special book mainly because you are dealing with two very special musicians. Any Beatle is special and George appears to overall have been a special human being. Eric Clapton also has to go down in the Top 20 of musicians for his guitar playing and long history. Imagine what life is like to have been the inspiration of such classic songs, Layla, Wonderful Tonight, Something in the Way She Moves! Patty's life is very interesting although I wouldn't call it fascinating. She just happened to be at a place to view Pop History in the last half of the 20th Century and meet many of the people who influenced it, as well as partake in the drugs and drink that shaped it. In summary, George comes off as what the public saw: a quiet man with faults like others but a fairly even demeanor, a good chap. Eric, is passionate, but eventually cruel. It's often said that the ones you hurt the worst are the ones closest to you. That's the summary of this book. And Patty participates also by breaking hearts.

I too am surprised by the harsh comments of her by some reviewers. She was a beautiful model who inspired men, maybe no more so than Clapton who pursued her from his friend when still married. I wish there had been more pictures of her to see the appeal. What she does an excellent job of is showing what is behind the public persona of these guys. What was it really like? A series of highs and lows but due to the fascinating people, the highs were much higher. Unfortunately, the lows were much lower. There seems to be a lot of criticism for not making this a "tell all" with a lot of dirt. It's very clear this is a caring human being who stills cares for both men and chooses to draw the line on some private matters.

Now, to the criticism. Patty, thanks for the revisit to this fascinating period. But the book begins to read very slowly once she is through with George and Eric. Great, she went everywhere and met many people. There is no reason for this. We are interested in the George, Eric and Patty's recovery, but ultimately, not what sites she was fortunate enough to visit. This part makes me lower my rating from 5 to 4.

Overall, not a great piece of literature. But a great story of a great time with fascinating people. And for me that was quite enough to overcome the few weaknesses.