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A review of I'm With the Band

by Pamela Des Barres

A groupie's tale of sex and love with the biggest men in rock music.

Reviewed by: Michelle Miller Detwiler
About Michelle Miller Detwiler

"I'm With the Band" chronicles Pamela Des Barres' sexual exploits and excursions with men as varied as Jimi Hendrix's guitarist, Noel Redding, Mick Jagger, Jim Morrison, Jimmy Page, Waylon Jennings, the man she ended up marrying, Michael Des Barres - and even Woody Allen! "Miss Pamela" led the life so many of us only dream about. Not only did she travel with some of the biggest bands of the 1960s and '70s', she also slept with some of the big ones - rock stars, that is.

This book is the perfect summer read. Des Barres holds no shame or guilt for any of her escapades. Filled with excerpts from her memoirs, letters from her lovers, pictures of the beautiful (sometimes) blonde with the men she exposes and details about the other girls in her groupie brigade (who joined together under the direction of Frank Zappa as the band, GTO - Girls Together Outrageously). Amazingly, many of the guys she coupled with she still remained friends with.

Many people see groupies as trampy women who just want a piece of the man and the band, and the ability to say "I did him," but Pamela wasn't like that; she truly loved the music, and in the years of the sexual revolution, she couldn't seem to help herself. In so many ways, she had tons of sex in the classiest of ways.

"I'm With the Band" is short and sweet at less than 300 pages, and is nearly impossible to put down. As one chapter ends, the reader starts wondering who she's going to 'have' next, and for that reason could easily be read in one sitting. This book is highly recommended for aspiring groupies, obsessed fans (for the tips, of course) and the celebrity-curious. You just won't get this kind of stuff on "Entertainment Tonight."

Click here to buy this book, or read more about it at Amazon.com: I'm With the Band

Copyright © by Michelle Miller Detwiler, 2002

Reviewed by Michelle Miller Detwiler:
-- And I Don't Want To Live This Life - by Deborah Spungen
-- A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius - by Dave Eggers
-- England's Dreaming - by Jon Savage
-- I'm With the Band - by Pamela Des Barres
-- Our Band Could Be Your Life - by Michael Azerrad
-- Maus: A Survivor's Tale - by Art Spiegelman
-- Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung - by Lester Bangs
-- Healing Digestive Disorders - by Andrew Gaeddert
-- U2 At the End of the World - by Bill Flanagan






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