From Joe Siegler: “Over the weekend, I received a letter from Bill with a big status update on various things with Bill (his health, touring, Straws, etc..) Anyway, below is the text of the letter from Bill in it’s entirety. All of this is from Bill himself:

Dear Joe,

I wanted to give you some more info on Straws & Beyond Aston.

Regarding “Straws” as you know my company Aston Cross Music, Inc., is making 2,000 copies of Straws, 1,000 copies are already ear marked for family, friends, musicians, journalists, politicians, etc.

The remaining one thousand copies of Straws I’m thinking about putting on E-Bay to raise money for people in need here in America. However I haven’t chosen the U.S. charities yet. Also, in my private mail, I’ve been receiving requests to visit Sao Paulo and to play some small concerts to raise funds for a hospital down there.

At the moment, I’m a bit stuck, because three weeks ago I had shoulder surgery. In the summer, we (Bill Ward’s band) did start some preliminary work to tour this fall, specifically Bosnia and surrounding areas, and we also considered going down to Sao Paulo. The injury will hold me up until at least Jan. (By the way, the operation was a complete success.) And to add, won’t hold me back from touring with Sabbath, if that opportunity arises.

So, anyway, getting back to E-Bay, I had the mind to try to raise money to help out some people. There’s a shelter in my hometown of Aston in Birmingham, England that I’d like to support also, as well as what’s already been mentioned.

So, that’s where I am right now. And, regarding, Bosnia and Sao Paulo, I will continue to look into playing gigs in both areas at a more suitable time.

OK. Straws as a single, i.e. to record shops, etc., well that is not planned, so no to Straws as a single. Again, its a free download from billward.com. Straws will appear on Beyond Aston.

And, regarding Beyond Aston, here’s the progress report.

Artwork/credits underway and progressing.

Songs – all in full production, some at finite mixing stage, everyone is working hard, to get “beyond” Beyond Aston.

Following is a list of all songs appearing on Beyond Aston, with a brief critique. Please note these songs and titles have been copywritten and rights are protected. It would be an illegal act to copy or use these titles in any way whatsoever.

Beyond Aston© – Bill Ward
(Titles not in order of appearance)

1. Crow
A song about Irish struggles over the years, (soft rock) including choir and accordian

2. The Dark Half Hour
(Hard Rock) A song about the memory, child abuse and deep passion. Saxophone/Fender Strat Licks.

3. Straws
(Medium Rock) A song which appears as part of a trilogy of war songs on Beyond Aston – gimmicky effects and hardcore lyrics.

4. God and the Law
(Medium Rock) Religion and war, part of the trilogy of war songs, Bill played drums.

5. Hi Fi Life
(Medium Rock) Featuring the Perry Sisters, uplifting grooves, about music for what ails you.

6. Ashes
(Hard Rock) Takes a poke at current systems in place that are accepted as “normal,” excellent drums Ronnie Ciago.

7. Angel in the Rain
(Medium/Hard Rock) The gathering of human oddities and people from all walks of life and asking “Who left that angel in the rain”©. Bill played drums.

8. Beyond Aston
(Medium Rock) A song written originally about 10 years ago (after a long and sad conversation with Oz). Upon completion of lyrics it was realized the song not only reverberated the conversation but also reflected possible everyman/woman’s experiences. Small choir accompanies Bill’s vocals.

9. Monmouth Nights
(Medium Rock/Jazz) A song about Sabbath getting back together to rehearse for shows at one of their old haunts, Monmouth, a Roman town in Wales, the birthplace of Henry V in 1387, Paul Ill Bass/synth excellent.

10. First Day Back
(Medium Rock) Song’s about returning from whatever hell you’ve been in, and it’s your first day back. Gibson guitar licks/Keith Lynch.

11. Everybody Loves Me
(Slow Hard Rock) About the ego, and the loneliness that comes with ego, drugs and sexuality. Exceptional drumming by Ronnie Ciago, featuring Perry sisters.

12. Powder on the Moon
(Medium Rock) Cross fades from end of Everybody Loves Me, about obsession to be liked at all costs, even when dead.

13. Soldiers
(Medium Rock) Part of trilogy of war songs on this album. Respectful song in part about soldiers at the front line.

14. Abandoned Gift
(Soft Rock) I think it’s a song about me, I think it came out of the feeling of loss or grief.

15. Somebody’s Heart
(Soft Rock) Song’s about Bill’s reaction to the first Sabbath reunion at Ozzfest, played without Bill, sad and very loving song. Great slide guitar by Keith Lynch.

16. Elephant Man
(Medium/Hard Rock) Excellent drumming by Ronnie Ciago, song of assassinations and suffering.

17. Woodshop
(Medium/Hard Rock) About trying to find God inside chaos. Bill plays drums. Straight ahead rock bass and guitar.

Thanks a lot, Joe. If you could please post this, I’d appreciate it.

Bill

On Saturday, November 2nd, Black Sabbath Drummer, Bill Ward will, once again, be the “in studio” co-host with Mike Stark for “Rock 50“, heard exclusively on WPMD Radio, Cerritos College from 11am to 1pm Pacific Time.

Following the release of his latest single “Straws” and a new Black Sabbath compilation – – “Symptom of the Universe,” Bill will be sharing his thoughts on a variety of subjects, spinning his favorite music and taking YOUR phone calls. Bill will also co-host “Rock 50” on November 30th. Don’t miss these very special programs from this heavy metal original.

During the shows, “first edition” copies of Mike Stark’s For the Record – Black Sabbath: An Oral History (now in it’s second printing), will be given away to selected callers to the program.

On the Steve Propes 45 Show (9am to 11am, Pacific Time), Steve welcomes Billy Cardenas, who was responsible to discovering the artists and producing the “Land Of 1000 Dances” East L.A. Sound of the mid to late 1960s along with some of the records

WPMD on the Internet and WPMD-AM 1700 originates from the campus of Cerritos College, Norwalk, California, home of the best college radio curriculum in Southern California. WPMD features an eclectic programming mix of news, talk, sports and music, presented by students, Cerritos College community members and radio professionals.

You can discuss Bill’s radio appearance on his forums here.

Bill Ward announced today, Sunday, October 27 at 2:00 am PST/Daylight Savings Time that he will release about 2,000 commemorative CD packages, containing one song, “Straws.” The artwork for “Straws” is near completion and roughly 1,000 CD packages will be delivered before December 1.

Since the release of “Straws” on the Internet, the work to release the CD packages has been underway. Each CD will be numbered, it’s a limited edition, and the packages are not for sale. At least 1,000 copies will be sent first to Bill’s family, friends, fellow musicians, producers, engineers, journalists and some radio stations. Further recipients include establishments for humanitarian causes, peace support groups and individuals, and finally governmental heads of state or countries across the world. Following is a quote from Ward, which will appear on the back of the CD package:

In our arrogance, we often feel the desire to beat on our own chests, in celebration of how far, as human beings, we’ve progressed.

For real human progress.
Aston Cross Music, Inc.©

There are no details yet on where the other 1,000 CD packages will go.

Bill Ward has posted his remembrance of September 11th, 2001.

Click here to read it.

Not much going on since the last update, that’s the main reason why there hasn’t been much in the way of news here. Once there’s something to report, believe me – it will get reported. 🙂

However, there was a new interview posted with Bill Ward over on the Classic Rock Revisited site. It’s a great interview, talking about topics ranging from Bill’s solo career, his exclusion in the Ozzfest Sabbath 1997 shows, Ozzy’s The Osbournes TV show, and a whole lot of things. Here’s a few clips from the full interview.

Jeb: Who would have thought that Black Sabbath would have a happy ending?

Bill: I just came back from my drummer’s studio — I have a drummer in my band and we were recording some new songs for a new album, which I want to release in the future. I don’t have a title yet but it is going to be a Ward II album. We did Ward I back in the 1980’s and we want to do another. There were a lot of guests on the Ward I album and some were well known and others were not. I have been writing some songs for it today. The major thing that is going on right now is that we are mixing a brand new album that we are trying to get out this year called Beyond Aston. All of the guys in Sabbath — we were all born in Aston. It is basically a reflection of looking back on my life in Aston and the kind of energy that came from there and where we are now. It is kind of a retro thing.

If you have problems with that URL, you can go to the main site, and find the link there.

We’re back with another update. Yeah, not much has been happening with Bill. It’s been pretty slow in terms of Bill Ward solo materials. He spent the majority of last year with Black Sabbath related projects and events, and spent very little time on his own materials. However, over the weekend, I received an update from Bill on the status of several things. Here’s some news from Bill:

Regarding re-releasing Along the Way, Bill’s been trying to find some songs that he’s written that might work on that album. Bill has also been looking for musicians to play the new material. Bill’s not sure yet how many new tracks will appear on Along the Way. To say the least, it’s a slow moving project. Bill hopes that Along the Way could be resolved and reprinted this year. The Ozzy tracks will not appear on the new release. Bill’s second album, When the Bough Breaks, update: a world wide album deal is in the works at this time. And again, Bill’s hoping to be resolved on a re-release date sometime this year. Finally, Beyond Aston, Bill’s third album is scheduled for final mixes starting March 15th. This album is scheduled to be released as soon as possible. If there is a good reaction to Beyond Aston, he will do live dates this year.

This is good news, and hopefully we will be seeing new music from Bill shortly! Any further updates will be posted here.

Net metal station hardradio.com has published an interview with Bill & Geezer Butler – in it, Bill & Geezer speak of the state of Sabbath, and the state of their current solo projects. Here’s a bit about what Bill had to say.

“We’re nearly there. I just want to finish it” laughs Bill, “because I’ve been working on it for the last three years. And also, I don’t want to go into a major touring situation wondering about ‘cut five, did we do the Protools? Did we cut out A and B during the Protools session?’ I don’t want to have those kinds of numbers in my head. I’m going out there to rock and to drive Black Sabbath, and that’s my total intention and to do that I have to have focus and an absolutely clear head. So no, the whole reason why I’m kind of working a little harder in April is to make sure my decks are cleared so that when we go on that stage I know exactly where I am, best as I can be. So I wouldn’t do things that would either jeopardize my energy for my own album or jeopardize my energy for Black Sabbath.”

Ward has also scrapped for now plans to reissue Ward One: Along The Way, with or without the Ozzy tracks, with or without re-recording the entire album, an idea which was bandied about over the years as an additional disc completing a two disc set.

There’s more about Sabbath, plus there’s Geezer’s chat, too. Check out a copy of the interview over at Black Sabbath Online. Also, make sure and check out hardradio.com too!

Yesterday afternoon, it was announced that Black Sabbath (Tony, Ozzy, Geezer, & Bill) will be recording their first album of new material since 1978’s Never Say Die.

This is very exciting news for fans of Black Sabbath – the original Sabbath will put out a new album of music! The band is currently rehearsing and writing in the UK, and after the Ozzfest 2001 dates will go back into the studio to record and finish the album. It is hoped that the new Sabbath album will be out before Christmas 2001, but no firm date is available.

For more details, check out http://www.black-sabbath.com.

No word as of yet as to how this will delay Bill’s third album, “Beyond Aston”.

Today I received an email from Sharon Osbourne’s office regarding Ozzfest 2001. Here it is:

There’s no need for hype, hoopla, and puffery. The Ozzfest 2001 will showcase the heaviest line-up yet. The Main Stage bill is confirmed.

BLACK SABBATH
Marilyn Manson
Slipknot
Papa Roach
Linkin Park
Disturbed

Tour dates, venues, second stage line-up, ticket on-sale dates, and other announcements to follow in the coming weeks.

A quick call to Sharon’s office confirmed that the Sabbath lineup is Tony, Ozzy, Geezer, & Bill. More information to come when I receive it.

No word as of yet as to how this will delay Bill’s third album, “Beyond Aston”.

The Tony Iommi solo album has been released – and Bill is on it! Making an appearance on the track “Who’s Fooling Who’, Bill plays drums with Tony again. This is a long standing relationship – Bill having played with Tony for a couple of years before the formation of Black Sabbath (first called The Polka Tulk Blues Band, Earth, then Black Sabbath) in 1968.

Shown here is the cover art for the album, and if you wish to purchase a copy of it, you can do so by clicking on the cover art.

If you want more information, you can visit the Tony Iommi site at http://www.iommi.com.

Divine Recordings, the web site for the record company that is handing the forthcoming Tony Iommi Solo album has just posted this news:

Ozzy has given his blessing to the final mix of ‘Who’s Fooling Who’, the last song completed for the long-awaited Tony Iommi solo album. The song is an almost-Sabbath reunion: Bill Ward plays drums! Hallelujah!