| I'm With the Band: Confessions of a Groupie |  | Author: Pamela Des Barres
Publisher: Beech Tree Books
Category: Book
Buy New: $29.99
New (1) Used (24) Collectible (4) from $9.87
Avg. Customer Rating:  56 reviews
Sales Rank: 160878
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1st ed
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 304
ISBN: 068806602X
Dewey Decimal Number: 784.5400924
EAN: 9780688066024
ASIN: 068806602X
Publication Date: June 1987
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Condition: New
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| Customer Reviews: Read 51 more reviews...
 The literary equivalent of a bad hangover March 29, 2008
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
Reading this book reminded me of that enervating feeling I once felt, circa 1979 or so, during a midnight viewing of Led Zeppelin's "The Song Remains the Same." It was a flash of horror in which my excitement over the rock n' roll life (I was in a band at that time, my head filled with ambitions and pretensions) gave way to a feeling of aimlessness: What is with all this cheesy medeival imagery? How come these guys don't look cool, but just scrawny and strung-out? Do I really need to hear an eight-minute drum solo? What the hell have I been doing wasting my time with all this?
Des Barres' book left me with a similar feeling of the blahs: some books make it seem like there was more to the 1960s-70s rock culture than previously realized. This book makes one feel like there was a lot less.
I picked up the book hoping that it would bring the sights, sounds, and philosophy of a unique time back to life. It didn't. Despite having had dalliances with titanic figures ranging from Mick Jagger to Jimmy Page to Gram Parsons to Don Johnson, the author conveys very little of their artistry. In fact, she rarely tries to discuss or describe their music at all: passages on what makes a Mick Jagger or a Jim Morrison sexy sound as though they could have been written about any high school bad boy, musician or no.
And indeed, that adolescent attitude pervades this book. The book begins with the author entering a boy-crazy period in high school, and is related largely through excerpts from her diary, replete with CAPITAL LETTERS and exclamation marks(!!!!!!) about how COOL this guy is and how WHEN HE KISSED ME I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO FAINT!! Blecch. Most of the remainder of the book has a similar tone, merely transplanted to a larger stage.
The effect is more trivializing than anything else. I had hoped this book would reveal something about this woman and her ability to connect with these creative figures. Instead, this book made it sound like her life was nothing more than a series of hedonistic distractions, draped over a nothingness. The book makes the reader feel not as though her generation was liberated from the hidebound ways of the previous ones, having moved on to higher, more exciting pleasures, but rather that no more original ideas existed in her life or in her head than finding the next naughty guy to sleep with.
That's perhaps a bit harsh: she does deliver a couple of winning passages in the book, one on the excitement of a Led Zeppelin performance, another on her less-than-stellar acting debut. She also managed to convince me that she had an aesthetic value or two, specifically in advocating for the Burrito Brothers' injection of folk/country influences into the psychadelic scene.
But the lingering images of the book are the downers: the poor three-year-old son of irresponsible substance-abusing-party-addicts who let him plummet to his death through a skylight -- barely interrupting their partying lifestyle for a few months. The look of scorn and contempt on John Lennon's face, when witnessing the author's pathetic attempts to put meaning in her life by flinging herself at the band. I didn't find myself judging the author so much as feeling badly for her. Well, I *did* judge her writing, I suppose, and not favorably.
It's not a terrible book; it's too light a read to be that. But if you are looking for a book to make you feel that the 1960s were a time fraught with meaning and revolutionary philosophy, you'd be well advised to avoid this one.
 Entertaining, fun, and informative!! January 25, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I got this book for Christmas from my mother, who knows that I have a great love for classic rock and roll. I couldn't wait to read it, and it did not disappoint in the least. This book wasn't a tell all, but a look into what it was like to be part of the "scene".
There were parts I would have liked to have heard a little more about...she seems to skim over being on the road with a simple, "I spent the next five days on the road with Zeppelin." Kind of would liked to have heard a little more about that. But the stories that she does share are amazing.
She gives us great insight into some of the most amazing artists of our time. This is a must read for anyone with a love of rock and roll and the 60's. I can't wait to read her other books.
 I'm with the band - book review January 18, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
I was disappointed with this book by Pamela Des Barres. It was predictable and quite boring. I managed halfway through the novel already and have lost interest.
Even though she was able to meet many famous musicians throughout her life, you already knew she would use sex to get attention from them and then they would just move on to the next groupie. Nothing new.
Worth the read!! January 7, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Okay, so I'm a late bloomer! I wanted to read this book *years* ago, but never got the chance. Now I'm older and couldn't get backstage if I wanted to- so I can't exactly use the book for 'helpful tips and hints' as I would have as a teenager. *smirk*
Anyway, it's a great read and very tasteful. If there are any nay sayers about that, they need to stop and think about what the subject matter is about. Considering what Ms. Des Barres is writing about I think she did so very eloquently.
After all, how tactfully *can* you write about Mick Jagger's testicles?
I'm with the Band: Confessions of a Groupie December 28, 2007
This was a gift for my best friend. She said this book was not very good. The stories were not thought out very well it seemed. She liked the concept but it should've been written by someone besides the author who did write it.
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