Let's Spend the Night Together: Backstage Secrets of Rock Muses and Supergroupies [Hardcover]

Pamela Des Barres (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2007

This intimate account of 24 legendary groupies reveals what went on behind the closed doors of rock stars from Elvis to Marilyn Manson. Consisting of Pamela Des Barres's revealing interviews with and profiles of other supergroupies, this book offers firsthand glimpses into the backstage world of rock stars and the women who loved them. The groupies—such as Miss Japan Beautiful, who taught Elvis how to dance; Cassandra Peterson (Mistress of the Dark), who tangled with Tom Jones in Sin City; Cynthia Plaster Caster, who redefined the art of Jimi Hendrix; and Miss B., who revealed Kurt Cobain’s penchant for lip gloss—tell tales that go well beyond an account of a one-night stand to become a part of music history.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A groupie is to a rock band as Mary Magdalene was to Jesus, asserts L.A. rock author Des Barres (I'm with the Band) in this eager, self-congratulatory attempt to rehabilitate the term groupie through two dozen fun and well-documented examples of rock muses since the 1960s. Des Barres steers her interviewees to underscore their important role in making their rock star boyfriends look good and play well, such as Tura Satana, given the dubious title Miss Japan Beautiful, who met awkward young Elvis Presley on the burlesque circuit in the mid-'50s and taught him his shimmying moves. Des Barres recalls her groupie rivals back in the day, including Patti D'Arbanville, Bebe Buell, Lori Lightning and Catherine James. Cynthia Plaster Caster, the Rodin of Rock, shares her descriptions of her plaster replicas of rock stars' penises (including that of Jimmy Hendrix), while Dee Dee Keel spills tales of her oral exploits for British rockers with deplorable bathing habits, and male groupie Pleather relays Courtney Love's shaky self-esteem. In the end, it's all about the music, or as Pleasant Gehman sums it up blithely in this breathlessly gossipy scrapbook: Being a groupie is like worshipping at the church of rock and roll—and you are the high priestess.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Des Barres' popular first book, I'm with the Band (1988), cemented her reputation as a pioneering groupie. Here she interviews 24 other women, including Gail Zappa, Bebe Buell, and Cherry Vanilla, similarly enamored of rock musicians, although the give-and-take between Des Barres and her interviewees often reads more like old friends trading war stories. And there are certainly plenty of stories to go around, with juicy details on the sexual habits of Jimmy Page, Cat Stevens, and Mick Jagger; for the younger set, there are some eye-opening revelations about the likes of Kurt Cobain and J. D. Fortune. Des Barres can sometimes throw a wet blanket on the proceedings with her rather heavy-handed and oft-repeated explication of groupies as "muses" (whatever). And there are a few queasy moments, as when a mother and daughter trade raunchy anecdotes. For the most part, though, these women, especially Cynthia Plaster Caster and Cassandra Peterson (who later became famous as the horror-film maven Elvira), share their unabashed enjoyment of sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll in spirited fashion. Wilkinson, Joanne
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Chicago Review Press; First Edition ~1st Printing edition (July 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1556526687
• ISBN-13: 978-1556526688
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #134,180 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Riding the tidal wave as the Queen of the Groupies with a collection of 24 confessions, July 6, 2007

By 

Jessica Lux (Rosamond, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Let's Spend the Night Together: Backstage Secrets of Rock Muses and Supergroupies (Hardcover)

Let's Spend the Night Together is your armchair backstage pass to some of the biggest names in rock n' roll, from Elvis to Jimi Hendrix to Kurt Cobain. The book consists of two dozen first-person confessions from the girls who romanced the stars. These aren't cheap women looking for a thrill; women like Gail Zappa (wife of Frank) and Tura Satana (one-time fiancée of Elvis Presley) reveal the man behind the stage persona. Satura gave Elvis dancing lessons early in his career, and Zappa loved Frank despite his repeated dalliances with groupies. More legendary groupies like Cynthia Plaster Caster and Sweet Connie (of "We're An American Band" fame) also contributed chapters on their long lists of personal conquests.

Pamela Des Barres is the natural choice for editing this collection--she wrote the groupie gold-standard tell-all I'm With the Band in 1987. The 24 confessions are scandalously entertaining, but the quality of the writers' perspective varies. Some women truly loved their paramours, others were out to carve notches in the belts, and still others manage to take an intellectual look at their experience. Des Barres appears to be riding the wave of groupie fame, but to cover that up, she waxes poetic about how groupies were muses and no longer suffer the negative connotations they used to. It's an up and down collection, and the reader can't help but notice that some women where just used by the bands (and not for artistic inspiration). Any rock fan will find some gems in the anthology, however.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I am a fan of Pam's and this book is pretty good, September 12, 2007

By 

kooky Kid "Bookfiend1818" (east coast) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Let's Spend the Night Together: Backstage Secrets of Rock Muses and Supergroupies (Hardcover)

I prefer Pam's autobiographical stuff and her own sweet experiences but I enjoy her writing period so I'll give this a thumbs up. Some of the characters profiled were of interest but I found clearly there was a standard- and the book is set up so the older ( original groupies) are towards the front of the book. As we take the trip downward the reader starts to see the decline of the groupie, there simply is no naiivete or sweetness or joy that was part of Pamela's world,just grotesque hi -jinx and girls acting as prostitutes for free.kind of sad.Makes me nostalgic for "the good old days" of groupie-dom

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A Very Mixed Bag, January 28, 2008

By 

just write well "justwritewell" (Virginia, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Let's Spend the Night Together: Backstage Secrets of Rock Muses and Supergroupies (Hardcover)

I love Pamela Des Barres and I hate to write a negative review of anything she does, but I found this book to be mostly a dull rehash of slutty one night stand chicks who had/have no goals in life except hooking up for an hour with the bass player.

I enjoyed the Q & A with Bebe Buell.

Classy, groovy ladies like Patti D'Arbanville and Gail Zappa notwithstanding, sick, sick women like Sweet Connie disgusted me--sounds as if she'd blow the guy a McDonald's if he gave her a free Happy Meal. I guess we know how she'll afford her nursing home, although she looks as if she's on her way to Slut Heaven due to anorexia. I think Pamela has pretty much exhausted this topic. Move on doll!!!