Before fake-tanned love islanders were pulling each other for a chat and sipping on dummy bottles like steroid-induced babies, the world of love triangles existed in the slightly more credible world of the entertainment elite.After Harrison married his wife Pattie Boyd in 1966, Clapton began writing letters to Boyd pleading for her to leave The Beatle. After several letters and an eventual affair, Boyd did indeed leave Harrison for his good friend Clapton.
It was a romance Harrison was always aware of and rather aptly chose to channel his anger for the situation into his music, which rather embarrassingly resulted in a guitar duel between the two. Famously, at a party hosted by John Hurts, the two guitar heroes locked fretboards in the midst of the scandal, and effectively fist fought in front of everyone, through the medium of music.
It was a chapter in their lives filled with regrets, particularly for Clapton, who said, “I have regrets, obviously. Countless. One of the great regrets was getting involved with George Harrison’s marriage. What is that fabulous song that Dylan plays? ‘Don’t go mistaking paradise for that home across the road.’ I don’t know what inspired that song, but my experience is exactly what it’s about.”
Clapton’s retrospective view on the situation is representative of the sort of friendship the pair had. Despite personal turmoil and friction, they have, as has Boyd, come out the other side with no ill feelings towards each other and a renewed sense of creative respect.
As such, Harrison and Clapton have since collaborated on music together, largely to Clapton’s benefit. On Cream’s last album, their 1969 effort Goodbye, the pair wrote ‘Badge Together’ after Harrison felt compelled to return Clapton’s favour of laying down a guitar part for his classic track ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’.
But two decades later, when the dust from their fallout had truly settled and Clapton was penning tracks for his own solo career, Harrison contributed another song for his guitar compatriot while he suffered from his own alcohol addiction.
‘Run So Far’ saw Harrison penning lyrics that read as a direct helpline to his friend, lyrics that spoke to the inner heartbreak Harrison felt in watching his own friend descend into helplessness.
Clapton sings, “You fly / Out as your smile wears thin / And I sigh /Knowing the mess you’re in / And you know that you can’t get away / And you know you can’t hide it from yourself”.
Harrison aptly provides harmony for the song in a form of vocal camaraderie, while Clapton stands front and centre, confronting the truth outlined in Harrison’s lyrics. But any question of simply how much Harrison cared about Clapton were squashed in 2002, when this very song featured on his 2002 posthumous album Brainwashed, ultimately proving the deep sense of kinship he felt towards Clapton.
Eyes would dart across exclusive parties and musicians, and actors whom you hold dear would be at war over their romantic interests. Perhaps one of the most famous instances of all was between the two guitar gods, George Harrison and Eric Clapton.
