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March 29, 2006
March Audio Diary, and a big loss
Bill has sent in the the March 2006 edition of his Audio Diary series (the 13th overall entry). This new edition totals 32:29 in length. The subjects discussed in this edition Bill speaks at length on, so there's not as many different subjects as he normally talks about, but what is talked about is talked about in depth. Here's what's going on in this new edition.
- Wilson Pickett, who has recently died. He also talks about how it's not always easy for some older musicians still trying to make a living at their craft.
- Talks a lot about Black Sabbath's induction into the Hall of Fame; lots of issues relating to the HOF ceremonies and other bands who went in with Sabbath. Bill also talks about his appreciation for Geezer, Tony, & Oz. Loved Metallica, both in their speeches and in their playing of Sabbath songs.
- A small update on Beyond Aston.
- Bill talks about a couple of deaths in his family recently. One was his wife's grandmother, and the other, unfortunately was the baby that Bill and his wife were expecting.
If you listen to Bill's audio diary, he talks a lot about the loss of the baby. Bill and his wife had found it was to be a boy, and they had chosen the name Bram, after Bram Stoker. Bill found out about this when he was deplaning from returning from the trip for Sabbath's HOF induction.
Naturally, as you can expect, it has not been an easy time for the Ward family. In the diary, Bill talks about sending in emails and letters of condolence. Here are the contact details if you choose to contact Bill regarding this matter.
Via Email: astoncrossmusic@aol.com
Via Snail Mail:
Aston Cross Music, Inc.
2633 Lincoln Blvd. Box #100
Santa Monica, CA 90405-4619
If you wish your letter not to be opened and read, please mark it "Private" on the outside. Further details on 'private letters' and what will happen with all the emails and letters are in the audio diary. Please check it out.
Here's the link to the audio diary:
http://www.billward.com/sounds/diary032806.m4a
(Right click and select "Save As" or "Save Link As" and save the file to your hard drive, don't just click this)
You need one of any number of free audio players (Winamp, iTunes, or Musicmatch Jukebox) to play this file. Don't forget about Bill's Podcast for the diaries, you can get more info on that here.
You can discuss the audio diary in this thread on Bill's forums here on billward.com. A short note, if you have Windows Media player, you may have to rename the file extension from m4a to mp4 to get the file to play right in that player.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 9:02 AM
March 24, 2006
Fuck Mark Chapman - The Chapman Movie
Just got the shit news that there's going to be a movie about the asshole who shot John Lennon. As a Lennon fan, admirer, I can't believe that this film is coming out on general release. I object completely that we have available to us a movie about a guy who robbed millions of people of so much, who stamped out a brilliant mind, and who broke apart a family. When John Lennon died, my heart broke, and I've never gotten over his death, and I know that millions of other people got hurt also.
Whoever is responsible for this movie, the money, the producers, the cast, the music, I fail to see how you can participate in anything that could bring more infamy to an already infamous murderer, robber and pain-bringer.
I curse this movie, and hope that it rots in hell. I hope it's an utter failure. For me personally, it feels like another kick in the balls. It still hurts. He's been dead now for awhile, but it still hurts. This movie can only open up old wounds. For the sake of what? Truth? I think not.
--Bill Ward
Posted by Joe Siegler at 10:43 PM
March 15, 2006
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Speech
Here is the complete text of Bill's speech onstage at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction ceremony on Monday night.
Thank you to Sabbath fans everywhere. Congratulations to all those being inducted this evening. Extra-special greetings to Metallica.
Hopefully, our induction tonight will add further validation, as other bands already inducted in the past years have begun to establish, which is that hard rock and heavy metal have an endearing and forever lasting place in Rock history.
In the US, the ceremony will be on TV on VH1 on Tuesday March 21st at 9PM EST. Click here for further details.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 2:10 PM