Lot Essay
Pattie Boyd: In April 1975 Eric was advised to leave the country for a year for tax reasons, so we went to the house of my friend Sam Clapp, on Paradise Island in the Bahamas... It was everything the island’s name implied... We had a lot of visitors, including Ronnie and Krissie Wood, and Mick Jagger... One morning I woke with a searing pain in my tummy... The doctor diagnosed acute appendicitis. He wanted to operate immediately because he was afraid my appendix might burst... eventually I had it done, and all was well. Life on the island was idyllic - every day was another perfect day in paradise, and at night we would walk on the beach, our feet kicking up tiny phosphorescent fish that sparkled in the moonlight. I could have stayed forever, but Eric hadn’t wanted to go in the first place and, with his creative personality, developed island fever. He was drinking heavily and wrote a song during that time called “Black Summer Rain.” I couldn’t understand how he had come up with such a dark title in such an idyllic place. A tour of New Zealand, Australia, and Japan came as a welcome diversion for him.