Jim Gordon
Jim Gordon (Born James Beck Gordon, 1945, Los Angeles, California)
Jim Gordon was a drummer for Zappa bands on;
He is probably best known for co-writing Layla with Eric Clapton.
Gordon was a major reason the Grand and Petit Wazoo tours were as good as they were... He was one of the most popular session drummers throughout the 70's.
Legend has it that Gordon was busted for cocaine possession right before the Grand Wazoo Band went on stage (FZ quickly replaced him with the drummer from the other band [drummer & band unknown]). Gordon reputedly paid off the Police Department with $20,000 and the incident was forgotten.
However, Gordon's story is one of the tragedies of our time. Anyone who has ever wondered about the destructive horror of 'recreational' drugs and its potential path to schizophrenia should consider Gordon's eventual decline. In 1983 he was convicted for killing his mother by means of repeated blows with a hammer - believing she was some sort of 'demon' trying to get him. He served a 16-year sentence in Atascadero State Hospital (ASH) and remains incarcerated in the State Medical Corrections Facility in Vacaville.
Notes
That there is an obscure CC connection to this incident in the lyrics of 1984's Thing-Fish is a matter of conjecture:
He finally layin' (Armed 'n dangerous, reproach wit cautium!)
De whole thang down,
'Cept de Nivea Lotium (Rub it on good, now!)
An de Royal Crown (Take good care o' dat "ash"!)[A.S.H.?]
