I worked at California Medical Facility, Vacaville, for 20 years, and I frequently saw Jim Gordon on the G-2 hospital unit (which housed inmates who had medical conditions that did not require outside hospitalization but did require more than outpatient treatment). He was a shadow of his former self; about the only recognizable trait was his height. A social worker told me that he had asked for books about "rock stars," I guess maybe to see former friends and associates, or even to look for a photo of himself behind a drum set. I made it a point to tell people about him, so they'd understand just how important a musician he was.
Jim Gordon actually co-wrote "Layla" -- specifically, the piano outro -- although Rita Coolidge maintains he stole most of his part from her when they were boyfriend-girlfriend.
Jim was the drummer for most of the Carpenters' 1975 album "Horizon," except for "Please Mr. Postman" and "Happy," which Karen played on. He was also the sole drummer for the Carpenters' 1976 album "There's a Kind of Hush" except for the tracks "Goofus" and "Sandy" (played by Cubby O'Brien).
Gordon's story is heartbreaking. I had a friend I grew up with. His name was Ryan. We played ball together, formed a band together, even went to the same university so we could play our music and hang . We partied a lot , as you sometimes do in college and I began to notice that he would act , as I describe now in hindsight, kinda paranoid. When he took drugs or drank he would think people were either making fun of him or talking shit about him . I chalked it up to a bad reaction to the substances. After 2 yrs of college he suddenly quit and joined the USAF. I was surprised but I figured he would do well in the military because he was extremely intelligent and talented. About six months after he joined he was stationed in Washington State and he started sending letters that were strange, talking about conspiracies and people wanting to do him harm. Then one day he showed up out of the blue looking very disheveled and acting very unusual. He told me he AWOL and that he needed to go to Turkey to clear up some kind of trouble or he'd otherwise be in danger. It didn't make sense to me at all and I was very worried. His brother called me asking if I'd seen him and I lied and said I hadn't because Ryan asked me to. After a few days he just disappeared and the next time I heard from him he was acting like his old self but he said he'd been diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenic and had received a medical discharge from the military. I went down to Kentucky where he was living with his mother and visited him and he said he was afraid he was going to die because he was addicted to alcohol and had been told not to drink it with his medication. I tried to get him to stop drinking but he instead kept stopping his meds and getting sick again. Then about a year later I got a call from his brother telling me Ryan had died in a mental facility from drinking liquor he'd somehow smuggled in while he was being given strong medication to control his delusions. It was a shock to me how he'd gone from this brilliant young man who could play seven instruments like an expert and get excellent grades effortlessly to being completely at the mercy of his condition and his addiction within just a couple years. Dead at 23 years old. I wish I'd been able to understand his illness more and I wish I could have helped him . I think about him a lot and every time I hear or read the word schizophrenia I think of Ryan and I wish things had been better for him
@@c.s.mcleod7383 this is how vague and inaccurate stories get passed, it was Jim who came up with the coda idea to Layla, got it from Rita according to legend
@jakeella Very muddy waters. I recently saw a you tube vid of Rita Coolidge claiming she was in the studio while the recording of the piano track was being laid down and stolen by Whitlock.
Jim Gordon recorded the piano part on his own late at night in the studio for a solo project. It was heard by the Dominos and producer Tom Dowd, and Dowd had the idea to add it as a coda to Layla with new overdubs. That's the story from Tom Dowd himself, Clapton, and from bios of the Allman Brothers Band and Duane Allman.
You know you can't necessarily tell what's going on inside people's heads. Jim was probably tortured his entire life not feeling good enough, over compensating and still not feeling worthy. Self medicating and over achieving is not uncommon for people that suffer with these kinds of disorders. What's funny is that in the end, a lot of people know and admire Jim Gordon for his talent, his level of production and his contribution to an amazing era of music. Nobody knows who his successful brother(the doctor or lawyer) is?
Pete Anderson is one badass country picker-so yeah, he has nails. He also has a bit of a resting tremor. It was Pete who made Dwight Yoakum sound so good. Pete is one of the greats.
Rita Coolidge is full of crap with her, I wrote the coda for Layla BS. She had 50 years to bring that up, or get the rights, especially when she was married to Kristofferson when she had access to the top attorneys. I read her book and she starts our saying that she's not a tramp, and then names off 50 guys she had sex with, all of them musicians. too funny
@@alldayvinyl yeah, I don't buy that either because Kristofferson was at the peak of his career, and he would not have dealt with Stigwood lightly had he messed with his wife. Rita, herself is no pushover. that's why I don't believe it. Plus it wasn't that big of a hit when it came out,
I worked at California Medical Facility, Vacaville, for 20 years, and I frequently saw Jim Gordon on the G-2 hospital unit (which housed inmates who had medical conditions that did not require outside hospitalization but did require more than outpatient treatment). He was a shadow of his former self; about the only recognizable trait was his height. A social worker told me that he had asked for books about "rock stars," I guess maybe to see former friends and associates, or even to look for a photo of himself behind a drum set. I made it a point to tell people about him, so they'd understand just how important a musician he was.
The rock star book an incredible nugget, thank you for sharing 🙏
Thanks for sharing parts of his life in your story. May he rest in peace and be remembered for the good things.
Thank you for watching!
"Played with Clapton" ? Thats a bit of an understatement. He was a member of Derek and the Dominoes. Delaney and Bonnie. Traffic.
Gordon was a true heavy and one of the greatest session drummers ever, no doubt
Jim Gordon actually co-wrote "Layla" -- specifically, the piano outro -- although Rita Coolidge maintains he stole most of his part from her when they were boyfriend-girlfriend.
You didn't mention he played with one of the world's all time great guitarists on Layla, Duane Allman.
I think Jim Gordon played on a couple of Carpenters tracks.
I feel like I read that too
Jim was the drummer for most of the Carpenters' 1975 album "Horizon," except for "Please Mr. Postman" and "Happy," which Karen played on. He was also the sole drummer for the Carpenters' 1976 album "There's a Kind of Hush" except for the tracks "Goofus" and "Sandy" (played by Cubby O'Brien).
MOD wrote a song about Jim Gordon
Didn’t know this song, just added to playlist - thanks!!
@alldayvinyl 🤟
I was coming here to post the same thing 🤘
Gordon's story is heartbreaking. I had a friend I grew up with. His name was Ryan. We played ball together, formed a band together, even went to the same university so we could play our music and hang . We partied a lot , as you sometimes do in college and I began to notice that he would act , as I describe now in hindsight, kinda paranoid. When he took drugs or drank he would think people were either making fun of him or talking shit about him . I chalked it up to a bad reaction to the substances. After 2 yrs of college he suddenly quit and joined the USAF. I was surprised but I figured he would do well in the military because he was extremely intelligent and talented. About six months after he joined he was stationed in Washington State and he started sending letters that were strange, talking about conspiracies and people wanting to do him harm. Then one day he showed up out of the blue looking very disheveled and acting very unusual. He told me he AWOL and that he needed to go to Turkey to clear up some kind of trouble or he'd otherwise be in danger. It didn't make sense to me at all and I was very worried. His brother called me asking if I'd seen him and I lied and said I hadn't because Ryan asked me to. After a few days he just disappeared and the next time I heard from him he was acting like his old self but he said he'd been diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenic and had received a medical discharge from the military. I went down to Kentucky where he was living with his mother and visited him and he said he was afraid he was going to die because he was addicted to alcohol and had been told not to drink it with his medication. I tried to get him to stop drinking but he instead kept stopping his meds and getting sick again. Then about a year later I got a call from his brother telling me Ryan had died in a mental facility from drinking liquor he'd somehow smuggled in while he was being given strong medication to control his delusions. It was a shock to me how he'd gone from this brilliant young man who could play seven instruments like an expert and get excellent grades effortlessly to being completely at the mercy of his condition and his addiction within just a couple years. Dead at 23 years old. I wish I'd been able to understand his illness more and I wish I could have helped him . I think about him a lot and every time I hear or read the word schizophrenia I think of Ryan and I wish things had been better for him
With two drum sets he probably learned how to conserve his energy and played economically, keeping only the best sounds.
I played the Layla outro as a wedding song on guitar once.
Having choose that I’m assuming they’ve never seen goodfellas.. which is def the best film placement for that song and outro ever
Bobby Whitlock said that he replaced most of Jim Gordon's piano work on Layla. Maybe all of it except the opening passage.
Rita Coolidge claims she created piano passage on Layla and Whitlock lifted it.
@@c.s.mcleod7383 this is how vague and inaccurate stories get passed, it was Jim who came up with the coda idea to Layla, got it from Rita according to legend
@jakeella Very muddy waters. I recently saw a you tube vid of Rita Coolidge claiming she was in the studio while the recording of the piano track was being laid down and stolen by Whitlock.
Jim Gordon recorded the piano part on his own late at night in the studio for a solo project. It was heard by the Dominos and producer Tom Dowd, and Dowd had the idea to add it as a coda to Layla with new overdubs. That's the story from Tom Dowd himself, Clapton, and from bios of the Allman Brothers Band and Duane Allman.
@alvarhanso6310 Rita Coolidge said she recorded it in U.S. and gave it to Clapton when she went to England to record Clayton's 1st album.
They stole that Layla intro from Rita Coolidge. She was Gordan's girlfiend until he brutally beat her in a fit of unhinged rage.
You know you can't necessarily tell what's going on inside people's heads. Jim was probably tortured his entire life not feeling good enough, over compensating and still not feeling worthy. Self medicating and over achieving is not uncommon for people that suffer with these kinds of disorders. What's funny is that in the end, a lot of people know and admire Jim Gordon for his talent, his level of production and his contribution to an amazing era of music. Nobody knows who his successful brother(the doctor or lawyer) is?
Jim Gordon’s work will always live in; those records he played on are historical for sure
His older brother John was a Vietnam veteran and a successful bank executive in the Pacific northwest.
Doesn't everyone hear voices?
😂😂😂
did you say something?
HooDat
What amazed me is, he was married to Rene Armand.
I didn’t realize that until I read the book on Jim
@alldayvinyl Did the book mention Souther,Hillman,Furry band? Jim was in that band at the start.
@@c.s.mcleod7383yes there is a little about that period .. Chris hillmans book also covers part of thst
When a drummer starts hearing voices, it’s usually the musicians coming in 😂
Good one! 😂
Painful 🤦🏻♂️
Maaaaan! 🇺🇸 😂 🎸
what's with those fingernails ?
Guessing they are glued on for fingerpicking guitar. A lot of dudes do that-I know McCartney does.
Guess he plays flamenco guitar.
For finger picking guitar
Fingerpicker guitar
Pete Anderson is one badass country picker-so yeah, he has nails. He also has a bit of a resting tremor. It was Pete who made Dwight Yoakum sound so good. Pete is one of the greats.
Those nails are creeping’ me out, man.
For finger picking guitar .. many guitarists will do this or use some type of plastic nail while they play to emulate it
Rita Coolidge is full of crap with her, I wrote the coda for Layla BS. She had 50 years to bring that up, or get the rights, especially when she was married to Kristofferson when she had access to the top attorneys. I read her book and she starts our saying that she's not a tramp, and then names off 50 guys she had sex with, all of them musicians. too funny
The story I heard was that she brought it up to stigwood and he threatened her career if she took the issue further
@@alldayvinyl yeah, I don't buy that either because Kristofferson was at the peak of his career, and he would not have dealt with Stigwood lightly had he messed with his wife. Rita, herself is no pushover. that's why I don't believe it. Plus it wasn't that big of a hit when it came out,
Let him rest. This is not right