Rebel Heart: An American Rock 'n' Roll Journey [Hardcover]

Bebe Buell (Author), Victor Bockris (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 13, 2001

How does a girl get from a Catholic school in Virginia to Mick Jagger's hotel room in two short years? In the early '70s, when rock stars were becoming the new royalty and models were their consorts and muses, Bebe Buell hit New York hard. One of Eileen Ford's most promising new faces, Bebe worked with the best of them (Scavullo, Avedon), and flowered in a city that was home to her first and enduring passion:rock music. Max's Kansas City was her stage, and Bebe was the star meeting everyone from Warhol to Dali, and captivating a generation of rock's greatest talents. Her relationships ranged from wunderkind Todd Rundgren to Aerosmith's Steven Tyler, from Jagger to rock's wordsmith Elvis Costello. Not to mention the fun she had with everyone from Rod Stewart to Ron Wood, David Bowie to Jack Nicholson. Rabel Heart drops readers right back into rock's heyday and is full of detail that deepens even the most ardent fan's understanding of the '70s and '80s rock scene.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

High-spirited teenager Bebe Buell didn't want to stay home in Virginia in the early 1970s; she knew she was destined for a faster paced life. After graduating from high school, she ran away to Virginia Beach to escape her father's strict military discipline. She returned home, but, with her mother's support, soon moved to New York and became a moderately successful Eileen Ford model. However, even more appealing to Bebe was the world of rock music. She became a groupie of sorts hanging out with Todd Rundgren, Andy Warhol and Iggy Pop. (She's said to have provided some of the inspiration for Kate Hudson's character in Almost Famous.) In addition to Bebe's sexual exploits with celebrities (the list is long; highlights include David Bowie, Elvis Costello, Rod Stewart), she served as a muse and actual wordsmith, recording with the Cars in 1980: "I was never on a quest for sex itself. In fact, to me, it's the hardest part of a relationship. I was always on a quest for rock 'n' roll." From the 1970s to the 1990s, she drifted from man to man and drugs of various sorts, with the one stable force being her daughter, Liv Tyler, by Aerosmith's Steven Tyler. While some aging boomers may relish another account of the good old, bad old days of rock and roll, this memoir is disappointing. Bebe's raucous life amid glam rockers and glitterati sure sounds fun, but her story adds little to what has already been documented about these times. Photos not seen by PW. (Aug.)
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

When rock took its first giant steps in the mid-1960s, there was Pamela Des Barres (I'm with the Band: Confessions of a Groupie. o.p.); when it blew its wad in the late 1970s, there was Bebe Buell, ex-Ford model and Playboy centerfold. The former proudly calls herself a groupie, the latter insists on muse. Buell's garrulous account/defense of her rock'n'roll lifestyle, which produced actress Liv Tyler (her illegitimate daughter by Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler), lacks a sense of humor; looking back on that much excess has to be somewhat funny. Charges of pretentiousness are beside the point, though. One must judge a memoir of this type by its juiciness, and this rates an eight. Todd Rundgren, Mick Jagger, Jerry Hall, Iggy Pop, Debbie Harry, David Bowie, and Jimmy Page aside, Buell dishes on the great unrequited love of her life, Elvis Costello, who was married to his first wife when Buell conceived a child (she later aborted it and regrets it to this day). Writes Buell, "I can very proudly say that when I was involved with Elvis, he made some of the greatest records of his career." Recommended for celebrity sickos, 1970s rock fans, and larger public library music collections. (Photographs not seen.) Heather McCormack, "Library Journal"
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press; 1st edition (August 13, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312266944
• ISBN-13: 978-0312266943
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (110 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #800,986 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 36 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Todd was the reason I read the book... June 18, 2005

By Amazon.com-lover

Format:Paperback

I have been a Todd R fan for years and I must admit a certain amount of voyeristic thrill while reading about how they met, their sexual relationship, their fights...all in all I got what I personally wanted out of the book: stories about Todd and some fantastic photos. Initially I did not care about Bebe, and did not read it because of her ....but I must admit there was something captivating about her stories and I ended up reading the whole book in a day. It is worth reading if only for the superficial glamour . Funny how women thought then and still do now that beauty and sexuality are power, when actually those things give women no power at all. Yes she got to hobnob with every hot man, but in the end was used ( even though she used them too, such as her shameless dependence on Todd's financial support) . And that makes this story sad, to me. Because women still don't get it. The younger ones rave over this book and say Bebe Rocks, but really, why does she rock? She was pretty and needy and sex was free and many of the men didn't care about her as a person beyond the centerfold. She has creative desires but smothered them in looking for a father ( she claims Todd was like a father to her) or protector. I can say many anecdotes were intriguing, but all in all I can not call Bebe inspiring or my role model. Not because she was a groupie but because she does not look deeply into herself and it seems she did not grow or get wise. Again , some interesting anecdotes but that is about all .

49 of 57 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Much Ado about No One March 5, 2004

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

This book should have been juicy reading, since Buell (who bristles at the designation of "groupie," preferring to fashion herself as a muse responsible for, in her eyes, all the good work done by any musician she ever slept with)traveled with the A list due to her modeling career and relationships with rockers Todd Rundgren, Mick Jagger, Steven Tyler, Elvis Costello, Rod Stewart, actor Jack Nicholson, and some lesser lights before attaching herself to the coattails of her daughter, Liv Tyler. She admits to having "an ego the size of Asia," but that doesn't say the half of it. "Everybody" she ever met thought Buell was brilliant, talented, and oh so special; only incidentally did they want to get into her pants. Her insights about her friends and lovers are about as deep as her song lyrics with which she precedes every chapter, which means they could be better articulated by a bright 15 year old. She is a wonderful mother who abandoned her daughter to family to care for until the age of about five so she could shag her way around the world, but she made it a point to try to get home for Halloween. Elvis Costello, whom she terms the love of her life, stopped taking her calls about fifteen years ago, yet she still finds proof positive of his enduring torch for her in every song he writes. She admits that it was "a cry for help" to lie to friends and relatives about having leukemia when she was feeling depressed, but would any 40 year old woman with a grip on reality even consider such a stunt? This woman loves herself so much that she even implies that Rod Stewart, with whom she traveled for 3 months in the late 70's until he dumped her -- although she seems to even then have disliked him -- took her along because she could attract press notice for him.... How Victor Bockris managed to ghost write this without swallowing the finger he must have had lodged in his throat every minute is a mystery. Read more ›

26 of 30 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Rebel Heart is okay February 27, 2002

By Christopher Davis

Format:Hardcover

I have been a fan of Bebe Buell since I was 14 years old and
saw her in the centerfold of Playboy. It was that appearance
that first introduced me to her and also informed me that she was the girlfriend of Todd Rundgren- someone else that I happen to be a fan of. When I heard that Buell was writing her autobiography, I was very excited as I was eager to learn about her life. I knew she had been a singer herself- I seem to recall seeing a couple of things in Rolling Stone about that but it had been a long time since her Playboy debut and I was ready to find out what she had been up to.
I suppose anytime someone writes an autobiography, they are basically tooting their own horn. In Rebel Heart, Buell is the whole brass section. While I enjoyed reading about how she became a model and then met (and bedded) various rock stars, I grew a bit weary of her constantly reminding me, as the reader, of how beautiful she was. She also discusses quite frequently how rock stars sought to hang out with her instead of it being the other way around. I sometimes had to laugh out loud whenever she insisted that she was NOT a groupie and that many of the songs of the men she dated were inspired by her. She claims this so many times throughout the book that I half expected her to claim that SHE was the Angie the Rolling Stones sang about!
I was a bit disappointed too at her attitude toward her child, the famous Liv Tyler. Perhaps I am old fashioned but I have always believed that parents put their children first- no matter what. It is obvious that with Buell, Liv was for several years a distant second or perhaps even third (behind Elvis Costello).... But one thing I will give her credit for, Buell is honest about this and seems to almost take pride in the fact that she put herself and her ambitions before her child.
Once you get past being reminded over and over of how beautiful she is and how every rock star in the galaxy wanted her or was influenced by her, Rebel Heart is an okay read. Sometimes funny, often sad but I think honest. I found it entertaining. It was good to finally catch up with Bebe Buell. Read more ›

25 of 29 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating History - Painful to Read February 18, 2002

By "loriesinak"

Format:Hardcover

One has to respect Bebe Buell for being a survivor. She has managed to tart her way through the rock era relatively unscathed except for one nervous breakdown and plenty of wrong decisions. She romped with an amazing number of music heroes from my youth without even contacting Aids. A truly fascinating story that Bebe has had the courage to share with us. I just wish she would have gotten professional help with the writing of her story. As interesting as her life has been, I found myself agonizing through the last chapters, the writing was so tiresome. Bebe, please hire a real writer for any sequels. I truly hope Elvis realizes what a twit he really is and that Mick and Todd can still be your friends after all you have shared.