Jim Gordon, the drummer for stars like Eric Clapton and George Harrison, died on Monday at California Medical Facility in Vacaville. He was 77.

Gordon was diagnosed with schizophrenia, after a long incarceration and lifelong battle with the mental illness. He was also convicted of murdering his mother in 1983. 

Who was Jim Gordon? 

James Beck Gordon was born on July 14, 1945. He was raised in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles. He attended Grant High School. At 17, he cleared a music scholarship to UCLA in order to begin his professional career in 1963. 

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Gordon then became one of the most sought-after recording session drummers in Los Angeles. He was a trainee under studio drummer Hal Blaine. He performed on Pet Sounds, by the Beach Boys (1966); Gene Clark with the Gosdin Brothers, by Gene Clark (1967); The Notorious Byrd Brothers, by the Byrds (1968); and the hit Classical Gas, by Mason Williams (1968). 

Gordon was proven to attack his 72-year-old mother, Osa Marie Gordon with a hammer and then stabbed her with a butcher knife on June 3, 1983. He claimed a voice asked her to him to murder his mother. During his trials of the case, Gordon was properly diagnosed with schizophrenia.

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On July 10, 1984, Gordon was sentenced to 16 years of life in prison. He could get parole in 1991 but was denied due to not attending the parole hearing. In 2014, his parole was denied until 2018. On March 7, 2018, his parole was denied for the tenth time and was scheduled to become eligible again in March 2021.

At 77, Gordon died in prison on March 13, 2023, while serving his sentence at the California Medical Facility, a medical and psychiatric prison in Vacaville, California.