Eric Clapton bassist who co-wrote ‘Layla’ before killing his mother has died at the age of 77

The Grammy Award-winning drummer responsible for writing the iconic rock song has died in a California mental hospital, after being imprisoned for nearly 40 years for killing his mother during a bout with schizophrenia.

His publicist announced Tuesday that Jim Gordon, whose stints with some of rock’s biggest names in the ’60s and ’70s have been hailed, died of natural causes Monday at a California medical facility in Vacaville — revealing that the fallen star was now in rest. After a long prison term and a lifelong battle with mental illness. He was 77 years old.

Born in Los Angeles, Gordon’s story is one of the most stark stories of fall from grace in all of rock and roll.

He was a founding member of Eric Clapton’s Derek and the Dominos and one of the principal drummers on George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass, his oeuvre consisting of hundreds of featured songs.

In addition to being a co-writer on Clapton’s 1970 classic, his slick work can be heard on such notable albums as the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds, and singles like Carly Simon’s ‘You’re So Vain’.

Other notable collaborators include Steely Dan, Little Richard, Sonny & Cher, Nancy Sinatra, Glen Campbell, the Everly Brothers and even the Byrds with fellow LA rocker David Crosby, who also passed away this year.

Besides, most will tell you that if there were a list of the best drummers of the ’60s and ’70s, Gordon would, indisputably, be at the top – with drum breaks sampled by rappers like Nas and Jay Z to this day.

However, a long ill-fated bout with mental illness would eventually upend his career and lead to the brutal murder of his 72-year-old mother, Osa Marie Gordon, on June 3, 1983.

It wouldn’t be until after his arrest that doctors diagnosed the increasingly unstable drummer with schizophrenia — though during the ensuing trial, legalists banned him. Using insanity as a defense due to changes in state law at the time.

tBut the California court accepted the star He had severe schizophrenia, but still slapped him with a 16-year sentence to life in a state prison.

At the time, the ruling represented a stark and abrupt fall from grace for the rocker, who was so busy at the height of his career that he commuted from Los Angeles to Vegas every day so he could participate in recording sessions. before returning to A play at Caesar’s Palace.

It was later revealed that the star had been showing signs of mental illness — as well as increasingly unstable behavior — since the late 1960s, though doctors frequently misdiagnosed problems and instead treated the rocker for alcohol abuse.

During this time, Gordon began hearing voices—including those of his mother—which he later said during his trial forced him to starve himself, prevent him from sleeping, and sometimes played drums.

Over the next decade, warning signs of the star’s instability would continue to emerge, including the alleged assault of his then-girlfriend, famous singer-songwriter Rita Coolidge, in a hotel in 1970.

The incident ended the pair’s one-year relationship, but it was reverted to the usual behavior associated with rock music at the time.

Aside from the incident, the drummer did a good job of masking his deteriorating psyche, continuing to produce hits while showing few, if any, signs of his growing instability.

He was a wonderful guy, really charismatic, as Coolidge was recently quoted as saying in Leon Russell’s biography of Buffalo rocker Tom Bill Janowitz.

“[But] After it all happened, I started to recognize that look in his eye and knew he wasn’t playing with a full set.

Gordon’s inner turmoil eventually came to a head in the summer of 1983, when Gordon fatally attacked his mother, Osa, in her Los Angeles home with a hammer.

During the attack, Gordon brandishes a knife and stabs his mother to death. After being arrested, the cops confessed to a voice inside his head that advised him to carry out the deed.

Soon he was brought to trial and found guilty, which put an end to his career.

Over the course of his imprisonment, which began in 1984, Gordon admitted to becoming “institutionalized” before being transferred to a California mental facility, now showing a genuine desire to be released.

He was offered parole several times between 1991 and 2018, all of which were denied.

In 2014, prior to his ninth parole hearing, he refused to appear, and a Los Angeles deputy stated at the time that he was still “seriously incapacitated psychologically” and “a danger when not on his medication.”

In November 2017, Gordon was again diagnosed with schizophrenia, and continued to receive treatment.

His last parole hearing came in March 2018, during which officials denied the musician parole for the tenth and final time. It was initially set to become eligible again for early release in March 2021, although a hearing never took place.

His publicist confirmed on Tuesday that he died while in prison at a 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 during the height of their success, and he thought he was just jumping on drugs.

“I had no idea he had a psychotic history of visions and hearing voices, from an early age,” Clapton, 77, told Rolling Stone.

This was never so obvious when we were working together. It seemed like bad vibes, the worst kind of bad vibes. I wouldn’t say he was going crazy. For me, it was just a drug.

Gordon left no family behind. Clapton has yet to comment on his death.