The Night George Harrison and Ronnie Wood Swapped Wives
George Harrison created beautiful and experimental music with The Beatles. His best Fab Four songs are some of the greatest in the band’s catalog, and that happened despite his bandmates blocking his songwriting efforts from appearing on albums. The guitarist’s relationship with his fellow Beatles wasn’t always the best. You could say the same of Harrison’s personal life, such as the night in the late 1970s when George and Ronnie Wood swapped wives.
The night George Harrison and Ronnie Wood spent the night with the other’s wife
Fidelity was never a main concern for members of The Beatles. John Lennon reportedly cheated on his first wife with 300 women. Paul McCartney carried on various affairs during his relationship with longtime girlfriend Jane Asher.
George was no different. He declared his love for Ringo Starr’s wife and revealed their affair after the Fab Four disintegrated. And he did it in front of his wife, Pattie Boyd, and former bandmate.
The Harrison-Boyd marriage moved beyond that infidelity. The night George and Ronnie Wood swapped wives in early 1977 might have been the beginning of the final act for two marriages, The Rolling Stones guitarist writes in his autobiography, Ronnie:
“Prior to meeting Jo, I had had a fiery and heartfelt affair with George Harrison’s wife, Pattie Boyd. One night at George’s house, I took George aside and told him quite seriously that when it was time for bed, I would be going to Pattie’s room. Seemingly unflustered, he pointed to the room Krissy and I were staying in and added, ‘I shall be sleeping there.’
“When the time came, the two of us were left on the landing, hands on doorknobs of the respective rooms. ‘Are we going to do this?’ I asked. ‘I’ll see you in court,’ George replied, and in we went.
“Pattie was a little surprised to see me. I told her I thought she was seriously neglected and was going to waste, and I unleashed that I felt so strongly for her. The following morning we were woken by George, who informed me that he had called his lawyers. He never actually did. Pattie and I headed off to the Bahamas, and Krissy and George left for Portugal.”
Both marriages ended not long after George and Wood spent the night with each other’s wives. Boyd and Harrison divorced in June 1977, and Wood divorced his wife in 1978.
George and Wood wrote a song together years before swapping wives
Wood and George collaborated on a song years before acts of open infidelity all but ended both their marriages. They wrote the song “Far East Man” together. Each musician recorded it for a 1974 solo album.
The future Stones guitarist recorded the ballad first and put it on his I’ve Got My Own Album to Do record. It beat George’s version to record stores by a few months. The former Beatle put his slightly longer version on Dark Horse, which came out in December 1969. George’s name doesn’t appear in the credits of the Wood version (because of contractual hurdles), but Wood claimed (via YouTube) that listeners can hear Harrison’s voice in the background.
When George Harrison and Ronnie Wood spent the night with the other’s wife, it effectively ended two marriages. The fact they worked together professionally on “Far East Man” meant next to nothing when they decided to swap wives.
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