Is Jim Gordon Living or Dead?

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Is American musician Jim Gordon dead? Or ... still alive?

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By Andrew Droid Webber

Updated 13 April 2023

Image info

Artist	Atco Records
Credit	Billboard, page 7, 6 February 1971
License	pd
Desc	Trade ad for Derek and the Dominos's single "Bell Bottom Blues".To better adapt it to his respective Wikipedia article, the ad was cropped and cleaned in a graphics editing program. The original can be viewed at the source below.
Url	https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Derek_and_the_Dominos.png
Usage	Public domain
Description_url	https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Derek_and_the_Dominos.png

Image info/credit

American musician

Jim Gordon is ...

Dead

Born	14 July 1945 in Los Angeles
Died	13 March 2023 in Vacaville
Age	77 years, 8 months

Sex or gender	male
Country of citizenship	United States of America
Birth name	James Beck Gordon
Occupation	musician, songwriter, pianist and percussionist
Instrument	drum kit, percussion instrument and upright piano
Genre	blues, blues rock, hard rock and psychedelic rock
Member of	Derek and the Dominos
Educated at	Grant High School
Medical condition	schizophrenia

About Jim Gordon

Jim Gordon was a musical prodigy from the start. Born in Los Angeles in 1945, he began playing the drums at the age of two and was performing professionally by the time he was a teenager. He quickly gained a reputation as one of the most talented drummers in the business, and his skills caught the attention of some of the biggest names in rock and roll.

Gordon's career took off in the 1960s, when he began playing with the likes of the Everly Brothers, the Beach Boys, and the Byrds. But it was his work with Eric Clapton that really put him on the map. Gordon played on some of Clapton's most iconic albums, including Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs and 461 Ocean Boulevard.

Despite his success, Gordon struggled with mental illness throughout his life. In 1983, he was diagnosed with schizophrenia and was eventually institutionalized after murdering his mother. He remains in a mental institution to this day.

Gordon's tragic story is a reminder of the toll that mental illness can take on even the most talented and successful individuals. But his contributions to rock and roll will never be forgotten. As Rolling Stone put it, "Jim Gordon was one of the greatest drummers of his generation, a true musical genius whose legacy will live on for generations to come."

References:

- "Jim Gordon: The Tragic Story of a Musical Genius" by Michael Gallucci, Ultimate Classic Rock

- "Jim Gordon: The Drummer Who Lost His Mind" by Dave Lifton, Ultimate Classic Rock

- "Jim Gordon" by Stephen Thomas Erlewine, AllMusic