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The Strange Case of Dr Terry and Mr Chimes
The Strange Case of Dr. Terry and Mr. Chimes is an autobiography with a difference. This entertaining book covers the life of a man who made a successful transition from the original drummer of The Clash (he left the band in 1977 only to be asked back in 1982) and a succession of punk and heavy metal rock bands (Generation X, Hanoi Rocks and Black Sabbath) to a highly successful chiropractor offering kind words of wisdom and compassion to those in need.
Told with humour and empathy, we learn about Terry’s childhood, about how he got into the world of rock and roll and about the early years of The Clash. Terry tells of why he left the band in the first place and the spiritual insights that have guided his life. The book includes a wealth of true stories ranging from wild antics on the road with a touring rock band to the challenges of carving out an entirely new career.
Told with humour and empathy, we learn about Terry’s childhood, about how he got into the world of rock and roll and about the early years of The Clash. Terry tells of why he left the band in the first place and the spiritual insights that have guided his life. The book includes a wealth of true stories ranging from wild antics on the road with a touring rock band to the challenges of carving out an entirely new career.
- GenresMusicNonfiction
166 pages, ebook
First published November 21, 2013
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33 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
February 5, 2014
This was a surprisingly enjoyable autobiography. I was given this book to read and review by the publisher, and I was pleasantly surprised. Terry Chimes was a drummer for The Clash and he played for other bands too, including Black Sabbath. He is the most unexpected rock star you'd ever hope to find. He's a non--drinker, a non-smoker and a non-drug user who happens to also be a vegetarian. He's is also a practicing chiropractor and acupuncturist. His insight into the life of a rock musician takes up half the book, and the other half is his life as a medical practitioner. He has a quiet but witty personality and this comes out repeatedly in this autobiography. I haven't read many rock musician autobiographies, but certainly will consider others after reading and enjoying this one. I still the love The Clash and their punk music, and have listened recently to songs that I know were ones that Terry played drums on. He is very good. He often references in the book that he was quick at memorizing songs before gigs because he did a lot of last minute live appearances, but you can't tell from the recordings. He sounds like he's been regularly playing the songs. Hooray to all the punksters still out there. "Should I stay or should I go now?"
September 13, 2014
Normally, I believe that the less I know about a rock star's personal life, the better. Especially if I like their music. Sting? No thanks. Mick Jagger? Oh hell no. I just don't want to hear something disturbing about them.
And you'd think that the drummer of the Clash would have plenty of tales of debauchery to tell. But guess what? He's a charming anomaly. Growing up he's surrounded by a loving family, plays the drums, and has a good time. When he joins the Clash he sees the damage alcohol & drugs does to his fellow musicians and decides to never do those things. Huh! Then he stops eating sugar and becomes a vegetarian after realizing the health benefits.
Then, as he gets tired of the music scene he turns to his other interest - healing. He becomes a chiropractor, an acupuncturist and a well respected doctor.
And while his book is kind of fragmented- he tells these short stories that are like little essays in his book - it's still very pleasant to read. I normally don't really go in for the chiropractor kind of medicine but he's so earnest about helping people and makes a good argument for a lot of it that you can't help but like the guy.
So I liked it. It's one of the better Nook book deals that's popped up on my e-reader.
And you'd think that the drummer of the Clash would have plenty of tales of debauchery to tell. But guess what? He's a charming anomaly. Growing up he's surrounded by a loving family, plays the drums, and has a good time. When he joins the Clash he sees the damage alcohol & drugs does to his fellow musicians and decides to never do those things. Huh! Then he stops eating sugar and becomes a vegetarian after realizing the health benefits.
Then, as he gets tired of the music scene he turns to his other interest - healing. He becomes a chiropractor, an acupuncturist and a well respected doctor.
And while his book is kind of fragmented- he tells these short stories that are like little essays in his book - it's still very pleasant to read. I normally don't really go in for the chiropractor kind of medicine but he's so earnest about helping people and makes a good argument for a lot of it that you can't help but like the guy.
So I liked it. It's one of the better Nook book deals that's popped up on my e-reader.
March 31, 2024
I knew that Terry Chimes had two stints with the Clash and became a chiropractor in later years, but didn't know about his time with Gen X, Hanoi Rocks and Black Sabbath. Comes over as a likeable gentleman in this brief autobiography which isn't all about the Clash, although he has no problem with the knowledge that most associate him with this legendary punk band. Gets a bit preachy in the latter stages about his religious beliefs, however his spirituality is what he is.
April 7, 2024
Terry Chimes is best known for playing drums for The Clash. However as he only played for them for a few years (Topper Headon being their other drummer) not a lot of this book is dedicated to the band. Still a good book though.
August 1, 2015
They say that old soldiers never die -- they simply fade away. What then, can be said of old Rock and Rollers?
If you're Terry Chimes, founding member of the infamous Eighties punk rock band, The Clash, you go on to become a successful doctor of medicine, entrepreneur, and budding author.
Chimes, formerly a world-touring drummer for the well-known rock group -- as well as Billy Idol, Black Sabbath and many others -- was also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003. But where is he now?
After fifteen years in the music industry, Chimes became a doctor of chiropractic, an acupuncturist, and CEO of a string of European chiropractic clinics. He now is a world-renowned expert on alternative medicine.
Not bad for a man who, by his own admission, grew up dirt-poor in London's East End, the middle son of three children born to his happily-married parents. Wait. Aren't all rockers supposed to be embittered, off-the-beam drug addicts?
Not Chimes. In his memoir, The Strange Case of Dr. Terry and Mr. Chimes, he comes across more like a well-adjusted grocer or accountant than a hard rocking drummer from the turbulent punk rock scene.
He is frank in his detailed recounting of "the old days," when outrageous characters like Sid Vicious -- then only a teen -- would hang around the group, trying to fit in. "It seemed he was trying to find his place in the whole punk movement," Chimes recalls. Vicious would later go on to be imprisoned for the alleged murder of his girlfriend. He committed suicide in his jail cell.
Chimes remembers that Vicious always had a strange outlook on death. "He always said he was going to die before he was 25, having lived life the way he wanted to."
This is just one of many remembrances that rock band aficionados will hungrily devour in this book. In another vignette, Chimes recalls being the opening act for The Sex Pistols.
"Our enthusiasm levels were so high for that first show that I got up at four in the morning to be at the rehearsal place by five to leave for Sheffield, which was about two hundred miles away."
More stories abound in this well-written remembrance of a time when rock music was undergoing some radical changes, and Chimes does a good job of filling in some missing pieces -- again, primarily of interest to followers of that genre of music. The later parts of the book become pretty prosaic, as Chimes leaves the Rock scene and, eventually, becomes the globe-trotting alternative medicine consultant that he now is.
Still, readers who grew up listening to The Clash and Black Sabbath will have a field day gleaning quotes and anecdotes from this former hard rocker. On balance, I give the book four stars
If you're Terry Chimes, founding member of the infamous Eighties punk rock band, The Clash, you go on to become a successful doctor of medicine, entrepreneur, and budding author.
Chimes, formerly a world-touring drummer for the well-known rock group -- as well as Billy Idol, Black Sabbath and many others -- was also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003. But where is he now?
After fifteen years in the music industry, Chimes became a doctor of chiropractic, an acupuncturist, and CEO of a string of European chiropractic clinics. He now is a world-renowned expert on alternative medicine.
Not bad for a man who, by his own admission, grew up dirt-poor in London's East End, the middle son of three children born to his happily-married parents. Wait. Aren't all rockers supposed to be embittered, off-the-beam drug addicts?
Not Chimes. In his memoir, The Strange Case of Dr. Terry and Mr. Chimes, he comes across more like a well-adjusted grocer or accountant than a hard rocking drummer from the turbulent punk rock scene.
He is frank in his detailed recounting of "the old days," when outrageous characters like Sid Vicious -- then only a teen -- would hang around the group, trying to fit in. "It seemed he was trying to find his place in the whole punk movement," Chimes recalls. Vicious would later go on to be imprisoned for the alleged murder of his girlfriend. He committed suicide in his jail cell.
Chimes remembers that Vicious always had a strange outlook on death. "He always said he was going to die before he was 25, having lived life the way he wanted to."
This is just one of many remembrances that rock band aficionados will hungrily devour in this book. In another vignette, Chimes recalls being the opening act for The Sex Pistols.
"Our enthusiasm levels were so high for that first show that I got up at four in the morning to be at the rehearsal place by five to leave for Sheffield, which was about two hundred miles away."
More stories abound in this well-written remembrance of a time when rock music was undergoing some radical changes, and Chimes does a good job of filling in some missing pieces -- again, primarily of interest to followers of that genre of music. The later parts of the book become pretty prosaic, as Chimes leaves the Rock scene and, eventually, becomes the globe-trotting alternative medicine consultant that he now is.
Still, readers who grew up listening to The Clash and Black Sabbath will have a field day gleaning quotes and anecdotes from this former hard rocker. On balance, I give the book four stars
March 1, 2017
Excellent life story! He sells himself well not that he is trying as you realise at the end! Amazing insight into working with the strummer man! Can't think of what else to say only that I would recommend a read !
May 14, 2015
This came up as a 99-cent ebook, and I couldn't resist, I actually enjoyed it quite a bit.
I am a huge Clash fan, and Clash fans should know Chimes as the drummer on the first album (he left, legend has always said for being too Right-wing) and taking over again on the Combat Rock tour when Topper Headon had drug problems.
Chimes also spent some time backing Billy Idol in Generation X, touring with Hanoi Rocks (immediately after the death of Razzle) and a brief stint in Black Sabbath (the Tony Martin years).
It was worth it for me for just all the anecdotes from all of these bands. As a Clash fan, there's stuff in here that you probably wouldn't hear anywhere else.
There's nothing earth-shaking in here, and it is certainly not the event that a Strummer or Jones book would be. That's the curse of the sideman, there's plenty of those books on some people's shelves (I got John Densmore's for example, but also the Ron Woods or Dave Davies of the world)
Still, Chimes has led a very interesting life, to the tune that surely everyone tells him he should write a book. Chimes is very straight-laced in a world that is anything but. He is clean, teetotal, and vegetarian. He left the rock world after touring with Sabbath and opening with the Clash for the Who to start a second career as a very successful chiropractor.
Chimes can tell a story, and though this a light read, there's plenty of great bits in here. Chimes's purpose in writing this book seems to be to inspire and uplift, and what's probably most surprising is that he does that really well. Indeed, this book seems to be more successful at inspiration than many books that strive to do that thing explicitly.
I expected to enjoy it, but I didn't think i would like it as much as I did. I thought things would go south when he got into the chiropractic and acupuncture side of things (ostensibly the last half of the book), but you have come to love the guy at that point, and he seems honestly wanting to help people. I would say read it for the Clash stuff (because that's what I did) but you will get more out of it than you think.
I am a huge Clash fan, and Clash fans should know Chimes as the drummer on the first album (he left, legend has always said for being too Right-wing) and taking over again on the Combat Rock tour when Topper Headon had drug problems.
Chimes also spent some time backing Billy Idol in Generation X, touring with Hanoi Rocks (immediately after the death of Razzle) and a brief stint in Black Sabbath (the Tony Martin years).
It was worth it for me for just all the anecdotes from all of these bands. As a Clash fan, there's stuff in here that you probably wouldn't hear anywhere else.
There's nothing earth-shaking in here, and it is certainly not the event that a Strummer or Jones book would be. That's the curse of the sideman, there's plenty of those books on some people's shelves (I got John Densmore's for example, but also the Ron Woods or Dave Davies of the world)
Still, Chimes has led a very interesting life, to the tune that surely everyone tells him he should write a book. Chimes is very straight-laced in a world that is anything but. He is clean, teetotal, and vegetarian. He left the rock world after touring with Sabbath and opening with the Clash for the Who to start a second career as a very successful chiropractor.
Chimes can tell a story, and though this a light read, there's plenty of great bits in here. Chimes's purpose in writing this book seems to be to inspire and uplift, and what's probably most surprising is that he does that really well. Indeed, this book seems to be more successful at inspiration than many books that strive to do that thing explicitly.
I expected to enjoy it, but I didn't think i would like it as much as I did. I thought things would go south when he got into the chiropractic and acupuncture side of things (ostensibly the last half of the book), but you have come to love the guy at that point, and he seems honestly wanting to help people. I would say read it for the Clash stuff (because that's what I did) but you will get more out of it than you think.
September 16, 2014
I enjoyed this book. It was less about The Clash and more about one man's journey through life. So I doubt that my teenaged son will want to read it next! Terry Chimes has had much success in many different arenas in his life. He comes off as a very nice person. Not a lot of juicy band gossip or details on how he became so successful, but he is such a likeable narrator that I don't mind the omissions.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews