1 00:00:00,720 --> 00:00:04,280 Speaker 1: Disgraceland as a production of Double Elvis. 2 00:00:17,880 --> 00:00:22,040 Speaker 2: The stories about Eric Clapton's Derek and the Dominoes are insane. 3 00:00:22,600 --> 00:00:27,240 Speaker 2: They involved murder, a deadly motorcycle accident, in devastating heartbreak 4 00:00:27,280 --> 00:00:31,760 Speaker 2: and scandal. Eric Clapton was a one of a kind guitarist, 5 00:00:31,800 --> 00:00:35,800 Speaker 2: seemingly hell bent on self destruction. He was heavily addicted 6 00:00:35,800 --> 00:00:38,680 Speaker 2: to heroin cocaine, and throughout his stint in Derek and 7 00:00:38,720 --> 00:00:42,360 Speaker 2: the Dominoes attempted to snort his way through unrequited love, 8 00:00:43,000 --> 00:00:45,319 Speaker 2: and in doing so, came out on the other end 9 00:00:45,360 --> 00:00:49,200 Speaker 2: with one of rock's most recognizable guitar riffs. And only 10 00:00:49,240 --> 00:00:52,200 Speaker 2: one year after Clapton's Derek and the Dominoes got together, 11 00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:55,800 Speaker 2: the group disbanded, but a year was all they needed 12 00:00:55,840 --> 00:00:59,040 Speaker 2: to introduce the world to their white hot strain of blues, 13 00:00:59,080 --> 00:01:02,280 Speaker 2: which they nailed on their one and only studio album. 14 00:01:02,360 --> 00:01:05,679 Speaker 2: Because when Eric Clapton, Jim Gordon, Duwayne Allman, Bobby Whitlock, 15 00:01:05,760 --> 00:01:08,440 Speaker 2: and Carl Rattle were in the same room, they made 16 00:01:08,640 --> 00:01:11,640 Speaker 2: great music. That music you heard at the top of 17 00:01:11,680 --> 00:01:15,119 Speaker 2: the show that wasn't great music. That was a preset 18 00:01:15,160 --> 00:01:21,080 Speaker 2: loop from my melotron called Palisade Sache MK one. I 19 00:01:21,200 --> 00:01:24,080 Speaker 2: played you that loop because I can't afford the rights 20 00:01:24,120 --> 00:01:27,240 Speaker 2: to The Long and Winding Road by the Beatles. And 21 00:01:27,280 --> 00:01:29,720 Speaker 2: why would I play you that slice of last gasp 22 00:01:29,760 --> 00:01:31,640 Speaker 2: of collective creativity cheese? 23 00:01:31,680 --> 00:01:34,679 Speaker 1: Could I afford it? Because that was the. 24 00:01:34,680 --> 00:01:38,959 Speaker 2: Number one song in America on June fourteenth, nineteen seventy 25 00:01:39,400 --> 00:01:41,640 Speaker 2: And that was the day that Derek and the Dominoes 26 00:01:41,640 --> 00:01:45,560 Speaker 2: made their live debut and began to make their indelible. 27 00:01:45,000 --> 00:01:46,880 Speaker 1: Contribution to rock and roll. 28 00:01:48,320 --> 00:01:54,360 Speaker 2: On this episode Murder Motorcyclist, Unrecorded Love and Eric Clapton's. 29 00:01:53,840 --> 00:01:55,080 Speaker 1: Derek and the Dominoes. 30 00:01:55,720 --> 00:02:26,760 Speaker 2: I'm Jake Brennan and this is Disgraceland. Christmas nineteen twenty nine, Germantown, 31 00:02:26,840 --> 00:02:30,440 Speaker 2: North Carolina, Charlie Lawson had a lot to be grateful 32 00:02:30,480 --> 00:02:33,600 Speaker 2: for that holiday season. Aside from the death of his 33 00:02:33,680 --> 00:02:37,680 Speaker 2: third son, William, back in nineteen twenty the Lawsons lived 34 00:02:37,680 --> 00:02:42,040 Speaker 2: a good life all things considered. Their sharecropper neighbors considered 35 00:02:42,040 --> 00:02:46,240 Speaker 2: them well to do. Two years prior, Charlie Lawson bought 36 00:02:46,240 --> 00:02:49,120 Speaker 2: the family a tobacco farm out on Brook Cove Road, 37 00:02:49,520 --> 00:02:51,960 Speaker 2: and they lived off of that farm. If not handsomely 38 00:02:52,120 --> 00:02:56,160 Speaker 2: then in relative comfort. Charlie Lawson and his wife Fanny, 39 00:02:56,240 --> 00:03:02,280 Speaker 2: and their seven children, Marie seventeen, Arthur, Carrie twelve, Mabel seven, 40 00:03:02,440 --> 00:03:05,720 Speaker 2: James four, Raymond iiO and Mary Lou just four months 41 00:03:06,040 --> 00:03:08,600 Speaker 2: were envied for their new clothing they wore when they 42 00:03:08,600 --> 00:03:11,239 Speaker 2: made their trips into town, and there was a rumor 43 00:03:11,280 --> 00:03:14,000 Speaker 2: going around that their father, Charlie, had even sprung for 44 00:03:14,080 --> 00:03:16,920 Speaker 2: the cost of a family portrait, a blatant act of 45 00:03:16,960 --> 00:03:20,160 Speaker 2: ostentation if there ever was one for a modest, god 46 00:03:20,200 --> 00:03:23,919 Speaker 2: fearing family of farmers. Back in nineteen twenty nine German town. 47 00:03:24,720 --> 00:03:28,080 Speaker 2: There was a depression on after all, hadn't the Lossons heard? 48 00:03:28,720 --> 00:03:33,079 Speaker 2: Charlie was hearing a lot whispers, then full on voices. 49 00:03:33,560 --> 00:03:37,360 Speaker 2: They told him about the rumors they knew, others knew. 50 00:03:37,880 --> 00:03:41,320 Speaker 2: Peace was impossible with the voices. They weren't always there, 51 00:03:41,360 --> 00:03:45,280 Speaker 2: but when they were, they weren't to be ignored. Listening 52 00:03:45,320 --> 00:03:48,720 Speaker 2: to them was the only option. Ignoring them only made 53 00:03:48,720 --> 00:03:53,600 Speaker 2: them louder. Charlie answered them in hushed tones under his breath. Fanny, 54 00:03:53,680 --> 00:03:57,880 Speaker 2: his wife, at first thought Charlie was praying, talking to himself, 55 00:03:57,920 --> 00:04:00,000 Speaker 2: sermonizing to himself to pass the time. 56 00:04:00,040 --> 00:04:01,520 Speaker 1: I'm working the farm. 57 00:04:01,840 --> 00:04:05,760 Speaker 2: But Charlie's muttering eventually made it into their home, random 58 00:04:05,840 --> 00:04:08,920 Speaker 2: sharp shouts to himself out of nowhere in the company 59 00:04:08,920 --> 00:04:11,960 Speaker 2: of the children, once at the dinner table, and then 60 00:04:12,000 --> 00:04:15,680 Speaker 2: incredibly in public on a Sunday, seated in their usual 61 00:04:15,760 --> 00:04:19,560 Speaker 2: pew at church. No one noticed. Everyone thought it was 62 00:04:19,640 --> 00:04:22,960 Speaker 2: just another touched soul convening with the holy ghost. But 63 00:04:23,040 --> 00:04:27,240 Speaker 2: Fanny noticed something was not right with her husband. He 64 00:04:27,440 --> 00:04:29,880 Speaker 2: doated on the children as of late, an act that 65 00:04:29,920 --> 00:04:32,440 Speaker 2: would be welcomed by most wives and mothers if it 66 00:04:32,520 --> 00:04:35,919 Speaker 2: wasn't so out of character for Charlie Lawson, the stern, 67 00:04:36,040 --> 00:04:41,000 Speaker 2: hard line tobacco farmer, who seldom expressed himself emotionally, perhaps 68 00:04:41,080 --> 00:04:43,680 Speaker 2: a smile for his wife on Sunday, sitting in their 69 00:04:43,720 --> 00:04:47,240 Speaker 2: pew taking stock of their family, but hardly anything else. 70 00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:50,640 Speaker 2: The small act of pride he allowed himself was just 71 00:04:50,680 --> 00:04:55,360 Speaker 2: another reminder that he sinned like everybody else. Fanny relished 72 00:04:55,360 --> 00:04:58,800 Speaker 2: those moments. She was downright petrified by what. 73 00:04:58,760 --> 00:04:59,320 Speaker 1: She was seeing. 74 00:04:59,360 --> 00:05:02,960 Speaker 2: As of late, Charlie laughing with the kids. He even 75 00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:05,560 Speaker 2: took to telling jokes he'd heard retold in town by 76 00:05:05,560 --> 00:05:09,280 Speaker 2: a vaudeville stage hand. The joke was clean, but Charlie 77 00:05:09,360 --> 00:05:13,400 Speaker 2: was blue inside, Fanny could tell. Particularly telling was the 78 00:05:13,440 --> 00:05:16,640 Speaker 2: extra attention and affection he was paying their seventeen year 79 00:05:16,640 --> 00:05:21,800 Speaker 2: old daughter Marie. Most nights. The day's hard farm work 80 00:05:21,880 --> 00:05:26,320 Speaker 2: set Charlie asleep like a rock. He seldom stirred. From 81 00:05:26,320 --> 00:05:29,560 Speaker 2: eight pm to four am, Fanny Lawson's husband lay on 82 00:05:29,600 --> 00:05:33,080 Speaker 2: his back in the small twin bed aside hers, stone 83 00:05:33,120 --> 00:05:36,480 Speaker 2: cold to sleep. But on that night before Christmas, what 84 00:05:36,600 --> 00:05:38,760 Speaker 2: Fanny saw when she awoke in the middle of the 85 00:05:38,880 --> 00:05:41,000 Speaker 2: night took her breath away with the fear of the 86 00:05:41,080 --> 00:05:44,960 Speaker 2: devil himself. There at the edge of his bed, sitting 87 00:05:45,040 --> 00:05:47,919 Speaker 2: up in his pajamas, rubbing his calloused hands together, was 88 00:05:47,960 --> 00:05:50,480 Speaker 2: her normally RESTful husband, muttering. 89 00:05:50,120 --> 00:05:50,920 Speaker 1: To her horror. 90 00:05:51,760 --> 00:05:54,520 Speaker 2: Yes, I will be good. I promise, I won't no more, 91 00:05:54,839 --> 00:05:57,000 Speaker 2: I will be better. I will be good. But you 92 00:05:57,040 --> 00:06:00,640 Speaker 2: have to stop. You have to stop, and so will I. Yes, Yes, I. 93 00:06:00,480 --> 00:06:01,520 Speaker 1: Promise, I promise. 94 00:06:02,920 --> 00:06:06,159 Speaker 2: Fanny didn't know what scared her more the subservient tone 95 00:06:06,160 --> 00:06:09,000 Speaker 2: in her normally strong husband's voice, or the fact that 96 00:06:09,040 --> 00:06:11,720 Speaker 2: he was carrying on a full conversation with himself at 97 00:06:11,720 --> 00:06:13,599 Speaker 2: the edge of his bed in the middle of the night. 98 00:06:14,279 --> 00:06:16,720 Speaker 2: She stood up, walked over to his bed, placed her 99 00:06:16,720 --> 00:06:19,320 Speaker 2: hand on his shoulder, and shocked him back into reality. 100 00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:22,320 Speaker 2: He ignored her, stood left the room, and didn't return 101 00:06:22,360 --> 00:06:25,240 Speaker 2: for the rest of the night. The Voices were in 102 00:06:25,279 --> 00:06:28,800 Speaker 2: control now and they would remain so well into the 103 00:06:28,839 --> 00:06:34,599 Speaker 2: next day. Charlie Lawson enjoyed watching his family, especially on 104 00:06:34,680 --> 00:06:38,680 Speaker 2: that Christmas morning, admiring them, seeing them open their presence 105 00:06:38,720 --> 00:06:40,960 Speaker 2: and play with their toys, it seemed to make all 106 00:06:41,000 --> 00:06:45,040 Speaker 2: the hard work worth it. Later that afternoon, he sat 107 00:06:45,080 --> 00:06:48,039 Speaker 2: out by the tobacco barn, enjoying the clear winter's day, 108 00:06:48,120 --> 00:06:51,040 Speaker 2: and he watched his daughter's carry and Mabel run across 109 00:06:51,040 --> 00:06:53,760 Speaker 2: the field and they were off to their aunt and 110 00:06:53,839 --> 00:06:57,000 Speaker 2: uncle's house down the way. Charlie asked them to go, 111 00:06:57,360 --> 00:06:59,760 Speaker 2: and they were delighted to do so. From where he 112 00:07:00,120 --> 00:07:03,919 Speaker 2: at that moment, watching them, they weren't too far. He 113 00:07:03,920 --> 00:07:06,440 Speaker 2: could see the different colors on the scarves and mittens 114 00:07:06,480 --> 00:07:07,640 Speaker 2: Fanny had knitted them. 115 00:07:07,839 --> 00:07:08,480 Speaker 1: He could see the. 116 00:07:08,440 --> 00:07:12,480 Speaker 2: Smiles on their faces, the excitement and anticipation for more 117 00:07:12,520 --> 00:07:15,480 Speaker 2: presence from their relatives and a Christmas feast before the 118 00:07:15,560 --> 00:07:18,640 Speaker 2: day's end. Charlie saw all this as the voices in 119 00:07:18,680 --> 00:07:22,679 Speaker 2: his head told him at the time was now Charlie 120 00:07:22,720 --> 00:07:26,840 Speaker 2: did when he was told, he lifted his twelve gage shotgun, 121 00:07:27,160 --> 00:07:30,120 Speaker 2: aimed and put a bullet through his daughter Carrie, and 122 00:07:30,160 --> 00:07:41,320 Speaker 2: then another through his daughter Maybelle. The snare drum blasted 123 00:07:41,360 --> 00:07:44,640 Speaker 2: out like an old Remington drummer. Jim Gordon sat at 124 00:07:44,640 --> 00:07:47,960 Speaker 2: his kit listening to the voice in his headphones. It 125 00:07:48,040 --> 00:07:50,119 Speaker 2: was a voice he knew well, even if he didn't 126 00:07:50,120 --> 00:07:53,720 Speaker 2: know its owner that well personally. It was a famous voice, 127 00:07:53,960 --> 00:07:58,040 Speaker 2: the voice of a beetle Beetle George Harrison. George was 128 00:07:58,080 --> 00:08:00,600 Speaker 2: instructing him on the field he was looking for on 129 00:08:00,640 --> 00:08:03,840 Speaker 2: this new track they were recording. It was George Harrison's 130 00:08:03,880 --> 00:08:06,440 Speaker 2: first foray into the studio as a solo artist. 131 00:08:06,520 --> 00:08:07,320 Speaker 1: Post Beatles. 132 00:08:08,000 --> 00:08:11,680 Speaker 2: Work had commenced on what would become George's masterpiece, All 133 00:08:11,800 --> 00:08:15,280 Speaker 2: Things Must Pass, and Jim Gordon found himself in the 134 00:08:15,400 --> 00:08:19,600 Speaker 2: enviable position of drummer in George's new studio band. As 135 00:08:19,680 --> 00:08:22,760 Speaker 2: Jim listened to George, George kept his finger pressed on 136 00:08:22,800 --> 00:08:26,240 Speaker 2: the talkback button and continued conversing with another voice in 137 00:08:26,280 --> 00:08:29,920 Speaker 2: the control room. Jim knew this voice or it was 138 00:08:30,000 --> 00:08:35,680 Speaker 2: the voice of God. The voice of Eric Clapton in 139 00:08:35,760 --> 00:08:40,080 Speaker 2: nineteen sixties London. For young guitar enthusiasts, believing that Clapton 140 00:08:40,200 --> 00:08:44,280 Speaker 2: is God was practically the eleventh commandment. Eric Clapton had 141 00:08:44,360 --> 00:08:47,120 Speaker 2: perpetually blown mind since he first hit the scene with 142 00:08:47,200 --> 00:08:51,040 Speaker 2: the Yardbirds and then inexcusably quit the successful UK Bot 143 00:08:51,120 --> 00:08:54,760 Speaker 2: band in search of something more creatively fulfilling. He later 144 00:08:54,800 --> 00:08:57,520 Speaker 2: took up with John Mayle's Blues Breakers and proceeded to 145 00:08:57,520 --> 00:08:59,840 Speaker 2: turn the London rock scene on its ear with his 146 00:08:59,840 --> 00:09:03,560 Speaker 2: ear genius application of the stylings of Chicago bluesman Muddy 147 00:09:03,559 --> 00:09:07,400 Speaker 2: Waters's harmonica player Little Walter Jacobs through the strings of 148 00:09:07,440 --> 00:09:11,240 Speaker 2: his gibs in Less Paul electric guitar. The result was 149 00:09:11,280 --> 00:09:15,040 Speaker 2: a big, fat tone that was also wildly expressive and 150 00:09:15,120 --> 00:09:19,120 Speaker 2: heretofore are unheard of in rock music. Eric Clapton added 151 00:09:19,120 --> 00:09:22,400 Speaker 2: psychedelia to his sonic palette with his late sixties projects 152 00:09:22,480 --> 00:09:25,280 Speaker 2: Cream and Blind Faith, blowing minds all the way up 153 00:09:25,320 --> 00:09:28,760 Speaker 2: the charts in both groups. But like most great bluesmen, 154 00:09:29,120 --> 00:09:33,080 Speaker 2: Eric just couldn't be satisfied, and by nineteen seventy was 155 00:09:33,160 --> 00:09:35,640 Speaker 2: casting about for a new group to lend his big, 156 00:09:35,720 --> 00:09:39,600 Speaker 2: sticky blue tone too. He found that group in Delaney 157 00:09:39,640 --> 00:09:43,839 Speaker 2: and Bonnie's band, The American singer songwriter duo, fronted a white, 158 00:09:43,840 --> 00:09:46,560 Speaker 2: hot rock and soul review that was lighting up stages 159 00:09:46,559 --> 00:09:49,800 Speaker 2: across the US and Europe as an opener for Blind Faith. 160 00:09:49,880 --> 00:09:52,319 Speaker 1: By the turn of the decade, Eric. 161 00:09:52,120 --> 00:09:55,560 Speaker 2: Clapton glombed on and, to the delight of concertgoers, sat 162 00:09:55,600 --> 00:09:58,600 Speaker 2: in with Delaney and Bonnie on some shows and elevated 163 00:09:58,600 --> 00:10:02,200 Speaker 2: their sets to new heights. When the tour ended, Delaney 164 00:10:02,200 --> 00:10:05,960 Speaker 2: and Bonnie's keyboardist Bobby Whitlock, bassist Carl Raddle, and drummer 165 00:10:06,040 --> 00:10:10,280 Speaker 2: Jim Gordon Americans all retired to Eric Surrey Estate to 166 00:10:10,320 --> 00:10:11,320 Speaker 2: get some downtime. 167 00:10:11,880 --> 00:10:13,240 Speaker 1: Downtime for musicians of. 168 00:10:13,240 --> 00:10:18,120 Speaker 2: This caliber, however, meant constant jamming, blues, blues and more blues, 169 00:10:18,840 --> 00:10:22,120 Speaker 2: powered by cocaine mandrex in some sort of deep seated 170 00:10:22,160 --> 00:10:26,319 Speaker 2: heartache that was propelling Eric Clapton. When George Harrison called 171 00:10:26,400 --> 00:10:28,520 Speaker 2: Eric Clapton to come down to Abbey Road to play 172 00:10:28,520 --> 00:10:31,080 Speaker 2: on his new album, Eric showed up with a fully 173 00:10:31,120 --> 00:10:34,920 Speaker 2: formed band spoiling for a session, and they did not disappoint. 174 00:10:35,800 --> 00:10:38,960 Speaker 2: All Things Must Pass was the first ex Beatle record 175 00:10:38,960 --> 00:10:42,559 Speaker 2: to fully connect with audiences, allowing George to step out 176 00:10:42,600 --> 00:10:44,920 Speaker 2: of the shadow of John Lennon and Paul McCartney in 177 00:10:44,960 --> 00:10:48,960 Speaker 2: the process. All Things Must Pass sat atop the charts 178 00:10:48,960 --> 00:10:51,520 Speaker 2: in the US for seven weeks and in the UK 179 00:10:51,720 --> 00:10:55,240 Speaker 2: for eight weeks, far out selling McCartney and John Lennon. 180 00:10:55,280 --> 00:10:58,640 Speaker 2: Plasticg Ono Band, the first LP solo efforts by his 181 00:10:58,760 --> 00:11:03,560 Speaker 2: former bandmates. Eric Clapton couldn't ignore the power of the band. 182 00:11:03,880 --> 00:11:06,839 Speaker 2: They quickly played a show, a benefit they were asked 183 00:11:06,840 --> 00:11:10,400 Speaker 2: to contribute to, and they needed a name. Someone suggested 184 00:11:10,480 --> 00:11:12,280 Speaker 2: maybe it was George, and who the hell knows why, 185 00:11:12,400 --> 00:11:15,040 Speaker 2: at literally the last minute, like moments before they were 186 00:11:15,080 --> 00:11:17,960 Speaker 2: to go on stage, that they call themselves Derek and 187 00:11:18,000 --> 00:11:18,760 Speaker 2: the Dominoes. 188 00:11:19,320 --> 00:11:20,600 Speaker 1: Sounded good enough to them. 189 00:11:20,760 --> 00:11:25,280 Speaker 2: So Eric Clapton's new band was born, and Jim Gordon 190 00:11:25,400 --> 00:11:29,320 Speaker 2: was in a group, Derek and the Dominoes, and on stage, 191 00:11:29,360 --> 00:11:32,560 Speaker 2: not in the studio listening to the voices in his headphones, 192 00:11:32,600 --> 00:11:35,880 Speaker 2: but instead to that voice in his head, the one 193 00:11:35,920 --> 00:11:39,040 Speaker 2: that told them he could do better. Jim, you can 194 00:11:39,200 --> 00:11:42,360 Speaker 2: always do better. But it was hard for Jim Gordon 195 00:11:42,400 --> 00:11:46,360 Speaker 2: to do better. He was literally the best. Try finding 196 00:11:46,360 --> 00:11:49,040 Speaker 2: a rock drummer up until nineteen seventy they played with 197 00:11:49,120 --> 00:11:52,040 Speaker 2: more groups of consequence than Jim Gordon, and you'll be 198 00:11:52,080 --> 00:11:55,640 Speaker 2: looking for a long time because there simply isn't one. 199 00:11:55,760 --> 00:11:59,000 Speaker 2: Jim Gordon's list of credits is long and mighty impressive. 200 00:11:59,559 --> 00:12:01,600 Speaker 2: By the time he had hooked up with Eric Clapton, 201 00:12:01,800 --> 00:12:04,800 Speaker 2: he had already drummed for The Everly Brothers, The Righteous Brothers, 202 00:12:04,800 --> 00:12:08,720 Speaker 2: The Birds On The Notorious Bird Brothers, Judy Collins, Gordon Lightfoot, 203 00:12:08,760 --> 00:12:12,480 Speaker 2: Glenn Campbell on Wichita Lineman, The Beach Boys on Pet Sounds, 204 00:12:12,640 --> 00:12:15,320 Speaker 2: and the list went on. In the future, he'd performed 205 00:12:15,320 --> 00:12:18,480 Speaker 2: with Joe Cocker, Dave Mason Traffic, Frank zappas Steely Dan, 206 00:12:18,559 --> 00:12:21,480 Speaker 2: Alice Cooper, and on Carly Simons You're So Vain, and 207 00:12:21,520 --> 00:12:24,880 Speaker 2: on John Lennon's Imagine. To give you some idea of 208 00:12:24,960 --> 00:12:28,120 Speaker 2: how prevalent Jim Gordon was as a working professional drummer. 209 00:12:28,480 --> 00:12:30,319 Speaker 1: You know that amazing scene from Martin. 210 00:12:30,040 --> 00:12:33,760 Speaker 2: Scorsese's Goodfellas, The one where Ray Liota's character Henry Hill 211 00:12:33,800 --> 00:12:35,960 Speaker 2: has coped out of his mind and paranoid trying to 212 00:12:35,960 --> 00:12:39,560 Speaker 2: outrun helicopters, The one with the incredible musical montage with 213 00:12:39,640 --> 00:12:42,160 Speaker 2: back to back to back bangers, heightening the intensity of 214 00:12:42,200 --> 00:12:44,920 Speaker 2: what is probably the greatest film of all time. Songs 215 00:12:44,960 --> 00:12:47,280 Speaker 2: like the All Things Must Passtrack What Is Life by 216 00:12:47,280 --> 00:12:50,200 Speaker 2: George Harrison and Harry Nilsen's Jumped to the Fire, which 217 00:12:50,200 --> 00:12:53,760 Speaker 2: He's used three times, climaxing in Jim Gordon's drum Soul 218 00:12:54,240 --> 00:12:56,840 Speaker 2: just as Henry Hill is about to be arrested. Of 219 00:12:56,880 --> 00:13:00,000 Speaker 2: the eight music cues in that montage, Jim Gordon played 220 00:13:00,200 --> 00:13:02,440 Speaker 2: on half of them. To give you some idea of 221 00:13:02,440 --> 00:13:05,640 Speaker 2: how influential Jim Gordon was as a drummer. That's him 222 00:13:05,679 --> 00:13:09,320 Speaker 2: playing on the incredible bongo bands Apache. You know the song. 223 00:13:09,600 --> 00:13:11,600 Speaker 2: Even if you don't know the song right now, trust me, 224 00:13:11,760 --> 00:13:14,120 Speaker 2: you know the song because more than seven hundred hip 225 00:13:14,160 --> 00:13:17,720 Speaker 2: hop songs have sampled it because of Jim Gordon's incredible drumming, 226 00:13:18,080 --> 00:13:20,640 Speaker 2: Beginning in nineteen eighty one with the Sugarhill Gang and 227 00:13:20,679 --> 00:13:24,319 Speaker 2: their hit also called Apache, Grandmaster Flash, Yellow Cool j 228 00:13:24,559 --> 00:13:27,520 Speaker 2: nas Afex, Twin Missy Elliot, Kanye West and Jay Z 229 00:13:27,679 --> 00:13:30,920 Speaker 2: and Cool Hirk himself who called it quote the national 230 00:13:30,960 --> 00:13:34,320 Speaker 2: anthem of hip hop music and oh Yeah, drummer Jim 231 00:13:34,360 --> 00:13:38,880 Speaker 2: Gordon co wrote Eric Clapton's most recognizable hit, Derek and 232 00:13:38,920 --> 00:14:03,120 Speaker 2: the Dominoes Layla. Christmas morning rabbit hunting was a tradition 233 00:14:03,240 --> 00:14:06,800 Speaker 2: in Germantown, North Carolina, which is in part why Charles 234 00:14:06,840 --> 00:14:10,480 Speaker 2: Lawson sent his oldest son, sixteen year old Arthur, into 235 00:14:10,559 --> 00:14:14,960 Speaker 2: town to purchase shotgun shells. The other reason was that 236 00:14:15,000 --> 00:14:18,400 Speaker 2: he didn't want Arthur around. The voices in his head 237 00:14:18,440 --> 00:14:22,000 Speaker 2: warned him that Arthur, being big for sixteen and bigger 238 00:14:22,040 --> 00:14:24,840 Speaker 2: now than his father Charles, might stop. 239 00:14:24,640 --> 00:14:26,600 Speaker 1: Him from doing what needed to be done. 240 00:14:28,080 --> 00:14:31,200 Speaker 2: When the shots rang out from Charles's shotgun, the ones 241 00:14:31,240 --> 00:14:34,040 Speaker 2: that he fired to kill his two daughters, Carrie and Maybell, 242 00:14:34,480 --> 00:14:37,520 Speaker 2: they were heard, but no one, not Charles's neighbors, not 243 00:14:37,560 --> 00:14:40,240 Speaker 2: the rest of his family and his home, thought anything 244 00:14:40,280 --> 00:14:43,480 Speaker 2: of the sound of gunfire. And this was, after all, 245 00:14:43,560 --> 00:14:47,000 Speaker 2: Christmas morning. This was Germantown, and this was Stokes County, 246 00:14:47,040 --> 00:14:49,800 Speaker 2: which meant rabbits were being hunted and shot for sport, 247 00:14:49,920 --> 00:14:53,400 Speaker 2: with shotguns blasting from all over, from Winston Salem to 248 00:14:53,440 --> 00:14:56,680 Speaker 2: the county seat and Danbury. The sound of gunfire on 249 00:14:56,760 --> 00:15:00,560 Speaker 2: that particular morning was not a surprise. In fact, it 250 00:15:00,600 --> 00:15:04,040 Speaker 2: was to be expected. The sounds of screaming children. On 251 00:15:04,080 --> 00:15:07,680 Speaker 2: the other hand, that wasn't to be expected, which is 252 00:15:07,720 --> 00:15:11,880 Speaker 2: why Charles Lawson shot his daughters before bludgeoning them out 253 00:15:11,920 --> 00:15:15,320 Speaker 2: in the field, where their prone bodies lay partially submerged 254 00:15:15,360 --> 00:15:19,440 Speaker 2: in deep, freshly fallen snow. Charles Lawson gazed down at 255 00:15:19,480 --> 00:15:23,400 Speaker 2: his dead daughter's and for a moment there was quiet 256 00:15:23,880 --> 00:15:29,120 Speaker 2: at long last, No voices, no gunshots, just the wind, 257 00:15:29,280 --> 00:15:33,320 Speaker 2: quietly moving across the field, gently sifting the top level 258 00:15:33,360 --> 00:15:37,960 Speaker 2: of snow, but then burbling up from somewhere deep inside, 259 00:15:38,280 --> 00:15:41,840 Speaker 2: rushing forward into his consciousness like a gathering storm. A 260 00:15:41,880 --> 00:15:45,320 Speaker 2: tornado of whispers turned to a violent vortex of demands, 261 00:15:45,560 --> 00:15:47,240 Speaker 2: and the voices all said. 262 00:15:47,040 --> 00:15:51,080 Speaker 1: One thing, finished them. Charles pounced. 263 00:15:51,280 --> 00:15:55,320 Speaker 2: Straddling Carrie's body, he raised his fist and pummeled, bashing. 264 00:15:54,920 --> 00:15:57,480 Speaker 1: Her young face until it was unrecognizable. Though. 265 00:15:57,480 --> 00:15:59,240 Speaker 2: When he was done, he moved over to Maybell and 266 00:15:59,240 --> 00:16:01,440 Speaker 2: did the same. And then he grabbed both girls by 267 00:16:01,480 --> 00:16:04,520 Speaker 2: the collars, won an each arm, and dragged their bodies 268 00:16:04,520 --> 00:16:08,120 Speaker 2: toward the tobacco barn. The voices were quieter, but no 269 00:16:08,240 --> 00:16:09,080 Speaker 2: less insistent. 270 00:16:09,600 --> 00:16:10,680 Speaker 1: Finished them. 271 00:16:10,960 --> 00:16:13,720 Speaker 2: Charles moved on from the tobacco farm toward the house, 272 00:16:14,120 --> 00:16:18,040 Speaker 2: shotgun in hand, trudging heavily through the snow. His wife, Fanny, 273 00:16:18,120 --> 00:16:21,160 Speaker 2: was on their porch. She saw Charles walking toward her. 274 00:16:21,480 --> 00:16:25,000 Speaker 2: Immediately she knew something was very wrong. His gait was 275 00:16:25,040 --> 00:16:28,760 Speaker 2: all off. His head was hung low, chinned down, pressed 276 00:16:28,760 --> 00:16:31,320 Speaker 2: to his chest, his eyes pitched up to his brow, 277 00:16:31,480 --> 00:16:32,560 Speaker 2: his shoulders hunched. 278 00:16:32,840 --> 00:16:33,640 Speaker 1: He was lumbering. 279 00:16:33,680 --> 00:16:36,960 Speaker 2: He was determined, He was all menace. The shotgun at 280 00:16:36,960 --> 00:16:40,040 Speaker 2: his side was not a good sign. Fanny feared the worst. 281 00:16:40,280 --> 00:16:43,600 Speaker 2: Charles saw the look, the recognition, the fucking judgment in 282 00:16:43,640 --> 00:16:47,040 Speaker 2: her eyes, and the voices wouldn't allow it. Charles raised 283 00:16:47,040 --> 00:16:50,560 Speaker 2: his shotgun, took quick game, and blasted his wife away 284 00:16:50,600 --> 00:16:54,320 Speaker 2: with one shot. Immediately, with the sound of the shotgun 285 00:16:54,360 --> 00:16:57,720 Speaker 2: from such close range, Charles Lawson's daughter, Marie, from inside 286 00:16:57,800 --> 00:16:58,560 Speaker 2: the house. 287 00:16:58,720 --> 00:16:59,800 Speaker 1: Let out of violence. 288 00:17:06,520 --> 00:17:12,560 Speaker 2: Miami, nineteen seventy Criteria Studios. Derek and the Dominoes were stuck. 289 00:17:13,600 --> 00:17:16,879 Speaker 2: The blast of brief inspiration provided by the recent studio 290 00:17:17,040 --> 00:17:20,800 Speaker 2: edition of Almon Brothers guitarists The Sublime Bluesman Dwayne Almon 291 00:17:21,200 --> 00:17:24,840 Speaker 2: had momentarily come to a halt. The drugs had taken 292 00:17:24,880 --> 00:17:29,800 Speaker 2: over cocaine, loads of it, and even more heroin, the 293 00:17:29,880 --> 00:17:34,560 Speaker 2: band simply did not stop. Eric Clapton was lower than 294 00:17:34,600 --> 00:17:37,919 Speaker 2: he'd ever been. He was completely and totally hung up 295 00:17:37,920 --> 00:17:40,840 Speaker 2: on the wife of his best friend George Harrison and 296 00:17:40,920 --> 00:17:44,800 Speaker 2: Patty Boyd. Harrison wasn't having it. A heartache was all 297 00:17:44,840 --> 00:17:48,200 Speaker 2: consuming for Eric. He attempted to outrun it through his playing. 298 00:17:48,720 --> 00:17:52,320 Speaker 2: When the inspiration dried up or plain old fatigue set in, 299 00:17:52,720 --> 00:17:56,439 Speaker 2: the only plan B was drugs, and in Miami in 300 00:17:56,560 --> 00:18:00,199 Speaker 2: nineteen seventy, the kind of drugs adult drugs at Eric 301 00:18:00,240 --> 00:18:04,359 Speaker 2: Clapton needed were plentiful. When he didn't have a guitar 302 00:18:04,440 --> 00:18:06,639 Speaker 2: in hand, he chopped up lines and leaned into the 303 00:18:06,680 --> 00:18:10,719 Speaker 2: switchblade shoved under his nose, snorting cocaine and heroin, and 304 00:18:10,760 --> 00:18:12,880 Speaker 2: then of course he and the rest of his band 305 00:18:12,880 --> 00:18:16,639 Speaker 2: would nod out. Music making would stop, and the promise 306 00:18:16,760 --> 00:18:19,359 Speaker 2: Derek and the Dominoes displayed in the studio with George 307 00:18:19,400 --> 00:18:22,320 Speaker 2: Harrison had become a mess of drug induced false starts, 308 00:18:22,359 --> 00:18:25,879 Speaker 2: brought to life momentarily by the outside influence of Dwayne Allman, 309 00:18:26,200 --> 00:18:28,800 Speaker 2: who at the moment was losing to his own demons 310 00:18:28,840 --> 00:18:31,480 Speaker 2: like the rest of the band, and to this point 311 00:18:31,640 --> 00:18:34,960 Speaker 2: they had actually made decent progress on a blistering new track. 312 00:18:35,359 --> 00:18:38,840 Speaker 2: Of course, another send up of unrequited love to Patty Harrison. 313 00:18:39,320 --> 00:18:42,200 Speaker 2: This one based on a book by the Persian poet 314 00:18:42,320 --> 00:18:45,960 Speaker 2: Nazami called the Story of Laila and Mashna. It is, 315 00:18:46,040 --> 00:18:49,440 Speaker 2: of course, a tragic love story where the protagonist Majnum 316 00:18:49,560 --> 00:18:52,520 Speaker 2: is destined to a loveless life of solitude after having 317 00:18:52,560 --> 00:18:56,720 Speaker 2: Vien spurned by the love of his life Leila. Needless 318 00:18:56,720 --> 00:19:01,040 Speaker 2: to say, Eric Clapton could relate and Dwayne Alman could 319 00:19:01,040 --> 00:19:06,119 Speaker 2: relate to Eric Clapton. As guitar players, there were instant soulmates. 320 00:19:07,400 --> 00:19:10,320 Speaker 2: Eric was introduced to Dwyane by producer Tom Dowd and 321 00:19:10,400 --> 00:19:14,000 Speaker 2: Miami at an Alman Brothers concert. Duayane was soon after 322 00:19:14,160 --> 00:19:16,840 Speaker 2: hurried to Criteria Studios to jam, and. 323 00:19:16,800 --> 00:19:18,200 Speaker 1: The connection between the two. 324 00:19:18,119 --> 00:19:23,480 Speaker 2: Guitarists was instant, inspiring and indelible. Duyne effortlessly drove Eric's 325 00:19:23,520 --> 00:19:26,480 Speaker 2: already stellar playing in to new heights and set Eric 326 00:19:26,560 --> 00:19:29,160 Speaker 2: off deeper into the depths of his depression to mind 327 00:19:29,200 --> 00:19:32,840 Speaker 2: for lyrics that were raw and undeniably real. The story 328 00:19:32,840 --> 00:19:36,200 Speaker 2: of Leila and Maajnum paired with Dwayne Almond's unforgettable seven 329 00:19:36,240 --> 00:19:40,240 Speaker 2: note riff in Stellar Bottleneck slide playing became Eric Clapton's 330 00:19:40,320 --> 00:19:41,600 Speaker 2: most memorable pop hit. 331 00:19:42,080 --> 00:19:45,440 Speaker 1: Layla half of it anyway. 332 00:19:46,640 --> 00:19:49,480 Speaker 2: In a separate room away from his bandmates, who were 333 00:19:49,560 --> 00:19:52,120 Speaker 2: at the moment funked out on the floor knotted off 334 00:19:52,160 --> 00:19:55,320 Speaker 2: after running into a wall with Layla unable to finish 335 00:19:55,400 --> 00:19:57,200 Speaker 2: the song to bring it home, to make it anything 336 00:19:57,240 --> 00:19:59,439 Speaker 2: more than a three minute verse chorus, verse romp with 337 00:19:59,520 --> 00:20:03,160 Speaker 2: soaring sn slide. Guitar Derek and the Domino's drummer Jim 338 00:20:03,200 --> 00:20:06,520 Speaker 2: Gordon was sitting at a piano. The riff he was 339 00:20:06,560 --> 00:20:09,320 Speaker 2: playing was a melody he and his ex girlfriend Rita 340 00:20:09,359 --> 00:20:11,919 Speaker 2: Coolidge used to mess with up in the John Garfield 341 00:20:11,960 --> 00:20:16,399 Speaker 2: guesthouse they stayed at in Hollywood. It was moody, dramatic. 342 00:20:16,760 --> 00:20:18,520 Speaker 2: Rita used to hum it and then play it on 343 00:20:18,560 --> 00:20:21,280 Speaker 2: the upright in the guest house. It was an earworm 344 00:20:21,320 --> 00:20:24,720 Speaker 2: of the highest magnitude in the best possible way. Jim 345 00:20:24,760 --> 00:20:27,200 Speaker 2: taught himself the chords on the piano and added to 346 00:20:27,240 --> 00:20:30,160 Speaker 2: the progression in melody and was now secretly off recording 347 00:20:30,160 --> 00:20:32,280 Speaker 2: it in the studio's b room for what he hoped 348 00:20:32,280 --> 00:20:34,639 Speaker 2: would be his solo record, while the rest of his 349 00:20:34,720 --> 00:20:38,720 Speaker 2: drugged out bandmates slept off their dough pies. In those 350 00:20:38,720 --> 00:20:42,840 Speaker 2: piano notes raying out. Eric Clapton heard them. He discovered 351 00:20:42,880 --> 00:20:46,000 Speaker 2: his drummer at the piano. What he wanted to know 352 00:20:46,600 --> 00:20:50,359 Speaker 2: was this. Jim Gordon told him it was his was 353 00:20:50,400 --> 00:20:53,040 Speaker 2: going on his record, this riff, this melody, this piece 354 00:20:53,320 --> 00:20:55,159 Speaker 2: was too good for any sideman hustle. 355 00:20:55,920 --> 00:20:58,960 Speaker 1: Eric Clapton wanted the piano piece. He needed it. 356 00:20:59,240 --> 00:21:01,800 Speaker 2: He made Jim play it for Dwayne Almond, and Dwayne 357 00:21:01,880 --> 00:21:04,640 Speaker 2: nodded in agreement with Eric and called him producer Tom Dowd, 358 00:21:04,640 --> 00:21:06,960 Speaker 2: who's jaw at the floor. And the rest of the 359 00:21:06,960 --> 00:21:10,560 Speaker 2: band agreed they needed this piece and Jim didn't want 360 00:21:10,560 --> 00:21:12,919 Speaker 2: to give it up. The band pleaded it was the 361 00:21:12,960 --> 00:21:15,720 Speaker 2: missing piece, that the piece of music that would complete Layla, 362 00:21:16,040 --> 00:21:18,280 Speaker 2: the piece of music that would make the song better. 363 00:21:19,000 --> 00:21:22,200 Speaker 1: You can do better, Jim, That's what the voices always. 364 00:21:21,920 --> 00:21:24,720 Speaker 2: Said, and they were right. He knew it, so he 365 00:21:24,800 --> 00:21:30,880 Speaker 2: gave the piece up. Derek and the Dominoes quickly recorded 366 00:21:30,960 --> 00:21:34,480 Speaker 2: Jim Gordon's and his ex girlfriend's majestic Melody on piano 367 00:21:34,560 --> 00:21:37,879 Speaker 2: as the coda to Layla. Jim planked out the notes. 368 00:21:38,040 --> 00:21:41,560 Speaker 2: Keyboardist Bobby Whitlock recorded his own track to Steady the Ship. 369 00:21:42,240 --> 00:21:44,919 Speaker 2: Eric Clapton and Dwayne Alman went to work applying their 370 00:21:45,000 --> 00:21:48,560 Speaker 2: dual guitar genius over the heavy emotional melody. But what 371 00:21:48,640 --> 00:21:51,400 Speaker 2: they came up with is as close to symphonic as 372 00:21:51,480 --> 00:21:55,800 Speaker 2: rock instrumentation can get. The finished piece directly resembles the 373 00:21:55,800 --> 00:22:00,720 Speaker 2: heartbreaking emotion at the core of Eric Clapton's lyrics song Laila, 374 00:22:01,200 --> 00:22:05,120 Speaker 2: Now with Jim Gordon's piano contribution, is, in a word, 375 00:22:05,400 --> 00:22:10,320 Speaker 2: a masterpiece. Jim Gordon allowed himself a moment of satisfaction 376 00:22:10,440 --> 00:22:14,080 Speaker 2: upon listening to the playback of Laila. Despite all this 377 00:22:14,200 --> 00:22:17,160 Speaker 2: success to that point, he couldn't actually believe. 378 00:22:16,840 --> 00:22:19,719 Speaker 1: Where he was at, what he was accomplishing. And this 379 00:22:19,920 --> 00:22:21,960 Speaker 1: was different. This wasn't just drumming. 380 00:22:22,000 --> 00:22:26,040 Speaker 2: This was composing, conducting a symphony with God himself or 381 00:22:25,960 --> 00:22:29,760 Speaker 2: a Clapton and his disciple Dwayne Allman. But deep down 382 00:22:30,359 --> 00:22:33,560 Speaker 2: Jim Gordon heard the whispers. He knew he wasn't done 383 00:22:33,920 --> 00:22:36,399 Speaker 2: and they wouldn't let him finish. There was more for 384 00:22:36,480 --> 00:22:38,880 Speaker 2: him to do, and the voice is kept telling him 385 00:22:39,480 --> 00:22:40,439 Speaker 2: you can do better. 386 00:22:46,040 --> 00:22:49,600 Speaker 1: We'll be right back after this. Were where where. 387 00:22:57,119 --> 00:23:00,399 Speaker 2: The scream for Marie, Charles Lawson's daughter, cut through the 388 00:23:00,480 --> 00:23:04,679 Speaker 2: tiny farmhouse. Her two younger brothers, James and Raymond, darted 389 00:23:04,720 --> 00:23:08,760 Speaker 2: off to hide. Within seconds, their deranged father burst through 390 00:23:08,760 --> 00:23:11,399 Speaker 2: the front door. Marie took one look at him and 391 00:23:11,520 --> 00:23:14,600 Speaker 2: knew this was it. She was all too familiar with 392 00:23:14,640 --> 00:23:18,639 Speaker 2: what her father, Charles Lawson, was capable of. Charles stood 393 00:23:18,640 --> 00:23:21,840 Speaker 2: in the front of the doorway, frozen, his eyes fixed 394 00:23:21,880 --> 00:23:25,600 Speaker 2: on his oldest, prettiest daughter. He clenched his lips, focased 395 00:23:25,600 --> 00:23:28,840 Speaker 2: his eyes, waited for her to say something, waited for 396 00:23:28,920 --> 00:23:33,320 Speaker 2: further instruction. Marie accepted what was about to happen. She 397 00:23:33,440 --> 00:23:36,520 Speaker 2: put one hand on the bottom of her belly, breathed 398 00:23:36,520 --> 00:23:39,119 Speaker 2: a sigh of relief, and there would be no more pain, 399 00:23:39,359 --> 00:23:44,480 Speaker 2: no more shame. Loosened suddenly from these constantly oppressive twin emotions. 400 00:23:44,920 --> 00:23:48,600 Speaker 2: Marie's body slackened as she began to walk to almost 401 00:23:48,640 --> 00:23:53,320 Speaker 2: saunter slowly toward her father, who stood stone still, like 402 00:23:53,359 --> 00:23:55,439 Speaker 2: a rabbit out in the field, caught in the sights 403 00:23:55,480 --> 00:23:59,000 Speaker 2: of its hunter, frozen briefly before making its next move. 404 00:24:00,080 --> 00:24:04,440 Speaker 2: Marie's approach taunted Charles like most everything, his attractive seventeen 405 00:24:04,520 --> 00:24:08,159 Speaker 2: year old daughter did. And then the voices did what 406 00:24:08,240 --> 00:24:11,080 Speaker 2: they always did. They rose up quick from within their 407 00:24:11,119 --> 00:24:15,120 Speaker 2: host and gave Charles that familiar party line, do it. 408 00:24:15,960 --> 00:24:19,359 Speaker 2: Charles quickly raised a shotgun and fired around off into 409 00:24:19,359 --> 00:24:24,879 Speaker 2: Marie at close range. After the shot echoed out, Charles 410 00:24:24,880 --> 00:24:28,960 Speaker 2: heard the whimpering. He quickly located his two hiding sons, 411 00:24:29,080 --> 00:24:32,040 Speaker 2: James and Raymond, and pumped one boy to each of them. 412 00:24:32,560 --> 00:24:33,680 Speaker 1: Then he heard the. 413 00:24:33,640 --> 00:24:38,760 Speaker 2: Crying Mary Lou, his lone surviving daughter, just four months old. 414 00:24:39,520 --> 00:24:42,000 Speaker 2: The voices in his head had gathered again, and they 415 00:24:42,000 --> 00:24:44,600 Speaker 2: were screaming and following the lead of the loudest voice 416 00:24:44,600 --> 00:24:48,359 Speaker 2: among them, the voice of a stern, domineering, judgmental woman, 417 00:24:48,880 --> 00:24:50,080 Speaker 2: no loose ends. 418 00:24:50,000 --> 00:24:51,959 Speaker 1: Finish the job. Be better. 419 00:24:53,040 --> 00:24:56,240 Speaker 2: Charles Lawson murdered his baby girl on Christmas morning with 420 00:24:56,280 --> 00:24:57,200 Speaker 2: his bare hands. 421 00:24:58,280 --> 00:25:03,119 Speaker 1: Be better, be better, be better. It was all Charles 422 00:25:03,160 --> 00:25:05,040 Speaker 1: Lawson heard. 423 00:25:05,960 --> 00:25:10,359 Speaker 2: Five decades later, it was all Jim Gordon heard too. 424 00:25:11,000 --> 00:25:14,560 Speaker 2: The voice of Jim's mother was in his head. His mother, 425 00:25:14,680 --> 00:25:17,600 Speaker 2: who by all accounts was a loving mother, a maternity 426 00:25:17,640 --> 00:25:20,920 Speaker 2: ward nurse who, along with his father, an accountant, raised 427 00:25:20,960 --> 00:25:23,880 Speaker 2: Jim in Sherman Oaks, California, and what was an upper 428 00:25:23,920 --> 00:25:27,880 Speaker 2: middle class upbringing. Her son, Jim Gordon, drummer for Eric 429 00:25:27,920 --> 00:25:32,280 Speaker 2: Clapton's early seventies disappearing act Derek and the Dominoes, perhaps 430 00:25:32,320 --> 00:25:35,119 Speaker 2: the greatest living professional drummer on the planet at the time, 431 00:25:35,680 --> 00:25:38,440 Speaker 2: was caught in the grip of drug and alcohol abuse 432 00:25:38,480 --> 00:25:42,840 Speaker 2: and undiagnosed schizophrenia and fast spinning out of control, just 433 00:25:42,960 --> 00:25:47,200 Speaker 2: like the wheels on Dwayne Almonds nineteen seventy Harley Davidson sportster, 434 00:25:47,640 --> 00:25:51,679 Speaker 2: spinning out of control down making George's Hillcrest Avenue. 435 00:25:52,040 --> 00:25:56,040 Speaker 1: Dwayne's head was spinning too. Freedom was in the Southern Boys. 436 00:25:55,880 --> 00:25:58,680 Speaker 2: DNA, which meant he was not averse to rolling his 437 00:25:58,800 --> 00:26:01,840 Speaker 2: powerful Harley down the lad Highway exactly as he wanted, 438 00:26:02,119 --> 00:26:05,480 Speaker 2: at whatever speed he wanted, cruising down the road, his 439 00:26:05,640 --> 00:26:10,000 Speaker 2: long hair trailing behind him, off into a blessed musical future, 440 00:26:10,359 --> 00:26:13,159 Speaker 2: one that Dwayne Almond's youth, an immense talent, all but 441 00:26:13,400 --> 00:26:18,879 Speaker 2: guarantee Eric Clapton's one time Domino, Jim Gordon's one time bandmate, 442 00:26:19,000 --> 00:26:23,560 Speaker 2: had little to worry about. And then the flatbed semi 443 00:26:23,640 --> 00:26:26,360 Speaker 2: tracked a trailer up ahead, stopped suddenly as it took 444 00:26:26,400 --> 00:26:30,560 Speaker 2: a wide turn. Dwayne on his sportster, moving at top speed, 445 00:26:30,680 --> 00:26:32,880 Speaker 2: swerved to avoid hitting the truck, but his. 446 00:26:32,880 --> 00:26:34,200 Speaker 1: Reaction came too late. 447 00:26:34,920 --> 00:26:37,080 Speaker 2: He hit the semi and was thrown from his bike 448 00:26:37,320 --> 00:26:40,200 Speaker 2: and the momentum rocketed his body down the paved highway 449 00:26:40,480 --> 00:26:42,879 Speaker 2: and the bike rocketed into the air upon impact with 450 00:26:42,920 --> 00:26:46,280 Speaker 2: the truck, and when it came down, it came down hard. 451 00:26:46,040 --> 00:26:47,200 Speaker 1: On top of Dwayne. 452 00:26:48,480 --> 00:26:51,400 Speaker 2: The force and momentum of the bike dragged Dwayne underneath 453 00:26:51,400 --> 00:26:53,919 Speaker 2: it on the pavement for a full fifty feet before 454 00:26:53,960 --> 00:26:59,240 Speaker 2: coming to a stop. Dwayne Almond died later that evening 455 00:26:59,280 --> 00:27:02,920 Speaker 2: at Middle Georgia Hospital of massive internal damage to his heart, 456 00:27:03,119 --> 00:27:07,800 Speaker 2: liver and other organs from a collapsed chest. Upon hearing 457 00:27:07,840 --> 00:27:11,520 Speaker 2: the news, Jim Gordon was sunk. Derek and the Dominoes 458 00:27:11,560 --> 00:27:14,560 Speaker 2: had broken up earlier that year, in nineteen seventy one, 459 00:27:14,640 --> 00:27:17,720 Speaker 2: but who was to say it was final. Jim half 460 00:27:17,760 --> 00:27:21,000 Speaker 2: expected a reunion, but with Dwayne Allman, their part time 461 00:27:21,080 --> 00:27:24,880 Speaker 2: lightning Rod of True Blues inspiration now gone, and Eric 462 00:27:24,920 --> 00:27:28,800 Speaker 2: Clapton's drug alcohol and heartbreak free fall now speeded by 463 00:27:28,880 --> 00:27:33,320 Speaker 2: grief over Dwayne's loss, any hopes of a reunion quickly faded. 464 00:27:35,359 --> 00:27:38,400 Speaker 2: Jim Gordon, drummer for Derek and the Dominoes, co writer 465 00:27:38,520 --> 00:27:43,160 Speaker 2: of God's Coda, Eric Clapton's Leyla, was sunk. He quickly 466 00:27:43,200 --> 00:27:46,600 Speaker 2: spiraled into his own drug and alcohol funk. He tried 467 00:27:46,640 --> 00:27:49,800 Speaker 2: playing through it on sessions with Jackson Brown, but by 468 00:27:49,840 --> 00:27:52,640 Speaker 2: the time Bob Dylan came calling, Jim was in too 469 00:27:52,720 --> 00:27:56,080 Speaker 2: rough a shape and had to pass. Throughout the seventies, 470 00:27:56,320 --> 00:28:00,000 Speaker 2: Jim's behavior grew increasingly erratic, and for the first time 471 00:28:00,080 --> 00:28:03,360 Speaker 2: in his professional life, the steadiness of his gigs started 472 00:28:03,400 --> 00:28:06,600 Speaker 2: to slip, but the voices never dropped. 473 00:28:06,600 --> 00:28:07,720 Speaker 1: The beak you could do better. 474 00:28:07,840 --> 00:28:11,320 Speaker 2: The voices were steady. The voices get loud. The drugs 475 00:28:11,359 --> 00:28:15,000 Speaker 2: and alcohol helped drown them out. Jim graduated from snorting 476 00:28:15,000 --> 00:28:18,480 Speaker 2: heroin to shooting heroine. It was self medication for the 477 00:28:18,560 --> 00:28:24,879 Speaker 2: undiagnosed schizophrenic because the voices were becoming unbearable. One in particular, 478 00:28:25,119 --> 00:28:29,280 Speaker 2: with every day grew louder, more persistent, more insistent. It 479 00:28:29,400 --> 00:28:32,600 Speaker 2: was a familiar voice, the voice of his mother, imploring 480 00:28:32,680 --> 00:28:36,280 Speaker 2: him to always be better. But how could he? He tried, 481 00:28:36,320 --> 00:28:39,160 Speaker 2: that he'd done that. There was no one better by 482 00:28:39,200 --> 00:28:42,440 Speaker 2: any quantifiable standard. Jim Gordon was the best at his 483 00:28:42,600 --> 00:28:46,320 Speaker 2: chosen profession, rock drummer, But his mother's voice in his 484 00:28:46,400 --> 00:28:49,440 Speaker 2: head gave him no quarter, no credit, no relief. 485 00:28:49,760 --> 00:28:53,320 Speaker 1: Day and night. Be better, be better, be better, be better. 486 00:28:54,120 --> 00:28:58,280 Speaker 1: Something somewhat had to make the voice stop. You can 487 00:28:58,320 --> 00:28:58,800 Speaker 1: do better. 488 00:29:26,400 --> 00:29:29,440 Speaker 2: By the time Stokes County authorities had found the bodies, 489 00:29:29,800 --> 00:29:33,120 Speaker 2: Charles Lawson was long gone, but not before he had 490 00:29:33,240 --> 00:29:35,520 Speaker 2: arranged the bodies of the loss in children and their 491 00:29:35,560 --> 00:29:38,600 Speaker 2: mother neatly within the blood soaked walls of the family home. 492 00:29:39,680 --> 00:29:42,880 Speaker 2: Charles placed them gently on the floor, taking care to 493 00:29:42,920 --> 00:29:45,840 Speaker 2: cross their arms and prop their heads up for eternal 494 00:29:45,920 --> 00:29:49,640 Speaker 2: comfort by placing large rocks from his tobacco barn under 495 00:29:49,680 --> 00:29:53,280 Speaker 2: their heads. Once the coda to the Christmas massacre was 496 00:29:53,320 --> 00:29:57,080 Speaker 2: near complete, Charles Lawson set out to the woods. He 497 00:29:57,200 --> 00:29:59,760 Speaker 2: stopped at a nearby creek to wash the blood from 498 00:29:59,760 --> 00:30:02,880 Speaker 2: his hands. Clean hands were better than bloody hands, and 499 00:30:02,920 --> 00:30:06,160 Speaker 2: there was always room to be better, And the source 500 00:30:06,160 --> 00:30:07,760 Speaker 2: of his shame was now gone. 501 00:30:08,040 --> 00:30:10,440 Speaker 1: His seventeen year old daughter would taunt him no. 502 00:30:10,480 --> 00:30:13,680 Speaker 2: More, his other children would whisper about him no more, 503 00:30:13,880 --> 00:30:16,160 Speaker 2: his judgmental wife would judge him no more. 504 00:30:16,360 --> 00:30:19,000 Speaker 1: And the voices were at long last quiet. 505 00:30:19,840 --> 00:30:23,720 Speaker 2: Charles Lawson paced around the poplar tree, satisfied now that 506 00:30:23,800 --> 00:30:26,400 Speaker 2: he was free of the voices, and he sat down 507 00:30:26,440 --> 00:30:29,040 Speaker 2: on the wooded ground and propped himself up against the 508 00:30:29,040 --> 00:30:29,920 Speaker 2: poplar's trunk. 509 00:30:30,520 --> 00:30:34,040 Speaker 1: He turned his shotgun toward his face, reached down and 510 00:30:34,160 --> 00:30:35,040 Speaker 1: pulled the trigger. 511 00:30:38,440 --> 00:30:42,080 Speaker 2: Fifty three years later, Jim Gordon, like Charles Lawson, had 512 00:30:42,080 --> 00:30:46,360 Speaker 2: reached the end of his rope. Unlike Charles Lawson, Jim 513 00:30:46,400 --> 00:30:49,960 Speaker 2: Gordon had no family. He had driven away two wives 514 00:30:49,960 --> 00:30:52,880 Speaker 2: and a daughter with his career and then his erratic behavior. 515 00:30:53,280 --> 00:30:55,880 Speaker 2: He wasn't closed for his older sibling, and his father 516 00:30:55,920 --> 00:31:00,600 Speaker 2: had died in nineteen seventy three. Throughout his life, music, 517 00:31:00,760 --> 00:31:04,280 Speaker 2: not family, centered him. The sessions, the tours, and even 518 00:31:04,280 --> 00:31:07,160 Speaker 2: his brief stint in a band and Eric Clapton's Derek 519 00:31:07,160 --> 00:31:08,040 Speaker 2: and the Dominoes. 520 00:31:08,600 --> 00:31:10,840 Speaker 1: But now all of that was gone. 521 00:31:12,080 --> 00:31:15,440 Speaker 2: Jim's state of mind was too shot to perform consistently, 522 00:31:15,560 --> 00:31:18,080 Speaker 2: to work with others, and his addiction to alcohol and 523 00:31:18,200 --> 00:31:21,959 Speaker 2: drugs to consuming, and by the time nineteen eighty three 524 00:31:22,040 --> 00:31:25,280 Speaker 2: year rolled around, all Jim Gordon had was his seventy 525 00:31:25,320 --> 00:31:30,160 Speaker 2: two year old mother. Jim's mother worried about her son 526 00:31:30,240 --> 00:31:33,240 Speaker 2: and cared for him, helping him kick drugs and alcohol 527 00:31:33,280 --> 00:31:37,080 Speaker 2: at various times, but Jim would always find his way 528 00:31:37,120 --> 00:31:40,400 Speaker 2: back to his addictions, and then the voices would. 529 00:31:40,240 --> 00:31:42,840 Speaker 1: Get real loud, admonishing him. 530 00:31:42,680 --> 00:31:46,960 Speaker 2: For his vices, guilting him for squandering his talent, taunting 531 00:31:47,040 --> 00:31:50,080 Speaker 2: him for his inability to live a normal life, pushing 532 00:31:50,160 --> 00:31:52,640 Speaker 2: him always to do the impossible, to do what he'd 533 00:31:52,640 --> 00:31:54,959 Speaker 2: been trying to do his whole life, to do what 534 00:31:55,000 --> 00:31:59,240 Speaker 2: he knew he could not do, be better, destined to fail. 535 00:31:59,320 --> 00:32:02,360 Speaker 2: The shame of it was unbearable. The voices, all of 536 00:32:02,400 --> 00:32:05,280 Speaker 2: them a chorus of disapproval inside of his head, were 537 00:32:05,320 --> 00:32:08,120 Speaker 2: conducted by the voice of his mother, the woman who 538 00:32:08,160 --> 00:32:10,920 Speaker 2: in reality took care of him, who worried about him, 539 00:32:11,000 --> 00:32:12,920 Speaker 2: who helped him get on the wagon when he tried 540 00:32:12,920 --> 00:32:15,600 Speaker 2: to stop the drinking and drugs, who visited him those 541 00:32:15,640 --> 00:32:18,240 Speaker 2: times when he checked himself into the hospital for when 542 00:32:18,240 --> 00:32:19,560 Speaker 2: the voices were too much. 543 00:32:20,160 --> 00:32:22,200 Speaker 1: His mother was the only one left in the world 544 00:32:22,240 --> 00:32:26,040 Speaker 1: who actually cared about Jim Gordon. But that was reality. 545 00:32:26,560 --> 00:32:27,200 Speaker 1: In his head. 546 00:32:27,560 --> 00:32:30,360 Speaker 2: Jim Gordon knew there was no reality where he could 547 00:32:30,440 --> 00:32:33,960 Speaker 2: actually be better, so his mother needed to be silenced. 548 00:32:34,880 --> 00:32:38,120 Speaker 2: She wouldn't stop, she wouldn't shut the fuck up. She 549 00:32:38,200 --> 00:32:40,720 Speaker 2: wanted to control him, She wanted to own him. She 550 00:32:40,760 --> 00:32:42,960 Speaker 2: wanted him to be something he wasn't. Didn't she know 551 00:32:43,040 --> 00:32:45,640 Speaker 2: he was a rock and roller in outlaw free spirit. 552 00:32:45,760 --> 00:32:48,080 Speaker 2: There was no controlling him, there was no owning him, 553 00:32:48,160 --> 00:32:49,920 Speaker 2: there was no making him be better. 554 00:32:50,120 --> 00:32:52,320 Speaker 1: He was the best. He was Jim Gordon, and he 555 00:32:52,360 --> 00:32:53,640 Speaker 1: had finally snapped. 556 00:32:56,960 --> 00:33:00,560 Speaker 2: On June first, nineteen eighty three, Jim Gordon's mother answered 557 00:33:00,560 --> 00:33:04,360 Speaker 2: her telephone. On the other end was her son. He 558 00:33:04,400 --> 00:33:07,800 Speaker 2: told her, you're bugging me again. I'm going to kill you. 559 00:33:09,680 --> 00:33:12,760 Speaker 2: Despite the warning. When Jim showed up at her apartment, 560 00:33:12,960 --> 00:33:15,120 Speaker 2: his seventy two year old mother opened the door to 561 00:33:15,200 --> 00:33:17,520 Speaker 2: let him in, most likely to calm him down, to 562 00:33:17,600 --> 00:33:20,040 Speaker 2: do what mothers do for their children, to take care 563 00:33:20,080 --> 00:33:23,280 Speaker 2: of him. But there was no taking care of Jim Gordon. 564 00:33:23,840 --> 00:33:27,800 Speaker 2: Like Charles Lawson, the voices were in control. The voices 565 00:33:27,840 --> 00:33:30,600 Speaker 2: in Charles's head had told him to kill but Jim 566 00:33:30,720 --> 00:33:31,480 Speaker 2: was at war. 567 00:33:31,320 --> 00:33:32,640 Speaker 1: With the voices in his head. 568 00:33:32,960 --> 00:33:35,800 Speaker 2: When his mother opened her apartment door, her son brought 569 00:33:35,800 --> 00:33:38,800 Speaker 2: a hammer down onto her head and bashed her skull open. 570 00:33:39,240 --> 00:33:42,000 Speaker 2: He then grabbed a butcher's knife and savagely stabbed her, 571 00:33:42,080 --> 00:33:45,760 Speaker 2: violently ending her life. The neighbors could hear her screaming, 572 00:33:46,560 --> 00:33:49,240 Speaker 2: and the voices in Jim Gordon's head had gone silent 573 00:33:49,960 --> 00:33:57,560 Speaker 2: for a moment anyway, but they'd be back. Jim Gordon murderer, 574 00:33:57,880 --> 00:34:02,200 Speaker 2: undiagnosed schizophrenic, the best drummers of all time, drummer for 575 00:34:02,360 --> 00:34:05,920 Speaker 2: Eric Claptons, Derek and the Dominoes, now spends his days 576 00:34:06,000 --> 00:34:10,320 Speaker 2: rehearsing with the inmate band in California State Prison Medical Facility. 577 00:34:10,400 --> 00:34:13,120 Speaker 2: Because one can always be better. 578 00:34:14,480 --> 00:34:29,400 Speaker 3: I'm Jake Brennan, and this is Disgraceland. 579 00:34:32,239 --> 00:34:35,040 Speaker 2: Disgraceland was created by Yours Truly and is produced in 580 00:34:35,080 --> 00:34:38,480 Speaker 2: partnership with Double Elvis. 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