Wonderful Tonight: George Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Me by Pattie Boyd, Penny Junor Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Wonderful Tonight: George Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Me
Book Review: Old Loves, Leave Me Alone, Old Love, Go On Home
Summary: 4 Stars
"Old love, leave me alone Old love, go on home"
Eric Clapton
Rock n' roll, the beat generation, the summer of love, the drug generation, Sex, Drugs and Rock n'Roll, all terms used in the 1960's at the start of the generation that changed the shape of music. And, along with the music came the musicians and the drugs and the alcohol.
"The popularity and promotion of experimentation with drugs by musicians may have influenced use of drugs and the perception of acceptability of drug use among the youth of the period. When the Beatles, once marketed as clean-cut youths, started publicly acknowledging using Cannabis, many fans followed. Journalist Al Aronowitz wrote "...whatever the Beatles did was acceptable, especially for young people. Pretty soon everybody was smoking it, and it seemed to be all right." The relationship of rock music to the hippie and counterculture movements, which espoused use of marijuana and other drugs, is complex and intertwined, and it is not always clear in which direction influence flowed. What is clear is that by the end of the 1960s drugs and rock music were part of a common youth scene and that both some rock musicians and some rock fans were experimenting with many types of drugs." Wikipedia
Patti Boyd was of this generation. She tells us the story of her life and her loves, her experiments with drugs and alcohol. Along the way she married two of the best musicians of our time, George Harrison and Eric Clapton. With each relationship came drugs and alcohol. Artists who needed space and time, and the Muse who thought she could change them. Patti Boyd has written along with her collaborator, Penny Junor, an interesting book, a memoir full of places and times and some learning adventures. We meet the scene in London, the Beatles, and George Harrison her first love. But with each love came addictions and affairs and life began to come apart. Certainly lots of journeys and money and "things", but the love she had for this man, seemed to pass her by. She left George for Eric Clapton,and in the end she says she HAD to leave Eric so that he could take his own journey to become sober. Yes, this is her story and her memories. Much of the novel is informative and well written, but something is left out. There is a part of her life with independence and individual responsibility that she does discuss but not much of what she has learned in this long strange trip. It is a good read, and informative read, a time in this generation when free love and drugs were part of the mainstream.
Patti Boyd concludes her novel "Our generation really did lead a revolution," And: "I have known some amazing people and had some unforgettable experiences." Her husbands' music is what made them unforgettable. In her own way, Patti Boyd has made her own contributions. This book tells of her story but the other side is waiting to be told. Eric Clapton has an autobiography out soon. It will be a nice conclusion to read his version. The two halves can then make a whole.
Recommended. prisrob 09-15-07