Какова судьба Патти Бойд?

“Unfortunately, the painting was never quite finished. Andrew insisted he wanted to
include it in a show at the Royal Academy, along with a collection of pre-Raphaelite
paintings, so it went on show when it was about 90 per cent complete. Then Ronnie went
on tour with the Stones. I think it’s now hanging in a theatre. I’m one of the people in the
painting - I’m the one with the camera.”

Pattie has been interested in photography since her modelling days. “Towards the end of
my career, I started swapping sides a bit,” she says. “I took pictures of models and
would-be models. Some of my travel pictures appeared in Harpers & Queen. I did some
shots of the Beatles when I was in India with them, and later I did a few album covers for
Eric - and a book cover. But a lot of the time I just used to photograph family and friends.

“Ringo employed me to take pictures of the 1974 film Son of Dracula, produced by him.
It was when my life was in a mess and I was crumbling emotionally. Ringo thought it
would give me someting else to think about, which was kind of him.

“I do really love taking pictures. I get quite a few commissions to photograph children,
which I like. If possible, I put them in a natural setting rather than in the studio. It’s less
daunting for them and they feel much freer. I always find them so charming.

“Travel is another great passion of mine. I want to travel more, but always with
photography as the main reason. Sometimes I see life as a series of stills and that the best
pictures, the best scenes, are in my head. I did try using a video camera but I hated it,
precisely because everything was moving. I like to catch things as still moments.

“I suppose what I would really like is to be sent on travel assignments - to combine my
two greatest passions seems to me the best of both worlds.”

Pattie is now planning her autobiography - but in pictures rather than words. She has been
widely admired for not cashing in on her past. “Everyone has secrets, things we don’t
want to expose or have exposed,” she says. “Mine will be a photographic autobiography,
my life in pictures. At the moment I’m going through all my pictures from the beginning.
It’s quite time-consuming.

“It’s extraordinary the amount of stuff that just disappears with the passing years - not just
photographs but gold albums, trophies, all the memorabilia. I wonder what happened to
that autograph George signed for me when I first met him on the set of A Hard Days
Night.

“At any rate, I will always have the memories.”

END

Любопытно, что у Патти Бойд есть сестра Дженни, которая в свое время была женой Мика Флитвуда. Да-да, того самого из FLEETWOOD MAC. Так вот, по всей видимости, супружеская неверность является фамильной чертой этих сестер.
Дело в том, что когда в конце 1974 года музыканты FLEETWOOD MAC отправились на свои гастроли в Америку вместе с гитаристом Бобом Уэстоном (Bob Weston), пришедшим в состав коллектива из BLACK CAT BONES в 1972 году, то неожиданно выяснилось, что у Дженни тайный роман с новым гитаристом. Турне закончилось грандиозным скандалом, в результате которого Уэстона с треском выгнали из группы!

I Won't Be Wed Again, Says Patti

Still stunning at 60, exotic model-turned photographer Patti Boyd has no desire to make her long-term lover her third husband.
'I ask her all the time to marry me but she won't', sighed Rod Weston, the handsome property developer who has shared her homes in London and Sussex for the past 12 years. Even a romantic trek in Bhutan could not soften the resolve of the engaging blonde, who married the late Beatle George Harrison when she was 19 before moving on to guitarist Eric Clapton when she was 30.
'I just don't feel the need to marry again' she told at a party last week for the Africa Travel Centre.
'I am more excited about getting together with Ronnie Wood to stage a show of his sketches and my photos that we are planning in London'.

LONDON - DECEMBER 1: Patti Boyd attends the fashion show of the latest range from the Italian designer Missoni at Harrods on December 1, 2003 in London

San Francisco Art Exchange to Mount the First-Ever Exhibition of Boyd's
Powerful Photographic Work

Opening February 14, the Show Will Feature 60+ Pieces, Including Portraits of
Rock Icons

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Although Pattie Boyd has remained a
distinctly private person over the years, large portions of her life are truly
the stuff of legend. Rock 'n roll's ultimate muse, Boyd wed Beatle George
Harrison in 1966 after meeting him in '64 when a modeling gig led to a bit
part in A Hard Day's Night. She spoke but one word in the acclaimed film, but
her influence on rock history spoke volumes -- Harrison wrote "Something" for
her, a sublime ballad that's regarded as one of contemporary music's greatest
love songs. Then, in the final stages of Boyd's 10-year union with Harrison,
Eric Clapton fell for her, and wrote the anguished classic of unrequited love,
"Layla," #27 on Rolling Stone Magazine's '500 Greatest Songs Of All Time.' On
a happier note, after they married in 1979 (they divorced a decade later),
Clapton penned the lovely "Wonderful Tonight" for Pattie.
Throughout her remarkable life, Boyd has documented the world around her
photographically. She began shooting in London during the heady days of the
mid-'60s, when she was an icon of the city's swingin' scene, writing the
column "Pattie's Letter From London" for 16 Magazine, among other pursuits.
For the last two decades, Boyd has practiced photography professionally, and
the San Francisco Art Exchange's (SFAE) 2005 solo exhibition of her work marks
her worldwide gallery debut. Opening Valentine's Day, February 14, SFAE will
display over 60 original pieces spanning the last four decades. The exhibition
was curated in association with Raj Prem Fine Art Photography, with whom SFAE
has had a longstanding association.
SFAE co-founder Theron Kabrich commented, "We're thrilled to have the
privilege of introducing Pattie Boyd's distinctive photography in her debut
exhibition. She has a special vision, and a unique perspective, and I believe
it will resonate with collectors and fans of photography everywhere."
Many of the pieces reflect Boyd's historic vantage point from the
epicenter of rock 'n roll culture, offering revealing images -- ranging from
candid to more formal -- of Harrison and Clapton, as well as Marianne
Faithfull, B.B. King, Mick Fleetwood, Mick Jagger and Ron Wood, among others.
Several portraits shown will be ones related to a previous collaboration that
Boyd had with Wood. Andrew Lloyd Webber had commissioned the Rolling Stone,
who's a respected painter, to create a triptych bearing the likenesses of
50 celebrities, and Wood asked Pattie to photograph each of the notables for
him to work from in creating the massive mural. The experience deepened
Pattie's portfolio and built her reputation as a portraitist.
In addition to inspiring immortal love songs, Boyd's impact on rock music
has another fascinating twist. It was her quest for spiritual enlightenment
-- which, like photography, has remained a constant thread in her life -- that
spurred the Beatles' pilgrimage to India to study with the Maharishi. Photos
from that famed trip to Rishikesh, along with subsequent journeys to India,
sacred sites around the world, and other international destinations are also
spotlighted in Boyd's SFAE exhibition.
Currently, Pattie Boyd resides in the countryside near London. She
remains friends with Clapton and other rock icons, and co-founded the charity
SHARP (Self Help Addiction Recovery Programme) with Ringo Starr's wife Barbara
Bach, but she avoids the limelight. Pattie has rarely traveled to the States,
and hasn't been to San Francisco for almost two decades. Most famously, she
charmed the city in 1967 -- the Summer Of Love -- when she and George, the
only Beatle to visit S.F. that legendary summer, strolled down Haight Street
bedecked in hippie regalia, a legion of flower children behind them. When
Pattie returns to San Francisco for the world premiere of her work at SFAE on
Valentine's Day, February 14, America can celebrate the season of love with
Pattie Boyd.

Co-founded in 1983 by Theron Kabrich and James Hartley, SFAE is a world
leader in international fine art sales and publishing, with total sales in
excess of $30 million. They're known globally as premiere purveyors of world
class pop culture imagery of every kind. SFAE has long represented the art of
Alberto Vargas and Ronnie Wood, as well as famed album cover artist Roger
Dean, fantasy-genre master Boris Vallejo, and over 30 noted rock/celebrity
photographers including Ethan Russell, Terry O'Neill, Mick Rock, Jerrold
Schatzberg, Joel Brodsky and many others. Their gallery is located at
458 Geary Street in downtown San Francisco. Recent exhibition highlights
include Summer 2004's landmark "The Art Of The Album Cover," featuring a rare
collection of original paintings and photographs that have appeared on over
100 iconic album jackets.

For more information, log on to http://www.sfae.com

"Троянская Елена?".. Троянская лошадь!
Вон в "Ровеснике", в последнем интервью, Джордж ей выдал на прощание за всё про всё - на всю оставшуюся вечность. И правильно сделал...

2Андрей Хрисанфов:
>Вон в "Ровеснике", в последнем интервью, Джордж
>ей выдал на прощание за всё про всё

А ссылки нет в инете? Или, может, перескажешь в двух-трех словах содержание???

2 Sitaradio:
ой, честно не помню номера. Но могу поискать в персональном архиве. Сказанул тогда Джордж - и не перескажешь, весь смак пропадёт. Им ещё перевод удался как следует. Да, стоит "раскопать своих подвалов".
Или, может, тут на сайте это уже есть нибудь где?..

помню это интервью, но я читала оригинал. В ровеснике интервью порезали и разукрасили на свой вкус. Не поню, касалось ли это конкретно Патти.

Возможно, что интервью есть в разделе Переодика. Посмотрите.

December 23, 2004 -- Press Release

Pattie Boyd to appear at photo exhibit opening in San Francisco in February

Rock 'n Roll Muse Pattie Boyd Celebrates Valentine's Day 2005 in San Francisco

San Francisco Art Exchange to Mount the First-Ever Exhibition of Boyd's Powerful Photographic Work Opening February 14, the Show Will Feature 60+ Pieces, Including Portraits of Rock Icons

Although Pattie Boyd has remained a distinctly private person over the years, large portions of her life are truly the stuff of legend. Rock 'n roll's ultimate muse, Boyd wed Beatle George Harrison in 1966 after meeting him in '64 when a modeling gig led to a bit part in A Hard Day's Night. She spoke but one word in the acclaimed film, but her influence on rock history spoke volumes -- Harrison wrote "Something" for her, a sublime ballad that's regarded as one of contemporary music's greatest love songs. Then, in the final stages of Boyd's 10-year union with Harrison, Eric Clapton fell for her, and wrote the anguished classic of unrequited love, "Layla," #27 on Rolling Stone Magazine's '500 Greatest Songs Of All Time.' On a happier note, after they married in 1979 (they divorced a decade later), Clapton penned the lovely "Wonderful Tonight" for Pattie.

Throughout her remarkable life, Boyd has documented the world around her photographically. She began shooting in London during the heady days of the mid-'60s, when she was an icon of the city's swingin' scene, writing the column "Pattie's Letter From London" for 16 Magazine, among other pursuits. For the last two decades, Boyd has practiced photography professionally, and the San Francisco Art Exchange's (SFAE) 2005 solo exhibition of her work marks her worldwide gallery debut. Opening Valentine's Day, February 14, SFAE will display over 60 original pieces spanning the last four decades. The exhibition was curated in association with Raj Prem Fine Art Photography, with whom SFAE has had a longstanding association.

SFAE co-founder Theron Kabrich commented, "We're thrilled to have the privilege of introducing Pattie Boyd's distinctive photography in her debut exhibition. She has a special vision, and a unique perspective, and I believe it will resonate with collectors and fans of photography everywhere."

Many of the pieces reflect Boyd's historic vantage point from the epicenter of rock 'n roll culture, offering revealing images -- ranging from candid to more formal -- of Harrison and Clapton, as well as Marianne Faithfull, B.B. King, Mick Fleetwood, Mick Jagger and Ron Wood, among others. Several portraits shown will be ones related to a previous collaboration that Boyd had with Wood. Andrew Lloyd Webber had commissioned the Rolling Stone, who's a respected painter, to create a triptych bearing the likenesses of 50 celebrities, and Wood asked Pattie to photograph each of the notables for him to work from in creating the massive mural. The experience deepened Pattie's portfolio and built her reputation as a portraitist.

In addition to inspiring immortal love songs, Boyd's impact on rock music has another fascinating twist. It was her quest for spiritual enlightenment -- which, like photography, has remained a constant thread in her life -- that spurred the Beatles' pilgrimage to India to study with the Maharishi. Photos from that famed trip to Rishikesh, along with subsequent journeys to India, sacred sites around the world, and other international destinations are also spotlighted in Boyd's SFAE exhibition.

Currently, Pattie Boyd resides in the countryside near London. She remains friends with Clapton and other rock icons, and co-founded the charity SHARP (Self Help Addiction Recovery Programme) with Ringo Starr's wife Barbara Bach, but she avoids the limelight. Pattie has rarely traveled to the States, and hasn't been to San Francisco for almost two decades. Most famously, she charmed the city in 1967 -- the Summer Of Love -- when she and George, the only Beatle to visit S.F. that legendary summer, strolled down Haight Street bedecked in hippie regalia, a legion of flower children behind them. When Pattie returns to San Francisco for the world premiere of her work at SFAE on Valentine's Day, February 14, America can celebrate the season of love with Pattie Boyd.

Co-founded in 1983 by Theron Kabrich and James Hartley, SFAE is a world leader in international fine art sales and publishing, with total sales in excess of $30 million. They're known globally as premiere purveyors of world class pop culture imagery of every kind. SFAE has long represented the art of Alberto Vargas and Ronnie Wood, as well as famed album cover artist Roger Dean, fantasy-genre master Boris Vallejo, and over 30 noted rock/celebrity photographers including Ethan Russell, Terry O'Neill, Mick Rock, Jerrold Schatzberg, Joel Brodsky and many others. Their gallery is located at 458 Geary Street in downtown San Francisco. Recent exhibition highlights include Summer 2004's landmark "The Art Of The Album Cover," featuring a rare collection of original paintings and photographs that have appeared on over 100 iconic album jackets.

For more information, log on to www.sfae.com

Harrison, Clapton and their muse
Pattie Boyd's life and images put classic rock era in focus
By Todd Leopold
CNN
Thursday, February 3, 2005 Posted: 3:00 PM EST (2000 GMT)


CNN) -- It's March 1964 and Beatlemania is inescapable.

A month earlier in America, the group was met by thousands of screaming fans upon arrival in New York; the band soon appeared on "The Ed Sullivan Show" to record ratings. The singles chart is top-heavy with Beatles songs. By April, they will have the entire Top Five.

In the Beatles' native Britain, the group is the No. 1 act in the country, and excitement is high as the Fab Four prepare to shoot their first film, "A Hard Day's Night."

But to Pattie Boyd, a model just turned 19 who has a bit part in the movie, the Beatles are just so much background noise.

"I have to confess that I wasn't terribly aware of them before I met them," she says in a phone interview from her home outside London.

"I just knew that they were a band. ... I never thought they'd be part of my life. You never know what's around the corner, do you?"

In Boyd's case, quite a bit.

That teen model would eventually become Mrs. George Harrison and then Mrs. Eric Clapton, finding herself part of rock 'n' roll's elite. (Her sister Jenny traveled in the same circles, and was married to Fleetwood Mac's Mick Fleetwood for four years.)

She traveled to India, prodded the Beatles to include "Wild Honey Pie" on the White Album, was the inspiration for much of the music on the Derek and the Dominos record "Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs" and counted Mick Jagger, Ron Wood and Jeff Beck among her friends.

About 60 photographs she took of that time -- images that include those English rockers, other musician acquaintances and landscapes from her travels -- are about to debut in her first gallery show, which runs from February 14 to March 19 at the San Francisco Art Exchange, a gallery that specializes in pop music-related artwork and photography.

Hanging out
Beatlemania was quite a hurricane to cope with, Boyd recalls -- even before she found herself in its eye.

"At one point in ['Hard Day's Night'] there are lots of girls screaming, and I remember [thinking], 'My God, are they mad?' ... Not realizing this is how fans do behave.

"I had no idea what I was really getting involved with until I was in it," she adds.

Beatle fans could be a possessive lot. Boyd told the British celebrity magazine Hello! that she was chased by Harrison partisans who kicked her and rocked her car. Others sent her threatening notes. "They were furious because I'd bagged a Beatle," she told Hello! "It was so frightening."

But life at home with George -- the two married in January 1966 -- was relatively quiet, she says.

"All we used to do was hang out with the others sometimes -- we'd go and hang out with Ringo and Maureen, to whom he was married at the time. Otherwise we would always stay at home. ... People would come and hang out with us, or we'd go and see our friends."

Inspiration for songwriters
Boyd took a number of photographs of the group on the India trip, some of which are included in the show. One of her favorites shows McCartney, in profile, holding a movie camera, Lennon in the background and the Himalayas beyond. Another shows McCartney, Starr and Lennon relaxing on a porch. The images are casual -- Boyd says she didn't devote herself to photography until much later -- but nevertheless evocative.

Indeed, several of Boyd's photos show musicians in repose, away from the spotlight.

"One of my favorites is one of George at the Isle of Skye," says San Francisco Art Exchange owner Theron Kabrich. "It's such an introspective portrait of his personality and conveys his quiet [side]."

Boyd was also a muse to Harrison and Clapton. Harrison wrote "Something" about her, among other songs; Clapton wrote the fiery "Layla" (its title inspired by an Iranian tale of obsessive love) about her, and later "Wonderful Tonight."

She's modest about being the subject of so many well-known songs.

"All I can say is I feel deeply flattered and honored. ... I don't know what else to say. I guess I'm really lucky."

Being a song subject can be a double-edged sword. Her marriage to Harrison, which developed fissures early on, ended in divorce in 1977; Clapton's romantic pain over Boyd pushed him deeper into drug addiction. (Though he later got clean, alcoholism dogged his and Boyd's 1979-88 marriage.)

The 1970 "Layla" album -- considered Clapton's greatest by most critics -- is a 75-minute tale of wrenching emotion, complete with a cover of Billy Myles' "Have You Ever Loved a Woman," a song about being in love with your best friend's wife.

"I think that he was amazingly raw at the time," Boyd says. "He's such an incredible musician that he's able to put his emotions into music in such a way that the audience can feel it instinctively. It goes right through you."

Фото:Much of Clapton's work on the Derek and the Dominos record "Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs" was inspired by his passion for Boyd.

Little time for reflection
Boyd has increasingly focused her creativity on her photography. She says she's been interested since her modeling days -- one of her photographers back then was David Bailey, a model for David Hemmings' character in the classic movie of Swinging London, "Blow-Up" -- but it wasn't until recent years that she's devoted herself to the art.

"I became interested in ... what the photographer was seeing through his lens, and then I got a camera of my own," she says. "I love it. I love it with a passion. I photograph everything, virtually."

Still, she says she was surprised when Kabrich asked her to put together the exhibit.

"It was quite fun putting it together because I hadn't really looked at all my photographs for years. Sometimes I'll take them and maybe be excited at the moment, and then shove them in a cupboard and that's it. ... I didn't realize how many I had when Theron first asked me if I'd like to have an exhibition. I thought I might have 20 photographs."

The photos chronicle quite a life -- one spent these days with her partner of 13 years, real estate developer Rod Weston, and actively cooking, gardening, movie-watching and socializing, she says. She rarely dwells on the past, she observes.

"It wasn't until I started collating these images that I looked back. It's not something I normally do," she says. "Once I've taken photographs, I look at them and I get into them and I'm there for the moment -- and then that's it. ... I find little time for reflection.

"I love life," she adds. "There's so much to learn and see all the time, and nothing nicer for me than to wake up and the sky is blue. Because so often here in England in winter, the sky is gray and dull. But it's a blue-sky day today, I'm happy to report."

Фото:Boyd remains friends with many musicians, including Ron Wood, here with daughter Leah.(Фото сделанное Патти)

http://www.sfae.com/highlights/events/boyd_press.html
Pattie Boyd:
Exhibit Press Release
Although Pattie Boyd has remained a distinctly private person over the years, large portions of her life are truly the stuff of legend. Rock 'n' roll's ultimate muse, Boyd wed Beatle George Harrison in 1966 after meeting him two years earlier when a modeling gig led to a bit part in A Hard Day's Night. She spoke but one word in the acclaimed film, but her influence on rock history spoke volumes. Harrison wrote "Something" for her, a sublime ballad that's regarded as one of contemporary music's greatest love songs. Then, in the final stages of Boyd's 10-year union with Harrison, Eric Clapton fell for her, and wrote the anguished classic of unrequited love: "Layla," which ranked #27 on Rolling Stone Magazine's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. On a happier note, after they married in 1979, Clapton penned the lovely "Wonderful Tonight" for Pattie.
Throughout her remarkable life, Boyd has documented the world around her in photographs. She began shooting in London during the heady days of the mid-'60s, when she was an icon of the city's swingin' scene, writing the column "Pattie's Letter From London" for 16 Magazine, among other pursuits. For the past two decades, Boyd has practiced photography professionally, and San Francisco Art Exchange's 2005 solo exhibition of her work marks her worldwide public gallery debut. Opening Valentine's Day, February 14, San Francisco Art Exchange (SFAE) will display over 60 original photographs spanning the past four decades. The exhibition will be curated in association with Raj Prem Fine Art Photography, with whom SFAE has had a longstanding association.
SFAE co-founder Theron Kabrich commented, "We're thrilled to have the privilege of introducing Pattie Boyd's distinctive photography in this, her debut public exhibition. She has a special vision, and a unique perspective, and I believe it will resonate with collectors and fans of photography everywhere."
На фото: Джордж Харрисон

Many of the pieces reflect Boyd's historic vantage point from the epicenter of rock 'n' roll culture, offering revealing images—ranging from candid to more formal—of Harrison and Clapton, as well as Marianne Faithfull, B.B. King, Mick Fleetwood, Mick Jagger and Ronnie Wood, among others. Several portraits to be shown are related to a previous collaboration that Boyd had with Ronnie Wood: Andrew Lloyd Webber had commissioned the Rolling Stones' guitarist—who's a respected painter—to create a triptych bearing the likenesses of 50 celebrities, and Wood asked Pattie to photograph each of the notables for him to work from in creating the massive mural. The experience deepened Pattie's portfolio and built her reputation as a portraitist.
In addition to inspiring immortal love songs, Boyd's impact on rock music has another fascinating twist: it was her quest for spiritual enlightenment—which, like her photography, has remained a constant thread in her life—that spurred The Beatles' pilgrimage to India to study with the Maharishi. Photos from that famed trip to Rishikesh, along with subsequent journeys to India, various sacred sites around the world, and other international destinations, are also spotlighted in Boyd's SFAE exhibition.
Currently, Pattie Boyd resides in the countryside near London. She remains friends with Clapton (from whom she is now divorced) and other rock icons, and co-founded the charity SHARP (Self-Help Addiction Recovery Programme) with Barbara Bach, wife of Ringo Starr. But Patty avoids the limelight.
Pattie has rarely traveled to the States, and hasn't been to San Francisco for almost two decades. Most famously, she charmed the city in 1967—the Summer of Love—when she and George, the only Beatle to visit S.F. that legendary summer, strolled down Haight Street bedecked in hippie regalia, a legion of flower children behind them. When Pattie returns to San Francisco for the world premiere of her work at SFAE on Valentine's Day, February 14, America can celebrate the season of love with Pattie Boyd.

http://www.sfae.com/highlights/events/boyd_bio.html
Pattie Boyd: Biography

There's a compelling narrative running through rock 'n' roll music—music of a certain era and of a certain rarefied ilk—that has made a large part of the personal and romantic life of Pattie Boyd, a famously private individual otherwise, part of collective pop culture legend.

Pattie's first husband, George Harrison of The Beatles, wrote a spate of songs for her, including "For You Blue," "I Need You," and the immortal "Something," of which Frank Sinatra once declared, "the greatest love song of the past 50 years."

As their marriage dissolved in the '70s, Harrison later penned "So Sad," a sentiment that was exponentially anted up by Eric Clapton's scorching ballad of unrequited love, "Layla." Rolling Stone Magazine recently ranked that guitar-drenched anthem #27 on its list of the "500 Greatest Songs Of All Time," and a case could be easily made that other tracks on Derek and the Dominos' lone studio album—Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs—also voiced Clapton's then-heartbreak over Pattie, who was still married to Eric's good friend George. Around the time Eric and Pattie eventually wed in 1979, Clapton penned the tender ballad "Wonderful Tonight" for her, resulting in both another hit and another classic love song.
Even more intriguing than this ongoing musical libretto—inspired by rock 'n' roll's ultimate muse—is Boyd's actual biographical narrative. Born Patricia Anne Boyd in Hampstead, England outside of London—not far from where she resides and practices photography today—Boyd spent a good part of her childhood in Kenya, where her father, a Royal Air Force pilot, was stationed for a time

Back in London by the very early '60s, Pattie, along with her younger sister Jenny—also renowned in song via Donovan's "Jennifer Juniper"—embarked on a modeling career in her late teens. Pattie quickly became an "It" girl in the trend-setting U.K. scene of the day, and wrote the column "Pattie's Letter From London" for 16 Magazine, offering beauty, fashion and dating tips, among other words of advice. In the 2000 book "Swingin' Chicks of the '60s: A Tribute to 101 of the Decade's Defining Women," her write-up opens the section entitled "The Look." Calling her "an adorable buck-toothed British bird," author Chris Stoddard cites Pattie as a prime example of the era's "innovators and instigators, the models and the mentors, who led the fashion revolution."
Success in international modeling lead to a commercial deal in London with director Richard Lester, who positioned her as the high-profile "Smith's Crisps Girl," a guise in which Pattie appeared on television and at numerous live promotional gigs. Lester then cast her in a cameo role in 1964's "A Hard Day's Night," the film he was helming for the then meteorically-on-the-rise group The Beatles. Legend has it that when the "Fab Four" were signing autographs for a group of girls including Pattie and her sisters, George drew one kiss with each signature—except for Pattie's, which garnered seven! She and George were soon a couple, and the small movie part—played in a quite-small mini-dress, with one word of dialogue—was in fact a very big deal.
Following a much-publicized romance during which they were besieged by Beatles fans and the press alike, George and Pattie married in 1966 in Surrey—in matching Mary Quant fur coats—with Paul McCartney and The Beatles manager Brian Epstein in attendance. Shortly thereafter, Pattie, who had always had a keen interest in Eastern philosophies, introduced George to Indian mysticism, and they began exploring transcendental meditation together. They met the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi during a London appearance, and Pattie encouraged—and, in fact, was the ringleader for—The Beatles' and other notables' famous 1968 pilgrimage to his ashram in Rishikesh.
The interlude extended Pattie's musical impact on her circle of friends beyond love songs. Dubbing the Maharishi "Sadie," John Lennon wrote "Sexy Sadie," fueled by his skepticism over the experience. George and Pattie, however, were powerfully influenced by the journey. In a recent Hello! magazine interview, Pattie—who still practices meditation—commented, "We decided to stay on after the others had left and went to South India. We stayed two-and-a-half months altogether. It changed our lives and had a lifelong effect on George and on his music."
Back in England, changes in the music scene, divergent interests, and Harrison's absorption into meditation led to distance in their relationship. The couple divorced in 1977, and two years later Pattie married Eric Clapton, with whom she was with for a decade. She remained close to George until his death in 2003, and she and Clapton remain great friends to this day. Recently, Pattie co-founded the charitable organization SHARP (Self-Help Addiction Recovery Programme) with Barbara Bach, wife of Ringo Starr—an effort partly inspired by her years with Clapton before his own recovery from substance abuse.
On her own for the first time in 1989, Pattie delved into her photography, which had been a passionate pursuit since the early '60s. It began as a way of documenting the excitement of London's mod heyday, and became an ever-increasing part of her life: a much-needed creative outlet. A '90s collaboration with Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood—also a respected painter—lead to Pattie's reputation as a fine portraitist. Wood had been commissioned by Andrew Lloyd Weber to paint a large-scale mural triptych depicting fifty noted celebrities. To help him compose the piece, Wood asked Pattie to record each subject photographically.
These images are among the many compelling works from the past four decades that Pattie Boyd is beginning to show in gallery exhibitions around the world—commencing with her first-ever public exhibit at the San Francisco Art Exchange's downtown San Francisco gallery—as she enters the latest chapter in her extraordinary life.

Muse with a camera
First photo show by swinging '60s survivor -- 'Layla' herself
Aidin Vaziri, Chronicle Pop Music Critic

Sunday, February 6, 2005


Even before she became the subject of lovelorn classic rock staples like George Harrison's "Something" and Eric Clapton's "Layla," Pattie Boyd made a lasting impression. The blond bangs, the cherry-red lips, the iconic Vogue covers: No one better defined high style in the 1960s.

For those who have always wondered what the world looks like through the eyes of one of the beautiful people, there is good news. She took pictures. On Valentine's Day, the first public exhibition of Boyd's photographs, "Through the Eye of a Muse," opens at the San Francisco Art Exchange.

"It was only last year that I started looking back at the old photographs and realized I had a few that were quite nice," Boyd says, calling from her London home. Made up of candid portraits of former husbands Harrison and Clapton, snapshots of acquaintances like Marianne Faithfull, B.B. King, Mick Fleetwood, Mick Jagger and Ron Wood, and serene stills documenting her travels to exotic locales, it's an uneven but intriguing set of work.

Through the photographs we see a whirlwind life in the shadows of Beatlemania. When Boyd wasn't being spat on by the band's hysterical female fans, she was sneaking off to get married, getting lost in India, introducing her husband and the band to the Maharishi and downing tabs of LSD. By the time it all fell apart, she had fallen into the arms of Harrison's best friend, Clapton, ensuring her place in rock 'n' roll lore.

Now approaching 60, she still can't figure out what made these men who were seemingly at the very height of their creative and commercial powers simply fall at her feet. "It's an obvious question for you to ask and an incredibly difficult and elusive question for me to answer," Boyd says. "I just happened to be there, I suppose, is all I can say."

Looking at her creative work, it's obvious Boyd always has a knack for being at the right place at the right time.

She talks about some of her favorite images from the exhibition:

"Eric in Towel." That was the very first tour I went on with Eric (Clapton). The hotel was not very glamorous -- it was very rock 'n' roll -- but I loved the color of that red sofa, that sort of plastic hotel color. And then there was this kind of naive painting in the background that at first glance looks like a window. Eric had just had a shower and was bored. There's always excitement on tour but there are also times to reflect. I never went on tour with the Beatles. They never allowed any of the wives because the security was so immense they didn't want any extra problems. So this was the first time I had been on tour and I thought it was a most exciting experience. To look out from the side of the stage and see so many people in the audience was mind-blowing.

"George at the Isle of Skye." It's so curious, I didn't even know I had this photo until the end of last year when I discovered it. When they asked me if I wanted to have an exhibition, it was a very good reason for me to have a look at my photographs. I had them scattered all over the place and it took me an awfully long time to collate them all and decide which would be nice in an exhibition and which would be too private or too dull or whatever. Seeing this took me back to when I took the photograph. I thought it was wonderful because it shows George (Harrison) and the little cottage in the background to remind me where we were. We had gone up to Scotland by overnight train and we had gotten some old fishing boat to Isle of Skye, where Donovan was living with his family.

"Naked Fiona." This is a photograph I took in Cornwall, which is in the farthest southwest part of England. It's a particularly beautiful part of the country. She was this photographer's girlfriend and while he was shooting someone else, I said to her, "May I photograph you?" I asked her to lie on these rocks and as I was putting film in my camera I looked up and she had taken all her clothes off. I couldn't believe it. The old men on the beach couldn't believe their luck. They all sat bolt upright. I told her to whoosh her hair back and as she did that a wave hit a rock just behind her and it looks almost as if she's spouting the water out herself. That was just the most amazing moment.

"Ronnie Lane." What I normally do if the light is really beautiful on somebody I quickly get my camera and wait. With this shot I just seized the occasion.

"A Funeral." I was staying at this very small hotel in South India and the water in front of us was a lagoon, and then there is the sand bank that the boat is going toward, and on the other side of that is the Indian Ocean. I thought these colors were so beautiful. Unlike funerals in the West, where people dress in black and it all looks very morbid, here in Sri Lanka they celebrate the life of somebody and they wear these wonderful, bright colors.

"George in Bed." I took this in 1968. We had been in the Himalayas doing some meditation and we went south just to relax before going back to England. He was lying in the hotel room bed and I loved the light. He's so good-looking.

"Monk In Paro." This is in Bhutan. I was there in October last year. I caught this just as the wind lifted his habit. I liked the solo monk and I liked the white background. I liked the starkness of it. I thought he had a very fine face and when I took it he turned his face around and I thought, "Oh no, I haven't got him in profile as I wanted him." But it turned out beautiful.

"A Young Bedouin." I was with a girlfriend and we were on a photographic trip to Morocco. We had gone over these dunes endlessly and I thought we were going to be so lost. And then there were these two little Bedouin tents and this young boy just standing there when we got out of the Land Rover. He was fantastic. He spoke a bit of French and we were explaining to him how quiet it is in the desert. And he said it was so noisy as far as he was concerned. What he does is take people right in the middle of the desert for a week and he told us the stars are so bright you just feel like you can put your hands out and touch them. He said it's silent there, no planes, no birds, nothing at all. He and his brother were very concerned because they were leading a camel train and some of their camels had escaped. They were really upset. So my girlfriend had her mobile phone and we asked if he needed to call anybody to tell them he had lost his camels. My friend dialed a number and gave him the phone and he kept putting the phone away from his ear and looking at it in total disbelief.

"George Playing with Eric Clapton and Delaney & Bonnie." This was obviously a very long time ago. George very rarely just appeared on stage. I just can't remember where it was. Bands don't play with those curtains anymore; it's just so old-fashioned. It was very thrilling seeing them on stage together.