Bebe Buell
Encyclopedia
Beverle Lorence "Bebe" Buell (born July 14, 1953) is an American
fashion model and singer, and Playboy
magazine's November 1974 Playmate of the Month. She is also known for dating rock music
ians. She is actress Liv Tyler
's mother from a brief relationship with Aerosmith
vocalist Steven Tyler
. In 2001, she wrote an autobiography (with Victor Bockris
) entitled Rebel Heart: An American Rock and Roll Journey. The book was a New York Times bestseller. The paperback was issued in 2002.
Filmmaker Cameron Crowe
stated in interviews about his 2000 movie Almost Famous
that he based the film's Penny Lane character (played by Kate Hudson
) on two women he met during the early 1970s — Bebe Buell and Geraldine Edwards. He said he created some of Penny's dialogue from statements Buell had made in interviews over the years, such as the famous "band aid" comment. The majority of the character was based on Geraldine Edwards, however.
, the daughter of Dorothea Johnson, who founded the Protocol School of Washington, and Harold Lloyd Buell.
magazine's Playmate of the Month for the November 1974 issue; her centerfold
was photographed by Richard Fegley
.
and Ric Ocasek
, with The Cars
serving as her band on two tracks. The rock band Power Station
began in 1984 when then-boyfriend John Taylor (of Duran Duran
fame) pulled some famous friends together to provide backing for another of Buell's musical efforts. She also formed the band The B-Sides in 1980 but they disbanded in 1985.
She founded another band called The Gargoyles in 1985, and released a couple of singles. A few large record companies were showing interest, but they disbanded when the paternity of her daughter Liv became publicly known in 1991. She withdrew from performing for six years in the 1990s, Buell managed her daughter Liv, helping to launch her career as a successful international model and actress. She also represented actress Charis Michelsen
.
After Buell's daughter left home in 1997, Buell returned to music to record a solo effort with producer Don Fleming
, released in 2000. She also performed around New York with the Bebe Buell Band and, later, with Boston musicians The Rudds and The Neighborhoods' drummer Johnny Lynch to form a new band for a few shows which also included husband Jim Wallerstein.
In April 2009, the Boston duo Chester French
released a tribute to Buell with their album track "Bebe Buell."
As of June 2009, the lineup for The Bebe Buell Band was: Bebe Buell on vocals, Jim Wallerstein on guitar, Pete Marshall on bass, David Matos on lead guitar, Aya on keyboards, Lindsey Anderson on guitar and Bobbie Rae on drums.
She released her first recording in ten years with a single "Air Kisses for the Masses" in May 2009 and completed recording of a full length 12 song album set for late Fall 2009. It can be downloaded on iTunes or Amazon MP3. Buell is playing a series of live shows in the New York City area to promote the single.
Buell was also a judge for the 9th annual Independent Music Awards
to support independent artists' careers.
of The Cowsills
and David Cassidy
. She later lived with rock musician Todd Rundgren
from 1972 to 1978. During their cohabitation, they dated other people; in 1977, she gave birth to actress/model Liv Tyler
, fathered by Steven Tyler
, lead singer of Aerosmith. Buell's first marriage was to sometime-musician and actor Coyote Shivers
in 1992. They divorced in 1999 after a year-long separation. In 2002 she married musician Jim Wallerstein of Das Damen
and Vacationland fame.
with The B-Sides
with the Gargoyles
Two 45 releases:
Cassette EP, "Bebe Buell and the Gargoyles": "Vibrator"/"Lick it and Stick it"/"Take Me to Your Leader"/"Luv Reaction" (1988), FISHTRAKS
Solo
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
fashion model and singer, and Playboy
Playboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
magazine's November 1974 Playmate of the Month. She is also known for dating rock music
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
ians. She is actress Liv Tyler
Liv Tyler
Liv Rundgren Tyler is an American actress and model. She is the daughter of Aerosmith's lead singer, Steven Tyler, and Bebe Buell, model and singer. Tyler began a career in modeling at the age of 14, but after less than a year she decided to focus on acting. She made her film debut in the 1994...
's mother from a brief relationship with Aerosmith
Aerosmith
Aerosmith is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "The Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has come to also incorporate elements of pop, heavy metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many...
vocalist Steven Tyler
Steven Tyler
Steven Tyler is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, best known as the frontman and lead singer of the Boston-based rock band Aerosmith, in which he also plays the harmonica, and occasional piano and percussion. He is known as the "Demon of Screamin'", due to his high screams...
. In 2001, she wrote an autobiography (with Victor Bockris
Victor Bockris
Victor Bockris is an English-born, U.S.-based author, primarily of biographies of artists, writers, and musicians.He has written about Lou Reed , Andy Warhol, Keith Richards, William S. Burroughs, Terry Southern, Blondie, Patti Smith, and Muhammad Ali...
) entitled Rebel Heart: An American Rock and Roll Journey. The book was a New York Times bestseller. The paperback was issued in 2002.
Filmmaker Cameron Crowe
Cameron Crowe
Cameron Bruce Crowe is an American screenwriter and film director. Before moving into the film industry, Crowe was a contributing editor at Rolling Stone magazine, for which he still frequently writes....
stated in interviews about his 2000 movie Almost Famous
Almost Famous
Almost Famous is a 2000 musical comedy-drama film written and directed by Cameron Crowe and telling the fictional story of a teenage journalist writing for Rolling Stone magazine while covering the fictitious rock band Stillwater , and his efforts to get his first cover story published...
that he based the film's Penny Lane character (played by Kate Hudson
Kate Hudson
Kate Garry Hudson is an American actress. She came to prominence in 2001 after winning a Golden Globe and receiving several nominations, including a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, for her role in Almost Famous. She then starred in the hit film How to Lose a Guy in 10...
) on two women he met during the early 1970s — Bebe Buell and Geraldine Edwards. He said he created some of Penny's dialogue from statements Buell had made in interviews over the years, such as the famous "band aid" comment. The majority of the character was based on Geraldine Edwards, however.
Early life
Buell was born in Portsmouth, VirginiaPortsmouth, Virginia
Portsmouth is located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of the U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2010, the city had a total population of 95,535.The Norfolk Naval Shipyard, often called the Norfolk Navy Yard, is a historic and active U.S...
, the daughter of Dorothea Johnson, who founded the Protocol School of Washington, and Harold Lloyd Buell.
Modeling
She was PlayboyPlayboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
magazine's Playmate of the Month for the November 1974 issue; her centerfold
Centerfold
The centerfold of a magazine refers to a gatefolded spread, usually a portrait such as a pin-up or a nude, inserted in the middle of the publication, or to the model featured in the portrait...
was photographed by Richard Fegley
Richard Fegley
Leon Richard Fegley was a professional photographer who worked for Playboy magazine for 30 years.Fegley started taking photos during a stint in the United States Air Force, and eventually attended the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. In 1971 he joined Playboy as a freelance...
.
Music
In 1981, Buell recorded a four song EP on Rhino Records, produced by Rick DerringerRick Derringer
Rick Derringer is an American guitarist, vocalist, and entertainer.-1960s:When he was seventeen years old, his band The McCoys recorded "Hang on Sloopy" in the summer of 1965, which became the number one song in America before "Yesterday" by The Beatles knocked it out of the top spot. The song was...
and Ric Ocasek
Ric Ocasek
Ric Ocasek is an American musician and music producer. He is best known as lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for the rock band, The Cars....
, with The Cars
The Cars
The Cars are an American rock band that emerged from the early New Wave music scene in the late 1970s. The band consisted of lead singer and rhythm guitarist Ric Ocasek, lead singer and bassist Benjamin Orr, guitarist Elliot Easton, keyboardist Greg Hawkes and drummer David Robinson...
serving as her band on two tracks. The rock band Power Station
Power Station (band)
Power Station was a 1980s supergroup made up of singer Robert Palmer, former Chic drummer Tony Thompson, and Duran Duran members John Taylor and Andy Taylor . Bernard Edwards, also of Chic, was involved on the studio side as recording producer. For a short time he also functioned as Power...
began in 1984 when then-boyfriend John Taylor (of Duran Duran
Duran Duran
Duran Duran are an English band, formed in Birmingham in 1978. They were one of the most successful bands of the 1980s and a leading band in the MTV-driven "Second British Invasion" of the United States...
fame) pulled some famous friends together to provide backing for another of Buell's musical efforts. She also formed the band The B-Sides in 1980 but they disbanded in 1985.
She founded another band called The Gargoyles in 1985, and released a couple of singles. A few large record companies were showing interest, but they disbanded when the paternity of her daughter Liv became publicly known in 1991. She withdrew from performing for six years in the 1990s, Buell managed her daughter Liv, helping to launch her career as a successful international model and actress. She also represented actress Charis Michelsen
Charis Michelsen
Charis Elisa Michelsen is an American actress, a former model and a make-up artist.-Life and career:Charis Michelsen was born December 30th, 1983 in Boring, Oregon. After high school, she moved to New York City to study art at Parsons School of Design, where a photographer for Harper’s Bazaar...
.
After Buell's daughter left home in 1997, Buell returned to music to record a solo effort with producer Don Fleming
Don Fleming (musician)
Don Fleming is an American musician, best known for being the frontman of Velvet Monkeys, B.A.L.L., and Gumball.-Biography:...
, released in 2000. She also performed around New York with the Bebe Buell Band and, later, with Boston musicians The Rudds and The Neighborhoods' drummer Johnny Lynch to form a new band for a few shows which also included husband Jim Wallerstein.
In April 2009, the Boston duo Chester French
Chester French
Chester French is an American indie pop band consisting of lead vocalist and songwriter David-Andrew 'D.A.' Wallach and multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Maxwell Drummey...
released a tribute to Buell with their album track "Bebe Buell."
As of June 2009, the lineup for The Bebe Buell Band was: Bebe Buell on vocals, Jim Wallerstein on guitar, Pete Marshall on bass, David Matos on lead guitar, Aya on keyboards, Lindsey Anderson on guitar and Bobbie Rae on drums.
She released her first recording in ten years with a single "Air Kisses for the Masses" in May 2009 and completed recording of a full length 12 song album set for late Fall 2009. It can be downloaded on iTunes or Amazon MP3. Buell is playing a series of live shows in the New York City area to promote the single.
Buell was also a judge for the 9th annual Independent Music Awards
The Independent Music Awards
The Independent Music Awards is an international program that honors top-ranked independent artists and releases in more than 50 Album, Song, Music Video and Design categories....
to support independent artists' careers.
Personal life
Buell developed an interest in dating musicians when as a sixteen year old model, she started dating Barry CowsillBarry Cowsill
Barry Cowsill was an American musician and member of the musical group The Cowsills. He was born in Newport, Rhode Island. The fifth of seven children, Barry soon became the drummer of his brothers' band, playing popular tunes at local dance clubs...
of The Cowsills
The Cowsills
The Cowsills are an American singing group from Newport, Rhode Island. They specialized in harmonies and the ability to sing and play music at an early age. The band was formed in the spring of 1965 by brothers Bill, Bob, and Barry, then shortly thereafter added John...
and David Cassidy
David Cassidy
David Bruce Cassidy is an American actor, singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known for his role as the character of Keith Partridge in the 1970s musical/sitcom The Partridge Family. He was one of pop culture's most celebrated teen idols, enjoying a successful pop career in the 1970s, and...
. She later lived with rock musician Todd Rundgren
Todd Rundgren
Todd Harry Rundgren is an American multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and record producer. Hailed in the early stage of his career as a new pop-wunderkind, supported by the certified gold solo double LP Something/Anything? in 1972, Todd Rundgren's career has produced a diverse range of recordings...
from 1972 to 1978. During their cohabitation, they dated other people; in 1977, she gave birth to actress/model Liv Tyler
Liv Tyler
Liv Rundgren Tyler is an American actress and model. She is the daughter of Aerosmith's lead singer, Steven Tyler, and Bebe Buell, model and singer. Tyler began a career in modeling at the age of 14, but after less than a year she decided to focus on acting. She made her film debut in the 1994...
, fathered by Steven Tyler
Steven Tyler
Steven Tyler is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, best known as the frontman and lead singer of the Boston-based rock band Aerosmith, in which he also plays the harmonica, and occasional piano and percussion. He is known as the "Demon of Screamin'", due to his high screams...
, lead singer of Aerosmith. Buell's first marriage was to sometime-musician and actor Coyote Shivers
Coyote Shivers
Francis Coyote Shivers is a musician and actor.-Music and acting:Shivers produced the first single for the band Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet. The B-side to that single, "Having an Average Weekend", became the theme to the television show The Kids in the Hall...
in 1992. They divorced in 1999 after a year-long separation. In 2002 she married musician Jim Wallerstein of Das Damen
Das Damen
Das Damen was an alternative rock band from New York City, United States, formed in 1984. The band released several albums before splitting up in 1991. The band name is German for "the ladies", although grammatically correct it would be spelled "Die Damen"...
and Vacationland fame.
Discography
- Covers Girl (1981), 12" 4 song EP produced by Ric Ocasek & Rick Derringer
- "My Little Red Book"
- "Wild One Forever"
- "The Little Black EggThe Little Black Egg"The Little Black Egg" is a song first performed by Daytona Beach, Florida garage band The Nightcrawlers in 1965. It reached number 85 on the Billboard charts in 1967,...
" - "FuntimeFuntime (Iggy Pop song)"Funtime" is a song written by David Bowie and Iggy Pop, first released by Pop on his 1977 album The Idiot.It has since been covered by multiple artists, including Blondie, Boy George, Bebe Buell, R.E.M. and The Cars.- Details :...
"
with The B-Sides
- A Side of the B-Sides (1984), 3 song 12" EP Picture Disc produced by Todd Rundgren
- "Mr. Never Forever"
- "Windy Words"
- "Battle Cry"
with the Gargoyles
Two 45 releases:
- "Gargoyle"/"Bored Baby" (1993), 7" Single/Cave Creek Records/Ultra Under
- "Jacuzzi Jungle"/"Thirteen Wrong Turns" (1987), 7" Single/Route One Records
Cassette EP, "Bebe Buell and the Gargoyles": "Vibrator"/"Lick it and Stick it"/"Take Me to Your Leader"/"Luv Reaction" (1988), FISHTRAKS
Solo
- "Air Kisses For The Masses" (2009) single iTunes, Amazon MP3, produced by Twinomatick
- Free To Rock (2000) produced by Don Fleming w/ The Bebe Buell Band
- Retrosexual, (1994, reissued 2004) for Sky Dog Records France
- Little Black Egg (1982), 7" Single/UK for Moonlight Records