Words for Bill Ward

Like many diehard Black Sabbath fans around the world, I was greatly saddened to read Bill Ward’s February 2, 2012 announcement that he was reluctant to participate in the previously-announced reunion of the band’s original lineup unless he was presented with something other than an “unsignable” contract. And like many Sabbath fans, I was shattered to later read a statement from Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler indicating their intentions to continue their reunion plans without Bill, if necessary. Aside from posting a few knee-jerk comments (and, in some cases, emotionally-charged graphics) on my private Facebook page as well as on a few pro-Bill sites on the Web here and there, I haven’t publicly addressed this situation on behalf of Gausten Books (which has published two titles featuring Bill Ward), or on my own behalf as someone who has had nothing but an overwhelmingly positive history with the man. With the pro-Bill drum still being heard loud and clear around the globe (and getting much louder by the day!), I felt it was time for me to fully speak my truths regarding the kind of man Bill Ward is.


Let me make it clear that I am not a “band insider” who knows what is going on behind closed doors regarding Bill and his relationship with the other members of Black Sabbath. Frankly, it’s nobody’s business. However, what I can discuss here is my impression of Bill based on my experiences with him over the years. Based on these interactions, I believe in my heart that any contractual arrangement offered to Bill that is beneath the high level of respect he deserves is reprehensible – both to him as a musical innovator AND as a human being. And here’s why.

First, Bill’s loyalty to Black Sabbath is legendary. Here’s what he told me in 2005 shortly before the band was inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame:

“I can only play drums with one band. I'm still very much like that. I like to jam with other bands. I've got no problem with that. I'd even like to cut records with other bands, in the sense of like cutting a track, being a socialite drummer. But I would never, ever consider joining a band as a drummer after being in Black Sabbath.”


Second, Bill’s humanitarian efforts are extraordinary. Away from Sabbath, Bill remains active in helping to keep the Vietnam Memorial in DC clean and maintained. Wait, you didn’t know that? Well, read on.

In 2002, he released "Straws" ( http://www.billward.com/discography/straws/), a special CD single sold to raise funds for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, the Alice Faith Mittelman Foundation, the Children Affected by AIDS Foundation and the National Veterans Foundation. As Bill once told me about the “Straws” endeavor:

“I was trying to raise money for four or five different charities, the first charity being the Veteran's Wall in Washington D.C. for the men and women who died in Vietnam, who lost their lives there. Nobody's actually employed to clean the wall. The people that clean that wall are all volunteers, so you can send money to them to help buy the cleaning fluids and pay them a little money for their services or whatever it might be. So that's one of the charities that we support. It's like, give back to those who fucking died, you know?”

I’m sorry, but these are not the words of a man who would hold up a reunion tour over greed.

On a deeply personal note, I know Bill Ward to be a caring, thoughtful and honest human being, and someone who remains a source of encouragement and inspiration to me. Growing up a drummer with cerebral palsy, I had to learn to relax enough to keep a beat without my left leg seizing up. Around the age of 11 or 12, I discovered the first Black Sabbath album – and the magic that can be derived from keeping the groove slow. “Behind The Wall of Sleep” became personal therapy for me, as I played along to that track to slow down and finally find the calmness I needed as a foundation before attempting to get heavy and fast. If not for Bill Ward, the four dozen or so records I’ve been on would have remained a nice fantasy instead of a reality. After my first-ever interview with Bill back in ’05, I gathered up the courage to tell him about my childhood struggles, and how his drumming changed everything for me. After hearing my tale, Bill thanked me and said something I will never forget:

“I wish you strength to overcome, courage to progress and the knowledge that you are not alone”

Bill, there are millions of us around the world who offer you those same words right now.

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Bob Daisley & Joel Gausten Discuss Gary Moore (YouTube)

On Feb. 10, 2011, Glory Is Noise radio show host Joel Gausten got in touch with legendary bassist Bob Daisley (Gary Moore/Ozzy/Rainbow/Uriah Heep) as part of the show's tribute to departed guitarist Gary Moore. The full episode aired the week of Feb. 14. More information on Glory Is Noise is available at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Glory-is-Noise-Radio-Show/117651034954730.



Part One:



Part Two:



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Like It Or Not…F-Word!

What was the first Punk album ever released in California? If you say X’s Los Angeles, you’re wrong. Was it The Germs’ (GI)? Nope. There is only one band that can claim this distinction, and that’s F-Word! Fueled by the Iggy-esque croon of teenaged singer Rik L Rik, F-Word! unleashed Like It Or Not, an essential slab of pre-hardcore adolescent angst, all the way back in 1978. Then, as fast as they arrived, they were gone – leaving a single extraordinary album as a gift to history. 

The F-Word! story began in 1976, when high school pals Richard Brian Elerick and Paul Sercu started blasting out rudimentary songs in Elerick’s garage after being introduced to Punk Rock. 

“We’d been listening to [LA DJ] Rodney [Bingenheimer], and we’d heard about this 'Masque' club, and that all the punkers were going there,” Sercu remembers. “We saw the punk thing in Trouser Press, and we were listening to all those records. We were listening to The Boomtown Rats and all the stuff out of England. We were looking at that and going, 'This is for us. This is what we’re doing.' We knew the Masque was where we needed to be.”

A dicey dump located on North Cherokee Ave., the Masque was LA’s premier punk hub in ’78 and ’79, hosting live performances by The Germs, X, The Avengers, The Weirdos, The Bags and others. A hard-living Scotsman by the name of Brendan Mullen booked the joint, while shows often featured the onstage antics of emcee and future Wall Of Voodoo member, Bruce “Barf” Moreland. 

“I lived at the Masque; I had a little room there,” Moreland recalls. “Back then, there were porn theaters around. There was the Pussycat Theater, which was on Hollywood Blvd. It was all Mafia people who ran it. The whole building above the Masque was this big tax write-off, and it was a storage place for porn and movie cameras and stuff like that. The basement was empty, so Brendan took the basement and I just moved into one of the little office rooms above there. Nobody was renting it, so we just kind of broke into it because it wasn’t being used. We just decided to break in and take the rooms and live in there.”

Sercu and Elerick passed along an F-Word! demo to Moreland, which led to Mullen giving the band a shot on the Masque stage. The audience at F-Word!’s debut show included Germs frontman Darby Crash (still going by the name “Bobby Pyn” at this stage) and a very impressed Brendan Mullen. 

“[F-Word!] were probably the youngest band on the scene, about the same age as The Zeros, who were part of this new generation of self-created teenage bands, unsupervised by adults and untainted by the open casting calls of Kim 'This is Punk-o-Rama' Fowley,” shared the late Mullen in a 2005 interview with this writer. “With these new kids, Punk was a whole different thing.”

“What I liked about F-Word! was that they were just young kids and they played really well,” adds Masque soundman-turned-legendary producer Geza X. “The band had some really good songs. Almost immediately, people liked them. They just caught on very, very fast and became friends with all of us regulars there.”

As F-Word! gained a reputation, the band’s members (augmented by a constantly-changing rhythm section) took on decidedly punk monikers: Elerick became “Rick L Rick” (eventually shortened to “Rik L Rik”), while Sercu became “Dim Wanker.” Rik’s onstage antics evolved as well. 

“He played barefooted, which I just thought was fucking cool,” recalls former TSOL frontman Joe Wood. “He had a great look, and a different voice than anybody else. He was a crooner of Punk Rock.”

“I don’t know why, but he decided he wanted to be 'Rik L Rik, the barefoot singer,'” adds Sercu. “He was barefoot at our very first gig. He never wore shoes, and there was a lot of glass around.”

With their image firmly in place, F-Word!’s sound further solidified with the addition of drummer Dutch Schultz.

“Dutch was 10 years older than us,” Sercu recalls. “We’re 16 and 17, and he came in and he’s, like, 28. We just thought, 'What are you still playing music for? You’re old!' But he was so terrific. He had a snare drum, a high-hat, a rack tom, a bass drum and a ride cymbal, and that was it. He would do rolls that sounded like he had 40 drums. Because Dutch was 10 years older than us, he played up the age. He had suspenders, slicked-back hair and baggy pants. He looked like a gangster. Rik’s dear to me, but I think Dutch was my favorite member of the band. When he joined the group, it just took off.” 

For Schultz, who had been kicking around in bands since the early ’70s, joining F-Word! was like stepping into an entirely new – and very chaotic – world. 

“I never played so fast in my life!” he remembers. “It was ‘music to go;’ it was like fast food music. People played these short sets, and that was the end of it. Each band had their thing to offer. With The Germs, everybody was waiting for Darby to cut himself at some point, like ‘Is he bleeding yet?’ Then you’d have Tomata and The Screamers. We played with a lot of these people, and they all gave us a lot of respect because we were very, very tight. It was very unique and raw. Every performance was a new 

experience. I loved the spontaneity of it.”

By early 1978, F-Word! was playing the Whiskey A Go-Go, traveling to San Francisco and having bands like X open for them. The band’s sole album, Like It Or Not, was culled from characteristically rambunctious performances at San Francisco's Mabuhay Gardens. Released by Posh Boy Records, Like It Or Not boasted energetic renditions of F-Word! classics like “Out There” and “Do The Nihil” alongside covers of classics by The Stooges and The New York Dolls. While the albums remains an early punk masterpiece, it is still hard to ignore that the sound quality suffers in places. 

“That Posh Boy record kinda worked for them and against them because it was a pretty shitty recording, but it got all over the world,” offers Geza X. “In some ways, they became widely known, but in another way that was kinda the only real document of them. They were a much better band than that record.”

“It wasn’t that great sonically,” added Mullen. “Not much of a kick to it or bass presence... broken-up treble shriek. I’m shocked to learn a pro audio person was involved. We needed a lot of kick to compete, especially with New York and English bands with pro engineers, producers and real studios. The early LA scene had none of this.”

Due to ongoing internal squabbles, F-Word! imploded shortly after the album’s release. Rik L Rik later joined San Francisco’s Negative Trend for a brief time before embarking on a solo career in 1980. In addition to fronting his own bands (including late '80s almost-weres, The Slaves), he fronted New Jersey’s Electric Frankenstein for a spell in the late '90s. Sadly, Rik L Rik died of brain cancer on June 30, 2000 at the age of 39. Like It Or Not was later released on CD by Italy’s Get Back label in 2005, while Sercu has stayed busy over the years with a variety of musical projects (including one yet-to-be-named ensemble featuring yours truly and Electric Frankenstein/Shadow Project’s Dan Canzonieri, but that’s a story for another time.) 

Nearly 35 years since the release of Like It Or Not, F-Word! remains one of the greatest – if often tragically overlooked – bands of the original Los Angeles Punk scene. 

“Rik was a super-cute barefoot guy who I was immediately jealous of,” offers former Screamers member and Masque survivor Paul Roessler. “I didn't want to give his band any credit whatsoever. It wasn't until years later that I heard 'Do the Nihil' and realized they were yet another great band from that era. There were so many great bands that I didn't need or want to appreciate F-Word! That was, of course, my loss.”

Copyright 2005-2011 Gausten Books

**The quotes used in this feature were taken from the upcoming book, Rock ‘N’ Roll Monster: The Rik L Rik Story, by Joel Gausten.

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Former Undead / Pigface Drummer Issues Free Solo EP

In celebration of his 25^th year in music, author and veteran drummer Joel Gausten (Pigface/ The Undead/ Electric Frankenstein/Effectionhate) has issued his first-ever solo release, "Snake Bite Blues," available as a free download at http://www.joelgausten.com/2011/07/the-making-of-snake-bite-blues.html.

Gausten is joined on the experimental five-song EP by former Public Image Ltd (PiL) bassist Pete Jones, classical guitarist Sonny Bellavance and keyboardist Shannon Gausten (Effectionhate), with additional percussion supplied by Keith LeBlanc (Tackhead / Ministry). Instruments on the free-form collection range from the conventional (bass, acoustic guitar) to the surreal (running water, flesh).

"The music on this EP is like nothing I’ve ever done before," Gausten says. "With this project, I indulged my interests in experimentation. The sounds on this release are sometimes similar to what you might expect to hear on a Throbbing Gristle or early Pigface album - but mixed with some very melodic surprises along the way, courtesy of the guest musicians who so graciously contributed their time and talents."

A drummer since age 9, Gausten has appeared on nearly 60 albums, EPs and internationally-distributed compilations with such acts as Electric Frankenstein, The Undead, The Sixth Chamber, Broken Heroes and The Graveyard School. He was a sporadic member of The Undead from 1998 to 2008. In 2001, he performed as a member of Pigface alongside Martin Atkins (Killing Joke), Chris Connelly (Revolting Cocks), Charles Levi (My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult) and Chris Haskett (Rollins Band). In 1995, he rehearsed with The Misfits as a fill-in drummer and later appeared on a number of Misfits bootlegs recorded during these rehearsal sessions. He is currently a member of the electronic project, Effectionhate.

Gausten's books include Tales of Horror: The History of THE MISFITS & THE UNDEAD and From Satan to Sabbath: The Metal Interviews 2000-2009. Gausten's upcoming books include Rock ‘N’ Roll Monster: The Rik L Rik Story and Albums that (Should've) Changed the World. He was also a contributor to/editor for Martin Atkins' best-selling 2007 book, Tour:Smart, alongside such notables as Henry Rollins and Steve Albini.

Gausten currently hosts a bi-weekly online radio show, “Glory Is Noise,” which features an eclectic mix of music and interviews with such artists as Bill Ward (Black Sabbath), Bob Daisley (Rainbow / Ozzy Osbourne) and Steve Zing (Danzig), among many others.

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Joel Gausten: Snake Bite Blues

Recorded May – July 2011. Produced by Joel Gausten. Cover Art by Shannon Gausten.

(UPDATE: Download four of the five songs from Joel Gausten's Snake Bite Blues EP for free at the bottom on this blog. The fifth song, "Spiral," is available for purchase as a benefit for Genesis P-Orridge. More info HERE.)

The release of this EP coincides with not only my 34th birthday but also my 25th year as a musician.

The seeds for this project were planted in the spring of 2011, when I got word that the amazing Keith LeBlanc (Tackhead / Ministry / Nine Inch Nails) was making a boatload of his famous drum loops available for free on his website. Being a huge fan of Keith’s work, I immediately jumped at the opportunity to create something of my own based on one of his loops. Of course, I had no idea what in the world I would do, but I knew instantly that my next musical endeavor – a “solo” project – was now official underway.

The only guideline I set for myself going into this project was to create music that sounded like nothing I had played on in the past. I wanted to dive in without restraint and completely indulge my interests in experimentation, basing my musical decisions strictly on instinct and vibe. After performing on about 40 releases over the years as a band member/session player, I would be conceiving, recording and releasing this project completely under my own steam.

I couldn’t wait to get started!

Shortly after posting a Facebook announcement regarding my intentions with this project, my old friend Pete Jones offered to help in any way he could. Pete has been a favorite musician of mine since I first heard Public Image Limited’s Commercial Zone as a kid, so his offer was exciting and humbling at the same time. Before long, another friend  – the immensely talented classical guitarist Sonny Bellavance  – volunteered his services as well. Suddenly, two of the greatest musicians I’ve ever known were part of this little project of mine.

My first act as a budding “solo artist/producer” was to take one of Keith’s great loops, add some of my own drumming on top and run it through my arsenal of homegrown effects (more on those in a bit). I ended up with some very atonal, savage noise. I passed an Mp3 of my racket to Pete, who added some absolutely outstanding bass and keyboards to the proceedings – thus making the whole thing feel like an actual song. Thank you, Pete!

Next up was Sonny, who blew my mind by sending me his interpretation of "Mrs. Vaux's Jig'" by English composer John Dowland (1563-1626). Sonny’s in a league of his own, man…Taking bits of Sonny’s beautiful piece and giving them the effects treatment, I soon had the perfect intro and outro for the song. Reaching the finish line, I asked my infinitely better half Shannon to listen to the track and add whatever sound effects she wanted. When all was said and done, the creation of “Take Flight” utilized the talents of five people in three countries. Ain’t the internet grand? With the exception of “Take Flight” and Shannon’s keyboard work on the track “Snake Bite Blues,” this EP is all me. Since the daily construction at the law college across the street from my apartment blasts me out of bed most mornings, I decided to put these sounds of saws and drills to better use by recording them on my laptop. Then, I went recording mad – everything from smacked flesh to the fan in my bedroom to the water in my shower was snatched up for use on this recording. In addition to using these items, I play drums all over this EP – even though you may not detect it at first listen. For example, much of the drone heard in the beginning of the track “Snake Bite Blues” is actually a floor tom pattern manipulated beyond recognition. Like pretty much everything else that comprises the music on this EP, that moment was simply a happy accident. “Spiral” and “The Island” were mostly happy accidents as well.

Thanks to all who download this EP for their kind interest and support. Many thanks to the great Carl Begai at www.bravewords.com for streaming the demo version of “The Island” and an early snippet of “Take Flight” on his site and helping to spread the word about this EP from day one. Thanks to the love of my life, Shannon, for her creative and artistic input and infinite patience. Thanks to Keith for his generosity in sharing his loops. Thanks to Sonny for elevating the quality of this project through his participation, and extra special thanks to Pete for his incredible talents and technical assistance.

Enjoy!

Joel Gausten

July 17, 2011

 Listen to and download Snake Bite Blues below:

1. Take Flight
Joel Gausten: Drums, Construction Noise 

 Pete Jones: Bass, Keyboards 

 Sonny Bellavance: Guitar 

 Keith LeBlanc: Drum Loop 

 Shannon Gausten: Effects 

2. Snake Bite Blues

 Joel Gausten: Drums, Flesh, Construction Noise, Water, Window Fan 

 Shannon Gausten: Keyboards 

3. The Island

 Joel Gausten: Drums, Window Fan, Water, Construction Noise, Snarls, Sampled Screams 

Bonus Track: The Island (Demo)

 Joel Gausten: Drums, Window Fan, Water, Construction Noise, Snarls, Sampled Screams 

 Keith LeBlanc: Drum Loop 

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Hell Comes To Your House...And Turns 30

Released in 1981 on Bemisbrain Records (and reissued in '97 by Time Bomb Recordings), Hell Comes To Your House is an absolutely flawless album. Boasting contributions from the greatest names in the then-flourishing American West Coast “Deathrock” scene (Christian Death, 45 Grave, Super Heroines, the somewhat-out-of-place Social Distortion and Red Cross), this compilation remains essential listening for adventurous music fans 30 years after its original release.

Highlights: Social Distortion's “Lude Boy” and “Telling Them” show that the band's ability to crank out extraordinary anthems was in place even at this early stage of their career, while an equally wet-behind-the-ears Redd Kross (known as Red Cross here) whine and snarl their way through a snot-nosed rendition of The Dolls' “Puss 'N' Boots.” Armed with a killer guitar sound, great production and just the right amount of incomprehensible singing, Long Beach's Modern Warfare leave their mark with “Out Of My Head” and "Street Fightin' Man," while the bass-heavy thump of Secret Hate's “Deception” makes one wonder what Fear would have sounded like on record if Flea hadn't jumped Lee Ving's ship for the Chili Peppers. The Conservatives offer three fast slabs of Circle Jerks-meets-Jack Grisham California hardcore, while 100 Flowers (formerly known as minimalistic punks The Urinals) go all Joy Division on us with the dirgey “Reject Yourself.” Proving that the West Coast underground scene was about art as much as it was about chaos, Rhino 39 make “Marry It” a memorable experience through quirky musicianship and offbeat singing. Of course, “Hell Comes To Your House” is best remembered these days as the debut of a teenaged Rozz Williams. In a handful of minutes, Christian Death's “Dogs” simultaneously establishes Williams as a young lyrical genius and sets the foundation for the entire American Goth scene of the 1980s.

The Best of The Best: Without a doubt, the greatest stars of Hell Comes To Your House are the ladies. Led by Kat Arthur, the amazing Legal Weapon raise the bar with “Daddy's Gone Mad,” while Super Heroines leader and future Goth goddess Eva O. brings her deep voice and sinister guitar to the party with “Death On The Elevator” and “Embalmed Love.” As impressive as these tracks are, nothing competes with the jaw-dropping triple-shot of perfection delivered by Dinah Cancer and the incomparable 45 Grave. Like Killing Joke meeting the Shangri-Las at Lou Reed's sleepover, “Evil,” “Concerned Citizen” and “45 Grave” still sound ahead of their time three decades later. The drumming? Exquisite magic courtesy of Germs timekeeper and living art project, Don Bolles.

Where Are They Now?: After assorted bust-ups, lineup changes and trips to jail, Social Distortion grew Into a permanent, professional band by the release of 1988's Prison Bound and haven't looked back since. In addition to Social D., frontman Mike Ness has pursued a successful solo career, becoming a role model for many a name-tag wearing gas station attendant along the way. After an admirable stab at commercial Rock with the albums Life Sentence to Love (1988) and Take Out the Trash (1991), Legal Weapon fizzled by the mid '90s; guitarist Brian Hansen later worked with Rozz Williams, who committed suicide in 1998. A vastly different incarnation of Christian Death (fronted by guitarist/singer Valor Kand, who joined the Williams-fronted band in 1983) continues to tour and release albums, while Dinah Cancer staged a comeback circa 2005 by using the “45 Grave” name for an ensemble featuring (among others) Christian Death's Rikk Agnew and Chemical People's Jaime Pina. Aided by Pina on guitar and original Christian Death member James McGearty on bass, Eva O. toured a few years ago under the name “Christian Death 1334,”performing Christian Death material in tribute to her late partner, Williams. Retiring the “100 Flowers” moniker years ago in favor of their original name, The Urinals continue to play around Los Angeles sans guitarist Kjehl Johansen, who ended up making noise with yours truly circa 2002 in an LA-based band called The Sixth Chamber. 45 Grave's Rob Ritter is no longer with us, while Redd Kross continues to make music following the 1999 death of later member, Eddie Kurdziel.

And Don Bolles is still Don Bolles. Thank God for that.

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When Mullen Met the Peppers

An Oral/Visual History of The Red Hot Chili Peppers (It Books, $39.99) is simultaneously one of the most wonderful and most horrible music-related books ever published.

First, the good news: This high-end coffee table book is like sex for your eyeballs. As colorful as the personalities who wrote it (in this case, the band with oral history extraordinaire Brendan Mullen), the book hits hard with every page. Armed with hundreds of photos from various eras of the band's long-running career (complete with the expected barrage of bare asses and silly-faced promo shots), Mullen and company present a bulletproof narrative of the group's rise from lowlife LA pranksters to one of the top acts of the international "Alternative" boom of the '90s to their current standing as seasoned music biz survivors. Of course, any true RHCP fan knows there's a great deal of heartbreak and inner turmoil buried beneath the band's tongue-in-cheek (or is that sock-on-cock?) playfulness. Tales of Anthony Kiedis' surrealistically fucked up childhood and the early death of original Peppers guitarist Hillel Slovak offer a sobering balance to the bright photos that consistently stare back at the reader, while later six-stringer John Frustration's wide-eyed glee turns to battle fatigue as he quits the band to begin a (fortunately unsuccessful) crusade to follow his predecessor in opiate-fueled oblivion. Those weren't the only lows: Former Dead Kennedys drummer D.H. Peligro is dropped from the Peppers due to his drug problems, half the band quits as soon as they land a record deal and Gang of Four's Andy Gill castrates the production on their debut album.

Of course, the RHCP story also boasts a shitload of extraordinary victories: Blood Sugar Sex Magik, megastardom, Frusciante's late '90s return and the band's ability to stay alive long after their '80s contemporaries (and most of their '90s peers, for that matter) disappeared. Other highlights include commentary by oft-forgotten drummer Cliff Martinez (the former Weirdos timekeeper who played on the first two RHCP albums), Flea's reminiscence of his time as a member of Fear, utter hilarity courtesy of hapless roadie-turned Thelonious Monster frontman-turned Celebrity Rehab counselor Bob Forrest and a sober Kiedis' bittersweet realization that being clean means he can't smoke a joint with Willie Nelson.

Bottom line? If you're a fan of the Peppers, this book is an essential purchase; if you hate the band, this book will do nothing to change your mind about their music - but it will give you insight into how a gang of talented, deeply flawed human beings somehow managed to become one of the most successful groups in the universe. That is what makes this book so wonderful.

Now, the bad news: Why am I only now writing about a book that's already been in stores for six months? Well, I intentionally delayed getting this thing due to the emotions involved. Brendan Mullen was a good friend and a true mentor who had a profound effect on my life and work. The first thing I noticed when I finally cracked this book open was that Brendan's author bio began "Brendan Mullen was" instead of "Brendan Mullen is." That was a hard one to get through. Nearly two years after Brendan's passing, it's still hard to fathom that he has left the building. This is Brendan's fifth and final book; he wrote the introduction a month before he died. Naturally, that is what makes this book so damn horrible.

Sad reminders aside, I offer my love and thanks to Brendan's partner, Kateri Butler, for finishing this project on his behalf and allowing the rest of us to savor one last creation from a man who truly mastered the art of the oral history. He is missed beyond words.

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