Author | Pattie Boyd with Penny Junor |
---|---|
Language | English |
Genre | Autobiography, memoir |
Published | Headline Review |
Publication date | 23 August 2007 |
Publication place | United Kingdom |
Pages | 320 |
ISBN | 978-0-755316427 |
Wonderful Today, subtitled The Autobiography, is the 2007 autobiography by English former fashion model and photographer Pattie Boyd, written with journalist and broadcaster Penny Junor. [1] [2] It was published by Headline Review in Britain, on 23 August 2007, and by Harmony Books in the United States, where it was titled Wonderful Tonight: George Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Me. [3] Beginning with her childhood in Kenya, the book covers Boyd's modelling career in London during the 1960s, her marriage to and divorce from Beatle George Harrison and later marriage and divorce of Harrison's best friend, Eric Clapton. [4] The book's title is in reference to Clapton's 1977 song "Wonderful Tonight", which he wrote about Boyd. [3]
Reviewing Wonderful Today for The Daily Telegraph , Lynn Barber described it as "absolutely gripping" and a memoir that "gives more insight into the weirdness of rock-star life than anything I have ever read". [5] Simon Vozick-Levinson of Entertainment Weekly gave the book a B+ rating and wrote: "Boyd pads her pages with a few too many humdrum memories, but her detailed chronicle of her legendary exes' slides into infidelity and substance abuse will thrill classic-rock buffs with a taste for scandal." [6] In her review for The Austin Chronicle , Margaret Moser described it as "a sweet, sad memoir that rings true", with the best chapters dedicated to Boyd's life in the 1960s through to the end of her marriage with Clapton, after which she "turns the mirror inward, and the book becomes SFF – strictly for fans". [7]
In the United States, the book debuted at the top of the New York Times Best Seller list. [8] In an interview the following year, for the website entertainment.ie, Boyd said she was surprised at the extent of the book's success. [9]
Eric Patrick Clapton is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. He ranked second in Rolling Stone's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and fourth in Gibson's "Top 50 Guitarists of All Time". He was named number five in Time magazine's list of "The 10 Best Electric Guitar Players" in 2009. In 2023, Rolling Stone named Clapton the 35th best guitarist of all time.
George Harrison was an English musician, singer and songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian culture and helped broaden the scope of popular music through his incorporation of Indian instrumentation and Hindu-aligned spirituality in the Beatles' work.
Slowhand is the fifth solo studio album by Eric Clapton. Released on 25 November 1977 by RSO Records, and titled after Clapton's nickname, it is one of his most commercially and critically successful studio albums. Slowhand produced the two hit singles "Lay Down Sally" and "Wonderful Tonight", reached various international music charts and was honoured with numerous awards and recording certifications. In 2012, a deluxe edition was released to celebrate the album's 35th anniversary.
Derek and the Dominos was an English–American blues rock band formed in the spring of 1970 by singer-guitarist Eric Clapton, keyboardist-singer Bobby Whitlock, bassist Carl Radle and drummer Jim Gordon. All four members had previously played together in Delaney & Bonnie and Friends, during and after Clapton's brief tenure with Blind Faith. Dave Mason supplied additional lead guitar on early studio sessions and played at their first live gig. Another participant at their first session as a band was George Harrison, the recording for whose album All Things Must Pass marked the formation of Derek and the Dominos.
Barbara Bach, Lady Starkey is an American actress and former model. She played the Bond girl Anya Amasova in The Spy Who Loved Me. She is married to former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr.
"Layla" is a song written by Eric Clapton and Jim Gordon, originally recorded with their band Derek and the Dominos, as the thirteenth track from their only studio album, Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs (1970). Its contrasting movements were composed separately by Clapton and Gordon. The piano part has also been controversially credited to Rita Coolidge, Gordon's girlfriend at the time.
Patricia Anne Boyd is an English model and photographer. She was one of the leading international models during the 1960s and, with Jean Shrimpton, epitomised the British female look of the era. Boyd married George Harrison in 1966, experiencing the height of the Beatles' popularity and sharing in their embrace of Indian spirituality. She divorced Harrison in 1977 and married mutual friend Eric Clapton in 1979; they divorced in 1989. Boyd inspired Harrison's songs "I Need You", "If I Needed Someone", "Something" and "For You Blue", and Clapton's songs "Layla", "Bell Bottom Blues" and "Wonderful Tonight".
"Something" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their eleventh studio album Abbey Road (1969). It was written by George Harrison, the band's lead guitarist. Together with his second contribution to Abbey Road, "Here Comes the Sun", it is widely viewed by music historians as having marked Harrison's ascendancy as a composer to the level of the Beatles' principal songwriters, John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Two weeks after the album's release, the song was issued on a double A-side single, coupled with "Come Together", making it the first Harrison composition to become a Beatles A-side. The pairing was also the first time in the United Kingdom that the Beatles issued a single containing tracks already available on an album. While the single's commercial performance was lessened by this, it topped the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States as well as charts in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and West Germany, and peaked at number 4 in the UK.
Dark Horse is the fifth studio album by the English rock musician George Harrison. It was released on Apple Records in December 1974 as the follow-up to Living in the Material World. Although keenly anticipated on release, Dark Horse is associated with the controversial North American tour that Harrison staged with Indian classical musician Ravi Shankar in November and December that year. This was the first US tour by a member of the Beatles since 1966, and the public's nostalgia for the band, together with Harrison contracting laryngitis during rehearsals and choosing to feature Shankar so heavily in the programme, resulted in scathing concert reviews from some influential music critics.
"Bell Bottom Blues" is a song written by Eric Clapton and Bobby Whitlock, and performed by Derek and the Dominos. It dealt with Clapton's unrequited love for Pattie Boyd, the wife of his friend George Harrison, and appeared on the 1970 double album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs. Issued as a single, backed with "Keep on Growing", the song reached number 91 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1971. A re-release backed with "Little Wing" peaked at number 78 on the same chart.
"Wonderful Tonight" is a ballad written by Eric Clapton. It was included on Clapton's 1977 album Slowhand which is his most popular album. Clapton wrote the song on his 1974 Martin D-28 guitar about Pattie Boyd. The female vocal harmonies on the song are provided by Marcella Detroit and Yvonne Elliman. The song is his most popular download on Spotify with more than 480,000,000 streams.
Helen Mary "Jenny" Boyd is an English former model, the younger sister of 1960s model and photographer Pattie Boyd. She quit her modelling career in the 1960s after discovering Transcendental Meditation, stating that modelling was "a waste of her time". She later managed an addiction treatment centre and wrote two books.
Kinfauns was a large 1950s deluxe bungalow in Esher in the English county of Surrey, on the Claremont Estate. From 1964 to 1970, it was the home of George Harrison, lead guitarist of the Beatles. It was where many of the demo recordings for the band's 1968 self-titled double album were made. The bungalow has since been demolished, and another house built in its place.
"Ding Dong, Ding Dong" is a song by English rock musician George Harrison, written as a New Year's Eve singalong and released in December 1974 on his album Dark Horse. It was the album's lead single in Britain and some other European countries, and the second single, after "Dark Horse", in North America. A large-scale production, the song incorporates aspects of Phil Spector's Wall of Sound technique, particularly his Christmas recordings from 1963. In addition, some Harrison biographers view "Ding Dong" as an attempt to emulate the success of two glam rock anthems from the 1973–74 holiday season: "Merry Xmas Everybody" by Slade, and Wizzard's "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday". The song became only a minor hit in Britain and the United States, although it was a top-twenty hit elsewhere in the world.
"Love Comes to Everyone" is a song by English rock musician George Harrison from his 1979 album George Harrison. It is the opening track on the album and was also issued as the second single, after "Blow Away". The song reflects Harrison's contentment in his personal life as he was soon to become a father for the first time and married his second wife, Olivia Arias. Despite its commercial qualities, and contrary to some reviewers' predictions at the time of release, the song failed to become a hit.
"Far East Man" is a song written by English rock musicians George Harrison and Ronnie Wood, each of whom released a recording of the song in 1974. Wood's version appeared on I've Got My Own Album to Do, his debut solo album, and Harrison's on Dark Horse. Their only official songwriting collaboration, "Far East Man" is an affirmation of friendship in the face of life's obstacles and musically reflects the two guitarists' adoption of the soul genre. Written mostly by Harrison, the composition has been interpreted as a restatement of the humanitarian message expressed in his 1971 single "Bangla Desh", and a tribute to Indian musician Ravi Shankar.
"Bye Bye Love" is a popular song written by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant and published in 1957. It is best known in a debut recording by the Everly Brothers, issued by Cadence Records as catalog number 1315. The song reached No. 2 on the US Billboard Pop charts and No. 1 on the Cash Box Best Selling Record charts. The Everly Brothers' version also enjoyed major success as a country song, reaching No. 1 in the spring of 1957. The Everlys' "Bye Bye Love" is ranked 210th on Rolling Stone magazine's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".
San Francisco Art Exchange LLC is an art gallery in San Francisco, California, United States, founded in 1983.
"Let It Down" is a song by English musician George Harrison, released on his 1970 triple album All Things Must Pass. The recording was co-produced by Phil Spector and employs the latter's Wall of Sound production technique to lavish effect. Its brash opening and choruses contrast with the ethereal quality of the verses – a loud/soft approach that has been credited with influencing indie bands during the 1980s and 1990s.
"So Sad" is a song by English rock musician George Harrison that was released on his 1974 album Dark Horse. Harrison originally recorded the song for his previous album, Living in the Material World, before giving it to Alvin Lee, the guitarist and singer with Ten Years After. Lee recorded it – as "So Sad " – with gospel singer Mylon LeFevre for their 1973 album On the Road to Freedom. The latter recording includes contributions from Harrison and marked the first of several collaborations between him and Lee.