As one of the greatest guitarists in music history, Eric Clapton had the chance to perform with some of the best musicians in the world throughout his career. Drummers are an essential part of any Rock or Blues band and he shared the stage and studio with names such as Ginger Baker, Phil Collins and Jim Keltner. But it was another drummer that he mentioned as the greatest Rock drummer who ever lived.
The drummer Eric Clapton said was the best Rock ever had
The drummer that Eric Clapton mentioned as the greatest Rock drummer that ever lived was Jim Gordon, with whom he played in Derek & The Dominos. “I’d had a call from Carl Radle telling me that Delaney & Bonnie and Friends had disbanded. (They were) asking me whether I might be interested in doing something with him, Bobby Whitlock, and Jim Gordon.”
“Having nothing else on, I’d said yes, and they flew over to England and came to live at Hurtwood. It was the beginning of one of the most extraordinary periods of my life, the memory of which is dominated by one thing—incredible music. It began with me just talking to these guys about music and getting to know them. Then we just played and played and played.”
Eric Clapton continued:
“I was in absolute awe of these people, and yet they made me feel that I was on their level. My musicianship fit with their musicianship. We were kindred spirits, made in the same mold. To this day I would say that the bass player Carl Radle and the drummer Jimmy Gordon are the most powerful rhythm section I have ever played with. They were absolutely brilliant. When people say that Jim Gordon is the greatest rock ’n’ roll drummer who ever lived, I think it’s true, beyond anybody,” Eric Clapton said in his autobiography.
Clapton formed Derek & The Dominos in the spring of 1970. They recorded and released the album “Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs” in that same year. The guitarist wanted to do something without his name on it as a test. Because if it was good enough, it would sell well anyway. That’s exactly what happened. Featuring classics like “Layla,” “Bell Bottom Blues,” “Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out” and “Keep on Growing,” the record became one of the most famous of his career and showcased Jim Gordon on drums.
The tragic end of the drummer Jim Gordon
Clapton said that the first time he ever felt musically free was while playing with the musicians who were part of Derek & The Dominos. But, as he explained in his book, drug use marked both the beginning and the end of the band. The group broke up in 1971 because their addictions had made it impossible to work together. According to him, the final straw came when he and Jim Gordon had a “huge row,” and he stormed out of the studio in a rage. The band never played together again.
Besides the guitarist Duane Allman, who died in a motorcycle accident in 1971 at the age of 24, Jim Gordon also was another member of the band with a tragic end. He was a highly respected session drummer in the 1960s and 1970s but had undiagnosed schizophrenia. In the following decade, in 1983, during a psychotic attack, he murdered his own mother. Gordon was sentenced to 16 years to life in prison. He was in jail until his death in 2023 at the age of 77.
Besides Clapton, during his career he worked with bands and artists. Some of them were Alice Cooper, The Beach Boys (On “Pet Sounds”), Jack Bruce, The Byrds and The Carpenters. He also played on George Harrison‘s classic albums “All Things Must Pass” and “Living in the Material World”.
Eric Clapton said he had no idea about Jim Gordon’s condition
Almost a decade later, in 1991, Clapton was asked by Rolling Stone if he was in touch with Jim, who was serving time in jail. He said that although he felt he owed him a conversation, he was too scared to do it at the time.
“I’m scared to death of that. A part of me says I owe it to him to try and get in touch. But I’m scared. I was scared of him at the end of Derek and the Dominos. One of the reasons we broke up was the rapport between me and Jim, which had always been so good, had broken down. In the middle of a session when we were trying to do a second studio album, I said something about the rhythm being wrong for the song. Jim said something like ‘Well the Dixie Flyers are in town. You can get their drummer.'”
“I put my guitar down and walked out of the studio, and I didn’t speak to him again. But I had no idea that he had a psychotic history of visions and hearing voices, from an early age. That was never apparent when we were working together. It just seemed like bad vibes, the worst kind of bad vibes. I would have never said that he was going mad. To me, it was just the drugs,” Eric Clapton said.
Besides Clapton, Gordon and Duane Allman, Derek & The Dominos was also formed by other incredible musicians. They were Bobby Whitlock (Keyboards and acoustic guitar), Carl Radle (Bass). Albhy Galuten played the piano on “Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out”.