I'm with the Band: Confessions of a Groupie [Paperback]

Pamela Des Barres (Author), Dave Navarro (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 28, 2005

The stylish, exuberant, and remarkably sweet confession of one of the most famous groupies of the 1960s and 70s is back in print in this new edition that includes an afterword on the author's last 15 years of adventures. As soon as she graduated from high school, Pamela Des Barres headed for the Sunset Strip, where she knocked on rock stars' backstage doors and immersed herself in the drugs, danger, and ecstasy of the freewheeling 1960s. Over the next 10 years she had affairs with Mick Jagger, Jimmy Page, Keith Moon, Waylon Jennings, Chris Hillman, Noel Redding, and Jim Morrison, among others. She traveled with Led Zeppelin; lived in sin with Don Johnson; turned down a date with Elvis Presley; and was close friends with Robert Plant, Gram Parsons, Ray Davies, and Frank Zappa. As a member of the GTO's, a girl group masterminded by Frank Zappa, she was in the thick of the most revolutionary renaissance in the history of modern popular music. Warm, witty, and sexy, this kiss-and-tell–all stands out as the perfect chronicle of one of rock 'n' roll's most thrilling eras.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"She charms me every time she refuses to regret. And she regrets nothing."  —Los Angeles Times

"Sunny, uninhibited prose."  —Slate.com

"Her prose is...glittery, raw and real."  —Indie-music.com

"Should spur enough interest...that...her story can be made into the movie it needs to be."  —The WOW Report

"Granted it's gossipy, but it's also a worthwhile document of the blossoming of an innocent California flower-child."  —Star Tribune

"Eminently readable, offering all the fun of a trashy read without resorting to sensationalism or mean-spiritedness." —North Bay Bohemian

"A must-read for all lovers of great music and men."  —Playgirl

About the Author

Pamela Des Barres is the author of Let's Spend the Night Together and Take Another Little Piece of My Heart. A spokesperson for her generation, she is an authority on classic rock and the freewheelin' rock 'n' roll lifestyle. She has written for the New York Times, Rolling Stone, Cosmopolitan, and many other magazines.

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Chicago Review Press; Updated edition edition (October 28, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1556525893
• ISBN-13: 978-1556525896
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.7 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (156 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,993 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #2 in Books > Arts & Photography > Music > Musical Genres > Country
  • #13 in Books > Arts & Photography > Music > History & Criticism
  • #18 in Books > Arts & Photography > Music > Musical Genres > Rock

More About the Author

Pamela Des Barres is the author of Let's Spend the Night Together and Take Another Little Piece of My Heart. A spokesperson for her generation, she is an authority on classic rock and the freewheelin' rock 'n' roll lifestyle. She has written for the New York Times, Rolling Stone, Cosmopolitan, and many other magazines.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

97 of 103 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun, Vicarious Adventure Without the Disappointment October 19, 2005

By Nocturnal

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

After reading other books by other groupies (who adamantly refuse the title of groupie although that's what they were), I wasn't expecting too much but was so sweetly surprised. This is how I always imagined a groupie should be like--star struck, believing that by adoring and being available to these rock idols would somehow make these idols fall hopelessly in love. And no matter how many times she got her heart broken she kept believing, continued to be optimistic and open far longer than most of us would have been. I am glad Miss Pam did find someone to love who loved her back for awhile at least--she deserved it--and hasn't wound up a has-been with nothing of her own to lay claim to (as so many other groupies do). I enjoyed the adventure; she captured a slice of what life could sometimes be like for a flower child with stars in her eyes.

45 of 47 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars This Groupie Can Write August 28, 2000

By A Customer

Format:Mass Market Paperback

Yeah, yeah, everyone and her cousin's writing a memoir now, and there's been some disgusting cashing in, like Di's groom's book. But I'm With the Band is one of the best memoirs I've read, period, and a giant in the hangers-on autobiography ouevre. PDB pokes just the right amount of fun at herself and she knows how to shape a narrative.

Best of all is her command of language. She loved rock stars for almost 20 years, and she changes her tone to fit the era and the rock star she's obsessing over. I also lent mine and never got it back, so I can't refer to it, but she first loved from afar someone like Paul Anka because he was "a dream date"; 60s conquests like Gram Parsons were "groovy and spiritual"; Jimmy Page had "dark, chilling powers" (and whips in his suitcase). The scene where she finally gets Mick Jagger and all she can do it flash back to masturbating to Stones records is a gem.

The book is gossipy, smart, self-aware, and refreshingly unapologetic about sexual behavior that most of the world still reviles. [...]

65 of 76 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Rock On Pamela! October 22, 2005

By Love2Read

Format:Paperback

I read this book a long time ago, before this latest re-release. It was so funny and I wish so much that I could have known Pamela Des Barres because her sense of adventure and her uncanny knack of putting it all down in print left me in awe of her.

She led the life that I could only have dreamed of leading. Of course, there are people out there who would call her names and scorn her for what she did in her past, but all I can say is "You go Girl!"

I suppose you could call this book No Holds Barres, because she was so candid and she let us all into her world and it was a world full of magic and love and such fun. I think Pamela would laugh if she could see the copy of my paperback book. It is covered in suntan oil and the ghosts of many Pina Coladas, since this was like my bible for many summers of laying by the pool.

So many of the people she met went on to lead productive lives and are still in the limelight, others met an unfortunate demise, but one thing for sure, they all loved Miss Pamela and she loved them back. I think anyone would be lucky to have a friend like her. You would never get bored because the tales she has to tell would keep you interested for an eternity.

Read the book, it's a rock and roll journey you don't want to miss.

Love you Miss Pamela

from a devoted groupie!