Damn. I just got home from a day out and about, and saw the heading of this post in my emails. I’m sure there will shortly be remembrances about Jim from Eric Clapton, Bobby Whitlock (organist/singer/songwriter of Derek & The Dominos, player and singer on Harrison’s All Things Must Pass, both of which feature Jim on drums as well as piano on the coda section of "Layla"), Hal Blaine (the two of them worked together in the L.A. recording studios), Steve Winwood (Jim was for a time drumming in Traffic), many others.
To say Jim was a great drummer is a massive understatement. Whitlock actually considers Jim the best drummer Rock ’n’ Roll has produced. He’s certainly amongst the handful of greatest. Emitt Rhodes said to me that Jim was the best musician he ever worked with. Not just drummer, but musician. One reason for that is that Jim played drums as a musical instrument, not just a percussion one. Extremely musical, with impeccable taste.
In the early-2000’s I was contacted by a woman who had become obsessed with Jim (what is it about being a murderer that attracts women? ;-) . She had an ongoing relationship with him by phone and mail, and even visited him at the California prison (Vacaville) in which he has been incarcerated since 1984 (39 years in prison; can you imagine?). She had learned I own one of Jim’s Camco drumsets, and wanted to know all about it (that is one drumset I will never sell). I made sure to not give her any information that might lead her to me ;-) .
