Jim Gordon(1945-2023)
- Music Department
- Actor
- Composer
Jim Gordon backed many significant rock recordings of the 1960s and '70s, including Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'," Carly Simon's "You're So Vain" and, most famously, "Layla," as a member of Eric Clapton's band Derek and the Dominos. Gordon played with an understated yet distinctive groove on dozens of songs that became radio hits, and was known to his peers as the "only living metronome."
He got his professional break in 1963 at age 17, when he joined the Everly Brothers on tour in England. Gordon played professionally for the next 20 years, backing some of the biggest names in rock music on the road and in the studio, including Joe Cocker, Frank Zappa, Harry Nilsson, and George Harrison. In 1970, Gordon's work on Harrison's All Things Must Pass led to the formation of Derek and the Dominos with Clapton, bassist Carl Radle, and keyboardist Bobby Whitlock.
That group was short-lived but produced a giant hit with "Layla," which Gordon co-wrote. It was his greatest musical achievement yet had nothing to do with the drums; he played the song's signature melancholy piano refrain.
"Layla" charted twice in two different years, peaking at no. 16 on the Billboard 200 in December 1970 and reaching no. 10 on the Hot 100 in August 1972 -- long after the band had broken up. (In 1993, while in prison, Gordon won a Grammy for Best Rock Song for "Layla," following the success of Clapton's Unplugged, named Album of the Year.) The song has been streamed more than 30 million times.
Gordon's popularity and work ethic earned him sessions that became monumental albums, among them John Lennon's Imagine, Gordon Lightfoot's Sundown, and Steely Dan's Pretzel Logic.
But at the height of his career, Gordon was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Combined with substance abuse, his mental illness threatened his professional reputation. Beginning in 1978, Gordon sought medical treatment at least 15 times, court records show. But he could not escape his mother's voice, which he claimed had tormented him for years. The hallucinations grew relentless, demanding that Gordon eat less, even stop touring.
To confront the voices, Gordon drove to his mother's house, where he struck her head with a hammer and also stabbed her. In 1984 he was sentenced to 16 years to life, and "remains an unreasonable risk of threat to public safety," according to the parole board's decision in March at California Medical Facility in Vacaville, where Gordon is jailed.
He got his professional break in 1963 at age 17, when he joined the Everly Brothers on tour in England. Gordon played professionally for the next 20 years, backing some of the biggest names in rock music on the road and in the studio, including Joe Cocker, Frank Zappa, Harry Nilsson, and George Harrison. In 1970, Gordon's work on Harrison's All Things Must Pass led to the formation of Derek and the Dominos with Clapton, bassist Carl Radle, and keyboardist Bobby Whitlock.
That group was short-lived but produced a giant hit with "Layla," which Gordon co-wrote. It was his greatest musical achievement yet had nothing to do with the drums; he played the song's signature melancholy piano refrain.
"Layla" charted twice in two different years, peaking at no. 16 on the Billboard 200 in December 1970 and reaching no. 10 on the Hot 100 in August 1972 -- long after the band had broken up. (In 1993, while in prison, Gordon won a Grammy for Best Rock Song for "Layla," following the success of Clapton's Unplugged, named Album of the Year.) The song has been streamed more than 30 million times.
Gordon's popularity and work ethic earned him sessions that became monumental albums, among them John Lennon's Imagine, Gordon Lightfoot's Sundown, and Steely Dan's Pretzel Logic.
But at the height of his career, Gordon was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Combined with substance abuse, his mental illness threatened his professional reputation. Beginning in 1978, Gordon sought medical treatment at least 15 times, court records show. But he could not escape his mother's voice, which he claimed had tormented him for years. The hallucinations grew relentless, demanding that Gordon eat less, even stop touring.
To confront the voices, Gordon drove to his mother's house, where he struck her head with a hammer and also stabbed her. In 1984 he was sentenced to 16 years to life, and "remains an unreasonable risk of threat to public safety," according to the parole board's decision in March at California Medical Facility in Vacaville, where Gordon is jailed.
