Rock ‘n’ Roll Witch

by Pleasant Gehman

ROCK ’N’ ROLL WITCH recounts Pleasant Gehman’s astonishing life, where music and the unexplained have been constants for decades. Her supernatural experiences unfold to a soundtrack of old school punk, 50’s rockabilly, vintage blues, classic rock and girl groups. Stranger than fiction, her true stories of spirit encounters, synchronicity and her own psychic abilities are populated with the friends who also experienced them, including The Go-Go’s, The Cramps, The Germs, The Gun Club, The Blasters and many more. Her writing is riveting, loaded with humor and extraordinary details that will make readers question their own reality.

Pleasant Gehman could write the phonebook and I'd read it. In Rock & Roll Witch , she ties together tales of cemetery adventures from childhood through her wild days as a Hollywood punk rocker in the 1970's and beyond. Her language is thrilling and the stories remind me of great pulp fiction, except it's all real!
- John Doe from X, Austin, TX


Reading this book is like sidling up to the bar in a dark and dangerous dive, sitting next to a stranger who begins telling you a story that draws you in and weaves a magnetic web of fascination. Her stories prove that ghost stories are not just "stories." It's a true mystical, magical page-turner that will leave you spellbound.
- Madame Pamita, author of Madame Pamita's Magical Tarot (Weiser)

225 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2022

About the author

Pleasant Gehman is a true renaissance woman: writer, dancer, actor, musician and painter.A Hollywood icon, during the 1970′s, she was one of the first punks in Los Angeles, documenting the scene she helped create in her fanzine “Lobotomy”. During the 1980′s, she toured across North America fronting her three bands, all of whom released recordings: The Screaming Sirens, The Ringling Sisters and Honk If Yer Horny. She was also the booker for the seminal Los Angeles clubs Cathay De Grande and Raji’s.

Since the early 1990′s, under the stage name Princess Farhana, she has appeared internationally and a professional belly dancer and burlesque performer and teacher. She has danced and acted in numerous motion pictures, in music videos and on television. She has appeared in many documentaries on belly dance and burlesque, performing and as an interview subject. In 2009, she was the star of Steve Balderson’s film “Underbelly: A Year In The Life Of Princess Farhana“ which was released worldwide in theaters as well as on DVD.

Reviews

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pleasant Gehman can do no wrong as far as I’m concerned. This book contained all the elements that interest me and the stories are told by one of the most interesting people I can think of. I loved it!

[Matt & · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book recently because it was gifted to me as well as signed. This was not a book I would have normally chosen for myself. Having said that I was more than pleasant-ly surprised (pun intended as she likes to say in her book). Anyway, I grew up in the punk/skater scene back in the day (still am really) and some of the people she talks about and hung out with musically in her book were my hero's coming up. Reading this was a great ride and well done. I highly recommend picking up a copy!

[George Hamblen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. As someone who grew up on the east coast, I liked getting the west coast punk perspective. Children of the late 70s and 80s we had to find our own ways. Punk music was our way to many adventures. The author’s story is a wild no holds barred ride through this experience.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

May all the stars above bless Plesant Gehman forever. What an absolute doll. Pleasant is one of those people that everyone wishes was her friend. She reminds me of a West Coast Cookie Mueller. The writing is more friviolous and fizzy, like the West Coast itself, but still a very fun ride.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating addition to Pleasant Gehman's oeuvre of LA rock and roll weirdness.

[Amelia · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is my bible