James Beck Gordon was raised in the
San Fernando Valley of
Los Angeles and attended
Grant High School. He passed up a music scholarship to
UCLA in order to begin his professional career in 1963, at age 17, backing the
Everly Brothers. He went on to become one of the most sought-after recording session drummers in Los Angeles. The protégé of studio drummer
Hal Blaine, Gordon performed on many notable
recordings in the 1960s, including
Pet Sounds by
the Beach Boys (1966); ''
The Spirit of '67 by Paul Revere & the Raiders; Gene Clark with the Gosdin Brothers by Gene Clark (1967); Who Knows Where the Time Goes by Judy Collins (1968); The Notorious Byrd Brothers'' by
the Byrds (1968); and the hit "
Classical Gas" by
Mason Williams (1968). At the height of his career Gordon was reportedly so busy as a
studio musician that he flew back to Los Angeles from
Las Vegas every day to do two or three recording sessions and then returned in time to play the evening show at
Caesars Palace. In 1969 and 1970 Gordon toured as part of the backing band for
Delaney & Bonnie, which at the time included
Eric Clapton. Clapton subsequently took the group's
rhythm section—Gordon (
drummer),
Carl Radle (
bassist),
Bobby Whitlock (
keyboardist, singer, songwriter)—and they formed a new band, later called
Derek and the Dominos. The band's first studio work was as the house band for
George Harrison's three-disc set
All Things Must Pass (1970). Gordon then played on Derek and the Dominos' 1970 double album
Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs and also played with the band on subsequent U.S. and UK tours. The group split in spring 1971 before they finished recording their second album. In addition to his drumming, Gordon was credited with contributing the elegiac
piano coda for the title track, "
Layla". In later years, Whitlock claimed that the coda was not actually written by Gordon: "Jim took that piano melody from his ex-girlfriend
Rita Coolidge. I know because in the D&B days I lived in
John Garfield's old house in the
Hollywood Hills and there was a guest house with an upright piano in it. Rita and Jim were up there in the guest house and invited me to join in on writing this song with them called 'Time'. (Her sister
Priscilla wound up recording it with
Booker T. Jones) Jim took the melody from Rita's song and didn't give her credit for writing it. Her boyfriend ripped her off."
Graham Nash (who later dated Coolidge) substantiated Whitlock's claim in his memoir. "Time" was not released by Priscilla Coolidge and Booker T. until 1973, on their album
Chronicles. In 1970 Gordon was part of
Joe Cocker's
Mad Dogs & Englishmen tour and played on
Dave Mason's album
Alone Together. In 1971, he toured with
Traffic and appeared on two of their albums, including
The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys. That same year he played on
Harry Nilsson's album
Nilsson Schmilsson, contributing the drum solo on the track "
Jump into the Fire". Gordon was the drummer on the
Incredible Bongo Band's album
Bongo Rock, released in 1972, and his drum break on the
LP version of "
Apache" has been frequently
sampled by
hip-hop music artists. He recorded with
Frank Zappa, including on the title track of the 1974 album ''
Apostrophe (')''. Also in 1972, Gordon played drums on
Helen Reddy's Top 20 US album
I Am Woman. In 1973 Gordon played on
Johnny Rivers's
Blue Suede Shoes as well as on
Art Garfunkel's
Angel Clare album, and toured with Rivers through 1974 appearing on the
Last Boogie in Paris live album. Also in 1974, Gordon played on most of the tracks on
Steely Dan's album
Pretzel Logic, including the single "
Rikki Don't Lose That Number". He again worked with
Chris Hillman of the Byrds as the drummer in the
Souther–Hillman–Furay Band from 1973 to 1975. He also played drums on three tracks on
Alice Cooper's 1976 album,
Alice Cooper Goes to Hell. ==Mental health==