TMS Muse of the Week: Pattie Boyd

(Larry Ellis)

♫With your long blonde hair and your eyes of blue♫

♫Because you’re sweet and lovely, girl, I love you♫

♫Do you want to see me crawl across the floor for you?♫

♫Carve your number on my wall and maybe you will get a call from me♫

♫My darling, you are wonderful tonight♫

It goes without saying, no wife, ex-girlfriend or general muse of a musician has been as discussed as former model Pattie Boyd. What else is there to say that every classic rock fan hasn’t said already? The Quiet Beatle was her first husband and Slowhand was her second. Before Beatlemania she was a favorite of fashion legends like photographer David Bailey and designer Ossie Clark. In the 21st century she published two memoirs, Wonderful Today (2007) and My Life in Pictures (2022), and a book on her own photography, My Life Through a Lens (2020). Her two younger sisters, Jenny and Paula, followed her lead and went into modeling and dated musicians. Twiggy considered Pattie her role model when her own career started, and even Taylor Swift called herself a fan. Oh, and a lot of famous songs were written about Pattie. As you can see from some of the lyrics above, she is naturally easy on the eyes and quite the catch. If you watch her two scenes in Richard Lester’s A Hard Day’s Night (1964)—where she met one George Harrison and his three bandmates—she’s got an adorable presence that would make it easy for George to suddenly stop thinking about Joey Heatherton. Pattie’s eclectic childhood living in England, Scotland and Kenya with her family helped poise her as worldly and sophisticated until settling in London right when the Swingin’ ‘60s were about to take off.

Tale as old as time, Pattie lived a real-life fairytale in the 1960s-1970s of magazine covers, catwalks, showbiz parties, traveling, concerts, visiting recording sessions, luxurious vacations, tudors and a lot of iconic music. In 1965, George wrote his first official song for Pattie, ‘If I Needed Someone’ off the Beatles’ landmark ‘Rubber Soul.’ From there, the blonde and ginger Beatle muse Jane Asher would be the basis of some of the most influential pop and rock music ever made. From ‘It’s All Too Much’ (1968) to ‘Old Brown Shoe’ (1969) to ‘For You Blue’ (1969) to George’s magnum opus, ‘Something’ (1969). You could almost follow the progression of George & Pattie’s relationship through the lyrics inspired by her. As George was composing and recording his first solo album, ‘All Things Must Pass’ (1970), following the Beatles’ disbandment; his best friend, Eric Clapton, was making an LP with his new band, Derek & the Dominos. And nearly all the tracks on that record, ‘Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs,’ were based on one person: Pattie. Now, the model’s not only the inspiration of 1960s rock, but also the 1970s. Dubious lyrics aside, it’s hard to deny ‘Layla’ is a musical masterpiece and the title track one of the all-time great rock anthems. ‘Bell Bottom Blues,’ ‘Why Does Love Got to be So Sad?,’ ‘I Looked Away’ and ‘Anyday’ still sound effortlessly stellar, if you can get past the fact Eric is trying to woo a married woman away from her husband.

(Chaloner Woods)

With rock & roll fairytales usually come a sobering ending or two, which Pattie couldn’t escape either, sadly. Affairs, infertility, drugs and spiritual differences unfortunately resulted in George and Pattie lingering apart in 1973 and by 1977, Eric successfully won her over [until 1988, anyway]. A couple more songs were written about the rock wife, including the 1977 hit ballad ‘Wonderful Tonight.’ But unfortunately marriage to Eric was a repeat of her issues with George, except even worse. While this could be another cautionary tale like a lot of famous exes, Pattie successfully managed to not be beat down by personal demons and survived to tell the tale on her own terms. Her third husband is an ordinary man named Ron Weston whom she’s been involved with since 1991, and she has always maintained close to her big family that now includes nieces, nephews and their kids. Regarding her famous past, Pattie doesn’t seem to regret or dwell on many things. But she did admit she would have changed the way things ended with George. Whether the cover of a magazine or the subject of a love song, Pattie has a special place in the mythos of fashion and rock music.