Rock drummer who killed mother dies at 77
Jim Gordon, the rock `n' roll session drummer who played on classic records by Eric Clapton, George Harrison and The Beach Boys but suffered from growing mental health problems and spent the second half of his life in prison for killing his mother, has died at 77.
Gordon died Monday at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville, the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation confirmed Thursday. It's believed he died of natural causes, but the official cause will be determined by the Solano County coroner.
Gordon, diagnosed with schizophrenia, had been in prison for four decades.
In June 1983, Gordon attacked his 71-year-old mother, Osa Gordon, with a hammer and fatally stabbed her with a butcher knife. He claimed that a voice told him to do it.
It wasn't until after his arrest for second-degree murder that Gordon was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Gordon was sentenced to 16 years to life in prison with the possibility of parole. However, he was denied parole several times after not attending any hearings.
Gordon remained in prison until his death at CMF, where he had been housed since March 6, 2012, Todd Javernick, a spokesman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, told The Reporter.
From the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s, few drummers were more in demand than Gordon, a Los Angeles native and protege of the all-time versatile session man, Hal Blaine. Gordon had been drumming since his teens and — early in his career — was part of Phil Spector's celebrated studio ensemble, “The Wrecking Crew,” which featured Blaine.
Gordon eventually played on the Beach Boys' landmark, experimental “Pet Sounds” and the Byrds' “The Notorious Byrd Brothers,” Harrison's post-Beatles triple album “All Things Must Pass” and Steely Dan's jazz-rock “Pretzel Logic.” He worked with a wide range of top acts, from Joan Baez and Jackson Browne to Merle Haggard and Tom Petty. One of his notable credits was a drum break on the Incredible Bongo Band's “Apache” that has been frequently sampled by rap music artists, among them Jay-Z, Busta Rhymes and Kool Moe Dee.
Gordon also toured with with Clapton, bassist Carl Radle and keyboardist Bobby Whitlock: the core of what, in 1970, became Derek and the Dominos, one of rock's greatest oneshot groups.
Their only studio album, the double record “Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs,” has often been called the creative peak of Clapton's career.
The first half of “Layla” was a high-volume showcase for Clapton and guest guitarist Duane Allman, the second half a mournful piano coda of disputed origins. Gordon was officially credited as co-writer for “Layla,” but Whitlock later claimed Gordon took the piano melody from his then-girlfriend, singer Rita Coolidge.