Parachute Women

Marianne Faithfull, Marsha Hunt, Bianca Jagger, Anita Pallenberg, and the Women Behind The Rolling Stones

By: Elizabeth Winder

Narrated by: Angelina Rocca

Length: 7 hrs and 57 mins

Publisher's summary

Discover the true story of the four women who worked tirelessly behind the scenes to help shape and curate the image of The Rolling Stones—perfect for fans of Girls Like Us.

The Rolling Stones have long been considered one of the greatest rock-and-roll bands of all time. At the forefront of the British Invasion and heading up the counterculture movement of the 1960s, the Stones' innovative music and iconic performances defined a generation, and 50 years later, they're still performing to sold-out stadiums around the globe. Yet, as the saying goes, behind every great man is a greater woman, and behind these larger-than-life rock stars were four incredible women whose stories have yet to be fully unpacked...until now.

In Parachute Women, Elizabeth Winder introduces us to the four women who inspired, styled, wrote for, remixed, and ultimately helped create the legend of The Rolling Stones. Marianne Faithfull, Marsha Hunt, Bianca Jagger, and Anita Pallenberg put the glimmer in the Glimmer Twins and taught a group of straitlaced boys to be bad. They opened the doors to subterranean art and alternative lifestyles, turned them on to Russian literature, occult practices, and LSD. They connected them to cutting-edge directors and writers, won them roles in art house films that renewed their appeal. They often acted as unpaid stylists, providing provocative looks from their personal wardrobes. They remixed tracks for chart-topping albums and sometimes even wrote the actual songs. More hip to the times than the rockers themselves, they consciously (and unconsciously) kept the band current - and confident—with that mythic lasting power they still have today.

Lush in detail and insight, and long overdue, Parachute Women is a group portrait of the four audacious women who transformed the Stones into international stars but who were themselves marginalized by the male-dominated rock world of the late '60s and early '70s. Written in the tradition of Sheila Weller's Girls Like Us, it's a story of lust and rivalries, friendships and betrayals, hope and degradation, and the birth of rock and roll.

©2022 Elizabeth Winder (P)2022 Hachette Books

Critic reviews

“A fascinating portrait …. backed up by keenly described historical background and an expert understanding of 1960s and ’70s rock culture. The result is a wild ride worthy of rock’s heyday.”—Publishers Weekly

Captivating!

Women Stones' fans listen up! If you think you know everything about the Stones', you are wrong. This book delves into what we already know - behind every good man there is a great woman that makes that man what he is.

phenomenal imagery!!!

I absolutely loved this title. at first, I wasn't turned on, I almost stopped listening, but I'm so glad I didn't. it got much better the further & further I went until I couldn't stop it. I finished it in less than 2 days.

Interesting but confusing

I expected more from this book than I got. The story is interesting. I didn’t know Brian Jones was abusive to women. The book, as expected I guess, had much more details on the women but much less on the Stones (and practically nothing on Charlie). My biggest gripe though is the book includes quotes from the women but they aren’t well understood in the audio. It would have been better to make them more identifiable. Not awful but not great either.

Mostly about two women

The book should be called Anita and Mary Ann story about how much drug they consumed. While partying with the stones. It barely talk about Bianca Jagger . It feels like the author only talked or read biographies about Anita and Mary Anne and then wrote a college paper about their lives ..