Patricia Anne "Pattie" Boyd (born 17 March 1944) is an English model, photographer and author. She began her fashion career in 1962,^[2] and worked in London, New York, and Paris, modelling in London, New York, and Paris (for Mary Quant and others), and was photographed by David Bailey, and Terence Donovan. She appeared on the cover of Vogue and wrote for 16 Magazine.

She is the former wife of musicians George Harrison and Eric Clapton, and claims that she was the inspiration for songs written by both musicians: Harrison's "Something", "I Need You", "For You Blue" and "Isn't It a Pity", and Clapton's "Layla", "Wonderful Tonight" and "Bell Bottom Blues".

An exhibition of photographs taken by Boyd during her relationships with Harrison and Clapton opened at the San Francisco, California San Francisco Art Exchange on February 14, 2005, titled Through the Eye of a Muse. They have been exhibited worldwide, including shows in San Francisco, Dublin, Sydney, Toronto, Moscow, London, and throughout the USA. Boyd's autobiography, Wonderful Today: George Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Me, was published in England on 23 August 2007 (in the U.S. as Wonderful Tonight).

Early life[link]

Boyd was born in Taunton, Somerset,^[1] to Colin Ian Langdon Boyd and Diana Frances Drysdale (married 14 September 1942). She was the eldest child, before Colin (b. 1946), Helen Mary (later known as Jenny, b. 1947, who later married Mick Fleetwood), and Paula (b. 1951).^[2] Her family lived in Nairobi, Kenya, from 1948 to 1953, after her father's service injury and discharge from the Royal Air Force.^[3] Her parents divorced in 1952, and her mother returned to England with Boyd and her siblings, following her marriage to Robert Gaymer-Jones in February 1953, in Tanganyika (now Tanzania). They had two sons named David J.B. (1954) and Robert, Jr. (1955).^[4]

Boyd attended Hazeldean School in Putney, the St Agnes and St Michael Convent Boarding School in East Grinstead and St Martha's Convent in Hadley Wood, Hertfordshire, where she received three GCE O level passes in 1961.^[5] Boyd moved to London in 1962, and worked as a shampoo girl at Elizabeth Arden's salon, until a client who worked for a fashion magazine inspired her to begin working as a model.^[6][7]

Career[link]

Boyd began modelling in 1962 in London, New York, and Paris (for Quant, and others), and was photographed by Bailey and Donovan.^[8] She appeared on the cover of the UK and Italian editions of Vogue magazine in 1969.^[9] Boyd was asked by Gloria Stavers to write a regular column for 16 Magazine^[10] and Twiggy reports that when she began modeling in 1966, she based her appearance on Boyd.^[11]

Boyd is also a photographer and exhibited photos of Harrison and Clapton at the San Francisco Art Exchange on Valentine's Day 2005, with a show entitled, Through the Eye of a Muse.^[12] The exhibition also appeared in San Francisco and in London during 2006 and in La Jolla, California in 2008.^[13] Boyd published her autobiography, Wonderful Today: George Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Me, in England and in the U.S. (under the title, Wonderful Tonight) in 2007. The book includes some of her photographs and was released near the same time as her ex-husband, Clapton's autobiography.^[4][14] In the United States, Boyd's book debuted at the top of the New York Times Best Seller list.^[15] Boyd's photography was shown in Dublin and in Toronto in 2008 and at the Blender Gallery in Sydney, Australia and^[16] in Almaty, Kazakhstan in 2009 and 2010.^[17][18] Her exhibit "Yesterday and Today: The Beatles and Eric Clapton" was shown in Santa Catalina Island in Moscow ^[19][20] and at the National Geographic Headquarters in Washington, DC in 2011.^[21]

Personal life[link]

Kinfauns, the home of Pattie Boyd (1964 to 1970), during her relationship with George Harrison

Boyd, who was nearly twenty-years-old in 1964, met Harrison during the filming of A Hard Day's Night, in which she was cast as a schoolgirl fan.^[22] Boyd was "semi-engaged" to a boyfriend whom she had dated for about a year, and out of loyalty declined Harrison's first invitation for a date.^[11][23] One of the first things Harrison said to her was, "Will you marry me? Well, if you won't marry me, will you have dinner with me tonight?" Several days later, when Boyd was recalled for another day's work on the film, Harrison asked her out again and she accepted, having ended her relationship. Their first date was at the Garrick Club (a private gentlemen's club) in Covent Garden, in the company of Brian Epstein, who managed Harrison.^[24]

Boyd and Harrison, along with John Lennon and Cynthia Lennon, had their first encounter with LSD in early 1965.^[25] A dentist, John Riley—the son of a London police officer—laced their coffee with the drug at a dinner party in his home.^[12][26] The four of them were furious and left extremely scared. In an agitated state, Boyd threatened to break a store window until Harrison dragged her away.^[27] Later that year, Boyd moved into Kinfauns with Harrison.^[28]

Harrison and Boyd were driving through London in December 1965 when he proposed marriage, but said he would have to talk to Epstein first, to make sure no tours had been planned.^[29] Boyd married Harrison on 21 January 1966, in a ceremony at the Registry Office, Upper High Street, in Esher, Surrey, with Paul McCartney and Epstein in attendance.^[23] Boyd and Harrison later went on holiday with Epstein, staying at the Hotel Cap Estel, near Eze, in the south of France.^[29]

While Lennon was in Spain filming How I Won the War in September 1966, Harrison and Boyd flew to Bombay as guests of sitar virtuoso Ravi Shankar, and returned to London on 23 October 1966.^[30] Boyd attended the Our World broadcast of "All You Need Is Love", in June 1967. Through her interest in Eastern mysticism and her membership in the Spiritual Regeneration Movement, she inspired all four Beatles to meet the Indian mystic Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in London on 24 August 1967, which resulted in a visit to Bangor, Gwynedd, to join him again in the following day.^[12][31][14] Boyd attended the Our World broadcast of "All You Need Is Love", which was shown on 25 June 1967. She accompanied Harrison, with the other Beatles, on their visit to the Maharishi's ashram in Rishikesh, India in 1968.^[5]

Lennon and Mick Jagger were also said to have been attracted to Boyd, with Jagger admitting to then-girlfriend Bebe Buell in the 1980s that he had failed to seduce Boyd after trying for years.^[14][32] Boyd had an affair with Ronnie Wood in 1973 as her marriage to Harrison began to fail.^[33] According to Boyd, Harrison's increasing religious explorations, work ethic and personality changes caused the couple to split up in June 1974.^[34]

According to Boyd, the song "Something" was written for her, but Harrison reportedly has said that he was thinking about a song for Ray Charles, not Boyd.^[35]

In the late 1960s, Eric Clapton fell in love with Boyd while she was married to Harrison.^[23] Clapton wrote the 1970 song "Layla" about his love for Boyd^[12] and the two married years later in 1979. ^[36] Later, Boyd left Clapton because he refused to seek treatment for alcoholism, and she began seeing a photographer named Will Christie.^[37] Clapton and Boyd divorced in 1989 on the grounds of "infidelity and unreasonable behaviour".^[37][38] In 1991, Clapton told Boyd that he had had a year long affair with Yvonne Kelly who had given birth to Clapton's daughter, Ruth, in 1985. Boyd has never conceived a child despite in vitro fertilisation.^[37][38]

Boyd has said she was the inspiration for the Eric Clapton songs "Bell Bottom Blues" and "Wonderful Tonight".^[35][37]

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Boyd, Pattie and Junor, Penny (2007). Wonderful Tonight: George Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Me.. Crown Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-7553-1642-7. 
• Lennon, Cynthia (2005). John. Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 978-0-340-89512-2. 
• Miles, Barry (1997). Many Years From Now. Vintage-Random House. ISBN 978-0-7493-8658-0. 
• Spitz, Bob (2005). The Beatles – The Biography. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 978-0-316-80352-6. 
• The Beatles (2003). The Beatles Anthology (DVD). Apple records. ASIN: B00008GKEG. 

External links[link]

• Official website
• Hilary Alexander, "Patti (sic) Boyd, back in style", The Telegraph, 14 November 2005

George Harrison MBE
George Harrison at the White House in 1974.
Background information
Also known as	Carl Harrison L'Angelo Misterioso Hari Georgeson Nelson/Spike Wilbury George Harrysong George O'Hara-Smith Jairaj Hari san
Born	(1943-02-25)25 February 1943 Liverpool, England, UK
Died	29 November 2001(2001-11-29) (aged 58) Los Angeles, California, US
Genres	Rock, pop, psychedelic rock, experimental, world music
Occupations	Musician, singer-songwriter, actor, record and film producer
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, ukulele, harmonica, mandolin, tambura, sarod, swarmandal, bass, keyboards, violin, sitar
Years active	1958–2001
Labels	Parlophone, Capitol, Swan, Apple, Vee-Jay, EMI, Dark Horse
Associated acts	The Quarrymen, The Beatles, Traveling Wilburys, Dhani Harrison, Ravi Shankar, Eric Clapton
Website	www.georgeharrison.com
Notable instruments
Gretsch Country Gentleman "Rocky" "Lucy" Rosewood Telecaster

George Harrison,^[1] MBE (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001)^[2] was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles.^[3][4] Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle",^[3] Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian culture and mysticism, and introduced it to the other Beatles, as well as their Western audience.^[5] Following the band's break-up he was a successful solo artist, and later a founding member of the Traveling Wilburys. Harrison was also a session musician and a film and record producer. He is listed at number 11 in Rolling Stone magazine's list of "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".^[6]

Although most of The Beatles' songs were written by Lennon and McCartney, Beatle albums generally included one or two of Harrison's own songs, from With The Beatles onwards.^[7] His later compositions with The Beatles include "Here Comes the Sun", "Something" and "While My Guitar Gently Weeps". By the time of the band's break-up, Harrison had accumulated a backlog of material, which he then released as the triple album All Things Must Pass in 1970, from which two hit singles originated: a double A-side single, "My Sweet Lord" backed with "Isn't It a Pity", and "What Is Life". In addition to his solo work, Harrison co-wrote two hits for former Beatle Ringo Starr, as well as songs for the Traveling Wilburys—the supergroup he formed in 1988 with Jeff Lynne, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, and Roy Orbison.

Harrison embraced Indian culture and Hinduism in the mid-1960s, and helped expand Western awareness of sitar music and of the Hare Krishna movement. With Ravi Shankar he organised the first major charity concert with the 1971 Concert for Bangladesh. In addition to his musical accomplishments, he was also a record producer and co-founder of the production company HandMade Films. In his work as a film producer, he collaborated with people as diverse as the members of Monty Python and Madonna.^[8]

He was married twice, to model Pattie Boyd from 1966 to 1974, and for 23 years to record company secretary Olivia Trinidad Arias, with whom he had one son, Dhani Harrison. He was a close friend of Eric Clapton. To date, he is the only Beatle to have published an autobiography, with I Me Mine in 1980. Harrison died of lung cancer in 2001.

Early years: 1943–1959[link]

Harrison was born in Liverpool, Lancashire, England, on 25 February 1943,^[9][10] the last of four children to Harold Hargreaves Harrison and his wife Louise, née French.^[11]

Harrison's first home – 12 Arnold Grove

He had one sister, Louise, born 16 August 1931, and two brothers, Harry, born 1934, and Peter, born 20 July 1940. His mother was a Liverpool shop assistant, and his father was a bus conductor who had worked as a ship's steward on the White Star Line. His mother's family had Irish roots and were Roman Catholic;^[9] his maternal grandfather, John French, was born in County Wexford, Ireland, emigrating to Liverpool where he married a local girl, Louise Woollam.^[12]

Harrison was born in the house where he lived for his first six years: 12 Arnold Grove, Wavertree, Liverpool, which was a small 2 up, 2 down terraced house in a cul-de-sac, with an alley to the rear. The only heating was a single coal fire, and the toilet was outside. In 1950 the family were offered a council house,^[13] and moved to 25 Upton Green, Speke.^[14]

His first school was Dovedale Primary School, very close to Penny Lane,^[15] the same school as John Lennon who was a couple of years ahead of him.^[16] He passed his 11-plus examination and achieved a place at the Liverpool Institute for Boys (in the building that now houses the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts), which he attended from 1954 to 1959.^[17]

Harrison said that, when he was 12 or 13, he had an "epiphany" of sorts – riding a bike around his neighbourhood, he heard Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel" playing from a nearby house and was hooked.^[18] Even though he had done well enough on his 11-plus examination to get into the city's best high school, from that point on, the former good student lost interest in school.^[18]

When Harrison was 14 years old, he sat at the back of the class and tried drawing guitars in his schoolbooks: “I was totally into guitars. I heard about this kid at school who had a guitar at £3 10s, it was just a little acoustic round hole. I got the £3 10s from my mother: that was a lot of money for us then.” Harrison bought a Dutch Egmond flat top acoustic guitar.^[19] While at the Liverpool Institute, Harrison formed a skiffle group called the Rebels with his brother Peter and a friend, Arthur Kelly.^[20] At this school he met Paul McCartney, who was one year older.^[21] McCartney later became a member of John Lennon's band called The Quarrymen, which Harrison joined in 1958.^[22]

The Beatles: 1960–1970[link]

Harrison became part of The Beatles when they were still a skiffle group called The Quarrymen. McCartney told Lennon about his friend George Harrison, who could play "Raunchy" on his guitar.^[23] Although Lennon considered him too young to join the band, Harrison hung out with them and filled in as needed.^[23] By the time Harrison was 15, Lennon and the others had accepted him as one of the band.^[24] Since Harrison was the youngest member of the group, he was looked upon as a kid by the others for another few years.^[25]

Harrison left school at 16 and worked as an apprentice electrician at local department store Blacklers for a while.^[26][27] When The Beatles were offered work in Hamburg in 1960, the musical apprenticeship that Harrison received playing long hours at the Kaiserkeller with the rest of the group, including guitar lessons from Tony Sheridan, laid the foundations of The Beatles' sound, and of Harrison's quiet, professional role within the group;^[28] this role would contribute to his reputation as "the quiet Beatle".^[29] The first trip to Hamburg was shortened when Harrison was deported for being underage.^[30]

When Brian Epstein became The Beatles' manager in December 1961 after seeing them perform at The Cavern Club in November,^[31] he changed their image from that of leather-jacketed rock-and-rollers to a more polished look,^[32] and secured them a recording contract with EMI. The first single, "Love Me Do", with Harrison playing a Gibson J-160E,^[33][34][35] reached number 17 in the UK chart in October 1962,^[36] and by the time their debut album, Please Please Me, was released in early 1963, The Beatles had become famous and Beatlemania had arrived.^[37]

Harrison (third from left) with the rest of The Beatles in America in 1964

After he revealed in an interview that he liked jelly babies, British fans inundated Harrison and the rest of the band with boxes of the sweets as gifts. A few months later, American audiences showered the band with the much harder jelly beans instead. In a letter to a fan, Harrison mentioned jelly babies, insisting that no one in the band actually liked them and that the press must have made it up.^[38]

The popularity of The Beatles led to a successful tour of America, the making of a film, A Hard Day's Night (during which Harrison met his future wife Pattie Boyd), and in the 1965 Queen's Birthday Honours, all four Beatles were appointed Members of the Order of the British Empire (MBE).^[39] Harrison, whose role within the group was that of the careful musician who checked that the instruments were tuned,^[40] by 1965 and the Rubber Soul album, was developing into a musical director as he led the others into folk-rock, via his interest in The Byrds and Bob Dylan,^[41] and into Indian music with his exploration of the sitar.^[42][43] Harrison's musical involvement and cohesion with the group reached its peak on Revolver in 1966 with his contribution of three songs and new musical ideas.^[44][45] By 1967, Harrison's interests appeared to be moving outside the Beatles, and his involvement in Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band consists mainly of his one song, "Within You Without You", on which no other Beatle plays,^[46] and which stands out for its difference from the rest of the album.^[47]