Wonderful Tonight: George Harrison, Eric Clapton And Me by Pattie Boyd & Penny Junor (Harmony Books)
Clapton: The Autobiography by Eric Clapton (Broadway Books)
Forever linked by their involvement in rock & roll’s premier love triangle, guitar legend Eric Clapton and former wife Pattie Boyd have finally released their respective memoirs. To recount the well-documented story, Boyd was married to Beatle George Harrison and was ultimately wooed away by Harrison’s friend and fellow musician Clapton. The subject of classic songs “Something” and “Layla,” Boyd cast an undeniable spell over the two legends.
Of these intertwined biographies, Clapton’s has been the most eagerly anticipated. In a career marked by superstardom, addiction, numerous musical projects and the death of a child, his story is deserving of a firsthand account. Clapton: The Autobiography is suited for the casual reader seeking Clapton the celebrity, parent and husband. By these yardsticks, the autobiography hits the mark and does not disappoint.
But Clapton has always been a guitarist’s guitarist first and foremost. His true followers have always been more interested in his musical endeavors than his personal life. From his days as a blues-obsessed youth in John Mayall’s band to fronting supergroups Cream and Derek & The Dominos, Clapton expanded the limits of his instrument and eventually found enormous success as a solo artist. From a detailed musical perspective, Clapton will not satisfy guitarists and hardcore fans seeking a comprehensive retrospective of the players, sessions, albums and influences that served as the foundations of his career.
Boyd’s memoir Wonderful Tonight is a worthwhile read given the author’s proximity to the two pop music legends. The pages that detail life with Harrison are of special interest given the Beatle’s intensely private nature. The recollection of life with these two superstars is only enhanced by the tabloid-ready story of her progression from one man to the other. But as you would expect, Boyd’s book loses steam once Harrison and Clapton are no longer in her life. And while it is perhaps unfair to discount her days before and after the high-profile marriages, these relationships are the reasons for the public’s interest in her.
As one would assume, Boyd devotes more attention to Clapton in Wonderful Tonight than Clapton does to her in his autobiography. Fortunately, each person reflects on the relationship from a mature perspective in lieu of spiteful back-biting. The couple divorced in 1989.
Popularity: 8% [?]
