Jim Hodder (December 17, 1947 – June 5, 1990) was an American musician, best known as the original drummer for Steely Dan. After leaving the Boston group Bead Game, Hodder moved to Los Angeles to join Steely Dan. He played on their first three albums before leaving in 1974, and worked as a session musician before his death in 1990.
Biography
Early years, Bead Game
Hodder was born in the small Long Island hamlet of Bethpage, New York, in 1947. He graduated from Plainedge High School in the Plainedge Union Free School District in 1965 and relocated to the Boston area, becoming active in the local music scene.
As a drummer, he joined the Boston-based rock group Bead Game, named after Hermann Hesse's novel The Glass Bead Game. He replaced their original drummer, Joe D'Amico. However, their original lead vocalist John Leone quit, and through auditions Bead Game were unable to find a suitable replacement, so Hodder took on the role of lead vocalist solely for lack of anyone else to do it. Their first album, Baptism, was recorded without a contract with a record label and was consequently canceled. It was not released until 1996 (six years after Hodder's death), and then only in a limited edition of 900 copies.
Bead Game built a local following in Boston clubs and attracted the attention of Avco Records and producer Gary Katz. He made the move with his girlfriend Kathi Kamen Goldmark, later a successful author and musician. He barely knew the other members prior to tracking their first records.
Although still a band member, he played a diminished role on Steely Dan's third LP, Pretzel Logic (1974). Before recording began, Becker and Fagen met with Hodder and told him they planned to use session drummers on the album. and Sibling Rivalry by The Rowans. in the swimming pool of his Point Arena, California home. He was 42 years old.