Cover Image: I'm With The Band

I'm With The Band

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Member Reviews

Unbelievably, this book was written 30 years ago.....

For every girl ever obsessed with music, and with meeting her heroes, Miss Pamela was there before us. And she took it to the limit - and beyond.

Would Miss Pamela's adventures happen now? Probably not, in this over-exposed digital world, where paranoia and political correctness rule the roost.

SUCH a fabulous read!!

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It’s fair to say that Pamela Des Barres’ reputation precedes her. Synonymous with the rock n’ roll era of the Seventies she’s long been known as the most famous groupie of all time and “I’m With the Band” is one of the essential books covering that era. Now reprinted as a 30 year anniversary edition with new forward by the author it’s required reading for anyone with a love of bands like Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones. Back then it was easier to get to the bands, there wasn’t any paranoia about leaks to the press and certainly no non-disclosure agreements. There’ll never be a book this candid written again, there’s hair raising stories involving the likes of Jimmy Page, Keith Moon, Keith Richards and Gram Parsons. The record companies and management would be terrified and the lawyers would have a field day! Along with her cohorts, GTO, (the acronym stood for a number of things but the one that stuck was Girls Together Outrageously) Des Barres got closer to the musicians than she ever dreamed possible. It wasn’t all about the bedroom antics though, the girls were a willing ear for band members to bend when it all got too much. She ends up sat with the Rolling Stones in the aftermath of Altamont as they reflect on a disastrous and tragic day. She also becomes close with the tragic Gram Parsons and is shocked at how his appearance had degenerated towards the end of his life. If this reminds you of the film Almost Famous it’s because this book is clearly the blueprint for the film. The author has some scathing words for the near adaptation though!

There’s plenty of anecdotes but Des Barres’ voice comes through clear as a bell on the page. She’s an engaging storyteller and while some facets of this book haven’t aged well (the casual attitude towards the age of consent for one) it’s clearly written very honestly and from the heart and is all the better for it. It seems every huge rock band could have done with their own Pamela.

I received a ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for a fair review.

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Des Barres autobiography is a sprite like romp through the 60’s and early 70s that is a lot of fun fun fun. Her memoir is a history of her friendships, sexual being and her growth into adulthood with sad and humorous bursts throughout the pages.

Pamela is very honest and deep down sensitive woman who has opened up her life with her direct narrative and reprinting of her diary and journal entries and poetry to give a fully realised document of her life. She owns up to her life and never once shies away though at times, I imagine the conservative reader might find what is within a bit shocking. Personally, I felt that this is a true woman who makes mistakes and fully leaves her exposed as she confirms her sexuality. She never apologies nor should she have to. This is her story and she should be applauded for her frankness of her decisions.

She considers herself the original groupie and although there is repercussions to this term in today’s climate. It is a label that she totally embraces as she should. I would personally call her the facilitator to the male rock gods of yesteryear.

As in most people lives, there are repercussions in the choices we make and at times, emotionally, we are torn up inside. Des Barres takes these opportunities to reflect and pick herself up and keep moving forward. This is a true test of a person who has designs on her life and never backs down or settles. Not everyone would approve of the choices she makes but you have to admire her tenacity living in a world that is forever changing and standing her ground and trailblazing her emotions in a non apologetic way.

The book originally was released in the 80’s and since this time, it has been repackaged and released. The new version which is out now has more false endings than a Bergman film but Pamela lets you know what has happened since the original publication which is a welcome addition to the book.

This is an inspiring read and a book that should be embraced by anyone who is looking for the true birth of rock and roll by someone who was there lifting the rock gods to the highest plateau of admiration. This a story of a girl what owns her life, her sexuality and when faced against the odds, takes life by the horns and moves forward. A truly gifted read and fascinating read that everyone should at least read and embrace once in their life. . Highly recommended.

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I had started reading this because I thought it was an insider's view of a very chaotic, and iconic era. It didn't quite live up to that. It's definitely more of a schoolgirl diary - which it literally is, at the beginning. And while this was okay in a guilty pleasure way, it quickly got boring. There's quite a lot of name dropping and a sense that events have been made to seem more controversial or important than they really were. I was expecting a more factual report of things, and this unfortunately was just not to my taste.

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“I’m with the band: Confessions of a groupie” by Pamela des Barres is my ‘book that is a memoir’. In 1960s California, in the height of the Summer of Love and free spirits, Pamela tells all of the tales on the people she met, the things she got to see and do.

She describes herself as a groupie but acknowledges that the word has been corrupted in the interim decades. I admit I read this with some trepidation and a few misgivings – a woman following some musician blokes around in order to have sex with them doesn’t seem to be a fantastically equal opportunity, even if it was 5 decades ago.

Nevertheless, I was interested to read her story – what a time to be around and involved in music, with Led Zeppelin and The Rolling Stones rubbing shoulders (and other parts) with ‘normal’ people! Any google search will tell you about Pamela’s relationships with lots of famous rock musicians, so I’m not going to go into those in detail.

GTOsWhat I found fascinating was her drive and determination – she wanted to meet the Beatles, so she did. She wanted to be in a band and so she got into the GTOs, under Frank Zappa’s wing and with lots of other strong women who were doing what they wanted to do. Sometimes these were considered to be outrageous acts – not wearing many (or any) clothes, overindulging in alcohol or drug taking, but there was nothing really shocking. From a feminist perspective, I found it to be aligned with the basic principles – she did what she wanted for reasons of her own. She loved the music and musicians – creative, handsome souls – and wanted to get close to them. She made her own clothes, paid her own way and lived her own life while recognising that she has needs to be attended to.

The other aspect I enjoyed was her inner monologue – her diaries are endearing and show her to be much less confident than she would have appeared, despite her young age. She describes her parents with such love and is generally such a positive person, it is easy to like her.

One thing which started to grate slightly towards the end was that ‘present day’ Pamela would describe the situation or story, before inserting a section from ‘past Pamela’ and her diary which repeated many of the same points in slightly different language. It may have been that I read it in minimal sittings so noticed the repetition more. Secondly, the last third of the book seemed to consist of PS, addendum and updates as it was re-released to commemorate anniversaries etc, which included obituaries and sad endings for many of the people in the book. This made it all a bit sad, really.

Nevertheless, I did enjoy it and I have had my interest in that part of history piqued – she’s written a few more books so maybe I’ll read those too!

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I get the whole worshipping at the altar of the rock god but this often bordered on ridiculous obsession. I was impressed by the creative means Pamela went to make her rock wet dreams come true. She really puts herself in the midst of the scene, time after time. Ruthlessly pursuing the latest shiniest hip swivelling rock star to catch her attention. I’m equally grossed out and in awe of her...or maybe just a little bit jealous!Although this book is not about the writing, it’s atrocious at times, (but also bizarrely insightful!) I also knew what I was getting into and it had all I wanted and much much more. By the end I felt so enamoured by Miss Pamela because amongst all the revelry she showed signs of insecurity and if there’s any finer example of fake it til you make it then I’ll like to know! She lives and breathes the rock star aesthetic and I kinda dig her dedication to pursuing all her wild dreams, plenty of times she happened to be there at the right place at the right time. That’s Hollywood for you. She got to experience some of the most spectacular rock star moments right at the time when rock was burgeoning into something extraordinarily exciting. Wow stuff indeed. This memoir is one for the fans of the groupies that set the tone and the scene for whatever was happening up on stage. Although this could easily be dismissed as a sexual bragfest I honestly believe that Pamela deeply cared about these musicians many she kept in contact with, actually just about ALL of them, that’s pretty darn awesome in my eyes. While she fell in and out of lust and love with many of these rock stars she was always actively on the lookout for true and lasting love she just happened to be searching in all the wrong places always believing she would come across her real life Prince Charming...maybe just one with eyeliner and sequins! Incredible stuff and I was in complete groupie fan heaven reading this book.

4.5 stars for the sheer enjoyment of being able to live through these exciting times through the eyes of the amazing Pamela!

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The sixties was a turbulent and exiting period. The Vietnam war, the Kennedy assassination, the hippie flower-power movement , the cold war, the space race, the man on the moon as well as the music revolution spearheaded by rock and roll.

This book is an autobiography of a rock and roll groupie of the period. It was written 17 years after the events and is based on her memory, a diary kept at the time and numerous letters that she had kept.

If you expect to find an historical account of the rise of rock and roll then you will be disappointed. Although she met just about every significant music figure of the time, and she bedded many of them, their personalities are mostly only superficially described. Nor is there anything about the significant events of the time except a brief piece about the Haight-Ashbury district in San Francisco. With today’s obsession about sexual harassment in the entertainment industry it is not surprising to learn that the almost exclusively male musicians of the sixties were a lecherous lot. She describes a casting audition where the women were asked to remove their tops, the one with the biggest breasts got the job.

The book is really a self indulgent memoir of a swooning, hormonal teenage fan who never grew up. However, the legacy of the book is that it opened the floodgates for women to write frankly about their sexuality.

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