Through Amanda Lear connexion..

[www.amazon.com]

This is from Chapter One of Amanda Lear's Dali memoir "Persistence of Memory",(1985). It's subtitled "First Meeting: Louis XIV and the Court":


During the autumm of 1965 I was studying fine art in London. To help pay
for my drawing lessons and the rent of my small flat on Chelsea's Sloane
Avenue, Catherine Harle, the director od a Parisian modeling agency,
suggested that I should come to Paris and model for haute couture
collections. One of Catherine's close friends, a German girl named Anita
Pallenberg, was the lover of the Rolling Stones guitarist, Brian Jones.
She often spoke of him and I was fascinated not only by his personality
but also by his clothes. As for me, I had fallen madly in love with a
friend of Brian's, an Irish boy with a somewhat feminine name, Tara. He
was married to a friend of mine and they had two small children. Quite
soon Anita decided to drop her guitarist for Keith Richard, another member
of the group. In order to take his mind off things, Tara invited Brian to
Paris, where his very wealthy mother lived. On the night of their arrival
we decided to eat at Castel's in the rue Princesse.

Brian, as one might expect, was dressed in typical rock musician gear:
long scarves, beads around his neck, a wide brimmed hat and dark glasses.
Tara was dressed in a lacy, frilled shirt and purple velvet suit, which
might have come straight from the time of the Restoration. I was wearing
a miniskirt and boots. Our entrance didn't go unnoticed. I immediately
stumbled on a couple of friends from London, John and Dennis, identical
twins, both beautiful and bronzed from a holiday in Spain. They were
sitting at a long table presided over by Salvador Dali and they asked us
to join them. The Master was sitting on a kind of throne, surrounded by
his adoring courtesans and favorites.

I couldn't resist the idea of meeting Dali in the flesh. He rose to greet
us, went through the motions of kissing my hand, then exclaimed pompously:
"How do you do? I see the heavenly twins have done a good job."

Without asking our names he introduced us to his Court: "Mademoiselle
Ginesta, the Rolling Stone, Lord...you must be a Lord aren't you?"

Tara tried not to laugh and Brian, behind his dark glasses rolled his eyes
in disbelief. I had the distinct impression Dali was making fools of us
and said huffily, "My name is Amanda, not Ginesta, and 'His Lordship' is
Tara, and the Rolling Stone is, as I think you know, Brian Jones."

"But of course, the famous musician."

His English was comical and he rolled his r's in an exaggerated fashion.

"Amanda!, What a pretty name!" We've never had an Amanda at the Court.
We have a Saint Sebastian, a Red Guard, a Unicorn, a Cardinal....sit down
beside Louis XIV, I beg you. She speaks excellent English. Did you know
that Louis spoke English in New York with Greta Garbo?"

Louis XIV turned out to be a blonde woman, dripping with jewels, who did
ask me one or two questions in English. Dali was balding and slightly
overweight. I found him pretentious and, to be quite honest, rediculous
with his waxed moustache and gold lame waistcoat. To add emphasis to his
words he brandished a gold-topped cane....

Early into the evening Dali got
up and announced that he was going to bed --"Gala doesn't like me to stay
up too late" -at the same time insisting that we stay on as his guests.
Louis XIV and one of the young girls also rose to leave. As he departed,
Dali kissed my hand emphatically and asked if I was free for lunch the
following day. Without waiting for my answer, he continued: "Bring your
friend. I shall be waiting for you at Lasserre's. You know it? See you
at one o'clock on the dot."

The he was off in a wake of tuberose; he wore a bloom behind his ear,
while the young "virgin" solemnly carried one in her hand like a candle.

Brian was thrilled. "He's crazy, man, completely crazy!"

The twins explained that they had met Dali in Cadaques on the Costa Brava. He had seen them from his window and and asked them to pose for him. The twins considered him crazy but quite cool. One of Dali's obsessions was to give nicknames to people since he found most real names either too prosaic or too difficult to pronounce. Thus the twins were the "Dioscuri", from Greek mythology. All blondes were automatically "Ginesta", after the bright yellow flower that grows on the shores of the Mediterranean in springtime; anyone thin, male or female, was a "Saint Sebastian"; Orientals were "Red Guards"; certain pale models became "Christ"; while chinless wonders of good breeding were "Filets of Sole".

Why would Dali want to know us? Because we were young and English and dressed extravagently. He liked to surround himself with the eccentric and remarkable, and loved to stand out in a crowd, playing the role of King, his devoted courtiers around him. He christined himself the Divine Dali. I found all this quite rediculous. How could a painter in his stature behave in such a childish way, surrounding himself with imbeciles who encouraged him in his pretentious?

We ended the evening late and I slept with Tara in his apartment, it's walls covered with paintings by Magritte. His mother, who didn't particulary like her daughter-in-law, was ready to encourage us in our affair, and I was too happpy to waste time reflecting on the evening's events....

--This book so far is a trip! I wish there was a photo with Brian or Tara inside. There is a photo of Amanda with John Lennon from 1967 in it. It really helps that I've enjoyed Dali's eccentric art and life for years! I remember being blown away when Bowie screened Dali and Luis Bunuel"s surrealistic film-short masterpiece "Un Chein Andalou" before he took the stage on the "Station To Station" tour. It was so SURREAL to say the least!

My best man Carlos is a Dali influenced painter himself and when we visited Spain in '91 we went to his museum in Figueres and also Dali's hometown at Port Lligat, it was amazingly beautiful and his art and influence was everywhere in the town.

Before I looked into the origins of "Miss Amanda Jones" I was unaware of Brian meeting him. Lear's book is a bit of a hoot because you have to read it under the assumption that he/she was born a real woman....!

There's more on Tara, Brian, etc. which I'll be posting including her account of the night Brian drowned.....

And Bill was friends with Marc Chagall

As with most Lear recollections, there's wonkyness.

Anita not leaving Brian until spring 1967 by which time Tara was dead.

The evnts described up above took place in 1966.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2017-01-03 16:47 by His Majesty.

Amanda & Tara - Paris 1966 - by Michael Cooper



Photo is from this ace book: [www.amazon.co.uk]

This is from the time of the Dali meeting, and Amanda being awe struck by Dali etc and Tara being present, but not able to do anything to stop it.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2017-01-03 17:01 by His Majesty.

That's nice

Interesting Joker, thanks for posting.

[www.mujerhoy.com]


Q- Usted estaba enamorada de Dalí. Sin embargo, cuando entró en su vida, allí estaba Gala, su mujer.

A- Amanda Lear ¡Yo no sabía que estaba casado! Yo estudiaba en la Escuela de Bellas Artes y salía con Brian Jones, guitarrista de los Rolling Stones. Tenía 17 o 18 años cuando nos cruzamos por primera vez en Castel y él me gritó: «Tienes la calavera más bonita que he visto nunca» y me sentí molesta. Él se dio cuenta y me explicó: "Querida, un esqueleto de buena calidad es la cosa más importante de la vida". Para mí era un gilipollas, pero como quería conocer a Brian Jones, nos invitó a almorzar al día siguiente. Dado que Brian estaba, como siempre, demasiado colgado, acudí sola. Allí descubrí a otro hombre. Recitaba poemas de Lorca, me miraba y decía: «Nunca más nos separaremos».


Q_ You were in love with Dali. When he came into your life there she was Gala, his wife.

A.- I did not know he was married. I was in Arts School and I was dating with Brian Jones.. I was 17 or 18 we we first met in Castel and he shouted: "you have the most beautiful skull I have ever seen". I did not like it at all. He realised and added. "Darling, a good quality skeleton is the most important thing in life".
He was an @#$%& but AS he was willing to meet BRIAN JONES he invited us to have lunch. As Brian was deeply stoned, as usual, I went alone. I discovered a entire diferent man....



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2017-01-04 19:18 by emotionalbarbecue.

Does the book shed any light on Dali's attitude to drugs (and druggies) ?

Amanda knew Brian, but dating... erm, most likely a bit of fantasy there.

Quote
His Majesty
Amanda knew Brian, but dating... erm, most likely a bit of fantasy there.

Depends on how you define dating.

Quote
latebloomer

Depends on how you define dating.

S'pose, Brian dated a lot of people then, including the stones.

Quote
emotionalbarbecue
[www.mujerhoy.com]


Q- Usted estaba enamorada de Dalí. Sin embargo, cuando entró en su vida, allí estaba Gala, su mujer.

A- Amanda Lear ¡Yo no sabía que estaba casado! Yo estudiaba en la Escuela de Bellas Artes y salía con Brian Jones, guitarrista de los Rolling Stones. Tenía 17 o 18 años cuando nos cruzamos por primera vez en Castel y él me gritó: «Tienes la calavera más bonita que he visto nunca» y me sentí molesta. Él se dio cuenta y me explicó: "Querida, un esqueleto de buena calidad es la cosa más importante de la vida". Para mí era un gilipollas, pero como quería conocer a Brian Jones, nos invitó a almorzar al día siguiente. Dado que Brian estaba, como siempre, demasiado colgado, acudí sola. Allí descubrí a otro hombre. Recitaba poemas de Lorca, me miraba y decía: «Nunca más nos separaremos».


Q_ You were in love with Dali. When he came into your life there she was Gala, his wife.

A.- I did not know he was married. I was in Arts School and I was dating with Brian Jones.. I was 17 or 18 we we first met in Castel and he shouted: "you have the most beautiful skull I have ever seen". I did not like it at all. He realised and added. "Darling, a good quality skeleton is the most important thing in life".
He was an @#$%& but AS he was willing to meet BRIAN JONES he invited us to have lunch. As Brian was deeply stoned, as usual, I went alone. I discovered a entire diferent man....

" good quality skeleton" yes bone structure.