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ranked #193,070 most helpful
out of 571,544,897 reviews
★★★★☆
Great Revisit to the 60s and 70s
Having just read the biography of Phil Spector and the girlfriend of Lindsey Buckingham, I'm beginning to see a pattern. Rock Stars are narcissistic creatures who do what they want when they want, don't like no for an answer and want to be waited on hand and foot. Oh, one more trend. There are plenty of people willing to do that from wives, girlfriends, managers and roadies.
But this is a special book mainly because you are dealing with two very special musicians. Any Beatle is special and George appears to overall have been a special human being. Eric Clapton also has to go down in the Top 20 of musicians for his guitar playing and long history. Imagine what life is like to have been the inspiration of such classic songs, Layla, Wonderful Tonight, Something in the Way She Moves! Patty's life is very interesting although I wouldn't call it fascinating. She just happened to be at a place to view Pop History in the last half of the 20th Century and meet many of the people who influenced it, as well as partake in the drugs and drink that shaped it. In summary, George comes off as what the public saw: a quiet man with faults like others but a fairly even demeanor, a good chap. Eric, is passionate, but eventually cruel. It's often said that the ones you hurt the worst are the ones closest to you. That's the summary of this book. And Patty participates also by breaking hearts.
I too am surprised by the harsh comments of her by some reviewers. She was a beautiful model who inspired men, maybe no more so than Clapton who pursued her from his friend when still married. I wish there had been more pictures of her to see the appeal. What she does an excellent job of is showing what is behind the public persona of these guys. What was it really like? A series of highs and lows but due to the fascinating people, the highs were much higher. Unfortunately, the lows were much lower. There seems to be a lot of criticism for not making this a "tell all" with a lot of dirt. It's very clear this is a caring human being who stills cares for both men and chooses to draw the line on some private matters.
Now, to the criticism. Patty, thanks for the revisit to this fascinating period. But the book begins to read very slowly once she is through with George and Eric. Great, she went everywhere and met many people. There is no reason for this. We are interested in the George, Eric and Patty's recovery, but ultimately, not what sites she was fortunate enough to visit. This part makes me lower my rating from 5 to 4.
Overall, not a great piece of literature. But a great story of a great time with fascinating people. And for me that was quite enough to overcome the few weaknesses.
September 2007 · Books · verified purchase