Jim Gordon took an axe, gave his mother forty whacks...

Well, not exactly an axe, but a hammer.


I was listening to the song "Layla." I looked at the iTunes info and it said it was Derek and the Dominoes. I thought it was a Clapton song. I went to wikipedia where I found that this band was created by Clapton and the song had a bit of Duane Allman guitar in it.

Well, I was reading the wikipedia page and found that separate sounding parts of the song were composed separately by Clapton and a guy named Jim Gordon. Of course, thinking he was the police dude from Batman, I wanted to read up more on this guy. I was skimming past his musical career stuff trying to figure out if he was famous for anything I knew, and apparently he's worked with every musician EVER (not really, but a lot). Then, I see the title "retirement and incarceration." Of course, this piqued my interest. I read onward. This is what I found (from Wikipedia.com)

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In the late 1970s, Gordon complained of hearing voices in his head, primarily those of his mother. Unfortunately, his physicians did not diagnose his condition as schizophrenia and instead treated him for alcohol abuse.

In June 1983, he murdered his mother with a hammer. It was not until his trial in 1984 that he was properly diagnosed. Due to the fact that his attorney was unable to use the insanity defense, he was sentenced to 16 years to life in prison with a possibility of parole. He has served his sentence at the California Men's Colony in San Luis Obispo, Atascadero State Hospital in Atascadero, and the State Medical Corrections Facility in Vacaville. As of 2008, he remains incarcerated. Currently, there is a petition on line to assist him in either being released from prison or placed in a facility where he is able to receive more sophisticated treatment.
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WHOA. That is more than I was expecting to find.
Imagine listening to the guitar/piano slower half of Layla while reading this. A bit ironic.

I always am so curious about morbid things like this. Poor guy...no one helped him in his opening stages of schizophrenia.