Though released as a single in the UK in March 1978 (just a week before PattiвЂ™s 34th birthday), this was surprisingly not a hit in Britain despite being one of ClaptonвЂ™s best loved songs вЂ“ a live version reached #30 at the end of 1991. (ItвЂ™s worth noting here that DonovanвЂ™s 1968 hit вЂJennifer JuniperвЂ™ was about PattiвЂ™s younger sister, Jenny Boyd) To have inspired Eric, and George before him, to write such songs was so flattering вЂ“ вЂWonderful TonightвЂ™ was the most poignant reminder of all that was good in our relationship, and when things went wrong it was a torture to hear itвЂќ. In her autobiography, Wonderful Tonight (Harmony Books, 2007) for which she apparently received a ВЈ950,000 advance, Ms Boyd recalls, вЂњIt was such a simple song but so beautiful and for years it tore at me. In a five minute flash of inspiration Eric Clapton had written his most popular song, and Patti Boyd found herself in the unique position of having three international hit songs written just about her. The song, of course, was вЂWonderful TonightвЂ™ (the first track recorded for the Slowhand album), as concise a love song as one could hope for. The opening verse of the song вЂњItвЂ™s late in the evening, sheвЂ™s wondering what clothes to wear she puts on her make-up, and brushes her long blonde hair вЂќ describe the circumstances exactly as they were. One evening in 1976 while Eric, in a fury, was waiting for Patti to get ready to go to a party (they were two hours late вЂ“ she was trying on dresses!) he went back downstairs to the lounge, and within five minutes had written what he still calls, вЂњthe most perfect love song.вЂќ ClaptonвЂ™s own вЂLaylaвЂ™ was also written as a plea to Patti in 1970, and although George was one of his best friends, Eric Clapton continued to pursue Patti until eventually, in 1974, he managed to steal her away from George, and ultimately marry her himself. George Harrison had already written the Beatles big hit, вЂSomethingвЂ™, from Abbey Road for Patti, taking the opening line, вЂњSomething in the way she movesвЂќ, from a James Taylor song of the that title. The two also co-wrote one of CreamsвЂ™ last hits вЂBadgeвЂ™ (with some drunken participation from Ringo Starr) in George HarrisonвЂ™s back garden while Harrison wrote Abbey RoadвЂ™s вЂHere Comes The SunвЂ™ the same year in ClaptonвЂ™s garden! Unfortunately, Clapton fell for Patti in a BIG way.

(Her sister Jenny later married Mick Fleetwood of Fleetwood Mac) Eric and George were good mates, Eric playing guitar on GeorgeвЂ™s вЂWhile My Guitar Gently WeepsвЂ™ on the Beatles double вЂWhiteвЂ™ album вЂ“ Clapton got no credit on the record for contractual reasons, but his contribution was an open secret. Patti was a successful model and in 1966 she married Beatle George Harrison.

Apart from his music, one of Eric ClaptonвЂ™s other lifetime passions was Patti Boyd, an icon of the вЂSwinging SixtiesвЂ™. The following two years were probably the darkest in Eric ClaptonвЂ™s life as he tried to overcome his heroin addiction, and eventually in 1973 his fellow guitarist Pete Townsend of The Who managed to get Clapton out of his house, back on stage, and eventually back in the recording studio to begin what became a highly successful solo career. The resulting album wasnвЂ™t a big hit, but a single from it, вЂLaylaвЂ™, later became one of ClaptonвЂ™s best loved pieces. Clapton refused to have his name on the album in a concerted effort to escape his guitar-hero image. Blind Faith soon went the same way as Cream, and in 1970 Clapton fronted a band under the pseudonym of Derek & The Dominoes, Clapton being вЂDerekвЂ™.

When Cream imploded he toured America with Delaney & Bonnie & Friends, before forming another вЂsuper-groupвЂ™, Blind Faith, together with Steve Winwood, recently departed from Traffic. In 1966 he formed the first вЂsuper-groupвЂ™, Cream, together with Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce. Eric (born Eric Clapp in Ripley, Surrey, in 1945) first attracted attention as a guitar-hero in British group The Yardbirds in the mid-1960s, also acquiring the nickname, вЂSlowhandвЂ™, before moving to John MayallвЂ™s Bluesbreakers.

*Released in USA as вЂEric Clapton & His BandвЂ™Д®ric Clapton has had a long and sometimes difficult career, struggling to overcome heroin addiction in the early 1970s, and losing his 4-year-old son Conor in 1991 in a tragic accident in New York that inspired a devastated Clapton to write the song вЂTears In HeavenвЂ™. вЂњTo have inspired Eric, and George before him, to write such songs was so flatteringвЂќ

Eric clapton wonderful tonight song