Miss O'Dell: My Hard Days and Long Nights with The Beatles, The Stones, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, and the Women They Loved

by Chris O'Dell

CHRIS O’DELL WASN’T FAMOUS. SHE WASN’T EVEN ALMOST FAMOUS. BUT SHE WAS THERE. * She was in the studio when the Beatles recorded The White Album, Abbey Road, and Let It Be, and she sang in the “Hey Jude” chorus. * She lived with George Harrison and Pattie Boyd and unwittingly got involved in Pattie’s famous love story with Eric Clapton. * She’s the subject of Leon Russell’s “Pisces Apple Lady.” * She worked for the Rolling Stones on their infamous 1972 tour and did a drug run for Keith Richards. * She’s “the woman down the hall” in Joni Mitchell’s song “Coyote,” the “mystery woman” pictured on the Stones album Exile on Main Street, and the “Miss O’Dell” of George Harrison’s song. The remarkable, intimate story of an ordinary woman who lived the dream of millions—to be part of rock royalty’s inner circle—Miss O’Dell is a backstage pass to some of the most momentous events in rock history.

Genres: Memoir

436 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 6, 2009

Reviews

[Hal Eisenberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

First of all, I'm confused (and a bit sorry) for the people who gave this book a less than stellar review. My only guess is that some of those reviewers were reflecting sour grapes, almost as if they were jealous they hadn't lived Miss O'Dell's life. As for the rest of us, if you're a true fan of the late '60s, '70s music and pop culture, this book is a must (and great fun) read. If you've always wondered what life was like on the inside with bands the likes of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, CSNY, Bob Dylan, and others, as well as what their wives and girlfriends were really like, this book is a must read. And if you want to experience how a young woman by sheer luck and/or chance went from wondering where life would take her, to not only working with, but also becoming close friends and confidants to some of the world's biggest music icons, this book is a must read. At times, I felt as if I was right along side Chris as she bared her soul and didn't hold back with both the extreme highs and the lowest of lows of her most intimate experiences and life changing revelations. I've read a lot of personal and autobiographical music based books, and it seemed that some of the writers' sole purpose was to brag about who they knew and hung out with, and how wonderfully decadent everything was. On the other hand, in Miss O'Dell, you get the sense that the lives of these rock stars were not all they appeared to be on the outside, despite their immense fame and fortune. As for me, I came to appreciate what Chris lived through, and how she jumped into this musical ride rather wide-eyed and still managed to come out the other side with her feet firmly planted on the ground. Well done, Chris O'Dell!

[Rhode PVD · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 really. It's smoothly written by an experienced ghost. Stuff happened in O'Dell's life, but she's not a deep thinker, nor was she the person who made those things happen. This is a bit like reading a Facebook feed from someone who was a hanger on in the center of pop culture for a particular decade.

Probably of interest to boomers who want a behind the scenes look at their musical heroes. Not of terrific interest to me, but not a bad way to pass a long plane ride either.

[Lane Leal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this in 2023. As a music fan, especially music of the 60s & 70s, I found this memoir of a woman “on the inside” pretty fascinating. Through sheer hutzpah she patiently finagles herself a job in the industry, working with & for the Stones, the Beatles, Leon Russell, etc. Lots of interesting stories told by someone who was actually there.

[Lily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Continuing in my book club of one focusing on memoirs from Beatle inner circle. Chris O'Dell was an Apple employee who became close friends with the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, and worked with Crosby Stills Nash and Young, Bob Dylan, and Joni Mitchell. She was present for just about every cool event in Rock and Roll history: the Beatles' rooftop concert, backstage at the Concert for Bangladesh, countless tours, a few songs written about her (Miss O'Dell by George Harrison, Coyote by Joni Mitchell, Pisces Apple Lady by Leon Russell.)

One big takeaway from this book is just how beloved the Beatles were. Chris O'Dell describes working for the Beatles as the highlight of her career, and just what a happy, fun place Apple Studios was (before Allen Klein came along and fired everyone.) The Beatles, most often Paul, would stop by and say hello, chitchat, get the gossip, make sure everyone was having fun and being taken care of. She is aware of the rift in the band, but her experience working for them was just one big party. I loved her description of the concert on the roof, looking down at the crowd with their faces turned up in wonder. After leaving the Beatles in 1970, Chris feels like she just keeps climbing down the ladder, having started with the greatest band in the world. Her experiences on the CSNY tour made the Beatles' squabbles at the Get Back sessions look like a tea party. Those guys hated each other and behaved like toddlers about hotel rooms and drugs. Touring with the Rolling Stones sounded incredibly hectic, high octane, drug-fueled and particularly debauched. She described one particularly dark episode where some roadies brought a bunch of girls onto their private plane and filmed an orgy, separating themselves with a curtain, everything perfectly audible to the rest of the plane. Bill Wyman's 12 year old son is on the plane and he and Chris try to distract him. Then one of the girls comes out of the curtain with a tear streaked face and says, "I hope you won't think to badly of me." Oof.

Chris's job description is basically gofer. Whatever the musicians needed--drugs, laundry, hotel rooms, sex, flying across the country to get Mick Jagger's camera fixed--she would take care of. Tour life sounded awful frankly. She keeps up with those guys drug-wise, and boy did they go through a lot. Out of curiosity, she tries shooting up and amazingly doesn't get addicted (to that particular method.) She snorts up $500 worth of cocaine with Keith Richards one night. Every night, she tries desperately to strike the perfect balance of high but not too high, evading the come down with a calibrating cocktail of uppers and downers. Obviously, addiction takes its toll on her life. She remarks that no one even considered that the drugs were causing the massive mental health swings in their hard partying lives. God were there a lot of drugs.

Out of all the rockstars, Chris was closest with George and Pattie, and lived with them at Friar Park. She describes George as incredibly kind and generous and terribly intense, especially when he's in his meditating-around-the-clock phase. Eric Clapton came off the absolute worst in this book. I do not understand why the Beatles loved him so much. He seemed bitter, prone to lashing out, and not even a good hang, to put aside what hell he put Pattie through. He haaaated Chris and let it be known. Once they even hashed it out and he said "You know Chris, I love you but I also hate when you're with Pattie." Just baldly possessive, cruel, and psychopathic.

Chris ascribes her inclusion into the inner circles of these rock stars as being due to her down-for-anything nature and her ability to melt into the background. That was a little depressing. They obviously loved her and trusted her, but it's kind of a bummer that the reason is because she's basically quiet. It just highlights what a stark contrast Yoko Ono's personality must have been. Already weird and irritating by any account, she's being compared to the complete opposite side of the spectrum with sweet little Pattie and Chris and Maureen.

Speaking of which...the Eric-Pattie-George-Maureen-Ringo love-fuckedupagon was especially interesting from Chris's perspective, acting as confidante to both Pattie and Maureen, and staying close friends with George and Ringo. Then as if that's not enough, Chris and Ringo had a short fling right after George's declaration, rightly thinking that marriage must have been over. But Maureen was furious and refused to accept any personal responsibility. She insisted until her dying day that the fling with George was purely emotional and NOT physical. With George? Ok, Maureen. Until her dying day she is also stuck on Ringo. And Pattie has said that George is still the love of her life. These poor women!! They are absolutely tied to these men and hurt so terribly by them, but they just can't let go. At least they have each other! Chris's friendship was very sweet and devoted. Every single time she mentions Pattie she refers to her as "my best friend." Tragically, Pattie once made Chris promise never to sleep with George as a caveat to becoming friends. She does, and keeps her promise! So you know what? Maybe Maureen didn't either! (Just kidding, she obviously did.)

This book repeated a lot of the stories I already knew. (And of course these memoirs are never very fantastically written.) But damn if it isn't fun to read about the excess in the 60s and 70s!

[DustyP · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting autobiography by a lady who I've met a few times but who doesn't seem like the sort of person that I'd have wished to have known better.
The stories of sex and drug taking among the people who were my heroes when I was much younger were eye opening. Thankfully, she includes a list of those people who died as a result,

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book with all my heart. Completely captivating and witty, couldn’t put it down. Such a detailed and beautiful insight into the world of rock and roll. So much more than a “groupie”, she worked at Apple and as a tour manager and definitely conjured up lots of whimsical stories along the way. One of my new favourites!

[Brenda Selner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Could not get beyond 27%...seems so self indulgent, which I guess we all were back in 70s. Copyright in 2009, but does not share whether her life view has changed over time, or at least not in the portion I read. May go back one day and finish...

[Li · Rating 5 out of 5]

Please note: I read a hardback book but that option isn't available to choose at goodreads. I bought this through abebooks.com

I first learned about this book from Max from Powerpop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture Blog when he wrote a review of it and was immediately intrigued and interested in learning tasty tidbits about all of the people named in the title of the book. I just finished the 403-page hardcover book (381 pages of story, 4 pages of Afterword, 4 pages of acknowledgments, 13 pages of index) that also includes 16 pages of black and white photos of Chris with and without the stars. Consider me a satisfied reader.

The writing style is simple and conversational. Her perspective is always humble. For the most part, Chris’ impressions of the superstars she works with and otherwise encounters is generous. There are a few who cultivate her wrath, but she is slow to anger and more forgiving than most based on the encounters.

Chris was raised in Tucson, AZ, and moved to Los Angeles, CA in the mid-late 1960’s, when she was in her early twenties. The adventure begins when Allan, a guy she was dating, takes her along on a lunch date with Derek Taylor. Derek, at the time, was doing publicity for A&M Records. I don’t know a huge amount about Derek other than what is in the book, but I do know he helped George Harrison with his book, “I Me Mine” after working with The Beatles as a press officer in 1964. Chris’ connection with Derek was the door to the “in crowd” with music publishing and touring. She was a go-fer and chauffer for Derek while he was in L.A. When Derek left L.A. to go back to London, UK, to help The Beatles start up Apple Corps, he gave Chris an open invite to come to London and work for Apple – which she eventually did.

Close to the first half of the book is about when she worked at Apple and includes a wealth of details about being able to sit in on some of the iconic recording sessions with The Beatles and others, hanging around the studios until one of the executives finally gave her a job, the kindness and graciousness of everyone she interacts with. She does a fabulous job of describing the atmosphere within the building and between the people, and of course face-to-face conversations with each Beatle.

There is quite a lot of coverage about where Allen Klein, the scuzbag who steps in after Brian Epstein passed away, and how he changes the culture at Apple.

Leon Russell broke up with Rita Coolidge and had flown to London to do some recording. He hypnotizes Chris into falling in love with him; he whisks her away to L.A. Here the reader gets a chance to see how Leon is trying to break through into music stardom and also, by his actions, shows what kind of character he has at that time.

There are several chapters about Chris getting in thick with George Harrison and Pattie Boyd, including moving in to Friar Park and acting as companion to Pattie and assistant to George. Eric Clapton enters the scene there and weaves in and out of the chapters in various forms and attitudes.

Chris ends up as a tour manager for a Rolling Stones tour and there are at a couple of chapters on that experience. From there, Chris goes on to manage several other big name tours, including Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, George Harrison’s Tour, Santana, and Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Review.

As the relentless alcohol and other mind-altering substance abuses continue, the tours Chris manages become less famous and more measly. There are attempts by her to abstain, cut back, and otherwise manage the substances, mostly without success. Almost 20 years after she began her adventure, Chris decides to hang up her touring boots and become a mommy to a son who will one day hold a British title. She returns to the US, goes to college, and earns a Masters degree in Counseling Psychology.

One thing that the younger readers may not realize is that in the 1960s and 1970s it was the age of free love. The credo was, “If it feels good, do it.” Chris did a HELL of a lot of cocaine with pill chasers and shots of booze to give the right cocktail of feeling good. Along with it there was a steady stream of sexual partners that ranged from ordinary guys to superstars. There is a long list of named men that Chris had anything from a one night stand to a real relationship with along the way. I won’t give the names. You’ll have to read the book to find out!

More even than the connections Chris develops with the male musical stars are the relationships she builds with the women married to or who are close to the stars, including Pattie Boyd, Maureen Starkey (Ringo’s now-deceased ex-wife, May Pang (one of John Lennon’s intimate partners,) and Astrid Lundstrom (Stones’ Bill Wyman’s wife.)

The title of the book is in reference to the song, “Miss O’Dell,” that George Harrison wrote for Chris. The book also mentions, “Pisces Apple Lady,” a song that Leon wrote for Chris.

For anyone who is interested in the music and lifestyles of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, and Leon Russell in the 1960’s and 1970’s, I would recommend you read the book. What may seem like useless trivia to some is priceless insider information for those who are interested.

[Michael Duane Robbins · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book immensely, apart from the fact that it was another story of an insider. Chris O’Dell was a trusted and loved assistant and tour manager to some of the biggest acts of the rock era like The Rolling Stones, CSN&Y & Queen. If you look on the back of the Stone’s Exile on Main Street, you’ll see her in the lower left corner; people know her as the ‘mystery lady’ here. It was also her luck to often be in the middle of the Beatles’ love squabbles between George & Pattie & Eric Clapton. George & Maureen Starkey & Ringo, a jealous Clapton & Pattie, not to mention an early, heart-breaking affair with Leon Russell. My personal favorite quotation from the book? “Clapton is God? Well Eric Clapton was no god to me. He was a royal pain in the ass”.

I need to regress for a moment. I like the imagery she uses of a trapdoor hidden in the floor when you as a drug user think you’ve hit rock bottom. And no, there’s another trapdoor under that one, and another…I sympathize with her struggle to beat drugs, and I’m glad she overcame her addiction, but I don’t see what was so enthralling about sticking a needle in your arm. It had to be the addiction talking. I’ve been ding that all my life, literally, sticking myself with needles to take my insulin, though that only involves a subcutaneous injection. I have always had to put up with doctors doing blood draws. I hate needles. Just the idea of sticking one in my veins makes me cringe. Forgive me for saying so…actually, don’t bother. I don’t see the attraction of shooting up. That’s one notch I’ll never need, thank you.

Where was I? Well, here’s a woman who can justly claim to have had four songs written about her. Here we go…Leon Russell penned two of them, “Pisces Apple Lady” and “Hummingbird” during their brief affair in 1969. I knew George Harrison’s song “Miss O’Dell” as the B-side of his hit “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth”. And then there’s Joni Mitchell’s “Coyote”, written on Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder tour, when O’Dell was cheating with Sam Shepherd, after which he cheated on her with Joni Mitchell. Yeah. I had fun with this book. Dig in.

[Shane McLennan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really a fun read. Took me back to my hippie days smoking pot and listening to the great musicians of the times, 1968-1985. The life of Chris O’Dell, being an assistant to many famous musicians, the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Leon Russell, Bob Dylan and more was fun to follow. She went on all their tours and did any task that was asked of her. A lot was written about George Harrison and his wife Patti, Chris’s best friend, who eventually married Eric Clapton. Also, a lot written about Ringo Star and wife Maureen, eventually divorced. It’s funny Chris O’Dell got married on June 22, 1985 to Anthony Russell the same date as my wedding, although they got divorced. She has a child Will with Anthony and with all the drugs she was doing, she felt she was being a horrible mother, which she was, so went to rehab and stayed sober. Anthony, born into an eccentric aristocrat family, Chris thought she had it made, couldn’t do it and drugs broke up the marriage.

[Ruth Capoun · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a ride she had!!! I loved this book. Chris was in the right place at the right time and her life was pretty phenomenal.

She tells the tales of how she moved from her home town in Tuscon to moving to Los Angeles and then onto London.
Working for and becoming friends with some of the most talented and influential people in the music business to settling back down in her 40's.
A great tale of success, failure, love won, love lost and all the addictions in between.
It was interesting to read the truth inside the break ups and affairs and goings on of musicians in her life.
I wanted it to go on and on but.....every tale has an ending.

[Terry · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll be honest and say that I downloaded this book by mistake. I meant to click on the one next to it! As I had it I thought I'd read it and was glad I did and for me it was a different insight into the world of the ending of The Beatles from someone who was on the periphery of the events. I didn't really warm to Miss O'Dell herself, but her warts and all life story, enhanced by Ketcham with a slightly over romantic turn of phrase, was very interesting from someone who was there and gave even more of a personal insight into the famous bands and characters of the era of rock and roll that was certainly golden.

[Olivia Wheeler · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really recommend this for any massive George Harrison fans/ Beatles fans. I loved this book so much! It gave a true perspective of how working with The Beatles at Apple Corps was like as well as how George Harrison really was, it was funny, sad and uplifting but definitely one of the best 60s musicians/ The Beatles books I have read!!

[Jennifer J · Rating 5 out of 5]

I could not put this book down. It was full of interesting stories about her time with various rock bands (Beatles,Rolling Stones, and more). If you are a fan of classic rock and like behind the scenes stories, this book is for you!

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Road stories from someone who ended up being in the right place at the right time...

[Tim Schoeneck · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. Loved. I read obsessively but rarely read a book twice. I’ve read this book four times and each time I love it more.

[Pam Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great personal story of living alongside rock and roll icons.

[Jennyron · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite book this year. A window into the best music legends of all time.

[Sally Davies · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating insight

[Lisa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Depressing

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Re-read an old favourite. Just a fun read!

[Christine Grant · Rating 3 out of 5]

The fact that I listened to this audio means that there was almost nothing available in the memoir/biography section of Overdrive. I am not a big music fan, and when given the choice between listening to music or talk radio, I will choose talk radio every time. Still, I love a biography and I gave this one a chance.

Chris O'Dell had the fortune of working behind the scenes with the biggest name in the music biz. After reading this book, the big questions is "why." Miss O'Dell seems like a hanger-on who had little to add. She "hangs out" doing drugs and sleeping on couches for most of the retelling.

Thankfully, Miss O'Dell gets her act together by the end of the book.

Overall, an interesting read. And I have checked out Pattie's Boyd's book to read next.

[Nihar]

বইটা চাইয়া আনা হইছিলো বাংলায় বুইঝা শুইনা লিখুম টাইপ ইচ্ছা জ্ঞাপন করে, তা বারিধারা যাই, ধানমণ্ডি যাই, ঐ কই সই বই'তে ঘুরতে ফিরতে যাই; আজকাল ফ্রেঞ্চও শিখতে যাই কিন্তু বইটার এক পেইজ খুলা হয় নাই। গতকাল রাইতে কয়েকটা পেইজ খুইলা পড়ার পরে মনে হইলো ব্যাক টু প্যাভিলিয়ন হ্যাভ টু ফাইন্ড দিস মাইস্টার পিছ অব শিট ইমিডিয়েটলি ফ্রম বাংলাদেশ! আমাজনে অর্ডার করার ইচ্ছা জ্ঞাপন রাখলাম, এইসব না পড়লে এইজন্মে নারীর মন বুঝা সম্ভব না, ���বে না, হপেই না!

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great insight on the music biz with the Beatles, Stones and some other great artists during the 60's and 70's. Well-written, painfully honest and extremely interesting...