Bebe Buell
Bebe Buell (born
Beverle Lorence Buell on
July 14,
1953, in
Portsmouth, Virginia) is an
American model and
singer, but is also well known for dating and marrying a long series of rock musicians. Her mother, Dorothea, sent her pictures to the
Ford modeling agency, and received notice that the agency was interested after only three days. She began modeling professionally at the age of 17, and moved to
New York City. There she met and dated rock star
Todd Rundgren for several years.
She was
Playboy magazine's
Playmate of the Month for the November 1974 issue; her
centerfold was photographed by
Richard Fegley. She was one of the first top-line
fashion models to pose for the men's magazine, although it cost her the contract with Ford. She was promptly signed to Wilhelmina in the USA and Models One in the UK. Even after the
Playboy issue affected her career in the States she was still in demand in Europe appearing in British and French
Vogue,
Harper's Bazaar, and
Cosmopolitan to name a few.
During and after her
open relationship with Rundgren, she also became intimate with many other famous musicians, including
Mick Jagger,
Iggy Pop,
David Bowie,
Jimmy Page, and
Steven Tyler of
Aerosmith. She is the mother, with Tyler, of actress
Liv Tyler, born July 1977. Buell allowed Liv to believe that Rundgren was her father until the late 80s, as Tyler was still deeply addicted to drugs at the time. Buell then moved on to
Rod Stewart and
Stiv Bators, and in 1978, she began a tempestuous affair with the married but separated
Elvis Costello which continued on and off until 1984.
In 1981, Buell recorded a four song EP on
Rhino Records, produced by
Rick Derringer and
Ric Ocasek, with
The Cars serving as her band on two tracks. The rock band
Power Station began in 1984 when then-boyfriend
John Taylor (of
Duran Duran fame) pulled some famous friends together to provide backing for another of Buell's musical efforts. She also formed the band The B-Sides in 1980 but they disbanded in 1985.
She founded another band called the Gargoyles in 1985, and released a couple of singles. A few large record companies were showing interest, but Buell withdrew from the public eye when the paternity of her daughter Liv became known. For six years in the 1990s, Buell managed her daughter Liv, helping to launch her career as a model and actress.
Buell married musician and sometime actor
Coyote Shivers in 1992
[1], but they divorced in 1999. Liv left home in 1997, and her mother returned to music to record a solo effort with producer Don Fleming in 2000.
In 2001, she wrote an autobiography (with Victor Bockris) entitled
Rebel Heart: An American Rock and Roll Journey. It hit the New York Times Bestseller list and the paperback was then issued in 2002. She is currently working on a second book and another record.
Buell married musician
Jim Wallerstein (of Das Damen and
Vacationland fame) in 2002, and returned to modeling in 2003 signing with the IMG Agency in New York City. She also performs around New York with the
Bebe Buell Band, featuring David Matos on guitar and vocals, Tommy USA on bass guitar, and Gregg Carey or Bobbie Rae on drums. Recently she teamed up with Boston musicians The Rudds and The Neighborhood's Johnny Lynch to form a new band which also includes husband Jim Wallerstein of Twin Engines. The summer of 2006 marked a return to the stage with shows in both New York and Boston with a tour to follow.
Cameron Crowe has said he based his Penny Lane character in the 2000 movie
Almost Famous on two women he met during the early 70s — Bebe Buell and Pennie Trumble aka "Penny Lane". He speaks highly of both Buell and Trumble in the extended DVD of the movie and even said that he took some of Penny's direct dialogue from statements Buell had made in various interviews over the years.
Kate Hudson was nominated for an
Oscar for the role.
Editorial Reviews:
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. Heather McCormack, "Library Journal"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bebe_Buell
another article: http://www.answers.com/topic/bebe-buell
"People of the world: they all do the same things, only in different ways."
There's lots of stuff about the Stones, the Flying Burrito Brothers, Frank Zappa, Jim Morrison, Led Zep, and Pamela also talks about how show got to meet all four Beatles. 
But this article is about the book Straight Whisky. 
