Of God and a Beatle: talking to a Muse

 

 

For Boyd this trip will mark the first time in years  she has been to Vegas and only her second trip ("I hear it has changed a lot."). She was not invited when the Beatles played Vegas in 1964. "In those days wives and girlfriends were not allowed to travel with the band."

This is also only her second convention with American fans of the group she spent so much time with in the '60s. Her first Beatles convention was in New Jersey recently, and she was overwhelmed: "I had no idea a Beatles convention would be so important and would pull in so many fans. I mean the entire hotel was filled with Beatles fans and playing Beatles music. For me it was the most bizarre thing to have encountered. They were mainly from my age group and they were so happy to meet me."'

OK, but when George Harrison was having the Beatles record a song about how special she was or when Eric Clapton ripped his heart out in need for her on "Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs," didn't she feel something extraordinary was happening around her?

"No, I wasn't, I wasn't." She then starts again: "I was not sitting around thinking how lucky I am though I did  think it was wonderful. It is a bigger issue now than it was years ago."

And, what made Boyd's role  in music history a far bigger deal to her were the fans she met, like the ones coming to the convention in Vegas.

"Until three or four years ago I had no idea anyone knew of me or even remembered me."

"Were you living in isolation?" I  ask. Pattie Boyd has been a name revered in music geek history my entire life.

"I lived a very quiet life in the English countryside. I was really quite surprised a few years ago when my sister-in-law pointed out there were all these Pattie Boyd websites. And I was shocked that there was all this information out there."

Boyd had been approached by publishers about a memoir for years. But until that point she had not realized just how thoroughly her story had been told and by so many sources. She decided to finally tell her version of her story (which includes Mick Jagger striking out with her, but a dalliance with another Rolling Stone), and she inked a big publishing deal. Her memoirs came out last August along with exposure for her photographs from back in the day. Now, at the convention fans can buy her book and get her to sign it. One report said she signed 850 books at the New Jersey convention. Boyd is not sure the exact number of books but: "I signed so many last time my hand stopped."

As for her fondest memory of being with the Beatles, she picks the spiritual retreat to India 40 years ago. 

"In those days they did everything together. They were very united as a group of people. Brian Epstein, the Beatles' manager, died. They were just like the rug had been pulled out from under them. They did not know what to do. The view was the meditation would really help them. We all went. It was good that we went, because it allowed us to learn so much there. But they knew when they went back to England they were going to have to be businessmen for the first time, in addition to musicians. They were going to have make proper decisions. This responsibility had never been placed on them. Brian would do everything. It was almost like the last time they could be together for only spiritual and musical purposes." (courtesy photo)