The story of Layla is much weirder than you thought

Patty Boyd was described as the great love of your life true um I don't know this is Patty Boyd a model pictured here in 1964 a married to George Harrison this is Eric Clapton he was George Harrison's best friend how did I get to meet him no no no no how did you just we showed the same wife Patty inspired some of the most powerful love songs ever written including Layla an album written by Eric Clapton professing his love for Patty of course his best friend's wife but what happened that led George and Eric to write this amazing music for her and did it work for Eric well kind of it's a crazy story about a crazy lifestyle that didn't end well for anyone [Music] The Story begins in 1964 when Patty Boyd was hired to appear in the Beatles film A Hard Day's Night George took an instant liking to her but at the time she was already seeing someone else Eric Swain but after telling her friends about her meeting with George she returned to tell him that she'd broken up with Eric and they could go for dinner they got married two years later in 1966 and after the Beatles stopped touring in the same year they managed to find a lifestyle that actually suited them quite well they both had an interest in spirituality and vegetarianism and for a while it looked as though it would be a happy marriage that would last a long time despite the intense lifestyle that came with being a beetle George's first meeting with Eric Clapton was also in 1964 when The Yardbirds are expand at the time was invited to support the Beatles at a gig in London all four of the Beatles were there but it was George and Eric that headed off straight away mostly because of their Mutual admiration and love of the guitar but at this time the Beatles were stars unlike Eric and so it would take a while until they really became close Eric saw himself less as a pop star and more as a serious Blues musician whenever pop success came his way he tended to shy away from it maybe even look down on it instead he was drawn more towards serious guitar playing and blues music I was by that by the time they came around I was already deeply ensconced in in hardcore blues and I'm becoming a purist very fast George being part of the Beatles was incredibly famous but he had this Longing To Be A respected guitar player something more like Eric their friendship continued to grow and at one point George invited Eric over to Abbey Road Studios to play on one of the Beatles songs While My Guitar Gently Weeps this was quite surprising because not many people played on Beatles records especially guitar because George was the Beatles guitarist but it seemed as though George was starting to distance himself away from the Beatles and more towards the guitar world that Eric was associated with he was also proving his chops as a songwriter writing songs such as Here Comes the Sun and something which was written for his wife Patty Frank Sinatra called this the greatest love song ever written it's one of the best love songs I believe to be written in 50 or 100 years and it never says I love you in the song but it really is one of the finest the 1960s was a busy period for Eric but not in the same way as it was for George the 60s for George was of course dominated by The Beatles which more or less kept him on a steady path but for Eric things are very different Eric joined the Yard Birds a rhythm and blues band in 1963 and he stayed with them for two years until 1965. he briefly played with John male on the Blues Breakers before forming cream in 1966 with Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce it was with cream that he found the most mainstream success they stayed together until 1968 and then in 1969 he formed Blind Faith where they recorded just one album by the end of the Decades both George and Eric found themselves in unique positions looking for something else out of life George wanted to further explore his interest in spirituality and this led him to become more distant and isolated from his wife Patty in fact his interest was so strong that after returning from a trip to India he wanted to be like the god Krishna always surrounded by young women Eric however was looking to settle down somewhere in contrast to his ever-changing and hectic lifestyle of the 60s and so he found this place in Surrey hertzwood Edge it was a peaceful and solitary place where he'd live for many years to come musically this was a very important time for Eric he discovered the music of JJ Cale who become a major influence throughout his career and he formed the band Derek and the Dominos which he'd later called the greatest Rhythm Section he'd ever play with he also began seeing a lot more of George and his wife Patty as they lived only a 30-minute drive away so they come over they write songs and they'd have dinner it was clear that Eric had taken a liking to Patty and with George becoming more distant in their marriage it was difficult for Patty to resist this attention in [Music] Bell Bottom Blues you made me cry I Don't Wanna Lose throughout 1970 they occasionally began seeing each other more often secret meetings would take place in London or in Guildford close to where they lived and it was at one of these meetings where Eric played a record for Patty of a song he just recorded the song was Layla she described it as one of the most powerful songs she's ever heard it was about a young man that falls hopelessly in love with a woman but she's unavailable this of course was how Eric felt about Patty I thought that this is such a a public Declaration of his feelings for me and I wasn't really ready for it in fact I wasn't ready at all for it because I still hadn't made up my mind whether George and I could get back on track but after hearing the song and knowing how Eric felt it made it difficult to resist later that evening Patty was at a party at North London where Eric was also attending George didn't want to go so he wasn't there but he did turn up later and when he arrived he saw Eric and Patty talking in the garden he went over and asked what's going on to which Eric applied I'm in love with your wife I remember being out in the garden with Eric at one point and then George appeared from nowhere and said very what's he doing what's happening and then that's when Eric said I'm in love with your wife now it's that moment like ah awful I just wanted the Earth to swallow me up George was Furious and asked Patty are you going with Eric or are you coming home with me Patty left the party and went home with George but this made George even more distant the next time she met Eric he offered a similar ultimatum but despite her feelings about the music she again declined and Eric went into a long period of isolation they didn't see each other again for three years [Music] [Applause] [Music] after failing to win her over Eric went into a self-imposed Exile Derek and the dominoes broke up he retired from touring and just went into isolation inside his hurtwood home he didn't leave the house he didn't pick up the phone instead he just descended into Oblivion and other than a few compilations and live albums he didn't release any new music until 1974's 461 Ocean Boulevard there were a small number of live appearances such as at George Harrison's concert for Bangladesh in 1971 but he actually passed out on stage then there was the rainbow concert which was organized by his friends in 1973 in an attempt to get him clean and finally by 1974 he was able to get clean at least off the stronger stuff but it was at this time that his drinking became a lot heavier for George and Patty the 70s weren't much better either musically things were going well for George in 1970 he released his first solo album All Things Must Pass the following year he organized the concert for Bangladesh which as we know Eric just about took part in and in 1973 he had another number one album living in the material world but for their marriage it wasn't so good they'd already began to grow apart and George was getting even further involved in meditation and was having numerous Affairs including with Ringo Starr's wife Maureen Eric and Patty had already started speaking again and once again he professed his love for her but this time things were different the marriage was going from bad to worse and she clearly wasn't happy married to George Eric went out on tour in the U.S and this time she decided to go with him [Applause] [Music] [Applause] but this wasn't an easy time not by any means she felt lost and confused and instead of feeling free and independent she just became more attached to Eric and his touring lifestyle this of course meant lots of drinking The Beatles hadn't toured since 1966 and Patty hadn't joined them before that anyway so this was her first experience on tour and she didn't know what to expect this being Eric Clapton in the mid 70s it was certainly intense Eric will be partying all day and all through the night and sometimes you play a show just lying on his back and for Patty well she assumed this was the touring lifestyle and she wanted to be part of it but Eric was at one of his lowest points and sadly Patty had gone down with him [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] when they returned home things didn't get much easier either it seems bizarre that Erica wanted Patty for so long at this point they'd known each other for eight or nine years and instead of cherishing this time when they were finally together things were going from bad to worse Eric was drinking more than ever and he go off on tour and he wouldn't let Patty come with him and so yet again feeling lost and confused she went to spend some time in America with her friends and family at this point she didn't expect to see Eric ever again until one night there was a phone call and it was from Eric and he asked her to marry him reluctantly she said yes and they got married the following Friday but what's even more incredible is the story of how this came about it later turns out that Erica placed the bet with a friend Roger Forrester that he couldn't get his name in The Following day's newspaper and so Roger called up the Daily Mail and told them that Eric Clapton would be marrying Patty Boyd the following day it was printed in the paper and everyone knew about the marriage apart from Patty they got married almost immediately and instead of going on a honeymoon she joined Eric on tour for a few nights that was until Eric told her that he wanted her to go home less than a week into their spontaneous marriage and things were going back to how they were and what's more Eric's drinking was again getting worse despite all this there was a strong connection between the two of them and despite the infidelity the emotional connection between the two of them was strong until one night at dinner Eric told Patty that whilst he'd been in Italy he'd met someone else and this time it was more intimate Eric and Patty had unsuccessfully been trying for children for a long time and now Eric was going to have a child with someone else well that came about quite out of the blue I met this young lady I'm banging it happened it was like the baby was looking for parents too give it life This truly broke Patty's heart and so she finally left [Music] [Applause] [Music] the story of George Patty and Eric is fascinating but it's even more incredible to look at the music from this time it really allows us to understand how they were feeling and to feel the intense emotion poured into this music it's no wonder that something George's most successful song was written about Patty who at the time he was truly in love with I'm deeply deeply honored that George wrote that seriously beautiful song and I think what's happened with time it has become more iconic because when I first heard it you know it's a beautiful song yeah but then the more you hear it the more it just gets you because it's so beautiful and Layla was also Eric's most successful song and I think some of the best music to come out of his entire career and then there are other songs too such as bellbottom blues and wonderful tonight and it's amazing how this music is so personal and yet so Universal to all of us people find it very difficult to understand therefore why you and he are still mates you know I mean why didn't it damage your relationship well it did I mean it indented our relationship and it has you know there's been a lot of times when it's gone up and down music has this unique power to communicate our feelings and connect us with others and although the story of the three of them is heartbreaking it has left us with some amazing music you know I actually see we all see one another still and we're like a tight little family really do you still love Patty very much [Music]

Channel: David Hartley

Views: 3,501,245

Keywords: layla, pattie boyd, eric clapton, george harrison, the beatles, wonderful tonight, something, derek and the dominos

Id: pW9gU8ud17Y

Length: 13min 42sec (822 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 19 2023