#musesandgroupiesseries

[idasessions]

Patti Davis by Harry Langdon, 1980

Patti [b. 1952] is the daughter of movie star-turned-politician Ronald Reagan and actress/activist Nancy Robbins-Davis, and was brought up in Bel Air, CA and Mayer, AZ. Patti was coined the ‘black sheep’ of the otherwise conservative Reagan family for her liberal leanings on stances like abortion, animal rights, marijuana legalization and the anti-nuclear movement. By the time she was an adult, Patti changed her last name to her mom’s second maiden name to distance herself from her family’s politics. Career wise, she has experience as a screen actress and as a writer in fiction, non-fiction, screenplays and editorials. From 1972 to 1976, Patti was involved with musician Bernie Leadon of the Eagles and the Flying Burrito Bros. When the couple moved in together in 1974, the Reagans disowned Patti for living with a rockstar out of wedlock. As a response to her parents’ disapproval, Patti began writing the song ‘I Wish You Peace,’ which Bernie helped finish and arranged the final composition. Though Bernie’s bandmates Glenn Frey and Don Henley had a staunch ‘no outsiders’ rule with the group’s music, the song was included as the final track of the Eagles’ 1975 LP ‘One of These Nights.’ Despite the co-authorship, Bernie has always insisted ‘I Wish You Peace’ is primarily Patti’s. After Bernie, Patti went out with actors Peter Strauss and Timothy Hutton in the 1980s. Though she emotionally reconciled with her parents before their deaths, she still doesn’t see eye-to-eye with them on most socio-political opinions.

[idasessions]

Rory Flynn by Jean-Claude Deutsch, February 1972

Rory [b. 1947] grew up in Hollywood as the second daughter of movie star Errol Flynn. During the mid/late 1960s, Rory had a rep as a Sunset Strip groupie, which included flings with both guitarist Robby Krieger and drummer John Densmore of the Doors. Later on, she was in a relationship with Yes drummer Alan White for most of the 1970s and dated film actor Robert Hays in the early 1980s. Professionally, Rory started her career as a dancer and model before switching to photography. She’s also the mother of former child actor Sean Flynn of Nickelodeon’s “Zoey 101.”

[idasessions]

Kay Poorboy, 1970

Kay was a groupie of rock frontmen Eric Burdon and Joe Cocker in the late 1960s; girlfriend of bassist Carl Radle from 1970 to 1980; and wife of drummer Buddy Jones from 1980 to 1983. While most know the album cover art of ‘Layla & Other Assorted Love Songs’ by Derek & the Dominos is supposed to resemble rock muse Pattie Boyd, the girl featured on the inner sleeve collage is actually Kay. From the mid-1960s until the late 1970s, Kay and her best friend/co-groupie Francine Brockey were confidants of pianist-songwriter Leon Russell as well. Like Francine, Kay also worked at the LA nightclub The Classic Cat, but as a dancer rather than a waitress.

[idasessions]

Maxine Feibelman seen during an Elton John themed episode of ITV’s “Aquarius,” 1971

Maxine was married to pop-rock lyricist Bernie Taupin from 1971 to 1976. Over the years, rumors have been spread by the press and music fans over who is the subject of the song ‘Tiny Dancer’ from Elton John’s 1971 album ‘Madman Across the Water;’ including famous socialites Genie Franklyn and Pamela des Barres. These days Bernie chooses to be modestly coy dedicating the song as a love letter to ‘all’ of the young women he and Elton met the first time they visited southern California in 1970. But in both 1973 and 1974, Bernie confirmed to Rolling Stone Magazine he actually wrote ‘Tiny Dancer’ for Maxine. “That’s true, yes….I’ve never written a song meaning something more than it says.” In a 2019 New York Post interview, Maxine herself also confirmed she was the inspiration. “I knew the song was about me. I danced ballet as a little girl, and I sewed the patches on Elton’s jackets and jeans.” When the couple were together, Maxine was the seamstress for Bernie, Elton, and Elton’s backing band on tours and other public events. During Elton’s ’71 episode of “Aquarius,” he states: “‘Tiny Dancer,’ this is about Bernie’s girlfriend.” Inside the cover of ‘Madman,’ the lyrics to ‘Tiny Dancer’ also feature a photo of Maxine with the caption, “With love to Maxine.” The title of the song ‘The Bitch is Back’ on Elton’s 1974 album ‘Caribou’ was a phrase Maxine would say whenever Bernie or Elton were in bad moods as well. Bernie and Maxine’s relationship ended when she left him for bassist Kenny Passarelli, which then inspired many John-Taupin break-up songs.

[idasessions]

Francine Brockey, 1970

Francine was a groupie of Gram Parsons in the late 1960s and also closely associated with Leon Russell throughout the 1960s-70s. Her friends included fellow groupies Kay Poorboy and Nancy Deedrick, and she worked as a cocktail waitress at the Sunset Strip nightclub The Classic Cat.

[idasessions]

Chris Hillman and Connie Pappas photographed by Henry Diltz on their wedding day, October 1979

Chris and Connie first met in 1969, but didn’t become a couple until the late 1970s. As of 2022, they’re still married and have a daughter, Catherine (b. 1984), a son, Nicholas (b. 1989), and two grandkids. Before Chris, Connie was in a relationship with Beach Boys frontman Mike Love in 1970-72, during which she was also the fulltime nanny of his two children with ex-wife Suzanne Belcher. Professionally, Connie was the VP of Elton John’s record company Rocket Records in 1973-77 and later his US tour producer in 1982-2016.

[idasessions]

A 1967 portrait of Nancy & Richie Furay used as the cover for Richie’s 2015 album ‘Hand in Hand’

Richie and Nancy have been married since 1967 with four daughters and 13 grandchildren. The final track, ‘Kind Woman,’ on Buffalo Springfield’s 1968 LP ‘Last Time Around’ was written by Richie for Nancy, as was the title track of ‘Hand in Hand.’ The couple first met backstage a Springfield concert at the Whisky a Go-Go in the summer of 1966, where Nancy arrived with her previous boyfriend, Bill Rinehart, the original lead guitarist for the Leaves.

[idasessions]

Margaret Fisher photographed by Rob Altman; October 21st, 1974

Margaret and country-rock pioneer Gram Parsons dated while attending the same high school in Winter Haven, FL, during the early 1960s. They decided to stay friends after finishing school and into Gram’s music career for the next decade. In September 1973, Margaret and Gram rekindled romantically after the songwriter separated from estranged wife Gretchen Carpenter. On the 17th-19th, Margaret accompanied Gram and some friends on a road trip to Joshua Tree, CA, where the musician would prematurely die. Margaret was the first person to notice something was off with Gram’s unconscious state after he took some morphine following 6 shots of tequila earlier in the night. The young woman successfully revived him for nearly an hour with an ice cube enema, until he fell unconscious again and failed to wake up the second time. Margaret also previously attended the ill-fated Altamont Music Festival in December 1969, where Gram’s band the Flying Burrito Bros were one of the few acts to have a peaceful crowd. She’s also featured in Gandulf Hennig’s documentary Fallen Angel (2004).

[idasessions]

Lorraine Dellal and Simon Kirke circa the early 1980s

Lorraine and Simon were married from 1983 to 2016. Lorraine is an interior designer and ran the popular NYC boutique Geminola, while Simon is the drummer of the classic rock bands Bad Company and Free. Lorraine’s also the daughter of Iraqi billionaire Jack Dellal. Simon and Lorraine’s three daughters Domino, Jemima and Lola all have careers in showbusiness too.

[idasessions]

Miv Watts and daughter Naomi c. 1972

Miv [born Myfanwy Roberts] is a former model and costume & interior designer who was married to tour manager Peter Watts from 1966-72 when he worked for the rock bands the Pretty Things and (most famously) Pink Floyd. Contrary to popular belief, the spoken female voice heard throughout Pink Floyd’s 1973 album ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ is not Miv, but actually Peter’s second wife Puddie Deighton. After Peter died of a heroin overdose in 1976, Miv moved with Naomi and son Ben to Wales before eventually setting in Australia in 1982. Naomi, of course, grew up to be a successful, Oscar nominated actress.

[idasessions]

Pigpen McKernan and Girl Freiberg in San Francisco, 1967

Girl (real name Julia Dreyer) was a Bay Area groupie and the first wife of David Freiberg from Quicksilver Messenger Service and Jefferson Starship who inspired no less than 6 classic rock songs in the late 1960s and 1970s:

‘Girl with No Name’ by the Byrds

‘Light Your Windows’ by QMS

‘Quicksilver Girl’ by Steve Miller Band

‘Girl from Mill Valley’ by Jeff Beck Group

‘Quicksilver Princess’ by the Doobie Bros

‘Jane’ by Jefferson Starship

Rather than be jealous or heartbroken, David now brags about how many famous songs are dedicated to his former wife, lol. Girl was also best friends with fellow NorCal groupie Martha Wax, who is the subject of the Jefferson Airplane songs ‘Martha’ and ‘Come Up the Years.’

[idasessions]

Nancy Priddy photographed by Bob Peterson on the cover of her 1968 album ‘You’ve Come This Way Before’

Nancy began her career in the 1960s as a pop-folk singer in Laurel Canyon and Greenwich Village. Around the time ‘You’ve Come This Way Before’ was recorded, she sang backup vocals on Leonard Cohen’s 1967 debut album ‘Songs of Leonard Cohen.’ Nancy also briefly dated singer-songwriter Stephen Stills in 1967 and again in 1980. While they were originally together, Steve wrote the song ‘Pretty Girl Why’ for Nancy, which later appeared on his band, Buffalo Springfield’s final album ‘Last Time Around’ in 1968. In the 1970s, Nancy switched to acting and had bit parts on episodes of TV shows like “Bewitched” (1970-71), “The Waltons” (1978), “The Young & the Restless” (1986) and “Dallas” (1990). From 1970-1979, the singer-actress was married to record label executive Robert Applegate, with the couple conceiving a daughter—future TV star Christina Applegate—in 1971. Nancy has appeared in some of Christina’s series and movies over the years playing minor roles. Coincidentally, Nancy’s sole record features a song titled ‘Christina’s World’ three years before her daughter’s birth.

[idasessions]

Earlier today I was looking up info on Peter Wolf & Faye Dunaway’s relationship, and noticed on Peter’s WDW page ‘Pennie Lane’ is listed as one of his exes. Which I thought was weird because Pennie’s never mentioned him in any interviews I’m aware of. So I clicked on her WDW link and the whole page is filled with details of a woman called Geraldine Edwards. Now, it’s obvious by now the real Penny/Pennie Lane is Pennie Ann Trumbull, so who is Geraldine? Apparently literally no one. From 2010-2013, someone fabricated an entire identity of a fake classic rock groupie named ‘Geraldine Edwards’ and went everywhere they could find related to classic rock on the internet to spread misinformation that this chick hooked up with rockstars like Peter, Roger Daltrey, Eric Clapton, Rick Springfield, etc. The person who made up the groupie was apparently a delusional Robert Palmer stan, because not only did they appropriate Geraldine as his last serious girlfriend, but they hated his real girlfriend, Mary Ambrose, so much they went as far as to try to claim that relationship was fake. Somewhere along the way, this stan started labeling Geraldine as the inspiration for the character Penny Lane in Almost Famous, which was pretty foolish because by 2012 there were already articles profiling Pennie Ann. Supposedly there was a fake Facebook page created for ‘Geraldine’ at a time too, with badly edited, blurry photos, but I think it’s now deleted. Anyways, the only reason I’m mentioning all this is because this person’s hellbent commitment to convincing the world Robert Palmer’s last girlfriend was a woman named Geraldine Edwards worked on enough people for her to be name dropped in some articles and posts (including his Wiki) from 2012-2015; and I found a comment as recent as 2021 under the impression this groupie is a real person.  Reminder not to trust everything on the internet at 100% face value (and a reminder of how much WDW has turned into a joke over the years lol) Sources: Deep dive/expose proving Geraldine doesn’t exist A thread on Data Lounge (this whole page is actually really interesting, but scroll to about the mid-point to reply 123 on 8/26/2020 for a longtime Robert Palmer fangirl going into detail on how this hoax unraveled) 

[idasessions]

Catherine Cozzi-Barnett by Jerry deWilde, 1969

Catherine was born on August 26th, 1950 and raised in the San Fernando Valley of southern California. Her nickname is ‘Ceci,’ and sometime in her childhood she started going by her mother’s maiden name, ‘Barnett’ instead of her birth surname of ‘Cozzi.’ She began her career early on as a catalog and commercial model in her teens, but then quickly switched to behind the camera for photography, as well as painting, by the time she was an adult. In 1968, Catherine met singer-songwriter John Sebastian of the pop-rock band the Lovin’ Spoonful whom she would begin a relationship with a year later. The couple married in 1972 and settled in Woodstock, NY to raise their two children: Benson (born 1972) and Charlie (born 1986). As of 2021, John and Catherine are still together living in Woodstock. John’s song ‘You and Me Go Way Back’ on his 1992 album ‘Tar Beach’ is an ode to their love and successful marriage. Many of the covers for John’s solo records are designed by Catherine as well. During her modeling days, Catherine also dated Michael Clarke, the youngest member of the folk-rock band the Byrds, in early 1965.

[idasessions]

Deanna Dail Mollner by Henry Diltz c. 1969

Deanna (born December 14, 1944) was a Los Angeles based dancer known by friends and family as either DeAnn or DeDe. She’s most famous for being a member of the Gazzarri’s Dancers troupe and a background dancer on the TV music program “Hollywood a Go-Go” in 1964-66. Deanna was supposedly one of the most popular dancers in Hollywood and one of the very first women to be seen wearing a mini-skirt on American television (personally made for her by Mary Quant). At the same time she was on stage and on camera, Deanna was also in a relationship with rock drummer Michael Clarke during most of his tenure with the Byrds. She can be seen dancing during the band’s 1965 performances on “HaGG,” and was regularly at their other TV tapings and concerts in California until Michael left the group in late 1967. Deanna’s best friend in the 1960s was fellow dancer/celeb girlfriend Mimi Machu, and her father Art Mollner won a gold medal at the 1936 Olympics for basketball. After her dancing career started winding down in the early 1970s, Deanna switched to more competitive athletics like basketball, golf, tennis and skiing; and lived abroad all over Europe before setting in Puerto Vallarta, MX, which is where she was when she passed on January 25th, 2021.

[idasessions]

Why isn't Al Stewart's infamous Mandi listed here?

Because Al isn't really on my radar beyond 'Year of the Cat,' lol. But I just looked up Mandi, and yep, she's definitely a muse

She's on the back photo of his 1969 LP 'Love Chronicles' and inspired his 1972 album 'Orange.' Thanks for the rec!