Jim Gordon, once an in-demand drummer who was in a band with Eric Clapton, has died aged 77.
Gordon and Clapton, also 77, played together in Derek and the Dominos and Gordon also worked with the likes of the Beach Boys, Steely Dan and Sonny and Cher before he was found guilty of the murder of his mother.
The musician’s death was confirmed by publicist Bob Merlis, who said in a statement: ‘[Gordon died] after a long incarceration and lifelong battle with mental illness.’
In 1983, Gordon killed his mum with a butcher knife and hammer at her Hollywood home.
He was arrested and told police he’d been ordered to commit the crime by voices in his head. Gordon was later diagnosed with schizophrenia.
Despite his mental health diagnosis, the drummer was convicted of his mother’s death just over a year after the crime and handed 16 years to life in a state prison.
LA-born Gordon, whose bids for parole were unsuccessful, died at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville in California on Monday.
At the time of his death, Gordon, who according to Deadline died of natural causes, had been imprisoned for 39 years.
The outlet notes that in a 2016 memoir written by Rita Coolidge, who was previously in a romantic relationship with Gordon, she claimed he punched her in a hotel while on tour and she subsequently ended their relationship.
Born in 1954, Gordon grew up in Sherman Oaks with his accountant father and mother, who worked as a nurse.
The LA Times notes that Gordon started playing drums when he was in highschool and landed his first gig at the age of 17 ‘with the help of a fake ID’.
Speaking to the Washington Post about his mother’s death, Gordon previously said: ‘When I remember the crime, it’s kind of like a dream.
‘I can remember going through what happened in that space and time, and it seems kind of detached, like I was going through it on some other plane. It didn’t seem real.’
Gordon is survived by his daughter Amy.
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