Eric Clapton’s drummer Jim Gordon dies aged 77

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The Grammy Award-winning drummer Jim Gordon has died aged 77, after spending his final days in a California mental facility after being diagnosed with schizophrenia. This comes after the drummer was jailed for nearly 40 years for killing his mother during a manic episode.

Hailed for his stints with some of the biggest names in the 60s and 70s, Jim reportedly died of natural causes, his publicist announced on Tuesday.

He revealed that the fallen star was now at rest “after a long incarceration and lifelong battle with mental illness”.

Once a founding member of Eric Clapton’s Derek and the Dominoes and one of the main drummers on George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass, he was recognised for hundreds of songs.

In addition to being an accredited co-writer of Clapton’s’ 1970 classic, Layla, his drums can be heard on albums like the Beach Boys Pet Sounds and singles like Carly Simon’s You’re So Vain.

Other big-time collaborators include Steely Dan, Little Richard, Sonny and Cher, Nancy Sinatra, Glen Campbell, the Everly Brothers and even the Byrds with fellow LA rocker David Crosby, who also died this year.

He was listed as one of the best drummers of the 60s and 70s, with rappers such as Jay Z and Nas still sampling his work today.

However, Jim suffered from severe mental illness which would result in the brutal murder of his 72-year-old mother, Osa Marie Gordon, on June 3, 1983.

It wasn’t until his arrest that he was properly diagnosed with schizophrenia, though during the trial he was prohibited to use his insanity as a defence due to changes to state law at the time.

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