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Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Wonderful Tonight

"Yet I came to believe that although something about me might have made them put pen to paper, [the song] was really all about them." The same night I read that passage in Wonderful Tonight I watched an interview with Tegan and Sara where Sara admitted that whenever you're in a relationship and you write a love song you tell your significant other that the song is about them. Actually, the songs are about how the other person makes you feel, so really it's about you. "I have albums full of songs about... myself." This really isn't a major part of the book or anything, but it's an interesting concept.

Pattie Boyd certainly has had some of the most amazing and famous loves songs written about her, or at least, with her in mind. "Something," "Layla", "Wonderful Tonight." It's enough to make a girl jealous. Why aren't songs being written about me? But Pattie's life was more than sunshine and pretty songs. She dealt with a crazy childhood, Beatlemania (George's fans hated her), her husbands' infidelity and Clapton's alcoholism.

I'm not spoiler-fying any of this, because it's an autobiography. Her wikipedia page is practically the cliffsnotes.

I enjoyed the book. Some of the best stories were stories of her childhood in Africa or later stories of her drug experimentation with George and the other Beatles. I think Pattie may have met every person alive during the Sixties, because every five minutes I was being introduced to another person. The book has some stream-of-consciousness to it, she'll mention a person who is at a party she's attending, and then spend the rest of the page explaining how she knows that person and the rest of this person's life story. And then back to the party. It's a little confusing sometimes.

Anyway- the book was a good read and I would recommend it to anyone with an interest in the private lives of two of rock and roll's biggest stars. Or to anyone who, like me, hopes to someday have a song written about them.

1 comment:

Isorski said...

I really have to read this book next, having read Clapton and Ron Wood's books recently. Did you know Boyd hooked up with Ron Wood of the Stones after being done with Clapton? There was so much mate-swapping going on in the 60s and 70s it's amazing anyone can keep it all straight!

I wrote a review of "Clapton" at http://isorski.blogspot.com/. You might have to scroll down a little to get to it. Check it out!