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krispyweiss · 2 months

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Book Review: “Drums & Demons: The Tragic Journey of Jim Gordon” by Joel Selvin

Tortured by his own brain and barely functioning, Jim Gordon still found comfort in music and by 1983 was playing in dingy clubs with a band called the Blue Monkeys.

The gigs were Gordon’s only normalcy in his world of deepening mental illness.

This moment before things fell apart serves as author Joel Selvin’s introduction to the drummer, who had once been the go-to session man in Los Angeles and was a former member of Derek & the Dominos and Traffic.

“Everybody knows how this story ends,” Selvin writes in the first chapter of “Drums & Demons: The Tragic Journey of Jim Gordon.” It ends, of course, with the drummer murdering his mother, Osa Gordon, in 1983 after a career that established Jim Gordon as one of the most revered drummers in rock ‘n’ roll history.

Gordon’s tale is that of a gut-wrenching struggle with mental illness and stuff-of-dreams musical triumphs that veteran music journalist Selvin tells from an omniscient point of view, in the way Bob Woodward writes his political tomes, with citation saved for the notes and bibliography of the 302-page book.

With cooperation from surviving family members and former colleagues like Jim Keltner, Eric Clapton, Mike Post and others, Selvin paints a sympathetic picture of the Wrecking Crew drummer who struggled against the voices in his head as he recorded and toured with the Everly Brothers, the Beach Boys, Gordon Lightfoot, Joan Baez, George Harrison, Frank Zappa and others between stints in the aforementioned bands with Clapton and Steve Winwood. But while Gordon tamped down his emerging schizophrenia enough to engage in musical success, he also decked his then-girlfriend Rita Coolidge while the pair were on the Mad Dogs & Englishmen tour, committed other troubling acts of violence against women and engaged in behavior, such as speaking to people who were not present during recording sessions, that concerned his friends and family even as it left them at a loss of what to do.

Gordon’s career slowly dissolved as the 1970s turned to the 1980s and his grasp of reality grew more and more tenuous. Hospital stays and stints in rehab were unsuccessful at muting the voices that ultimately directed Gordon to kill his mother.

When they did, he listened. Gordon went to Osa Gordon’s house and murdered her with a hammer and butcher knife before heading out for a night of drinking. Police arrested a distraught Gordon, who confessed, the next morning.

He was sentenced to life in prison. Selvin ends the story in 1993 when Gordon and his fellow inmates are watching Clapton pick up a Grammy for his unplugged version of “Layla,” which Gordon was credited with co-writing.

“I’ll be darned,” Gordon said.

A more-complete book would’ve at least touched on the intervening 30 years, Gordon’s life behind bars and his 2023 death at 77. That said, “Demons & Drums” is the most-complete book on Gordon the world is likely to get and is worth the read. For despite its mildly sycophantic tone, and Gordon’s oft-horrendous behavior, Selvin has served up not only Gordon’s story but a fascinating history of the evolution of drumming and the 1970s music scene.

Grade card: “Drums & Demons: The Tragic Journey of Jim Gordon” by Joel Selvin - B+

4/3/24

#jim gordon #joel selvin #drums & demons: the tragic journey of jim gordon #derek & the dominoes #traffic #jim keltner #eric clapton #mike post #the wrecking crew #the everly brothers #the beach boys #gordon lightfoot #joan baez #george harrison #frank zappa #rita coolidge #mad dogs & englishmen #the blue monkeys

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sibmakesart · 3 months

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theyre budgeting the groceries

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themetalhiro · 1 month

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Say cheese! (and lettuce, and bacon, and onions, and-)

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eriochromatic · 2 months

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One Piece x Dungeon Meshi 🏴‍☠️🍖

part 1- luffy, zoro, nami, usopp, sanji

part 2 || part 3 || part 4 || part 5 || part 6 || part 7

#one piece #dungeon meshi #straw hat pirates #monkey d. luffy #roronoa zoro #nami one piece #usopp one piece #vinsmoke sanji #mugiwara crew #delicious in dungeon #erio art #erio stuff #I wanted to do some one piece characters based off of ryoko kui’s changeling swap art #starting with the east blue five!!

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pseudopigeons · 10 months

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started watching the silly little pirate show

#one piece #roronoa zoro #monkey d. luffy #zolu #they mean so much to me #i wanted to get caught up to east blue by the time the live action came out #am currently on episode 91 #anyways one piece oomfies let yourself be known #i need to follow more one piece artists

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sanjiwifer · 5 months

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He was a little occupied …

#east blue polycule #allsan #one piece #one piece fanart #nami #luffy #roronoa zoro #monkey d luffy #sanji #vinsmoke sanji #black leg sanji #ussopp #sanami #zosan #lusan #sanuso

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fluffyartbl0g · 10 months

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THEY’RE ALL SO SILLY!1!1!1!!1

Speedrun/Time travel AU masterlist

@nia-rarita thanks for the ask! (Sorry I couldn’t fit both parts of ur amazing ask into this sbs, but I appreciate all the gushing XD)

#one piece #op fanart #monkey d. luffy #time travel au #speedrun au #roronoa zoro #cat burglar nami #usopp #sanji #east blue crew #i drew this entire comic so i could draw zoro getting knighting by luffy XD #i think katakuri had such a strong impression of luffy in the first timeline that he still trusts him in the second one #even tho he doesnt remember anything #i think pudding prolly fills him in a bit #omfg its so late and a one piece chapter just released!!! ahhh time to read ch 1090 (❁´▽`❁)*✲ﾟ*

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incredubious · 24 days

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worm ups

#one piece #sabo #monkey d luffy #confession: colours are inspired from stardew valley night time #I gotta get into using these kindsa blues moar I love them its so HASHTAG DELISH

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joyboyish · 9 months

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i think what i love most about the one piece live action is that its very obvious its made for fans by fans

and not in the "oh they said it so it must be true" way, in the way you know it was made with nothing but love and respect for oda and his writing, how they added little easter eggs for future arcs for old fans to obsess over, and how its made to entertain both old fans and new fans too

the characters and their actors were picked and written so well you can tell these people know the characters well

its just so AAAAA

#one piece #monkey d luffy #one piece strawhats #straw hat luffy #straw hat crew #monkey d. luffy #luffy #straw hat pirates #east blue crew #sanji #roronoa zoro #nami #usopp #one piece live action #opla #opla netflix #netflix #one piece netflix

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diamondsheep · 9 months

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East Blue Crew ✨ !!!

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alicentshair · 6 months

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East Blue Crew

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suncrat · 6 months

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Nami and her boys:

#the east blue crew are so special to me I adore them #if the Usopp ones look a lil different it’s bc I drew them first #one piece #nami #monkey d. luffy #luffy #roronoa zoro #zoro #usopp #vinsmoke sanji #sanji #east blue crew #my art

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sibmakesart · 5 months

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part 2

im procrastinating on the time travel comic by working on the thriller bark aftermath one and im procrastinating on the tba comic on making this

with a bit of luck itll circle back around at some point

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beachbeibi · 3 months

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HAPPY SANJI DAY!

(I’ve only had Sanji for around 200 episodes but if something happened to him I’d take down the entire marine and the throw myself into the ocean)

#sanji week 2024 #happy birthday sanji #Sanji #sanji one piece #black leg sanji #one piece #east blue #Nami #nami one piece #usopp #one piece usopp #roronoa zoro #one piece zoro #monkey d. luffy #one piece strawhats #mugiwara crew #beibiart

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tinukis · 6 months

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east blue !!

#one piece #east blue saga #east blue crew #op fanart #luffy #zoro #nami #usopp #sanji #monkey d luffy #roronoa zoro #black leg sanji #fanart #my art #digital art #artists on tumblr #art #op's art #tin art

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hylianane · 4 months

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Luffy flirting is like “I’ll share my lunch with you!”, and Zoro flirting is like “I am going to carve my name into your body with my swords”, and Nami flirting is like “Give me 20 dollars”, and Usopp flirting is like “Did you know I invented the charcuterie board”, and Sanji flirting is like “Please please please please please please please please please please please please pleaseplease please please pleaseplease please please pleaseplease please please please”

#one piece #my post #roronoa zoro #monkey d. luffy #cat burglar nami #blackleg sanji #god usopp #east blue crew

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