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

~ Pamela Des Barres (Author)
Key Phrases: cherry vanilla, Mötley Crüe, plaster caster, Dee Dee, New York, Jimmy Page (more...)

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 (July 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1556526687
• ISBN-13: 978-1556526688
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #471,328 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 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

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

26 of 32 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 (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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.

21 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Very saddening read., November 11, 2007

By	Book Maven "E.D." (NYC) - See all my reviews

Trying to make promiscuity into feminism just doesn't work. Unfortunately, this book wants to claim that groupies are muses. However, with rare exception, all we see in this book is a collection of very sad women who use their sexual experiences with famous musicians to validate their own worth. Hardly muse-like or enpowered. I am a female, a musician, a feminist and a fan, so I'm not speaking out of derision. But reading this book validates my shunning of the word "groupie" when people ask me if I am one (just becasue I'm friends with the band). In the music scene, groupies are both wanted and looked down upon. I want people to like my music and think I'm hot, but people offering themselves to me for my talent (though I might take them up on it) doesn't inspire my respect, nor does it inspire me.

Despite feeling very sorry for these misguided women, I found the chapter about the guy groupie very interesting. He has a much different relationship with the female bands than the girls groupies have with the male bands. I wish this book were about male groupies, since it's a relatively unexplored topic.

Also, Ms. Des Barres is a good writer. I just wish she'd explore a less depressing and demeaning subject.