I'm with the band - Pamela Des Barres

IceCreamMan

Another interesting read. Her life is interwoven with many of my heroes of the 60's including the iron butterfly and of course the great Zep and the jimi hendrix experience. What i found of most interest was her interaction with these bands from very early on in their carreers when they were fresh faced pimply teenagers/young adults. she has someinteresting insights into frank zappa and the plaster caster gals.

I always claim i was born to late and although a product of the 60's i would actually like to have been in the california area in the mid 60's being part of the whole scene. going to the whiskey a go go and watching these bands that would move on to being superstars and a part of music to this day even.

An interesting read from the historical perspective ...not a whole whack of new info (i am an avid music historian ) .

And yes, she seems to have slept with a whole bunch of muso's as well...mebbe not as much as one would think but she cerrtainly got around , the xavier hollander of the music scene although i hasten to add the book is not pornography by any means ....

Squonk

IceCreamMan wrote: I always claim i was born to late and although a product of the 60's i would actually like to have been in the california area in the mid 60's being part of the whole scene. going to the whiskey a go go and watching these bands that would move on to being superstars and a part of music to this day even.

With you on this one ICM, Although I would have preferred London in the 60's. My wifes uncle was there and all the acts that he saw in and around London in the 60's is heartbreaking.

He saw Ray Davies (The Kinks) busking at Covent Gardens. Last time I was in London I actually went to Waterloo station just to live out the song.
Walked over the bridge, saw the dirty old river, but didn't see Terry or Julie!

Busy reading "White Bicycles" by Joe Boyd (Thanks Bob) which is an excellent peek in into 1960's London and bits of the US scene as well. Joe actually ran a club, called UFO, which had Pink Floyd, Soft Machine, Tomorrow, The Move, Incredible String Band amongst many others performing there... I would have loved to have been there.

Thanks ICM, will look up "I'm with the band"

Bob-Dubery

Squonk wrote:
IceCreamMan wrote: I always claim i was born to late and although a product of the 60's i would actually like to have been in the california area in the mid 60's being part of the whole scene. going to the whiskey a go go and watching these bands that would move on to being superstars and a part of music to this day even.
With you on this one ICM, Although I would have preferred London in the 60's. My wifes uncle was there and all the acts that he saw in and around London in the 60's is heartbreaking.

You'd see a lot of acts that got nowhere as well. There was generally no way to tell, in real time, who was going to be big and who wasn't. Some of them may have been crap. Some of them may have been really good but just never hit the big time.

I still prefer my live music in small venues. Much better than big arenas. Some of the artists I've been fortunate enough to have seen have working for years and never made it what one would call "big" but gave an excellent performance.

Bigness ain't everything (and I am not quoting Ms Des Barres).

Bob-Dubery

Squonk wrote: Busy reading "White Bicycles" by Joe Boyd (Thanks Bob) which is an excellent peek in into 1960's London and bits of the US scene as well. Joe actually ran a club, called UFO, which had Pink Floyd, Soft Machine, Tomorrow, The Move, Incredible String Band amongst many others performing there... I would have loved to have been there.

Anybody with a history in the 60s or in rock music history should check out this book. Boyd was all over the 60s, not just running the UFO club. EG he was stage manager at Newport when Dylan went electric. Tour manager for Muddy Waters and the Rev Garry Davis. Produced the first Pink Floyd recordings etc etc etc

Squonk

X-rated Bob wrote: You'd see a lot of acts that got nowhere as well. There was generally no way to tell, in real time, who was going to be big and who wasn't. Some of them may have been crap. Some of them may have been really good but just never hit the big time.

Just to be in London in the 60's, crappy acts or not , the whole explosion of the youth, fashion, enlightenment, creativity etc etc etc must have been great. And for all the crap acts you saw, there would have been some good ones.

I think the whole energy of 60's must have been incredible, I didn't witness it in the 70's or any decade since.

Although I did see Rabbitt at the Roodepoort Town Hall in 1976 so I did at least see underwear tossed on the stage!

Maybe "White Bicycles" is just too inspiring....

MIKA-the-better-one

Now may not be the 60's which do seem awsome based on every book i have read, and bio film watched.....

BUT, now is probably going to be an equally good time to be in music, it seems to be going back to a small scene of small bands around the world......... So thats exciting

Bob-Dubery

MIKA the better one wrote: Now may not be the 60's which do seem awsome based on every book i have read, and bio film watched.....

Well in terms of the music it can't happen again. Going into the 60s popular music was this massive, largely undiscovered, green field. Now all the furrows have been plowed and so it's much harder to be that innovative, to progress at that dizzying speed now. Not that new artists can't be original and excellent, but there will never again be that explosion of culture.

BUT, now is probably going to be an equally good time to be in music, it seems to be going back to a small scene of small bands around the world......... So thats exciting

I agree. The mainstream major label stuff these days is mostly boring beyond belief, but the "alternate" scene is very varied, very interesting.

PeteM

X-rated Bob wrote: Well in terms of the music it can't happen again. Going into the 60s popular music was this massive, largely undiscovered, green field. Now all the furrows have been plowed and so it's much harder to be that innovative, to progress at that dizzying speed now. Not that new artists can't be original and excellent, but there will never again be that explosion of culture.

That's what they said about the Renaissance and the Industrial Revolution. ?

I like to keep an open mind.

Bob-Dubery

PeteM wrote:
X-rated Bob wrote: Well in terms of the music it can't happen again. Going into the 60s popular music was this massive, largely undiscovered, green field. Now all the furrows have been plowed and so it's much harder to be that innovative, to progress at that dizzying speed now. Not that new artists can't be original and excellent, but there will never again be that explosion of culture.
That's what they said about the Renaissance and the Industrial Revolution. ?

I expressed myself a little clumsily. I doubt there will be another explosion of popular music. There has, indeed, been another big bang since the 60s, but not in the field of music. It was in IT.

With each of these revolutions in whatever sphere progress there is a huge explosion over a relatively short period of time, then after that progress continues but it's more incremental than revolutionary.

The revolutions usually get absorbed into the mainstream.

The industrial revolution didn't do much for the state of guitar playing anyway.

PeteM

X-rated Bob wrote: [Well in terms of the music it can't happen again. Going into the 60s popular music was this massive,
The industrial revolution didn't do much for the state of guitar playing anyway.

Okay, so not influencing the guitar directly, but certainly bringing in a different mindset based on technological advancement and exploration on many fronts. The status quo was challenged, which had a profound influence on music, e.g. ushering in the Romantic era, which gave birth to the first 'pop stars' - Franz Liszt, Paganini etc. i.e. bringing music to the masses rather than exclusively to patrons of the upper class.

Although known about in the First Industrial Revolution, electricty was harnessed and applied during he Second Industrial Revolution - I would say that had some influence on the electric guitar, albeit many decades later. ?

Bob-Dubery

PeteM wrote:
X-rated Bob wrote: [Well in terms of the music it can't happen again. Going into the 60s popular music was this massive,
The industrial revolution didn't do much for the state of guitar playing anyway.
Okay, so not influencing the guitar directly, but certainly bringing in a different mindset based on technological advancement and exploration on many fronts. The status quo was challenged, which had a profound influence on music, e.g. ushering in the Romantic era, which gave birth to the first 'pop stars' - Franz Liszt, Paganini etc. i.e. bringing music to the masses rather than exclusively to patrons of the upper class.

Although known about in the First Industrial Revolution, electricty was harnessed and applied during he Second Industrial Revolution - I would say that had some influence on the electric guitar, albeit many decades later. ?

Well that particular development influenced just about every aspect of life, as did the advent of mass production techniques. None of these things happen in isolation.

I think you're skipping my overarching point and hanging onto the throw away weak joke. The overarching point was that most of these thing start with a big bang and then when that subsides progress continues but not at the same pace. What was a revolution got absorbed into the greater fabric - and too often that means things start getting steered towards some kind of lowest common denominator.

I'm never sure about the renaissance. A lot of it was REdiscovery of things that got lost during the dark ages (or at least lost to Europe).

There's always a chance that another dark age will come along, and be followed (if we're lucky) with another renaissance.

PeteM

@Bob, I was being facetious. :-[

Back to the subject.
I agree with what Mika had to say.

"BUT, now is probably going to be an equally good time to be in music, it seems to be going back to a small scene of small bands around the world......... So thats exciting"