Rock Groupies (October 2006 - November 2010)

[nicovelvet]

^^I am always impressed by all the stuff that can be found on YouTube! Thank you Lusia for sharing this!

 

[dinahgrace]

^ I agree. She looks lovely as always in those clips. Thanks Lusia

 

[iluvjeisa]

A clip of Bebe Buell from 1972 (!). She must be the most beautiful of all serial-rock-icon-effers. Wish she had been a more dedicated model, I've not been able to find anything of her modeling work in Vogue...

 

[KhaoticKharma]

I am listening to "Boogie Nights" right now and am having such a little mini-depression about not being able to experience the seventies like these women got to. [BTW, I think groupie is a little derogatory for some of these ladies... perhaps 'hottie who happened to be bangin' ONE member of a band at a time' would be better? ]

I don't think there will ever be another seventies, with great artists and great big glamourous problems. I mean, the groupies of today have just as many problems but have such little opulence to go with it. I miss the over-the-topness of the seventies and eighties, even if I was never there.

 

[dinahgrace]

^I couldn't agree more!!!

 

[dinahgrace]

I just found this, a clip from the DVD "Way Down Inside"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70w27wlYPFU

Theres interviews of Pamela Des Barres and Lori Maddox as they talk about their groupie days with Led Zeppelin. Enjoy!!!
And the red snapper incident was talked about there too!!!!!!

 

[auxt]

I've got this Groupies record on mp3, perhaps some of you would find it interesting. It was released by Alan Lorber in 1969.

scans by Lou Ming

Purportedly edited (in stereo!) from an actual series of interviews with groupies from New York's Greenwich Village music scene, circa late '60s. The girls interviewed are young (they seem disgusted by groupies in their mid-20s, who they call "old"), and easy -- and willing -- prey for any swaggering rocker that comes along.

It's not quite what you would expect -- sometimes the girl's experience slips into tragedy, as when one of them describes a beating at the hands of a lover. But for those looking for a peek into the wild nights of the Age of Aquarius, this is it, raw and uncensored.

From the back cover: "Bringing two girls in at a time, he (Lorber) put them in separate booths facing each other for a lifelike stereo effect..." (gotta have it in stereo!) "...I think ‘The Groupies" will sell for a lot of reasons. For those on the scene but removed but removed from this particular activity, there is a double-edged fascination... For parents of teenage daughters, it will be the scare record of the year."

The whole album used to be available for download on a blog, but right now all I can find is this clip (includes some of the more scandalous material)

http://www.ubu.com/outsiders/365/2003/335.shtml

 

[KhaoticKharma]

I love the term "rock geisha"!

 

[dinahgrace]

Thanks auxt!!! Very interesting! And there's even a groupie glossary???...I got to study that!

A clip of Bebe Buell from 1972 (!). She must be the most beautiful of all serial-rock-icon-effers. Wish she had been a more dedicated model, I've not been able to find anything of her modeling work in Vogue...

IluvJeisa thanks for that clip!!! I didn't know she acted too. And I agree! She is gorgeous! Do you know what movie it is?

 

[dinahgrace]

Catherine James

Pamela talked about her in I'm with the band, and I've always wondered what she looked like. I found out she also did her memoir...

Book Review
CultureCatch 9/17/07

Memoir of a Free Spirit (St. Martin's Pres) devastates with emotional sabotages that seem so outrageous that you swear you must be reading fiction. I read the advance copy in one sitting, blown away by the poignancy and ease with which Miss James shares her years of perilous plight. The abuse she suffers at the hands of her Hollywood femme fatale mother Diana reads like Mommy Dearest meets Piper Laurie’s character in the movie adaptation of Stephen King’s Carrie. Chapter after chapter she is left pummeled by another emotional battering from someone close to her. Even when she’s able to finally run away from tortuous reality, which is one of her early blessings, she encounters emotional hardships that rival any I’ve read or seen in film. Only her grandmother Mimi – one of the few normal eccentrics she encounters – is courageous enough to try to shield her beloved granddaughter from harm’s way, although she ultimately loses her.

To say that she was trapped in a house ruled by a witch would be a gross understatement of the human condition. Her mother continually tortures her both physically and emotionally, whether it’s tying her to chair or locking her in closet to keep four-year-old Catherine in line so that Mom might socialize on the town without worry. Or not feeding her and making her swill hot sauce or dishwashing soap for punishment. Poor young Catherine is not out of harm's way until she is finally able to run away from her forever. And not until the very end of the memoir is there any contrition from Mom, as though that would suffice the years, though Ms. James emotionally detached herself from her shamelessly narcissistic and destructive mother years earlier. She continually denies her daughter’s safety in all areas of parenthood. You’d be hard pressed to find such abuses in today’s family courts.

Thankfully she is befriended by many wonderful and colorful characters along the way who help shine a brilliant light on her budding spirit, including such very famous folks as Bob Dylan, Jackson Browne, and Roger Daltrey, to name but a few.

From the musically charged ’60s of Los Angeles to Andy Warhol’s Factory in New York to the swinging parties of London and back to the woodsy solitude of Connecticut, mature beyond years Ms. James crisscrosses America seeking solace in a tranquil corner.

Her unlucky-in-love character remains optimistic even when her life seems to be spiraling out of control. Time and time again you are certain the fates will finally cast a favorable light on such a courageous soul. But it is not to be.

Even as a pregnant teenager, she is able to rise above her condition and find the silver lining in a seemingly desperate situation. When Denny Laine, her son Damian’s father, once of The Moody Blues, Ginger Baker’s Airforce, and Paul McCartney’s Wings, swoops her up, you think she’s turned the corner. But the physically abusive rocker only adds more heartache and pain to the young bruised beauty’s tale.

Her supremely dysfunctional family will remain with you long after you’ve finished this book. And her triumphant spirit will make most readers take stock at how petty most of life’s seemingly unfair inequities might actually be quite trivial in comparison. Dandelion deserves to be picked from your local bookstore shelf immediately. - Dusty Wright


"How she has survived what can only be described as the extraordinary life she writes about so candidly in her book is a testament to her strength." -- Roger Daltrey
"Dandelion tells the courageous nine-lives tale of an exquisite beauty’s great escape from a turbulent childhood, free-fall into the revolutionary rock music scene, a child raising her own child amidst chaotic upheaval. Audacious and dauntless, Catherine James maintains her sweetness and vulnerability, even when facing down her demons. From the Hollywood heyday to swinging Mod London, to the streets of Greenwich Village and back again, she takes us to shadowy and brilliant places, introduces us to ghastly and illustrious characters, sprinkling heartfelt wisdom and insight on every page." -- Pamela Des Barres


from her site: http://officialcatherinejames.com/home.html

 

[dinahgrace]

more of her photos:

she also modeled for Wilhelmina

with her son

http://www.cate11.com/page/page/4584998.htm

 

[dinahgrace]

Excerpts from "Dandelion" by Catherine James as read by Pamela Des Barres. Book Soup 10/4/07

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApDxh9EIP6A


Video 1 of 7 - Pamela and friends reading from Let's Spend the Night Together - Soho McNally Robinson - NYC - Jul 9, 2007

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8ppZCBKVsg

 

[-lucyinthesky-]

Thaks for all that great information, dinahgrace!

I found some more Pamela Courson's pictures:

 

[-lucyinthesky-]

Source: The Lizard King forum

I think she was very beautiful.

 

[lusia]

pam is very very lovley! she and jim were ment to be! thanks.

 

[60swildchild]

Pamela talked about her in I'm with the band, and I've always wondered what she looked like. I found out she also did her memoir...



Book Review
CultureCatch 9/17/07

Memoir of a Free Spirit (St. Martin's Pres) devastates with emotional sabotages that seem so outrageous that you swear you must be reading fiction. I read the advance copy in one sitting, blown away by the poignancy and ease with which Miss James shares her years of perilous plight. The abuse she suffers at the hands of her Hollywood femme fatale mother Diana reads like Mommy Dearest meets Piper Laurie’s character in the movie adaptation of Stephen King’s Carrie. Chapter after chapter she is left pummeled by another emotional battering from someone close to her. Even when she’s able to finally run away from tortuous reality, which is one of her early blessings, she encounters emotional hardships that rival any I’ve read or seen in film. Only her grandmother Mimi – one of the few normal eccentrics she encounters – is courageous enough to try to shield her beloved granddaughter from harm’s way, although she ultimately loses her.

To say that she was trapped in a house ruled by a witch would be a gross understatement of the human condition. Her mother continually tortures her both physically and emotionally, whether it’s tying her to chair or locking her in closet to keep four-year-old Catherine in line so that Mom might socialize on the town without worry. Or not feeding her and making her swill hot sauce or dishwashing soap for punishment. Poor young Catherine is not out of harm's way until she is finally able to run away from her forever. And not until the very end of the memoir is there any contrition from Mom, as though that would suffice the years, though Ms. James emotionally detached herself from her shamelessly narcissistic and destructive mother years earlier. She continually denies her daughter’s safety in all areas of parenthood. You’d be hard pressed to find such abuses in today’s family courts.

Thankfully she is befriended by many wonderful and colorful characters along the way who help shine a brilliant light on her budding spirit, including such very famous folks as Bob Dylan, Jackson Browne, and Roger Daltrey, to name but a few.

From the musically charged ’60s of Los Angeles to Andy Warhol’s Factory in New York to the swinging parties of London and back to the woodsy solitude of Connecticut, mature beyond years Ms. James crisscrosses America seeking solace in a tranquil corner.

Her unlucky-in-love character remains optimistic even when her life seems to be spiraling out of control. Time and time again you are certain the fates will finally cast a favorable light on such a courageous soul. But it is not to be.

Even as a pregnant teenager, she is able to rise above her condition and find the silver lining in a seemingly desperate situation. When Denny Laine, her son Damian’s father, once of The Moody Blues, Ginger Baker’s Airforce, and Paul McCartney’s Wings, swoops her up, you think she’s turned the corner. But the physically abusive rocker only adds more heartache and pain to the young bruised beauty’s tale.

Her supremely dysfunctional family will remain with you long after you’ve finished this book. And her triumphant spirit will make most readers take stock at how petty most of life’s seemingly unfair inequities might actually be quite trivial in comparison. Dandelion deserves to be picked from your local bookstore shelf immediately. - Dusty Wright


"How she has survived what can only be described as the extraordinary life she writes about so candidly in her book is a testament to her strength." -- Roger Daltrey
"Dandelion tells the courageous nine-lives tale of an exquisite beauty’s great escape from a turbulent childhood, free-fall into the revolutionary rock music scene, a child raising her own child amidst chaotic upheaval. Audacious and dauntless, Catherine James maintains her sweetness and vulnerability, even when facing down her demons. From the Hollywood heyday to swinging Mod London, to the streets of Greenwich Village and back again, she takes us to shadowy and brilliant places, introduces us to ghastly and illustrious characters, sprinkling heartfelt wisdom and insight on every page." -- Pamela Des Barres


from her site: http://officialcatherinejames.com/home.html

Thanks Dinah... I was deliberating on whether to buy her book and have it on hold. She's a very striking woman.

 

[KhaoticKharma]

Im shocked no one did on pattie boyd.. oh well:

Patricia Anne "Pattie" Boyd (sometimes known as Pattie Boyd-Harrison or Pattie Clapton) (born 17 March 1944 in Taunton, Somerset, England), model and photographer, is best known as the wife of two famous rock musicians and the inspiration for several monumental rock love songs.


yahoo

I saw a special on her on CBS Sunday Morning a few weeks ago, and she is a truly beautiful lady, inside and out. By far my favorite Rock Geisha.

 

[dinahgrace]

-lucyinthesky- great great pics! They are perfect for each other!!! And you're welcome!

Thanks Dinah... I was deliberating on whether to buy her book and have it on hold. She's a very striking woman.

You're welcome!!! She is indeed!
Click here for the books amazon page. So far it has amazing reviews!!!
I believe its a great book and she has a wonderful story to tell.
Oscar Wilde once said "Behind every exquisite thing that existed, there was something tragic."
Although she has a terrible family background, as it says that her father was an alcoholic and later became a transsexual and her mother is very abusive, she still survived and still has a beautiful spirit in her and I admire her more for writing her story.

I feel for her! Go Catherine!!!

 

[dinahgrace]

Now, Pattie Boyd's memoir...

Wonderful Tonight: George Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Me

A Q&A with Pattie Boyd, Author of Wonderful Tonight

Why are you writing the book now? I have been asked for the last 15 years to write a book, and it is only now that I feel the time is right. My confidence in myself was restored after two successful exhibitions of my photography, and it occurred to me that I was finally ready to take a look at the unique experiences of my life and to share them--including all the ups and downs.
Tell us about the first time you met George Harrison.
Working as a model, I occasionally went for castings, mainly for television commercials. I went for an interview with one of the directors I had worked with in the past, and he cast me in his first movie, A Hard Day’s Night, to play the part of a schoolgirl. When I first saw George on the set, I thought he was the best-looking man I’d ever seen. I was so surprised when he asked me out on a date at the end of my first day of filming.
Tell us about the first time you heard George Harrison's song, "Something."
George said he had written a song for me, and he played it on the guitar at home without the words. Then when I heard the song after it had been recorded I couldn’t believe how utterly beautiful it was. It was released on a single in October 1969, and I felt so thrilled and flattered.
Tell us about the first time you heard Eric Clapton's "Layla."
Eric invited me to his band's flat one day and played a rough recording of "Layla" on a cassette recorder. I was sitting on a sofa and he on the floor as it played, and he kept looking up at me for a reaction. I was stunned; the intensity, passion and tenderness came across so strongly--I knew, as he said, it was written for me.

Review
“Will thrill classic-rock buffs with a taste for scandal.”
—Entertainment Weekly

“The muse who made the guitars gently weep.”
—New York Times

Book Description
An iconic figure of the 1960s and ’70s, Pattie Boyd breaks a forty-year silence in Wonderful Tonight, and tells the story of how she found herself bound to two of the most addictive, promiscuous musical geniuses of the twentieth century and became the most famous muse in the history of rock and roll.

She met the Beatles in 1964 when she was cast as a schoolgirl in A Hard Day’s Night. Ten days later a smitten George Harrison proposed. For twenty-year-old Pattie Boyd, it was the beginning of an unimaginably rich and complex life as she was welcomed into the Beatles inner circle—a circle that included Mick Jagger, Ron Wood, Jeff Beck, and a veritable who’s who of rock musicians. She describes the dynamics of the group, the friendships, the tensions, the musicmaking, and the weird and wonderful memories she has of Paul and Linda, Cynthia and John, Ringo and Maureen, and especially the years with her husband, George.

It was a sweet, turbulent life, but one that would take an unexpected turn, starting with a simple note that began “dearest l.”

I read it quickly and assumed that it was from some weirdo; I did get fan mail from time to time.... I thought no more about it until that evening when the phone rang. It was Eric [Clapton]. “Did you get my letter?”... And then the penny dropped. “Was that from you?” I said....It was the most passionate letter anyone had ever written me.

For the first time Pattie Boyd, former wife of both George Harrison and Eric Clapton, a high-profile model whose face epitomized the swinging London scene of the 1960s, a woman who inspired Harrison’s song “Something” and Clapton’s anthem “Layla,” has decided to write a book that is rich and raw, funny and heartbreaking—and totally honest and open and breathtaking. Here is the truth, here is what happened, here is the story you’ve been waiting for.

About the Author
PATTIE BOYD is an acclaimed photographer whose exhibition Through the Eyes of a Muse recently toured two continents. She lives in West Sussex, England.

more:
Book Review: Wonderful Tonight

from: amazon.com

 

[60swildchild]

You're welcome!!! She is indeed!
Click here for the books amazon page. So far it has amazing reviews!!!
I believe its a great book and she has a wonderful story to tell.
Oscar Wilde once said "Behind every exquisite thing that existed, there was something tragic."
Although she has a terrible family background, as it says that her father was an alcoholic and later became a transsexual and her mother is very abusive, she still survived and still has a beautiful spirit in her and I admire her more for writing her story.

I feel for her! Go Catherine!!!

I just ordered the book! Here is a photo of Jim and Pamela on the way to Ray and Dorothy's wedding in 1967: