When love triangles are mentioned you think of an episode of EastEnders or Jerry Springer. You don’t necessarily think of music. Sure, there have been some over the years, Fleetwood Mac produced their most famous album over various affairs between members and Keith Richards stole Anita Pallenberg from Brian Jones but most of these ended in disaster.
This one is different. Arguably the most famous love triangles in music are between two of the most famous musicians of their day. This is between George Harrison, Eric Clapton and Pattie Boyd. This time the three of them stayed friends and the two musicians continued to play together. This week the Beat Marches On to 27th March 1979 when Eric Clapton married Pattie Harrison.
George Harrison met Pattie Boyd on the set of the Beatles film “A Hard Day’s Night”. Appearing as an extra with a one-word line George became quickly smitten by Pattie. A model who appeared on the cover of Vogue and Elle she broke the hearts of millions of fans of the Beatles during the height of Beatlemania when they were married in 1966.
Eric Clapton had not come into the picture yet. He wouldn’t meet Harrison until the end of 1964 when his first band the Yardbirds were a support act at a Beatles Christmas concert.
The friendship started to get closer towards the end of the 1960s when Eric and George wrote “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” together which appeared on the White Album. As a thank you, the Beatle helped write the Cream song “Badge” for the band’s Farewell album. The two collaborated on more projects over the next 40 years until Harrison died in 2001. Clapton even arranged a tribute concert for George to celebrate his friend’s life.
As the two good friends did fall in love with Pattie Boyd, they expressed their love for her through song. Providing some of the best rock love songs in modern history. I thought it would be a good idea to look at some of the songs she has influenced over her years with George Harrison and Eric Clapton.
1.) If I Needed Someone- The Beatles
Featuring on The Beatles album “Rubber Soul”, “If I Needed Someone” was a significant song for George Harrison. He wrote the song not long after he met Pattie Boyd.
It was heavily influenced by the rhythmic sounds of a twelve-string electric guitar as used by The Byrds in their song “The Bells of Rhymney”. Although it wasn’t a single from the Beatles an early copy of the song was given to the Hollies (who incidentally Graham Nash of the Hollies would go on to work with David Crosby of the Byrds) and was a top 20 single for the band. It gave Harrison his first top UK single as a songwriter and although he didn’t approve of the band’s version it helped gain him exposure as a composer rather than just a member of the Beatles.
2.) Something- The Beatles
Dubbed by Frank Sinatra as the greatest love song of all time “Something” is the first Harrison-composed single that was released by The Beatles. With Ray Charles’ style in mind and inspired by his wife Pattie, it became number one as a double A-side with “Come Together”.
Harrison was reluctant to play it at first to the other Beatles. He was self-conscious because of the hit-making machine of John Lennon and Paul McCartney. After the success of the previous cover of “With A Little Help from My Friends” he offered the song to Joe Cocker first, who put it on his debut album. The backbone of the song was written by George in the “White Album” sessions but kept back until the end of the “Abbey Road” recording sessions when they were short of material for the album.
3.) Layla- Derek and the Dominoes
A hit twice for Eric Clapton “Layla” has often been described as one of his best-ever tracks. The song started life in his Derek and the Dominos band with Duane Allman, Bobby Whitlock, Carl Radle and Jim Gordon.
The song which is about Clapton’s forbidden love for Pattie and is based on an ancient Persian poem called “Layla and Manjun” best describes the pain he was going through at the time. When Pattie had to choose between the two and chose Harrison, it broke Clapton’s heart and drove him to heroin addiction.
The song won a Grammy in 1993 when the unplugged version was released and gained a new lease of life to a new generation of fans.
4.) So, Sad- George Harrison
A deep cut from “Dark Horse”, the fifth solo album by Harrison “So, Sad” is a look into the ex-Beatles struggles with coming to terms with his divorce from wife Pattie. The song was first written in 1972 when the couple had separated due to alcohol and drug abuse and numerous affairs by Harrison (including former bandmate Ringo Starr’s then-wife)
He offered the song to former Ten Years After frontman and guitarist Alvin Lee for his project with Christian rock artist Mylon LeFevre and even played on the track with Mick Fleetwood (Fleetwood Mac) and Ron Wood (the Faces, Rolling Stones). Harrison then put it on his solo album which became the bright spark on a critically panned album.
5.) Wonderful Tonight- Eric Clapton
After the divorce from Harrison in 1974, Pattie Boyd went into Clapton’s arms and they quickly became a couple. It seemed that the divorce was amicable though as the new couple invited Harrison over for Christmas that year.
While getting ready for a Buddy Holly tribute night arranged by Paul and Linda McCartney, Clapton was waiting for his love to get ready and wrote a song. This song is the basis of “Wonderful Tonight”. Listening to the lyrics does describe the event very clearly.
Weirdly in the UK, the song didn’t chart in the top 40 when released. Featured on the 1977 album “Slowhand” it peaked at number 81 which is weird considering it is one of Clapton’s most-played radio tracks. The song eventually received chart respect in 1992 when a live version was released and charted at number 30.
The couple were married in 1979 and were together for 10 years before they divorced due to Clapton’s Alcohol problems and infidelities (he fathered two children while Pattie and he were trying to conceive)
Love is generally the most talked about subject in music. Whether it’s rock, pop, R and B or Jazz the subject of most songs is how much they love them, how they lost their love or how they can’t have their love. Because most of us have experienced this from a personal standpoint it’s the one emotion we can relate to.
The Beat Marches On is a music blog written by Jimmy Whitehead. Jimmy has been blogging for six years specialising in Sports (especially American Football). If you want to follow Jimmy on Twitter: @Jimmy_W1987
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Websites used for research are:
Eric Clapton and George Harrison’s unstoppable friendship (faroutmagazine.co.uk)
If I Needed Someone | Beatles’ Song From Their Rubber Soul Album (beatlesforum.com)
Behind the Song: “Layla,” Eric Clapton (americansongwriter.com)
The Story of… ‘Wonderful Tonight’ by Eric Clapton – Smooth (smoothradio.com)
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