flammaster Posted November 13, 2003 Share Posted November 13, 2003 I just got an email from Ken Mazur and he asked me if I knew of the person called ghost who supposedly came from the mountains of California and was supposed to be some Omnipitant drummer. I do remember hearing the story but always dismissed it as a bunch of BS. White stallion was the Sr. Corps of a bunch of BD alumni who got together a few times and always dreampt of doing the DCA scene but never followed through. I guess Renegades is the final product but I was wondering if the "Ghost" thing was for real or just a bunch of hooey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drummist Posted November 13, 2003 Share Posted November 13, 2003 I just got an email from Ken Mazur and he asked me if I knew of the person called ghost who supposedly came from the mountains of California and was supposed to be some Omnipitant drummer.I do remember hearing the story but always dismissed it as a bunch of BS. White stallion was the Sr. Corps of a bunch of BD alumni who got together a few times and always dreampt of doing the DCA scene but never followed through. I guess Renegades is the final product but I was wondering if the "Ghost" thing was for real or just a bunch of hooey. This guy was discussed just recently on RAMD. Search there for the details. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flammaster Posted November 13, 2003 Author Share Posted November 13, 2003 Ahhh so what Ken said was this guy played for Seattle Imperials. I told him how I used to play 3 camps he!! on the Wabash, the general etc. and all by the age of 9. I never learned to read properly but i learned these solo's from the Frank Arsenault Record. RAMD? No thanks.. Apparently Mr. Mazur is writing a book on the history of drumming. I can shed some light on the west coast thing but I was just a kid and ended up quitting the scene for set drumming instead around 79. Bottom line though is I think Rick Odello is a much better instructor than he was given credit for. esp the tight grip and playing into pillows etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randomnoise Posted November 13, 2003 Share Posted November 13, 2003 (edited) Only memory I have of Ghost was that he taught the Salem Argonauts in the 70's. He looked like a homeless person. They marched double snares one year - his invention. That was a cool corps - wish they were still around. Edited November 13, 2003 by randomnoise Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flammaster Posted November 14, 2003 Author Share Posted November 14, 2003 OK yea I remember them. I think it was 77 or 78 they had these snares made by Stingray that had 3 Toms in front of them. They had a Hot drumline too. And I do remember seeing an intructor on the track there that did look real scruffy. The Tenors played the full on North drum Copys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flammaster Posted November 15, 2003 Author Share Posted November 15, 2003 Bingo! here is some more info. this is from the email I got from Terry Shalberg. <quote> Brian, I find it fascinating that you would think to contact me to ask such a question. I was led to believe that Ken Mazur knew everything. Believe it or not there may be some truth to the story of "Ghost". Though I don't remember which year exactly (71,2 or 3) there was a guy who came out from the east coast to teach the Commodores drum line. His name was Bill Lennon but his widely used nickname was "Ghost". He was basically an old hippie. Think of someone who looked like a Charles Manson. Part of the legend may stem from the belief that he lived in a teepee, smoked a alot of pot, took alot of acid and was a rather "organic" person. Like I said, an old hippie. Supposedly he knew his #### but I have no personal knowledge. I saw him at a clinic on one occasion and his ideas and thinking weren't exactly mainstream. As I remember, he was a proponent of match grip which may have some merits but I was then and am still old school. Anyway at that clinic I think he disagreed with everything we did (we performed) and we won our first national title a few months later. So you can draw your own conclusions. I think the one thing that may contribute to this "legend" is that he played with and his history was with the Boston Crusaders who were THE DRUM LINE at a point in time. A bit of trivia is that the BD snare drum line used to wear Boston tee shirts under our uniforms. That should say something of the high esteem with which we held the Boston line. I called Scott Johnson to verify a couple of these facts and he reminded me of one other little tidbit that you may find interesting. Ghost had a dog that was with him all the time. His name was " Shadow". Only problem was that he was either white or yellow. I hope this info helps. Say hello to any and all and in particular your mom. Terry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chasgroh Posted November 17, 2003 Share Posted November 17, 2003 Believe it or not there may be some truth to the story of "Ghost". Though I don't remember which year exactly (71,2 or 3) there was a guy who came out from the east coast to teach the Commodores drum line. His name was Bill Lennon but his widely used nickname was "Ghost". He was basically an old hippie. Think of someone who looked like a Charles Manson. Part of the legend may stem from the belief that he lived in a teepee, smoked a alot of pot, took alot of acid and was a rather "organic" person. OH YEAH! Ghost was (and hopefully *is*) a real interesting person! Yes, he played in Boston. Yes he taught Argonauts and was very innovative. Yes, his name was Bill but I don't know about the Lennon part...maybe because we never got that far in our "discussions"...heh. What knocks me out about this thread is the mention of the tepee! Yes, he was a tepee nut but at the time I knew him ('76,'77 and I think I saw him in '79, maybe!) his big dream was to live in a tepee and do a Nor'easter in the boondocks of Mass...but it was a dream, I think so, anyway. Heh. What a neat guy! If anyone runs across him or knows of him, I would appreciate the info...I think he'd remember some of our "discussions!" ...heh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drmr27 Posted November 17, 2003 Share Posted November 17, 2003 Thanks Cousin Charlie, Guess I can add a few things here. I Left 27 after the 1974 season and kicked around teaching a few class C and B lines around New England. In 1977 I got a gig assisting the Ghost who was caption head with the 21st Lancers... Yes! 21st! They were a feeder organization for 27 from Norwood, MA (my hometown) and they ended up splitting away but kept the name. Working with the Ghost was an intense learning experience for me. A lot of the legend is true. His given name was Bill Linnen but he dropped that many years earlier and was far more comfortable being called Ghost. He had the habit of appearing and disappearing without warning. He was a thin, small framed guy, balding with a LONG gray beard. During breaks in rehearsal he would lay down in the grass and his beard would point straight up into the air. He said it was drawn there by the spirits in the greater megalithic cloud... He was very friendly and easy to get to know, but still a mystery. He did play with Boston in the 1960's, he often talked about the architectural advantages of a properly designed and built teepee. His teaching and writing skills just knocked me out at the time. He was able to get a line of relatively young kids to play like pros and could motivate people without ever once raising his voice. He believed that visual presentation was very important but meaningless if you didn't have good music and musicianship behind it. I don't know what happened to him after that year. I hope he went up to Vermont or NH and set up housekeeping in a teepee. I always thought he would be as much at home with wolves and bears as he would with a drumline. If he is still with us today, somewhere in the north woods, he must be well into his 70's if not 80's. He's probably making hand drums and flutes and teaching squirrels and rabbits to make music. Steve Groh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flammaster Posted November 17, 2003 Author Share Posted November 17, 2003 This is some great history here. I do remember seeing the Argonauts but what year it was I can't remember. Perhaps it was closer to 80 or 83 when i saw them. They were doing things that were very different and one of the most progressive lines I had ever seen for that time period. The snare line using extra toms was the thing that really stood out in my memory. I did remember seeing a guy on the track that looked kind of out of place for a DC show (well just because he was staff) but yea he looked real friendly. I think that what Terry told about him smoking pot and taking acid was more of what people "thought" he did rather than what he was actually like. This has really turned out some intersting storys from you two guys and I'd like to learn more! I love the history of corps and my quest for more knowlege about it has just struck gold!!! Thanks guys. ^OO^ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan H. Turner Posted November 19, 2003 Share Posted November 19, 2003 I have nothing of any significance to add to this discussion other than the fact that I LOVE this thread...I LOVE history of drum corps, and it's these idiosyncracies of the love of our lives that make it even more interesting. How cool a person named GHOST could teach a drum line and have this legend/legacy STILL alive after 20 some odd years... WOW!! Very cool... ...oh, and the fact that there are TWO Groh's in the world...I learned that too in this thread! Scary...in a sort of good way!! :P :P :P :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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