Wife of two of Rock N’ Roll’s most influential musicians, Pattie Boyd was undoubtedly one of the most important women of the 1960s.
Born in Somerset, England, on March 17, 1944, Patricia Anne Boyd started in the modeling world in 1962, when she was just 18 years old.
But it wasn’t until 1964, when she participated in the first Beatles movie, A Hard Day’s Night, that her life changed completely, starting a journey that led her to become one of the most inspiring muses in the history of Rock.
It was on the film set itself that The Beatles’ guitarist, George Harrison, would be struck by Pattie’s beauty. They would soon start dating and two years later, in 1966, they would get married.
Boyd would soon inspire Harrison to compose some of the band’s most important pieces, such as I need you, included in the 1965 album Help, or Something from the album Abbey Road, one of the group’s most beautiful and well-known songs, although sometime later, George himself would deny that it was a composition inspired by her.
For you blue, included on the album Let it be, is also considered by many as a love song for his wife.
One of the most important songs in Rock N’ Roll was also inspired by Pattie and included on the group’s album Derek and the Dominos: Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs. It’s about Layla, composed by Eric Clapton, who had always been in love with the model.
It is an adaptation of the poem Layla and Mjnum, written by the Persian Nizami Ganjavi and is about the love that a man feels for a woman who loves him but is not available. Boyd would later say that it was the most powerful song he had ever heard.
Other musicians like Ronnie Wood, who was playing with the band The Faces at the time, would also succumb to Pattie’s charm after a short vacation together in the Bahamas, which resulted in two more compositions with her as their muse: Mystifies Me, from the 1974 album I’ve Got My Own Album to Do and Breathe on Me, from the 1975 album Now Look.
Other songs inspired by Pattie were So Sad by George Harrison, included in his 1974 album Dark Horse, where he talks about the problems within his marriage, as well as the lyrics that I include in the song Bye Bye, Love from the same album, where he refers to Pattie’s abandonment to go to her best friend, Eric Clapton.
Pattie left Harrison and married Clapton in 1979 for 10 years. Wonderful Tonight (1977), She’s Waiting (1985), and Old Love (1989) were songs composed by him and dedicated to the love of his life.
In 2007, Pattie Boyd released his autobiography called Wonderful Today, where he talks in detail about the ins and outs of his life with these incredible musicians.
In 2016, The Beatles Story’s Hidden Gallery in Liverpool, England, held an exhibition of her photographs under the name Pattie Boyd: George, Eric and Me, which was exhibited for only 6 months, from May 6, 2016, to October 1 of the same year.
About Zoryham
Zoryham is a Political Scientist who has been a freelance writer and radio broadcaster for several years. Her niches include Music, Wellness, Healthy Lifestyle, Yoga, Personal Development, Animals and Product Reviews. When Zoryham is not writing, you can find her listening to a Rolling Stones album, her favorite band.
