Pamela Des Barres was a member of the GTOs (Girls Together Outrageously) an all girl group of rock groupies, mentored and produced by Frank Zappa. Their album 'Permanent Damage' is considered a classic and a very collectible hunk of vinyl. After several years as an actress in commercials, soaps and movie bit parts, she started writing about her madcap days as “the world’s most famous groupie,” chronicling her relationships with rockers such as Mick Jagger, Jim Morrison, Jimmy Page and Keith Moon in 'I’m With the Band.' She followed that 1987 New York Times Best Seller with the sequel, 'Take Another Little Piece of My Heart- A Groupie Grows Up,' in 1992. 'Rock Bottom – Dark Moments in Music Babylon' was published by St. Martin’s Press in 1997, and her most recent offering, 'Let’s Spend the Night Together –Backstage Secrets of Rock Muses and Supergroupies' came out in 2007, and has been published in paperback, along with her second memoir.
Since 1988, Pamela has written for several publications including, Rolling Stone, Cosmopolitan, Details, the New York Times, Los Angeles Magazine, Spin and Playgirl among many others, and she had a 5 year stint as a music columnist for E! Online. She now writes a monthly music column for Rolling Stone Italy, where she has enjoyed huge success with her books. Pamela has been featured in innumerable international documentaries, including 'Mayor of the Sunset Strip' and 'Plaster Caster' and has her very own 'E! True Hollywood Story.' She teaches creative writing workshops around the U.S. and as an ordained minister, performs rock & roll weddings.
Eric Venturo and I enjoyed our photo shoot and visit with the beautiful Miss Pamela. It's easy to see why she became a successful person. She is a 'sharp as a tack' photogenic Virgo woman. These photos were taken in her back yard in five minutes.
AM: Did you ever imagine that you would have such a specific and unique identity? Author, actress, singer, teacher, tour guide, mother. You are more than any one thing.
PD: I'm just a hippie woman trying to make a living in any creative way I can possibly think of. I never saw myself as any kind of 9 to 5-er or maintaining any kind of normalcy compared to what most people do in regards to having a job they can count on. I've had to be very creative and come up with ways to pay my mortgage and all the other stuff. I've needed something to keep my interest. That's how I've become so many things.
AM: Have you always been interested in all these things or did they just come along your path? Did you want to give Hollywood tours for instance?
PD: That was someone else's idea. They were two very wealthy British guys who tried to one up each other on their fortieth birthdays. One of them bought me for the day to be a tour guide around my Hollywood spots. They gave me five grand and took me in a Rolls Royce limo and I thought this is a good way to make a living. I only charge a hundred dollars for the tour now but that is where the idea came from. Here's another way for me to make a living and show people a really good time.
AM: So you are enjoying doing these tours?
PD: Oh yes I'm not going to do anything I don't enjoy at this stage of the game. (Laughing)
AM: You must be enjoying your writing classes.
PD: I teach my writing classes all over the country. I'm going to Austin this week and I'm going to teach in New York coming up. I just taught in Indiana.
AM: How are you booking these?
PD: Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter.
AM: You are doing it all by yourself.
PD: I do everything by myself. I am actually looking for a manager. I need someone who wants to help me raise my profile to the next level. I am actually my own product. I have been for years and years. There's more to it, I should have a perfume out by now. 'Groupie' perfume and things like that. I could use a little help actually.
AM: Do you feel like you were born strong or did you evolve to this?
PD: I evolved. I was shy as a young teenager. I never felt like my tits were big enough or my eyes were big enough. It's agony being a teenager, so I had to find ways around it. As soon as I discovered the Beatles, the Stones, and the Doors and I could actually go meet and hang with them and I saw they wanted to hang out with me I got a lot more self esteem that way. I was a young teenager and some people say that was a lame way to get self esteem but at that age it was a good way.
AM: Obviously these musicians thought you were beautiful.
PD: It's actually more than beauty because there were always a lot of beautiful girls around. To spend quality time with a musician you have to love what they do. Just like with any man. You have to sincerely love and care about what they do. I think it's equally important to being a pretty young thing. You have to embrace what their soul wants to do.
EV: You are extra smart. I thought that after I met you the first time.
PD: Really!?! I never think of myself as being all that smart. I'm intuitive and I went to Reseda High but I never went to College. I don't have those kinds of smarts. I always knew I would write because I love to express myself and I do it well with words.
AM: I love how you integrate the song lyrics into your stories. How did that come up?
PD: I just love lyrics and they stick in my head. The first single I ever bought was Elvis 'Treat Me Nice.' It was the flip side of 'Jailhouse Rock.' It is tattooed on my back.
AM: Have you always relied on your humor?
PD: I don't know. I never thought of myself as that amusing.
AM: You come off very funny in your writing.
PD: It's part of being self-deprecating. I think that's important. It helps people feel that you are vulnerable and that you can connect with them in some way. We are all humble in some way. Even people who appear to have a lot of bravado come from humility. That just shows they are insecure. I think being self-deprecating and amusing and being amused by yourself helps you touch other people in the same place.
AM: What possessed you to become an ordained minister?
PD: I also have Jesus tattooed on my back and he's all over my house. It's a wonderful thing being in that moment. It's only you and the two people getting married in that incredibly special moment. That really drew me to that. My Goddaughter was getting married and I wanted to be a part of that experience and I was ordained already, so I decided I would use it.
AM: Is it hard to get ordained?
PD: It's very easy to get ordained these days and I have been ordained for twenty years so I decided I would use it. I've performed several Weddings since then and I just love it. It feels good.
AM: Do you consider yourself religious?
PD: No I am Spiritual. There are many levels to all of us. Most of us only tap into one or two levels. I try to tap into more levels of myself, the unseen levels, and I really like marrying people. I get to use the song lyrics again in the ceremony. They are always Rock n' Roll Weddings. I'm available for anyone who wants to get married. A thousand dollars is my fee and it's well worth it!
AM: Is there anything new that you want to begin?
PD: I'm writing two different books right now. I have a TV show in development that I can't go into detail about now, but it is happening. I'm doing a documentary based on my most recent book, 'Let's Spend The Night Together' interviewing groupies. I'm going all around the country doing that. One of the books I am working on is called, "Blinded by the Light: Confessions of a Gurupie' a word I made up. That's about my spiritual life. The other is called, 'Treat Me Nice: How to Make Love to a Rock Star.'
EV: Miss Pamela I can tell you are a deep soul who is extra kind.
PD: I am extra kind. It's a good quality! (giggling)
photos: Alan Mercer lighting: Eric VenturoTo learn more about Miss Pamela check out her web site http://www.pameladesbarres.net/
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