Jim Hodder
December 17, 1947 – June 5, 1990
Jim Hodder is best known as the original drummer for Steely Dan. He joined the group in 1972 and played on the classic albums, Can’t Buy A Thrill, Countdown To Extacy and Pretzel Logic. He left the band in 1974 and went on to be a session player, working with such artists as Sammy Hagar and David Soul. Jim Hodder drowned in his swimming pool in 1990. He was just 42.
It amazes me how few of the players in Steely Dan were actually members of the band. Don’t get me wrong, I love Steely Dan’s work for the first eight years of their career. But this group was dependent on outside talent to give flavor to their best songs.