By Samantha Lozano
In the drug-fueled haze that was the 60s, certain songs shined through highlighting the exciting nature of love and the ambiguity surrounding youth, some of which were inspired by the photographer and model, Pattie Boyd. Boyd, who entered a strenuous relationship with former Beatles member George Harrison when she was 19 years old, was the inspiration for songs such as “Something,” “I Need You,” and “For You Blue.” The model moved to London in ‘69 to attend a covenant boarding school where she got her first role as a schoolgirl in the band's music video for “A Hard Day's Night.” Boyd said, “ On first impressions, John seemed more cynical and brash than the others, Ringo the most endearing, Paul was cute and George, with velvet-brown eyes and dark chestnut hair, was the best-looking man I had ever seen. During a break for lunch, I found myself sitting next to him. Being close to him was electrifying.” While only exchanging a few words, Harrison approached Boyd at the end of the shoot asking her to marry him. When she laughed, Harrison said, “Well, if you won’t marry me, will you have dinner with me tonight?” Boyd, who was in a relationship with the photographer at the time, was convinced by her friends to take advantage of the singer's advances.
On their first date, Boyd and Harrison were accompanied by Harrison’s manager, Brian Epstein. “ I didn’t resent [Brian’s] presence on our first date – he was good company and seemed to know everything about wine, food, and restaurants. And perhaps if George and I, two young, shy people, had been on our own in such a grown-up restaurant, it would have been too intense.”
“As it was, we had a lovely evening and sat side by side on a banquette listening to Brian, hardly daring to touch each other’s hand,” Boyd said.
The couple stayed together for a little over a decade and struggled with the continuity of their relationship due to Harrisons drug use and fixation surrounding girls he met on tour. In one of Boyd’s interviews, she states how she doesn’t hold anything against Harrison and understands the temptation of other women due to his charisma and high power. Through this relationship, Harrison’s best friend, Eric Clapton fell in love with the model in which he dedicated his most famous song “Layla” to her.
“So I went up to the flat and he put on a cassette, and it was Layla,” explains Boyd. “It was inspired by a 12th-century Persian tale called The Story of Layla and Majnun about a young poet whose unrequited love turns him mad, and it was so passionate and full of love and raw emotion. I was taken aback by its beauty — but at the same time, I felt guilt,” Boyd states in an interview with Christie's magazine.
Boyd describes her decision to leave Harrison for Clapton as a “difficult decision to make” which led her to be married to Clapton for years but soon divorcing in June 1977. Her book “Wonderful Tonight: George Harrison, Eric Clapton and Me” shows her life in a series of photos, highlighting the duality of who some may refer to as the original muse.