Web Page 926

First Picture: Patti Boyd and George Harrison





Second Picture: A rare sight these days, an AA box, this one was in Scotland!

Pattie Boyd

Patti Boyd was born Patricia Anne Boyd on 17th March 1944 in Taunton. She became well known as a English model and photographer and wife of the stars and was the former wife of both George Harrison and Eric Clapton. She was the eldest child of the family being followed by Helen Mary (later known as Jenny who later married Mick Fleetwood of Fleetwood Mac), and Paula who was born in 1951. The Boyd family moved to Nairobi from 1948 to 1953, after her father's medical discharge from the RAF following a severe injury as a pilot, her parents were divorced in 1952 and her mother brought her childrn back to England with her. After leaving school Patti moved to London in 1962, first working at Elizabeth Arden’s as a shampoo girl and it was here that a client who worked for a fashion magazine asked her if she had thought of modelling as a career.

She started modelling in 1962, but was rejected by many photographers owing to her unconventional looks she had rather prominent front teeth and one photographer unkindly said she looked more like a rabbit. However she got modelling work in London, New York and Paris for Mary Quant and others designers and was photographed many times by David Bailey and Terance Donovan.

She was nineteen going in twenty in 1964 when she met George Harrison during the filming of A Hard Days Night in which she was cast as a schoolgirl fan. Out of loyalty to her boyfriend she initially declined George’s requests for a date; however several days later, when Patti was recalled for another day's work on the film, George asked her out again and she accepted. So started a relationship with the Beatle, in fact she was present, along with George, John and Cynthia Lennon, during their first encounter with LSD in early 1965. A dentist, John Riley, the son of a London police officer, laced their coffee with it. The four of them were furious and left extremely scared. In an agitated state, Patti Boyd threatened to break a store window until George Harrison managed to drag her away.

Whilst driving through London in December 1965 George proposed but said he would have to talk to Brian Epstein first just to make sure no Beatles' tours had been planned before they could set the day. They married on 21 January 1966 at the old Registry Office in Epsom with Paul as Best Man and Brian Epstein in attendance. John and Ringo had gone abroad on holiday with their wives so distracting journalists from finding out about the wedding.

While John Lennon was in Spain filming in September 1966, George and Patti flew to Bombay as guests of the sitar player Ravi Shankar. Through her interest in Eastern mysticism Patti inspired the Beatles to meet the Maharishi Mehesh Yogi in London in August 1967, she also accompanied them on their visit to the Maharishi in India in 1968.

It was rumoured that both John Lennon and Mick Jagger were also attracted to Patti with Mick Jagger admitting in the 1980s that he had failed to seduce her after trying for years. She then had a brief affair with future Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood in 1973, her marriage at the time was failing fast and they split in June 1974 and she flew to Los Angeles to stay with her sister Jenny.

In the late 1960’s, Eric Clapton and George Harrison became close friends, and began writing and recording music together. Eric Clapton fell in love with Patti and it was when she rebuffed his advances in late 1970, that he became a serious Heroin addiction. They married eventually in 1979 after Eric had treatment. The outward image of the perfect couple masked struggles within their marriage. Although she drank and admits to past drug use, unlike Eric Clapton she never became an alcoholic or a drug addict in fact she says that she left him at one point due to his refusal to seek treatment for his alcoholism, and she began seeing a photographer, Will Christie. In 1984, Eric began a relationship with Yvonne Kelly; they had a daughter, Ruth, born in January 1985. Clapton and Boyd divorced in 1989.

An exhibition of photographs that she took during her days with George Harrison and Eric Clapton took place at the San Francisco Art Exchange in February 2005 and it also ran again in San Francisco in February 2006 and then for six weeks between June and July 2006, in London.

As of 2008, she lived in a 17th-century cottage in deepest West Susex.

Stay in touch,

Yours,

Peter

DUSTYKEAT@aol.com
Pj.keat@ntlworld.co.uk

You Write:

Had this sent to me: The pedestrian crossing outside north London's Abbey Road recording studio-- made famous by the cover photo on the Beatles' album, "Abbey Road"-- has been designated a site of national importance. That means it can be altered only with the approval of local authorities.



News and Views:

Carl Bunch, drummer with Buddy Holly on his ill-fated Winter Dance party tour who developed frostbite on the unheated tour bus and was hospitalized, died on March 26th after a lengthy illness. He was 71.

On this day 3rd April 1960-1965.

On 03/04/1960 the number one single was My Old Man's a Dustman - Lonnie Donegan and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Wagon Train (ITV) and the box office smash was Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Burnley were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 03/04/1961 the number one single was Wooden Heart - Elvis Presley and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was No Hiding Place (AR) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 03/04/1962 the number one single was Wonderful Land - The Shadows and the number one album was Blue Hawaii - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Lawrence of Arabia. A pound of today's money was worth £12.89 and Ipswich Town were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was First military satellite TV broadcast.

On 03/04/1963 the number one single was Foot Tapper - The Shadows and the number one album was Summer Holiday - Cliff Richard & the Shadows. The top rated TV show was The Budget (All Channels) and the box office smash was The Great Escape. A pound of today's money was worth £12.64 and Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 03/04/1964 the number one single was Can't Buy Me Love - The Beatles and the number one album was With the Beatles - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Dr Strangelove. A pound of today's money was worth £12.24 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was British troops in Cyprus fist fights.

On 03/04/1965 the number one single was The Last Time - Rolling Stones and the number one album was Rolling Stones Number 2 - The Rolling Stones. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Sound of Music. A pound of today's money was worth £11.69 and Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.