On this day (March 13) in 2023, Jim Gordon died at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville, California. He was a drummer and songwriter who played on multiple classic albums. For instance, he appears on the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds and George Harrison’s solo debut. Additionally, he played drums for the supergroup Derek and the Dominoes and co-wrote “Layla” with Eric Clapton.
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Beck was already a talented musician when he graduated from high school. He could have gone to UCLA on a scholarship. Instead, he chose to skip college and start his professional career. At the age of 17, he was backing the Everly Brothers. Over the next few years, he became one of the most in-demand session players on the West Coast. As a result, he played with Paul Revere & the Raiders, Gene Clark, the Beach Boys, the Byrds, John Lennon, George Harrison, Tom Petty, Merle Haggard, and many more during his career.
[RELATED: Why Eric Clapton’s “Layla” Is One of the Most Star-Studded Collaborations of Rock History]
As the 1960s drew to a close, he was playing drums for Delaney & Bonnie’s backing band, which also included Eric Clapton. Soon, Clapton, Gordon, Carl Radle, and Bobby Whitlock formed the band that became Derek and the Dominos. They backed Harrison on his solo debut, All Things Must Pass.
The Tragedy of Jim Gordon
Jim Gordon developed schizophrenia, which made him hear voices. On June 3, 1983, those voices told him to murder his 71-year-old mother. He listened. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, he attacked her with a hammer first before finishing her with a butcher knife.
While the court accepted that he was suffering from schizophrenia, recent changes to California law stopped him from using an insanity defense. As a result, he was found guilty of second-degree murder and sentenced to 16 years to life on July 10, 1984. He was denied multiple times before his death in 2023.
A Continued Love for Music
A fascinating article written by Boston Woodard and reposted by Booked on Rock shares a glimpse of Jim Gordon’s life in prison. Woodard did time with Gordon at the California Men’s Colony in the mid-1990s. At that time, he was on a cocktail of antipsychotic medications that kept his symptoms at bay.
Woodard had gathered a handful of other musicians to jam in the prison’s music room. They invited Gordon to join them. Reluctant at first, he first came to the room to listen to them jam. Then, after a few songs, he agreed to sit behind the kit once more. “Anyone who had said Gordon had lost his touch would have eaten a large plate of crow that day,” Woodard wrote. “We found out in a minute why Gordon had been so sought-out. His drumming was so steady, dynamic, and impeccably clean. The man was a human metronome. The word ‘awesome’ sprang to mind.”
Featured Image by Brian Cooke/Redferns
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