Pamela Des Barres - Let’s Spend the Night Together

his book is dedicated to all the amazingly forthright women who have graciously told me their stories. I sincerely thank these bold, sassy, unrepentant dolls for taking me (and you) on stage, backstage, into hotel rooms, aboard tour buses, and into bed with them (and their chosen rock gods).

Kisses to the best agent a chick could ask for, Peter McGuigan. I didnt know chivalrous agents like Peter existed. And thanks to the folks at Chicago Review Press, especially my editor, Yuval Taylor definitely a rebel in his field. Copious hugs to Patti Johnsen, who happily and expertly assisted me as my deadline drew near. Much appreciation goes to my oldest friend, Iva Turner, for focusing her considerable intelligence on this project, editing each chapter as I completed it. I needed an objective viewpoint, and thats exactly what she gave me. To all my gal pals who havent seen much of me the past two years well have dinner soon, I promise. Thanks to MDB for always offering excellent advice and being the best ex-husband ever. To my boy, Nick, for believing in his hippie-hearted mom. Endless adoration to my darling teacher, Light, for always pointing her laser beam directly at the truth. Thanks to Victor Hayden for just being Victor. To Bob Dylan, a source of eternal inspiration. To all the musicians who have rocked my universe and continue to do so. And to my boyfriend, Mike Stinson, for looking at me the way he does.

Little Wing is like one of those beautiful girls that come around sometimes you play your gig; its the same thing as the olden days, and these beautiful girls come around you do actually fall in love with them because thats the only love you can have. Its not always the physical thing Oh, theres one over there. Its not one of those scenes. They actually tell you something. They release different things inside themselves Little Wing was a very sweet girl that came around that gave me her whole life and more if I wanted it.

Jimi Hendrix

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We all started playing guitar for one reason: groupies. Groupies never torture you the way your girlfriend does. They never ask you what sign you are, why dont you call, and other horrific torture devices women have invented through the ages to maximize the amount of hoops the male species has to jump through in order to get to the honey pot. Every rock star knows the truth: while its a lot of fun being on stage, its more fun going back to the hotel for the encores.

Gene Simmons

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Groupies are beautiful. They come to hear you play, they throw flowers and underpants, they give you kisses and love. They come to bed with you. Theyre beautiful. We love groupies.

Country Joe McDonald

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Groupies are a better ball, by and large theyve had more experience and theyre willing to try more things. The sex angle is important. But no more important than girls who are also good friends and make you feel like family.

Jimmy Page

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You were at school and you were pimply and no one wanted to know you. You get into a group and there are thousands of chicks little girls screaming man, its power!

Eric Clapton

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Some nights I look out and want to fuck the whole front row!

Robert Plant

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I got into music for chicks and beer, and fortunately its working out.

Mark McGrath

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I love em, they keep a young man hard. Theyre like our alter egos. Theyre doin the same thing we are.

Steven Tyler

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I went through my crazy period in the 70s. Yes, I was Caligula. Bring me thy drugs and women.

Peter Frampton

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I only love musicians! I cant help it! Bass, drums, guitar youve just got to play something.

Ashlee Simpson

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Part of rock is dick, part of rock is going to see a gig and wanting to fuck the guy.

Courtney Love

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Appreciation is a wonderful thing; it makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.

Voltaire

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Extraordinary how potent cheap music is.

Noel Coward

The chicks are great. But what it all comes down to is that thing. The indefinable thing when people catch something from your music. JEFF BEBE

Im not a groupie. Groupies sleep with rock stars cause they wanna be near someone famous. Were here because of the music. We are Band Aids. We inspire the music. PENNY LANE

hen you spend intimate time with a band, especially on the road, theres an uncommon camaraderie and trust that develops. So even though my romance with Jimmy Page was history, I was still quite warm with the rest of Zeppelin and saw them whenever they careened into Hollywood and took the town hostage. It was 1973 and Robert Plant had invited me to visit him at the Riot House on the Strip. We had always been flirty but never quite got romantic and maintained (still do) an invaluable connection and a uniquely similar point of view.

When I flounced into his suite, Robert was winding up a rare interview with a sweet-faced kid who seemed particularly thrilled to meet me. Actually, Cameron Crowe has much better recall about that afternoon than I do. Perhaps because it was his first gig writing for Rolling Stone, and he was interviewing Led Zeppelin. Apparently Robert had been enlightening Cameron about the significance of the GTOs and other girls on the scene. Heres what actually made it into the article that day:

Its a shame to see these young chicks bungle their lives away in a flurry and rush to compete with what was in the old days the good-time relationships we had with the GTOs and people like that. When it came to looning, they could give us as much of a looning as we could give them.

Decades later, Cameron Crowe created the silver screen groupie Penny Lane and her group of rock-loving Band Aids for his 2000 film, Almost Famous. I was invited to a preview when it was released and saw many similarities between the shimmering blonde sweetheart portrayed by Kate Hudson and the devoted Miss Pamela. There was one glaring exception: although I agonized and mourned lost rock love on occasion, I wouldnt have tried to off myself over any rock star.

When I met Kate, she threw her arms around me and told me she read Im with the Band for inspiration and that old photos of me had adorned her dressing room walls during filming. It seemed like art imitating life imitating art imitating life, watching her cuddle and coo with her rock husband, Chris Robinson from the Black Crowes.

Several of the girls I interviewed have told me how deeply Penny Lane and her band of merry Band Aids inspired and validated them, so Ive decided to ask my friend Cameron just how he developed this consummate character. Hes invited me to have lunch with him at Paramount Studios, where hes working on a new script.

I love going to movie studios. As I parade through the old lot on my way to Camerons office, Im sure I can feel showbiz ghosts tugging on my velvet Betsey Johnson minidress. Vinyl Films is in the Bob Hope building, where black-and-white classic rock photos line every wall. I spot one of Jimmy Page that looks eerily familiar. Im sure the same one hung on my wall over thirty years ago.

Cameron is a heavyweight director nowadays, but his first love is rock and roll. He even snagged his own rock goddess when he married Hearts Nancy Wilson ten years ago. Friendly and boyish, Cameron greets me with a big hug. Our sumptuous lunch has been delivered and we retire to his private office, where I ask my first question: who is Penny Lane?