Wonderful tonight [Kindle Edition]

I really enjoyed this book and pretty much read it non stop. As for many readers I suspect I was attracted to the book because of 'that' song and the intrigue of reading the perspective of somebody who knew both these musicians so well and was the inspiration for the song.

The importance of understanding Patti's early life becomes really important when you see how life can repeat itself and how people can come to accept misbehaviour on others parts as being acceptable because of their own early life experiences.

For a behind the scenes view of life with 2 rock and roll titans you won't be disappointed - these men are still both hero's of mine but goodness me my adulation is now strictly reserved for their music!

Thanks for sharing Pattie!

Just wanted to knock off a quick review, because I feel Patti has been short changed so far. I think Patti has written an account that gives fans plenty of interesting nuggets and insight, without being too indiscreet either. There is obviously a lot missing and what we get is a few scraps but they are quite tasty. Given that George has now passed on and Eric has written his own autobiography her timing is okay and though George and Eric don't emerge unscathed, she also has plenty of nice things to say about them. The book is somewhat amateur in certain ways. It's full of typos, even half sentences missing, and sometimes it gets its facts wrong. Speaking of the early years, she says the Beatles averaged one album and 3 singles. In fact it was two albums and 4 singles. Sometimes when she is trotting out the statistics like that I very much get the feeling that Patti is no longer with us anyway, it's the ghostwriter Penny Junor giving a bit of background for folks that don't know much about the era. Patti doesn't seem that interested in the music and Junor doesn't betray hallmarks of being much of a Beatles fan, either. The book therefore suffers from a lack of judicious probity. We get almost nothing about George's relationship with other Beatles, bar a tantalising clue about George's frustration with Paul. I suspect it may be because Patti didn't want to go there for the Beatles' sake and that's fair enough, but I think she could have gone a wee bit further and not hurt anyone. Personally I think George's problems with Paul were not just about Paul's well known ego, but also because George had one too (surprise) and some of George's all too human flaws do become apparent in this book. That said, I wonder if Patti is not a little blind. To me it seems George married hastily to someone who wasn't totally suited to him- at least in the long run- and throughout the whole book Patti seems to be in denial about that. I don't think fighting for her marriage would have helped her, as they seem to have been on quite divergent wavelengths and time would make that tell.
So many famous names of the time get a mention, this book has to be worth considering if the period and its characters interest you. I found interesting anecdotes about numerous people. Elvis and Mick Jagger, Brian Epstein and George and Patti's cleaner.
Oddly, I found the bits about her family and early life just as interesting as the bits about Beatles and rock stars. For me the most mysterious character in the book is her father and I hoped for a bit more about him. The main character in the book is Eric, so if you collect perspectives on him, this is a must read.
But there are so many gaping holes that could have been filled without intruding into other people's privacy. Patti says "We took acid regularly" but has nothing to say about the effect it had on her, perhaps that's because it didn't really have much of an effect. She also mentions numerous people without ever telling us much about them. Again, no need to intrude far, but a little crumb would be nice. Phil Collins and Roger Taylor are just names in this book. The book could easily have been twice as long and I wouldn't have minded, but as it is for the price I paid on Kindle it was well worth it.

How could this pretty, blonde 60s almost an icon, have managed to produce such a boring tale! The subject of three of the worlds greatest love songs ~ Something, Layla and Wonderful Tonight. The adored choice of George Harrison and Eric Clapton seems prosaic, dull. What a shame. I quite liked that she took no money when she left these guys ( who also come across as less than heroic!) More illusions shattered. Still, great times.