It was the most famous love triangle in rock ‘n’ roll history, spawning one of the most iconic songs of all time and possibly the most well-known guitar riff of all time.
Mention the name Pattie Boyd and most people over the age of 40 will know who you mean. Mention the word ‘Layla’ and bemused younger eyes will light up. Any kid learning guitar wants to play those opening notes.
Pattie Boyd’s story is extraordinary. It encapsulates the wild excesses and free love of the years of sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll, an era that began in the early 1960s and fizzled out in the early 1980s with most of the leading men either dead or hopelessly addicted to alcohol. drugs, or both. The bands that remained were torn apart by infighting between the surviving members. Hard rockers who tossed televisions out of smashed hotel room windows were replaced by fluffy new romantics who would never cruise through a hotel lobby on a motorcycle for fear of messing up their hairdo or smearing their makeup.
Memorabilia from the 1960s and 1970s change hands at auction for increasingly ridiculous amounts of money, and Pattie Boyd clearly has a ton of stuff. This ‘enhanced’ version of her autobiography ‘Wonderful Tonight’ (the original paper version was curiously called Wonderful Today in the UK) is packed with letters, photographs, drawings and images that have apparently not seen the light of day for decades. . .
The opening chapters talk about his childhood years, usually a boring necessity in an autobiography, but before moving on to the juicy bits, it’s worth taking a look at his childhood photos. Presented as a slideshow from a movie, Pattie speaks through a series of snapshots, like a friend showing her her photo album. It’s an original approach that is repeated later in this iBook with a collection of photos of The Beatles in India, with the Maharishi.
A photograph of George and Pattie with Frank Sinatra is accompanied by an audio description of how they joined Sinatra in the studio for the “one take” recording of My way.
Later in the iBook, he talks about George’s solo album cover photo.Living in the Material Worldexplaining that the chauffeur and nanny were simply part of the set.
Beatles anoraks, or anyone interested in that era, will be fascinated by memorabilia such as postcards written by George to Pattie while on tour with the Fab Four, George and Pattie’s marriage certificate, a children’s Christmas card created for Pattie for George and even George’s concept for his own record label.
A letter written by George to Pattie while he was in New York for the Concert for Bangladesh it has also been given the audio commentary treatment. In his letter, George writes that the trip on the SS France to NY was not as fun as the previous one on QE2. Pattie explains that Tommy Cooper had entertained them on the QE2 trip. Why does George write that he has seen a lavatory but doesn’t know if they can afford it? He sure was one of the richest rock stars on the planet! Pattie explains that they never carried any money and didn’t know if they were rich or poor. Cleverly, the presentation allows the reader to listen to the comment and then read the letter.
Most magical of all is perhaps a letter written by John Lennon that has been buried in a drawer for almost forty years. In the letter he talks about the grass outside his window (Central Park), which luckily he doesn’t have to mow. He describes an amazing new invention he has discovered, the Polaroid camera, and how the image comes out of the camera and unfolds before your very eyes. He suggests that Apple (the Beatles’ record label which was doing them a great disservice at the time) should be given to the highest bidder or sent to the animal slaughterhouse, and talks of spending old age in the Wilfred Pickles Memorial Home. It really is Lennon at his eccentric best.
The story everyone wants to know the secrets of is what exactly happened between George Harrison, Pattie Boyd and Eric Clapton, and this iBook version brings it all to the table. She recounts how a letter arrived addressed to ‘Dearest L…’, which she assumed was from a wacko fanatic; how Eric sat her down, he put her on tape and it was the most powerful song he had ever heard and he knew it was about her. The song, of course, was layla. At this point, you can touch the screen of your iPad, connect to the iTunes store, listen layla and buy it, if surprisingly, you don’t have it yet.
The craziness of the period between 1970 and 1974, when she and George finally divorced, is extraordinary and difficult to follow. Popular opinion was that Harrison and Clapton fell out and there was a lot of animosity between the two, but in this iBook, Pattie presents a note from George to both of them that seems to give her blessing on her relationship.
In addition to the cards, the iBook contains another Christmas card, this time drawn by Eric. Were these ’70s rockers so desperate to hold on to their childhood that they created greeting cards like exuberant elementary school kids?
Ronnie Wood, who reportedly had an affair with Pattie during the George/Eric rampage, gives his thoughts on this special enhanced version of the book with a video prologue, and appears later in the book to talk about a drawing he did of Pattie. in Friar Park (the Harrison mansion).
Wonderful Tonight, the enhanced iBook, is an outstanding example of what can be done with Apple’s iPad platform. The theme and accompanying content really lends itself perfectly to the 3D ebook treatment and the use of clever techniques (such as commenting on photo slideshows) works really well.
If you’re interested in The Beatles, Eric Clapton, or just a glimpse into the future of publishing, this iBook is worth a look.
Wonderful Tonight, the enhanced version, is available from Apple’s iBook Store for iPad and iPhone.