Landslide

Greg Ordy

Over the summer of 1972, I moved back to the Cleveland area, after spending my high school years in DeKalb, Illinois. Did I ever mention that Cindy Crawford graduated from my high school? Actually, who cares? Although I was entering college in the fall, the real excitement was starting up a rock band with my old friends. From the end of 1972 until 1976, I played out in a local band. While the time spent on the band did severely detract from college, it was one of the best experiences of my life. The lessons I learned were, in the long run,  as important as anything I learned in college.
 

Actually, my first band job was over the 1971 Christmas break. I guess I better back up a little more and tell the whole story.

As a kid, I took piano lessons at my grandmother's house. I don't remember much about them, except that my teacher was blind. She would come to the house once a week or so, with a friend. At that time, which must have been around 1964, they were both already older ladies. In retrospect, I'm amazed that I had a blind piano teacher. What's so funny is that while it was obvious she was blind, at the piano it didn't matter. The friend would help my teacher into the house, then sit down and read for the hour lesson.

Playing music then went on hold for a few years. Growing up just didn't have enough hours for everything. Of course this was during the 60's, and although I was not making music, the music I was listening to had a deep effect on me. I think that just about everybody who lived during the 60's can make the same claim.

When I was 15 or so, two unrelated events took place that together pushed me back into music. First, my mother, a teacher, decided to take guitar lessons so that she could integrate some music into her teaching. We're talking about nothing more than chord strumming here. But that brought a guitar into the house. The second event was that my old friend, Phil, was getting into music back in Cleveland.

I was born and grew up in the Cleveland area, until the age of 14, at which time I moved to Illinois. We visited friends and family often, and on one level, I never left. I moved back after high school, and have been in the area ever since.

To make a long story much shorter, I now had a guitar, and some friends who were getting into music themselves. We all seemed to like the same music. I would broadly categorize that music as early/mid 60's Beatle-style rock. Our visits, letter, and phone calls, soon centered around music, and the idea of forming a band.

By the end of 1971, we were ready. Joining us in this first effort were two other friends, Dave, and John. By this time, I had started to play bass. While everybody wants to play guitar, it seems as if there is always a need for a bass player. We agreed upon a song list, and were able to learn our parts and practice independently - as in 400 miles apart.

Phil got us our first job at a winter dance for St. Clare Church, the neighborhood church we had attended for years. In fact, Phil went to school there. Fortunately, the dance was late in the winter break, which allowed me to come to Cleveland and practice in person for a few days before the big event. This rare photo shows Phil on guitar, and me on bass. My hair still has a mind of its own.

We called ourselves Edgefield, named after the street we all lived on. Well, actually only myself, Phil, and Dave lived on Edgefield. John lived on Croyden. Who would call a band Croyden?

After this first performing experience, I returned to complete high school in DeKalb, and then moved back to Cleveland in the summer of '72. At that point, we could finally create a full-time band.

Dave and John were a bit older, and were onto other things. That left Phil and myself. Through the newspaper, we met Dean, who also liked the same style of music. We still needed a drummer. Phil's older brother, Tom, had done some drum playing, and with his addition we were back up to the required four members. We started practicing in the fall of 1972, and had our first job that winter.

At first, we continued to use the name Edgefield, but we wanted something better. Some names that were toyed with included Windward and Whetstone Bridge. In the end, we settled on Landslide. We usually just talked about the 'slide. At one point, our name was incorrectly printed in the local paper as Landscape. That still shows up in jokes every now and them.

I guess you would call us a copy band. We mainly played dance music at local clubs, high school, and college events. A few weddings and reunions were thrown in for comic relief. I wonder if they are still married? Over time, we did play a few originals, mainly written by Tom. Phil eventually went on to professionally record some of them, and honest to goodness old-fashioned 45's exist.

It was common to play out each and every Friday and Saturday night. As we got rolling, Sunday and Thursday were often added. A busy week would include four to five jobs. While we played all over northern Ohio, we never did play out of state. That was good, since doing so probably would have been a federal offense.

This picture was taken at a formal dance. We were asked to wear the suits and ties. Trust me, we normally did not wear anything remotely like a suit or a tie. This picture is special for several other reasons. First, we really took very few posed shots. This might have been the only one. We only took this one because the dance had a photographer, and it was easy to pose at a break.

The dance took place at a high school that was, at that time, rather far away. Today, I happen to live in that school district, it is my local school.

Of most note are the guitars. Phil is playing a genuine Gibson Flying-Vee. I think he paid $275.00 for it. He sold it for a profit, but in today's vintage guitar market, it is worth thousands of dollars. Even more prized is Dean's 1959 Gibson Les Paul. As I recall, he acquired that for around $200.00. That guitar, today, can be worth ten's of thousands of dollars. Dean sold it to Joe Walsh, and it was rumored to be headed for Jimmy Page. It was an exceptional guitar. Mint condition.

My guitar was rare, but not  very valuable. It is a Dan Armstrong acrylic bass. It is made of clear acrylic. It has a wonderful neck - small like a guitar. The only drawback was that it was very heavy. Very heavy.

Tom's drumsticks are nothing special, he probably broke them later that night.

Here was our master song list. I would bet that this list is incomplete. It certainly doesn't include our handful of original material. Even worse, the list is in no particular order.

In the final year of Landslide, Dean left the band, and we played as a so-called power trio. I then left the band, Dean then returned, and I was replaced by Joe. That band was called Fly By Night.

Dean has remained most connected to music performance. He has played as both a solo and as part of a duo ever since the band days. Dean and Phil were the duo, playing guitar and bass, as well as singing. By that time, the electronic rhythm box was added for some percussion. As is common today, Dean now plays with tapes, which allows a solo act to make a very full sound.

At the time, the band seemed to be about music. It certainly was. In retrospect, it was also about confidence, team work, and business. More than anything else, it was fun.

Back to my Music Page

Last update: Monday, April 29, 2002 07:39 PM
Back to my Home Page