A Grammy-winning drummer responsible for co-writing the groundbreaking rock ballad Layla has died in a California mental institution after being incarcerated for nearly 40 years for killing his mother during a schizophrenic episode.
Jim Gordon, celebrated for his collaborations with some of rock’s biggest names in the ’60s and ’70s, died of natural causes at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville on Monday, his publicist said Tuesday – revealing that the fallen Star “after a long period of incarceration” has now found rest and a lifelong battle with mental illness.’ He was 77.
Originating in Los Angeles, Gordon’s story is one of rock ‘n’ roll’s most blatant sins.
Once a founding member of Eric Clapton’s Derek and the Dominos and a key drummer on George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass, his oeuvre consists of hundreds of recognizable songs.
Aside from being a credited co-writer of Clapton’s 1970 classic, his embroidery work can be heard on notable albums like The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds and singles like Carly Simon’s You’re So Vain.
Jim Gordon, founding member of Eric Clapton’s Derek and the Dominos and one of the main drummers of George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass, died Monday in a California mental institution after killing his mother in 1983 and serving nearly 40 years in prison
Once a founding member of Eric Clapton’s group, Gordon’s oeuvre consists of hundreds of recognizable songs – including Grammy-winning Layla, which he co-wrote. The couple are seen together around 1970
Other big collaborators include Steely Dan, Little Richard, Sonny and Cher, Nancy Sinatra, Glen Campbell, the Everly Brothers and even the Byrds with their LA rock colleague David Crosby, who also died that year.
Additionally, most will tell you that if there were a list of the best drummers of the ’60s and ’70s, Gordon would undoubtedly be at the top – with his drum breaks sampled by rappers like Nas and Jay-Z to this day.
However, a protracted, improperly managed battle with mental illness would ultimately turn his career upside down, leading to the brutal stabbing of his 72-year-old mother, Osa Marie Gordon, on June 3, 1983.
It was only after his arrest that doctors diagnosed the increasingly unstable drummer with schizophrenia – although at a subsequent trial, changes in state law at the time barred him from using insanity as a defense.
However, the California court accepted that the star suffered from acute schizophrenia, but still imposed a life sentence of 16 years in state prison.
At the time, the verdict marked a blatant and sudden fall from grace for the rocker, who was reportedly so busy at the height of his career that he flew daily from LA to Vegas to have time to attend recording sessions before returning to play at Caesars to play Palace.
It was later revealed that the star had been showing signs of mental illness since the late ’60s, as well as increasingly unstable behavior, although doctors repeatedly misdiagnosed the issues and instead treated the rocker for alcohol abuse.
During this time, Gordon began hearing voices—including his mother’s—which he later said forced him to starve himself during his trial and prevented him from sleeping and sometimes playing the drums.
Aside from being a credited co-writer of Clapton’s 1970 classic, his embroidery work can be heard on albums like The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds and singles like Carly Simon’s You’re So Vain.
Gordon (second from right) is seen with colleague Derek and Dominos members Claton, Bobby Whitlock and Carl Radle circa 1970
Celebrated for some of rock’s biggest names in the ’70s, Gordon is seen here in this undated photo from the California Medical Facility, where he died Monday
Over the next decade, warning signs of the star’s instability continued to surface, including his alleged attack on his then-girlfriend, famed singer-songwriter Rita Coolidge, in a hotel in 1970.
The incident ended the couple’s year-long relationship, but has been attributed to rocker behavior that was common at the time.
Aside from the incident, the drummer did well to cover up his deteriorating psyche by continuing to churn out hits while showing few, if any, signs of his increasing instability.
“He was an amazing guy, just so charismatic,” Coolidge was recently quoted as saying in Buffalo tom rocker Bill Janovitz’s biography of Leon Russell.
‘[But] After it all happened I started to recognize that look in his eyes and knew he wasn’t playing with a full deck.
Finally, in the summer of 1983, Gordon’s inner turmoil came to a head. Gordon fatally attacked his mother, Osa, with a hammer at her LA home.
During the attack, Gordon then brandished a knife and stabbed his mother. After his arrest, he confessed to police that a voice in his head told him to carry out the crime.
He was promptly tried and convicted, putting an end to his storied career.
During the course of his incarceration, which began in 1984, Gordon admitted to having been “institutionalized” before being transferred to the California Mental Asylum and has now expressed a genuine desire to be released.
He was sentenced to probation several times between 1991 and 2018, all of which were denied.
In 2014, ahead of his ninth parole hearing, he declined to attend, with an LA assistant prosecutor stating at the time he was still “seriously mentally challenged” and “a danger if he doesn’t take his medication.”
In November 2017, Gordon was re-diagnosed with schizophrenia and continued to receive treatment.
Gordon’s publicist confirmed Tuesday that he died while incarcerated at the California Medical Facility, where he has been held for years, after being convicted of murder in 1984
His last parole hearing was in March 2018, where officials denied the musician parole for the tenth and final time. It was tentatively planned that he would be eligible for early release again in March 2021, although a hearing was never held.
His publicist confirmed Tuesday that he died while incarcerated at the California Medical Facility.
In 1991, around the time of the drummer’s first parole hearing, Clapton told Rolling Stone about his friend’s mental struggles at the height of their success and thought he just got on drugs.
“I had no idea he had a psychotic history of visions and hearing voices from a young age,” Clapton, now 77, told Rolling Stone.
“It was never obvious when we worked together. It just seemed bad vibes, the worst kind of bad vibes. I never would have said he was going insane. For me it was just the drugs.”
Gordon leaves no family. Clapton has not yet commented on his death.