Michael B. (Ichabod) reviewed Drums & Demons: The Tragic Journey of Jim Gordon on + 178 more book reviews
Hearing What No One Else Could
You can't make this stuff up-- and it is heartbreaking that this isn't fiction.
Jim Gordon played drums on so many important hit songs it was ridiculous. He was a member of Derek and the Dominoes and was even credited for co-writing "Layla." one of rock's seminal pieces. He was the most in-demand studio drummer, he was well connected, he was good looking--he was on top of the world.
On June 3, 1983, he took a hammer and butcher knife and brutally murdered his 71-year-old-mother.
This is a gut-wrenching story. Jim appeared to be the nicest guy in the world, a little shy, and blessed with an intuitive talent that had the greatest drummers in the world, including Hal Blaine and Jim Keltner, shaking their heads in astonishment. There is a playlist at the back of the book showing work with the Beach Boys, Phil Spector, Neil Young, John Lennon, George Harrison, Tom Petty... the beat goes on and on.
And then the voices came. The lone way to keep the voices at bay was to smother them with increasing amounts of drugs and alcohol. As his behavior slowly became more erratic, people chalked it up to another rock star's tango with drugsâ just an occupational hazard. No one was aware of the voices he heard in his head, not his girlfriends, not his coworkers, not even the psychiatrists he eventually turned to.
Rita Coolidge, at one time his girlfriend, tells of the time they were part of Joe Cocker's Mad Dogs and Englishmen tour, and Jim asked her to step out into the hallway with him. Things had been going so well with the two that she guessed he might be asking her to marry him. Instead, he punched her in the face so hard she hit the wall and lost consciousness. He nonchalantly walked into the next room and told people, "I hit Rita."
Later, as the voices became louder and more frequent, Jim would suffer unbearable pain if he tried to ignore them...a "white hot cruelty pain" encircling his head. His career started collapsing as his performance and dependability became increasingly unstable. The self-medicating with liquor and drugs only masked his condition to friends and doctors. Complaints of depression, anxiety and fatigue were never linked to schizophrenia. No one knew about the voices.
The voices came from many people, with his mother's becoming more prevalent. He believed she "...was a truly evil person who had a hand in the deaths of Karen Carpenter and Paul Lynde."
Joel Selvin has written a captivating account flowing as quickly as the best of novels. While it is hard to have any sympathy for someone responsible for such a gruesome act, the overwhelming perception is that Jim Gordon was doomed, a victim tormented by his own illness. A tragic tale.
A couple side notes: This book opened my eyes (or ears) to so many details going into drum performances I was never sensitive to-- I will listen with enlightenment now. The other note is it seems, although "Layla" is credited to Eric Clapton and Jim Gordon, the piano portion was composed by Rita Coolidge who was never recognized creatively or financially. When she confronted Clapton's manager, Robert Stigwood, he slammed her with, "Who do you think you are? You're a girl singer... what are you going to do?"
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
You can't make this stuff up-- and it is heartbreaking that this isn't fiction.
Jim Gordon played drums on so many important hit songs it was ridiculous. He was a member of Derek and the Dominoes and was even credited for co-writing "Layla." one of rock's seminal pieces. He was the most in-demand studio drummer, he was well connected, he was good looking--he was on top of the world.
On June 3, 1983, he took a hammer and butcher knife and brutally murdered his 71-year-old-mother.
This is a gut-wrenching story. Jim appeared to be the nicest guy in the world, a little shy, and blessed with an intuitive talent that had the greatest drummers in the world, including Hal Blaine and Jim Keltner, shaking their heads in astonishment. There is a playlist at the back of the book showing work with the Beach Boys, Phil Spector, Neil Young, John Lennon, George Harrison, Tom Petty... the beat goes on and on.
And then the voices came. The lone way to keep the voices at bay was to smother them with increasing amounts of drugs and alcohol. As his behavior slowly became more erratic, people chalked it up to another rock star's tango with drugsâ just an occupational hazard. No one was aware of the voices he heard in his head, not his girlfriends, not his coworkers, not even the psychiatrists he eventually turned to.
Rita Coolidge, at one time his girlfriend, tells of the time they were part of Joe Cocker's Mad Dogs and Englishmen tour, and Jim asked her to step out into the hallway with him. Things had been going so well with the two that she guessed he might be asking her to marry him. Instead, he punched her in the face so hard she hit the wall and lost consciousness. He nonchalantly walked into the next room and told people, "I hit Rita."
Later, as the voices became louder and more frequent, Jim would suffer unbearable pain if he tried to ignore them...a "white hot cruelty pain" encircling his head. His career started collapsing as his performance and dependability became increasingly unstable. The self-medicating with liquor and drugs only masked his condition to friends and doctors. Complaints of depression, anxiety and fatigue were never linked to schizophrenia. No one knew about the voices.
The voices came from many people, with his mother's becoming more prevalent. He believed she "...was a truly evil person who had a hand in the deaths of Karen Carpenter and Paul Lynde."
Joel Selvin has written a captivating account flowing as quickly as the best of novels. While it is hard to have any sympathy for someone responsible for such a gruesome act, the overwhelming perception is that Jim Gordon was doomed, a victim tormented by his own illness. A tragic tale.
A couple side notes: This book opened my eyes (or ears) to so many details going into drum performances I was never sensitive to-- I will listen with enlightenment now. The other note is it seems, although "Layla" is credited to Eric Clapton and Jim Gordon, the piano portion was composed by Rita Coolidge who was never recognized creatively or financially. When she confronted Clapton's manager, Robert Stigwood, he slammed her with, "Who do you think you are? You're a girl singer... what are you going to do?"
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
