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I was flipping through a magazine recently that had an article about George Harrison. The main reason for buying the magazine was for the pictures really - I had no interest in reading the artificial sympathy written by a grade-Z Beatle fan. Some of the pictures were quite rare, and quite adorable. But the one that caught my eye is the image above. All the Beatles and their girls, together. I read the caption where it listed the people in order of sitting arangement: (from left to right) Jane, Paul, John, Cynthia, the Maharishi, Pattie, George, Ringo, and Maureen. Suddenly, I paused and looked at the picture. That wasn't Maureen Cox. That wasn't even close to Ringo's wife. It was Jenny Boyd, Pattie Boyd's sister! Apparently a certain People magazine hadn't been doing its homework...  Who really was this pretty face that not even a major reliable magazine couldn't even identify her own name? Perhaps this was the struggle Jenny Boyd lived with all her life. She was shadowed under her older sister's fame and grew a small reputation of "Pattie Boyd's sister". Jenny's dream wasn't to become a model; she wanted to become a fashion designer. But from the mid-60s on, Jenny found herself following her sister's footsteps.  Jenny's talent for modelling was simply astounding. She carried some of the same characteristics as her sister: the sweet round face, the full lips, and big dazzling blue eyes. But Jenny had some of her own distinct features: the darker blonde hair (once a brunette), the perkier nose, and an elegant bone structure. She could pose and position just right, when in front of the camera. While her sister displayed an innocent, adorable look, Jenny showed off a more striking, and glamorous look. She had the skill and ability to have become more famous than she ever really became. Sadly, it was her famous name that kept her in the spotlight throughout the swingin' '60s.  Where was Jenny when she wasn't modelling? Mainly holding a pencil and sketch book in hand, designing her own creative dress designs. That was her main goal in life. She was also hanging out with the right crowds at the time. Not only did she have her connection to the Beatles through her sister, but Jenny was modelling a variety of Mary Quant items. She even appeared in Vogue with her sister. Pictures show the lucky girl getting a hair cut from Vidal Sassoon himself. And her steady boyfriend (off and on) was Mick Fleetwood (of Fleetwood Mac fame).  In 1968, Jenny went along with the Beatles on their pilgrimage to Rishi Kesh to seek enlightment and learn of meditation. Not only were the Beatles interested in these Eastern philosophies, but others were drawn to it like Mick Jagger, Marianne Faithfull, Mike Love and Donovon. Donovon also wrote his song "Jennifer Juniper" about Jenny, as he began to fall in love with her. The previous year of 1967, Jenny and her husband Mick Fleetwood moved to San Francisco's Haight Ashbury district (the Summer of Love). George and Pattie went to visit her there, thus George was the only Beatle to get a taste of the Summer of Love. In the late '60s, Jenny found new work in the Beatles' clothing store, the Apple Boutique. Following the short-lived existance of Apple, Pattie and Jen opened their own store, Juniper in Chelsea Market. However in the beginning of 1969, the store closed (the girls didn't like getting up so early in the morning). It seems a woman so beautiful and talented as Jenny Boyd deserved more than the labels "Pattie's sister" or in this case, "Maureen Cox". But too few people could trully recognize her as an accomplished model, and beautiful human being. She enriched the '60s even if her over-all influence was small. Jenny Boyd had a captivating look unnoticed, and a voice striving for seperation from her sister's fame, unheard. What ever became of Jennifer Boyd? |
