The Greatest Muse In Rock And Roll

Today I'm going to talk about a model, photographer, and author named Pattie Boyd.

One thing you'll notice about Ms. Boyd is that she's not too bad-looking, not at all. This will come into play later.

Born in Somerset, England in 1944, Ms. Boyd got into modeling as a teen, and in 1964 found herself as an extra in a movie, on the set of which she met her future husband. Here they are together.

That there be George Harrison, a rather famous guitarist. Him's a Beatle for you younger whippersnappers out there. The couple met on the set of A Hard Day's Night. Pretty lucky girl, Pattie Boyd, landing a Beatle like that. Or pretty lucky guy, George Harrison, since, as one expert stated,

"One thing you'll notice about Ms. Boyd is that she's not too bad-looking, not at all." Wait, that was me. Moving on.

So they got married, and he Beatled about while she Beatle-Wifed about for a few years, and after the band broke up, they continued.  During that time, George wrote Pattie a little song. It was called "Something."

But a problem arose, you see, because George had himself a friend. We'll call this friend "Eric," because that may or may not have been his first name. Eric was an okay guitarist himself, even having done a solo for the forgotten Beatles song "While My Guitar Gently Weeps." Eric didn't have himself a girl, unless you count pounds of heroin as girls, in which case he would've had himself quite a harem. But Eric had a hankering for George's girl. Obviously he couldn't tell George, or he would get slapped. (Or breathed upon, or however it is Beatles defeat their enemies.) So Eric let out his feelings in a song. He called it "Layla."

You thought I was referring to a different Eric?

So famous musician wants other famous musician's girlfriend, nothing new. But here's where the story gets weird. Pattie left George for Eric. Okay, that wasn't that weird, but here's where the story gets weird. George didn't mind. He and Eric stayed friends. Seriously. And then Pattie left Eric to write a bestselling memoir or something.

The End.

So to recap: The same girl was married to George Harrison and inspired "Something," what Frank Sinatra called the greatest love song of the 20th century, and then left him for Eric Clapton, inspiring "Layla," which is, like, pretty much just the greatest song ever. (Oh, and "Wonderful Tonight.") Wow. She must be a good cook.

Some final thoughts on Ms. Boyd:

• She said George wrote the song for her, but at the time George's material was mostly religious. And "Something" could totally work as a song that uses loving a woman as a metaphor for loving God. So, in short, she was comparing herself to God. Come on, Pattie. (Okay, quick Wikipedia check says George wrote the song for Ray Charles, apparently, but it's still just as a big an offense on Pattie's part.)
• Perhaps Eric stole George's wife in response to the "Savoy Truffle" incident, when George raided Eric's house in the middle of the night and stole all of his chocolates.

And now, as my gift to you, my readers: seven minutes of pure happiness for your ears: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WUdlaLWSVM