"Rock and roll has traditionally been a boys' game. It has forced female artists to work twice as hard, usually for half the recognition, their contributions too often ghettoized into supplements and special issues or obscured by the sparkle of slick marketing packages. No matter the obstacles, however, women have always been drawn to the restless life of the road, to the glamour of the stage, to the need to make a joyful noise.".

"What would guitar techniques look like today without Maybelle Carter's "Carter Scratch"? Who would Elvis Presley and Janis Joplin have been if Big Mama Thornton had never recorded "Hound Dog" or written "Ball and Chain"? Where would American music - an art form that has come to define our popular culture - be without the contributions of these women musicians and artists? Gerri Hirshey has been "on the bus," traveling with and writing about musicians for two decades.

And she has gathered compelling evidence that without these women, the history of rock would be radically different - and much the poorer for it.".

"In a narrative based on frank, provocative original interviews and a vise grasp of American cultural history, Hirshey takes us on a wild ride through a century of popular music and the women who made it. We are whispered to in the dark night of Janis Joplin's soul and pinioned to the studio wall by Aretha Franklin's mighty pipes.

We listen in as Phil Spector and Ellie Greenwich build the Ronettes' perfect pop moment, "Be My Baby." Joni Mitchell rewrites womanhood, and Debbie Harry and Patti Smith tear it down again. We meet Madonna at nineteen, debating what she's willing to do for a record deal, and hear what Tina Turner thinks of being called a victim. Hirshey gleefully deconstructs vitriol queen Courtney Love, country darling Dolly Parton, neohippie Sarah McLachlan, provocateur fatale Lil' Kim.

Whitney Houston and Cher elucidate the meaning of diva, while bold anti-divas Lauryn Hill and Missy Elliott look to the female rock star of the future."--BOOK JACKET.