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The Bizarre Story of Eric Clapton, George Harrison, and Pattie Boyd

Author Matty Cord and Colin Newby
13th January 1973: British blues-rock singer and guitarist, Eric Clapton, in concert at the Rainbow Rooms.

Pattie Boyd, the ex-wife of George Harrison and Eric Clapton, interviewed with Telegraph Magazine after the release of her new book My Life in Pictures last week.

The book’s official site described Boyd as a “model, photographer, and one of the most iconic muses of the twentieth century.” However, many classic rock fans will only ever associate her with her bizarre, topsy-turvy relationships with two of the greatest rock stars of her generation.

She is the inspiration for Harrison’s single “Something” and two of Clapton’s most recognizable hits “Layla” and “Wonderful Tonight.”

Boyd married George Harrison in 1966 while Beatlemania continued to sweep the music world off its feet. However, she suffered through incredible insecurity that ultimately ended her marriage with the Beatles’ guitarist in 1977.

“I felt I had to leave George because things were getting really out of hand. George was just being a different George. We had gone in different directions, basically. But we still loved each other… It’s just that I think he wanted to spread his wings and take advantage of being the handsome, famous, rich guy that he was and see how the girls feel about him,” she told Telegraph.

Eric Clapton was Harrison’s closest friend, but he had actively pursued Pattie Boyd romantically while she was married to Harrison. He wrote “Layla” in 1970 with Derek and the Dominos about his painful desire for the famous model.

In an unusual twist of events, Clapton married Boyd in 1979. His drug abuse issues complicated the relationship before and after the marriage, and they ultimately split up in 1989.

Having the same ex-wife is hardly a common bonding point of best friends, but Clapton and Harrison remined close until Harrison passed away in 2001.

Boyd spoke about her life after divorcing two famous rock stars and how the astonishing path ultimately led her to happiness after the fame. “Well, I was no longer Mrs. Famous George or Mrs. Famous Eric, so who am I? I am no one. No one knows me. I don’t even know me. I was at a critical point in my life, and so I saw a psychotherapist who was quite wonderful. She was amazing. She guided me out of this mire of respond, and gradually, I learned to believe in myself.”

10 Unplugged Albums Everyone Should Own

  • Nirvana - ‘MTV Unplugged in New York’ (1994)

    Recorded just five months before the untimely passing of Kurt Cobain, Nirvana’s performance would later be released as the live LP MTV Unplugged in New York.  It was Nirvana’s first release following Cobain’s death, and it would go on to win the Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album.

  • Alice In Chains - ‘MTV Unplugged’ (1996)

    Equal parts extraordinary and bitter-sweet, AIC’s 1996 performance on MTV Unplugged was the band’s first performance together in over two years due to Layne Staley’s issues with drug abuse.  It would also be one of the band’s last high-profile gigs with Staley. In spite of that and Jerry Cantrell famously battling food poisoning, AIC’s set served as a reminder of why they were the first band to really break out of the fruitful Seattle music scene. 

  • Rod Stewart - ‘Unplugged...and Seated’ (1993)

    Stewart’s appearance on MTV Unplugged also featured former Faces bandmate Ronnie Wood and marked the first time in about two decades they shared the stage together. The album features unplugged versions of some of Stewart’s biggest hits, including “Hot Legs” and “Maggie May.” The LP also features moving covers of Curtis Mayfield’s “People Get Ready” and Van Morrison’s “Have I Told You Lately.”

     

  • Eric Clapton - ‘Unplugged’ (1992)

    Clapton’s Unplugged was a massive commercial and critical success. The LP won three Grammy Awards in 1993: Best Male Rock Vocal Performance, Best Rock Song for the acoustic version of “Layla” and Album of the Year. Clapton’s Unplugged has sold a whopping 26 million copies worldwide. Of course, we’d be remiss in not mentioning the Unplugged version of “Tears in Heaven,” which remains devastatingly moving to this day.

     

  • Page and Plant - ‘No Quarter: Jimmy Page & Robert Plant Unledded’ (1994)

    No Quarter was a 90-minute special for MTV featuring a reunited Robert Plant and Jimmy Page. While there were some electric elements, this performance also received some extra oomph thanks to string and orchestra musicians local to Morocco, Wales and London where the special had been recorded. A number of Led Zeppelin tunes made up the tracklisting including “Kashmir,” “The Battle of Evermore” and “That’s The Way.” 

     

  • Pearl Jam - ‘MTV Unplugged’ (2020)

    Pearl Jam simply crushes it in this set from March 1992, about seven months after the release of Pearl Jam’s debut album Ten. The band’s Unplugged set would finally get an official release as part of Record Store Day in 2019.

     

  • KISS - ‘KISS Unplugged’ (1996)

    KISS’ 1995 appearance on Unplugged featured the four original band members on stage together for the first time since the late ’70s. It was so popular that it led to KISS’ famed 1996 reunion tour.

  • Bob Dylan - ‘MTV Unplugged’ (1995)

    The iconic singer-songwriter recorded his performance for MTV Unplugged in November 1994. The album release of the performance came out in May 1995 and featured some of Dylan’s biggest songs including “The Times They Are a-Changin’.”

  • Neil Young - ‘Unplugged’ (1993)

    Recorded in February 1993 and released just four months later, Young’s Unplugged set also featured some of his most classic tunes. Among them were “Harvest Moon” and “The Needle and the Damage Done.”

  • Paul McCartney - ‘Unplugged (The Official Bootleg)’ (1991)

    Fun fact about Sir Paul’s appearance on Unplugged: It was completely unplugged.  Most other performances featured artists playing acoustically with the help of amps. It was also one of the first performances in the show’s history.

     

Matt Cord is the host of the Matt Cord Show. He is a lover of all Philly Sports and has been the voice of the Sixers for 27 years and NBA2K for the past 4 years. As a cyclist enthusiast, Matt writes about his adventures all throughout the city.

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Author Matty Cord and Colin Newby
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