Ironically, Eric was living with Pattie’s younger sister, Paula, at the time. It was his attempt to persuade her to stop “holding off” and move in with him. Ouch!Įric says that initially he wrote this song as a ballad, for Pattie. Later that same night at a party, Eric blurted out to George Harrison that he was in love with his wife. Pattie Boyd’s version of the story is that one day, after Eric had been trying to persuade her to leave George and come with him, Eric played her a taped version of Layla. George and Eric Clapton were close friends and through Eric’s exposure to Pattie, he started falling in love with her, even though she was married to his very close friend George, at the time. There she met her husband to be, George Harrison, whom she married in early 1966. We were first introduced to Pattie Boyd in the 1964 Beatles movie, “A Hard Days Night”, where she was cast as a schoolgirl fan. Who does that happen to, in one lifetime? Three songs?…and one performed by The Beatles? The lucky girl who had not only one exquisite song written for her, but a couple other huge hits, as well: “Wonderful Tonight” by Eric Clapton and “Something” by The Beatles. That person is Pattie Boyd. Wife of the Quiet Beatle, George Harrison. The versions of the story behind this song vary, but they all point to one person: Here is a link to a version of Layla and Majnun: Let’s be glad that Eric shortened the name, for the sake of his song. He identified with the character Majnun, who was in love with Layla bint Mahdi idn Sa’d. The original story was something that struck a chord with Clapton (if you’ll pardon the pun) and the events going on in his life, at that time. Later on, a Persian poet named Nizami Ganjavi rewrote the story, naming it The Story Of Layla and Majnun. The actual song title Layla comes from 12th century classic Arabic literature. Eric’s bandmate, Jim Gordon co-wrote the tune and it has become a rock anthem, in the 40 years since it’s inception. The song Layla was written by Eric “Slowhand” Clapton, during his early 70’s Derek & The Dominoes era. It fared better in the US, reaching a peak of number 16.ĭespite that, it has become one of Clapton's most famous hits.The opening line to a song with, perhaps, one of the best known guitar riffs in Rock & Roll history. However, it was re-released in 1991 as a live version, but even then it only reached number 30.
In fact, it didn't even reach the top 75. Would you believe it, but the song was never a hit in the UK. The song was included on his 1977 album Slowhand. The female backing harmonies on the track were provided by none other than future Shakespears Sister member Marcella Detroit, and disco legend Yvonne Elliman.
Pattie Boyd is an English model and photographer. On March 28, 1979, the day after they got married, Clapton brought Pattie on stage and sang this to her at his concert in Tucson, Arizona. "I was taking so long and I was panicking about my hair, my clothes, everything, and I came downstairs expecting him to really berate me but he said, 'Listen to this!'" They were heading out to a Buddy Holly tribute that Paul McCartney had arranged, and Clapton was waiting around while she tried on clothes.īoyd told The Guardian in 2008 that Clapton "was sitting round playing his guitar while I was trying on dresses upstairs. Eric Clapton wrote 'Wonderful Tonight' in 1976 while waiting for his then-girlfriend (and future wife) Pattie Boyd to get ready for a night out.
0 kommentar(er)
