Sunday 18 March 2018

Wonderful Today by Pattie Boyd and Penny Junor. Book review

Hello. Woke up to a blanket of snow this morning, some of it had blown into deep drifts. I woke at 4am, because I went to bed at 10 last night, six hours is about right for me. I made a coffee and went back to bed to drink it, and finish the last few pages of a book. My sleeping partner decided to have a lie in.
Oh dear, I hope it soon melts. I ain't going anywhere if it stays like this all day.

Little paw prints heading for my back door. Mickey cat was under that table and came out when he heard me pottering about. Oh well, still got some of Garcias food left so he might as well have it.

This is the book I have just finished. Pattie Boyd was a model in the swinging sixties, she caught the eye of George Harrison, and later married him. As an avid fan of the Beatles I bought any magazine they were featured in, and watched all the pop programmes on TV to catch a glimpse of them. Paul was my heart throb, and when he took up with Jane Asher my heart was broken.

Pattie was very pretty and I was so so jealous of her seemingly exciting life as a pop princess/model. In the book she talks about endless parties, name dropping some of the most famous people in the music industry, her life was one hell of a whirlwind of travel and big houses. The marriage was not perfect when Eric Clapton came on the scene, and wooed Pattie away from George. She divorced George and later married Eric. This marriage also hit the dust, drink, drugs, and infidelities were to blame for it's demise.

It is well documented that fans often threw themselves at their pop idols, we saw it on the TV screens. I wasn't aware at the time, (being young and naive), just how endemic sleeping around really was. In the book Pattie shares her heartbreak at having to share her husbands with whoever made a play for them.  She did join them on tour sometimes but it was too painful to watch. The drugs and alcohol were also a problem. She joined in with them on many occasions,  but eventually saw what it was doing to everyone around her.

So, fast forward, two broken marriages and one failed relationship, and she has rebuilt her own life. I wouldn't have wanted to go through half of what she has been through. It must have been very exciting at times, but oh so destructive.

It's a good read if you were growing up in the sixties and followed the pop scene. Penny Junor is a renowned author and biographer. It's packed with drama, and documents how Pattie Boyd survived her whirlwind of a life.

Thanks for popping in, enjoy your snowy Sunday, we'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip

9 comments:

  1. Love that little peeping kitten face!

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  2. Hi, Ilona; still no heating here; nearly a month now., I have had 2 convection heaters going and it is over £20 a day ( can't believe how mush this is costing as still freezing ) I hope you and furry friends are keeping warm I think I might buy that book as seems an interesting read xxx

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  3. Snow covered here too, Ilona. It was bitterly cold yesterday so I'm staying put today. On a different note, I'm the same age as you and wouldn't want to have experienced all that Pattie Boyd did either. I'm happy with the way things turned out. My parents were very strict and I never did the sex, drugs and rock & roll thing of the permissive age.

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  4. We had some snow but never get much anyway. For here it was a fair amount but didn't stop anyone doing anything.
    J x

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  5. If you like Wonderful Tonight, I encourage you to read Clapton's book. Both were good but I enjoyed his much better and he is honestly ruthless about his own failings and addictions.

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    1. I have read Clapton's book, I did a review, exactly one year ago today. That's a coincidence.

      https://meanqueen-lifeaftermoney.blogspot.co.uk/2017/03/eric-clapton-autobiography-book-review.html

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  6. Just goes to show having money and good looks does not bring happiness. I was also in love with Paul, haha.

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  7. Hi Ilona, your sleeping partner sure is soooo cute. This is the second time I have posted this, not sure f the last one worked.

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  8. That sounds a really good read. I am a big fan of Eric Clapton and love Layla, which he wrote about Patty Boyd when she was still married to George Harrison, I believe. I was moaning about the snow over the weekend but you had loads more than us, so I had better stop. It has more or less melted now. Roll on spring!

    Jane

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