Wonderful Tonight: George Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Me

Written by Pattie Boyd

Narrated by Pattie Boyd

An iconic figure of the 1960s and ’70s, Pattie Boyd breaks a forty-year silence in Wonderful Tonight, and tells the story of how she found herself bound to two of the most addictive, promiscuous musical geniuses of the twentieth century and became the most famous muse in the history of rock and roll. She met the Beatles in 1964 when she was cast as a schoolgirl in A Hard Day’s Night. Ten days later a smitten George Harrison proposed. For twenty-year-old Pattie Boyd, it was the beginning of an unimaginably rich and complex life as she was welcomed into the Beatles inner circle—a circle that included Mick Jagger, Ron Wood, Jeff Beck, and a veritable who’s who of rock musicians. She describes the dynamics of the group, the friendships, the tensions, the musicmaking, and the weird and wonderful memories she has of Paul and Linda, Cynthia and John, Ringo and Maureen, and especially the years with her husband, George. It was a sweet, turbulent life, but one that would take an unexpected turn, starting with a simple note that began “dearest l.” I read it quickly and assumed that it was from some weirdo; I did get fan mail from time to time.... I thought no more about it until that evening when the phone rang. It was Eric [Clapton]. “Did you get my letter?”... And then the penny dropped. “Was that from you?” I said....It was the most passionate letter anyone had ever written me.For the first time Pattie Boyd, former wife of both George Harrison and Eric Clapton, a high-profile model whose face epitomized the swinging London scene of the 1960s, a woman who inspired Harrison’s song “Something” and Clapton’s anthem “Layla,” has decided to write a book that is rich and raw, funny and heartbreaking—and totally honest and open and breathtaking. Here is the truth, here is what happened, here is the story you’ve been waiting for.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group
• Release date: Aug 28, 2007
• ISBN: 9780739358207

Reviews for Wonderful Tonight

[paulahart-60603 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This book was just okay, not bad, just okay. I wish Ms. Boyd had been more conscientious with dates, the year at the very least, so I could figure out when stuff was actually happening. Some reviewers have made some rather nasty comments about Ms. Boyd, saying she wasn't all that interesting, etc. I don't know, both George Harrison and Eric Clapton found her interesting enough to write some of the most famous rock songs about her, so I guess she wasn't a complete bore.

One thing that this book did make abundantly clear was that being married to a famous, creative man is an enormous pain in the ass. Having to deal with affairs, fits of jealousy, moodiness, alcohol/drug addiction and the like don't sound like much fun to me. You are expected to just be there whenever you are needed and not to whine about it or want to have a life of your own.

[deltaqueen50 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

If there was one woman who encapsulated the 1960s Rock N’Roll culture, it was Pattie Boyd. She had the look we all strived for, she was a top model with George Harrison of the Beatles as her first husband and Eric Clapton as her second. The songs “Something”, “Layla” and “Wonderful Tonight” were written about and for her. Her memoir, entitled Wonderful Tonight fills in the details of her extraordinary life which as wonderful as it was, did have some sharp ups and downs.

The book details her unconventional childhood, her early days of modelling in London and how she and George met and fell in love. It also tells us about the end of this marriage and how Eric Clapton was there waiting in the wings for her. Unfortunately, Eric suffered from an addictive personality and drugs and alcohol played a large part in destroying their marriage. After her marriages, Pattie spent time regaining her self and has become a well known photographer. She remained good friends with both George and Eric.

While reading Wonderful Tonight I felt that Pattie was being very careful not to insult or point fingers at anyone which resulted in a fairly mild and amiable story, but she is pretty honest when turning the pen upon herself which resulted in a story that was well worth reading. Assisted by author Penny Junior, this book is a fascinating look at the life of an influential “dollybird” of the 1960s.

[varielle_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the autobiography of Pattie Boyd, ex-model, current photographer and former wife of both George Harrison and Eric Clapton. It's her take on her difficult life with two giants of the 20th century music industry. The rarefied world of musical superstars leaves them, their spouses and hangers-on somewhat helpless in dealing with the world and vulnerable to exploitation. Her version seems totally honest as she moves through the swinging sixties and beyond, surrendering her own life and ambitions to her husbands' careers until she comes out as a survivor on the other side. This had a co-author, but could have used a little more editing because the same stories get repeated several times. Her perpetual travel and name dropping of people who aren't on anybody's radar anymore gets a bit tedious. You come away feeling sorry for Boyd, who as a young woman stumbled into this life without the maturity to handle it and then couldn't get out.

[vlodko62 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

OK, I should say that I'm a bit of a nut about the Beatles, and George Harrison in particular. Also a fan of Clapton. So I expected that this book would be interesting, and when I had the chance to snap it up at a deep discount, I did so.

Mostly, this book is the most superficial treatment imaginable of the people and times it descibes. If you like name-dropping, lists of who attended what party, which drugs were consumed, and who slept with whom, this book is for you. If I didn't know that George Harrison and Eric Clapton were brilliant musicians, I might conclude from this book that they were dilettantes on the order of the rest of the characters described in the book. Those who disagree with me about Harrison's and Clapton's musical talents can draw their own conclusions.

It's not entirely without redeeming qualities, however. Somewhere beneath all the surface glitz, there are occasional honest glimpses of an insecure young woman who is trying to make sense of her milieu. Nowhere is this more poignant than the last page of the epilogue. But rather than read the whole book, I'd recommend skimming a few sections and then going to the end.

[paradiseporch · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

(Nonfiction, Memoir)

What to make of the woman who inspired Something, Wonderful Tonight, and Layla by rock greats George Harrison and Eric Clapton?
Pattie Boyd was that woman and in this memoir she tells us about herself and what it was like living with these famous musicians in their heyday. Since that music formed the soundtrack of my youth, and that time is still vivid in my memory, I really enjoyed this memoir.

Until, that is, a few weeks after I finished the book I saw a news item that Boyd had married her ‘long-time boyfriend’, who, she many, many, many times told us in the book was nothing more than a friend. In my mind, this called into question the veracity of her entire account.

Make of this what you will; I still enjoyed reading it.

3½ stars

[narshkite · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

This book is so boring! How is that possible? You would think that the woman that inspired songs like the Beatles' "Something" and Derrick and the Dominos' "Layla" would be dynamic. Truth is she is dull as dishwater and conceited in the manner of the 8th grade queen bee. Also, every time she starts to discuss something interesting she quickly moves to a new topic without finishing the story. Less egregious is her silly exploration of her spiritual enlightenment when it turns out she is about as introspective as a marmot. No one who ever thinks about anything could consistently make the worst life decisions of anyone to ever walk the earth. She must be really good in bed.

[nmele_4 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Actually, after 100 pages of photo shoots, food items and the like, I gave up. There may be somethings worth reading in here, but I lost patience--if I could give this no stars, I would.

[lara335 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Pattie comes across as an empty-headed, pretty blonde. Someone who can repeat a single word for 7 hours. (Try it).

I assume there must be more to her to retain so many friends and capture the attention of both George Harrison and Eric Clapton, but Boyd, or perhaps more pertinently the journalist who helped write this book, couldn't evoke it.

Pattie is better at detailing what went wrong in the relationships than revealing what it felt like to get into them, and perhaps that's understandable from a divorcee, whose identity was so tied up with the men she was with.

But shame on the journalist for failing to winkle out of Pattie what preconceptions she had about George, and what it was about the man rather than the image that she presumably fell in love with. Maybe there wasn't anything. I mean, heck I would have married George given the chance. But here is a woman who got the chance and achieved what a million women desired, so what were those first heady days like? And was it a shock or a wonderful surprise when he wasn't quite like the manufactured image?

Halway through reading this I started reading 'Just Kids' by Pattie Smith, someone I knew little about. Only got in a little way, but each paragraph is drenched with love and feeling, and the prize of being young and alive, and living the day. And when she finds her soul-mate, you know exactly why she should feel that way.

Just wish a writer of her calibre and humanity had been able to perch on Pattie B's shoulder.

[latorreliliana · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Well done, honest, gives a glimpse of life in the 60's when Beatlemania started.

[austcrimefiction · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

If you had asked me what I was expecting before I picked up this auto-biography, I doubt I could have told you. Maybe a bit about what it was like, really like, to be within the inner circle of the Beatles. A feeling for the how it was in the beautiful, swinging, mad, crazy 60s "it" crowds. Perhaps some sex, drugs and rock and roll, maybe even a little gossip. Written by the muse of two of the most famous musicians around I was hoping to see what it was about this woman that influenced / engendered that reaction in men who - well let's be frank - could probably have had any woman they wanted.

Pattie Boyd spent part of her childhood in Kenya, but even for the child of divorced parents, the raising of Pattie and her siblings seems to have been a slightly erratic undertaking, although she does seem to be close to her mother in later life. She left home, fell into modelling, met George Harrison during the filming of "A Hard Day's Night" and life from there took off as she and George found an instant attraction. Later, as married life with George turned sour, Eric Clapton told George one night "I have to tell you, man, that I’m in love with your wife". Later, married to Clapton, things again turned sour as he struggled with a drinking problem and became more and more distant.

At points in this book you can see glimpses of what it must have been like to live a life so publicly scrutinised and followed. You can get some sense of the way it must have been to go from a life of nothing to the privilege of money. You can see some of the dissatisfaction that can arise from fame, notoriety, pressure and the sheer excess of money. But to me, a lot of this seemed to be just that - glimpses. As a result of that, I was a little disappointed. This is a woman who was as close to that particular, exciting, period of music and social history and change as anybody could have been (without being one of the musicians herself), yet the story that she wrote seemed a little flat, disconnected and jumbled. Maybe Penny Junor, dual writing credit on the book, should have had a firmer hand in directing the narrative, but Boyd's own voice is a little muddy, toneless, perhaps extremely cautious? There is a lot of name dropping however, and I'd imagine that anybody who is a passionate fan of the Beatles will appreciate whatever glimpses they can get into the inner-world of the band. At the end of the book could I see why Pattie Boyd became that famous muse? I'm not sure.

[debavp · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I thought this was exceptionally written overall. It was a great behind the scenes look at the Beatles and Clapton and painted them both, as well as Pattie, n not the greatest light, but not a bit mean spirited. It showed the human side of everyone and that we all make mistakes, whether we're a huge rock star, or a simple taxi driver.

[goldiebear · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book was just alright. The way she jumped around so much really made it hard to follow. It seemed like one minute we were in 1965 talking about George and then 3 paragraphs later we were in 1970 talking about Eric... it was kind of annoying. I was hoping for some new information about the Beatles that I hadn't already read somewhere else, but was disappointed. The relationship with Eric I found more interesting, I guess maybe because I didn't really know much about it to begin with. Sometimes I felt like she was overly wining wa-wa... poor me. I glad the book didn't end like that, but come on, you know? Don't get me wrong, there were a few interesting tid-bits here and there, but I found myself bored through a lot of it. I didn't care for all the name dropping that this book was full of. I got bored with all the talk of modeling in the beginning (I had no idea, and don't really care who all those people were). It was just so-so for me. She has, indeed lived an interesting life, though.

[phoenixcomet · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Shoddily written yet marginally interesting story of the life of Pattie Boyd, the wife of both George Harrison and Eric Clapton.

[pmgaecon · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Somewhat interesting read.

[yestergirl · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Pattie Boyd was married to both George Harrison and Eric Clapton. And that is what most people know about her. That's all I really knew about her. But open up this book and read thru these pages and you'll discover that Pattie Boyd was a interesting person in her own right.
A world traveler at a tender age, Pattie had lived in England, Scotland and Africa while life around changed. She ended up back in England living with her Mother and new Step father. From there she fell into modeling and was asked to play a part in a movie of a school girl riding on a train. That part would change her life. The movie was A Hard Days Night, and it was where she would meet George Harrison. He had asked her to marry him after the shoot and that would be only the beginning.
The world of Rock 'n Roll comes alive and so do the players. Pattie Boyd paints a very colorful picture of the people and the places behind the scenes. At times the writing seems to ramble on without any real need. And the name dropping gets a bit tiresome, but the story underneath any of the shortcomings of the writing is an interesting one and well worth the read.

[jthierer_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Some interesting anecdotes, but the book itself lacked focus. It would have been easier to relate if the book had been more tightly written and if there had been considerably less name dropping.

[sengels_5 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Interesting enough memoir, since Boyd's life is very unusual. There is an awful lot of name-dropping though, and if you didn't live through the era or don't know enough about it, you might be missing a lot--or doing a lot of wikipedia name lookups. I think we could do without knowing every single person she ever met, but if you're interested in the time, the place, or the musicians, pick this one up.

[jaie22 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The second half moves far quicker than the first, although Boyd's childhood in Africa is rather interesting.

[andsoitgoes_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Kind of boring. Redeeming feature: information on the early years of the Beatles.

[thescrappycat · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I got through it. I was disappointed. I expected more from someone who's lived such an amazing life. The writing is scattershot, with big holes in the story. What was her relationship with the other Beatles' wives, or the Beatles for that matter? She goes into great detail about the really awful things that happened with Harrison and Clapton, but the good stuff, the fun experiences, are either missing or barely touched upon. Some of the photos included do not have the stories to go with them so you have to sit and think, well, I wonder how THAT went? I've always admired Pattie Boyd...in fact I wanted to BE her when I was young, so I really looked forward to this book. She could have done so much better.