Bill Evans – Tears in the Rain
p2pnet news view | Music:- Like lot of other people, I was knocked for a loop when I learned Bill Evans had decided he’d had enough of this life.
I still can’t believe Bill has gone.
In the very early days of p2pnet, he noticed something I’d written and got in touch. I was knocked out because someone of his stature had taken the trouble to contact me.
He became a kind of mentor, and then a friend, and much later on, after he was forced to sell Boycott-RIAA.com, he and I started a web page together. But neither of us had the resources to keep it going.
I hope Janet, a member of a list Bill subscribed to, won’t mind me quoting her. She said:
What a gracious and warmhearted man; what a sad loss for anyone who knew or was helped by Bill. He always had a suggestion or offered a bit of support.
Every now and then I’d get a call and it’d be Bill having slaved over a hot barbecue. He loved ribs and wanted to describe each delicious bite in mouth-watering detail because I couldn’t be there in person to enjoy them.
Singer song-writer Tom Barger knew Bill well and wrote a wonderful tribute to him >>>
It falls to me, I suppose, to recall the good times. Bill was not only a real military dude, son of a Marine colonel, good friends with Chesty Puller—–squared away high ‘n tight with top NORAD clearances and licensed satellite security grade; Bill’s entire life was a love affair with music.
I love people who love music. And country-ass barbecue.
In high school, Bill was running dog’s-body (errands) at the local radio station in the early 60’s, and he graduated to DJ duties. Playing the rockabilly hits of the time. Like me, he never got over the golden days of sock hops and rampant bullshit jive talk.
Many of you will laugh when you recall his deep voice and dripping molasses, and you know it’s true. He may speak slow, but never at a loss for the zinger. Bill was always good for the phone interview requests that poured in during the Napster and MP3.com court case era.
Bill told me the story of marching into the Marine recruiting office in downtown Roanoke VA, in 1965. The officer barred the door, said “Son, yore daddy told me to march your ass back home, momma’s got dinner ready. He knew you’d try a fool stunt like this. Get your ass blowed off, not on my watch!”
Bill settled for next-best then, joining the Army. His second lifetime love was electronics, and he got it in spades, posting to Germany in the late 60’s, working at the NORAD listening post.
I will tell you from experience that Bill was the man you wanted in the foxhole, when the server went down, the router lighting up from denial-of-service bots (mostly from Media Defender and RIAA probes)—- Bill could cut out your kidney with a K-BAR lid, save your life, serve the organ cold with a hint of flava beans, and wake you up to a nice breakfast of cigarettes, diet cokes, and then more cigarettes. And you’d be glad too. What a loyal friend.
But Dmusic fans will tell you—–don’t get Bill off-topic with recipes– the boy turned professional with the barbecue. Bill reached Nirvana State when he took 6 or 7 hours to slo-ooo–ooo-wwww cook the meat. He invested in the type of Hummer machine that most of you wives drag your husband away from in K-Mart—with the sidecar, and the applewood chips. A definite Testosterone-poisoned atmosphere.
Butt-can beer chicken, that was the latest obsession. I loved this story. Bill thought he would write a screenplay, and he was right.
Bill was married in the 70’s and lived in Kansas. He covered the entire Southwest and Prairie states as a–baby photographer.
It occurred to me recently, on watching “Shallow Hal,” and hating myself for laughing–that Jack Black would be the best casting choice. Bill Evans driving from town to town, setting up the lights and backdrop, the line was stretching out the door, kids were screaming, the big mama is trying to cheat your fee–and Bill is a zen-master. All he needs is a teddy bear.
I will tell you one true fact, I know this to be true: Bill did not drink. He never did drugs.
He enjoyed this existence, this endless panorama of hotel rooms (think: Weaver the hotel clerk in Touch of Evil (1958)—the progenitor of Tony Perkin’s portrayal in Psycho (1960)—- Bill is eating greenbeans out of a can. Drives all day through cyclones–to reach Sears in Chicago. You may have never thought about this—the baby photographer in the front of Wal-Mart—-but nobody thinks you (the portrait artist) shot ENOUGH frames or got the eyeballs OPEN. Mama will cut you quick, too.
Bill shattered all sales records. He left ‘em with a smile. Now you may know the seminal experience when Bill took his arty portfolio into Kinko’s and they refused to copy the photos, citing copyright concerns. And it was his own work. Thus the original cartoon of the Kopyright Kop, the pimple-faced counter jerk, who lives to create job security for lawyers. Bill didn’t like him no lawyers, nossir.
But ultimately, Top of the Tops, was Bill’s extended trip to Malaysia inthe early 90’s. Living in Kota BharuKuala Lumpur. and
Bill was traveling for National Geographic, creating an interactive CD,visiting museums and documenting cultural rarities in a very dangerouscountry.
Permission required for every trip. Bill’s witnessed “up close and personal” repression of speech and religious cruelty.
And the NatGeo project required an early version of Flash projector, you remember that. It was a nightmare to get software patches in Malaysia, and guess what: it was easier to buy the CD in the market for $3 American. Not just Flash, but the whole bundle, Microsoft, VisiCalc, you name it, all on one CD. $3 total.
So Bill was not just a Naomi Klein character, a 3rd World Disaster Tourist. Bill was a man who was reality-based. He was cognizant of a society clubbed down by a brutal dictatorship. Bill saw the early days of globalization. He wandered through the bazaar as well as the cathedral.
I am looking now through the years of articles on Dmusic and Boycott. I am looking for the photos he took of all of us, FCC Commissioner Adelstein playing harmonica with Lester Chambers, photos of me and Derek and Leflaw, Johanna Mikes and Fred von Lohmann, me and Boucher’s first meetup. The photos are gone. Bill’s website, BigLick.com, is hijacked by another group, and Wayback doesn’t have the photos. Many of us think that Flickr was present at the conception, the first protozoa, but ‘taint true.
Remember that when its your own time to exit stage right—— how disorganized is your own history. The songs, the newspaper articles, the correspondence.
You won’t find much on Google about William D. Evans. He knew from the git-go about privacy, and leaving no footprint when you return to atoms.
On that score— to our sorrow—he has succeeded.
I have read his email folder.
Some sort of mystery that his last post was about Burma, 10/09/07 at 12:32 pm.
Some of Bill’s last thoughts and prayers, then, were with the monks in the street. If he internalized some of that sorrow, then I am sorry.
I know the extent of his suffering from PTSD—as all citizens and neighbors of Blacksburg did— but he personalized his own response to the tragedy of April 16. He took it in. I wish I could take away that\ pain, Bill. I wish you had called me.
Some of my photo history, and yours—from Bill’s catalog, are crystalized now, poof, like “Tears in the Rain.” Where are those photo CD’s and memory sticks now.
Rutger Hauer line here from Blade Runner.
Yea. Here’s to ya, Thumbtack. I’m going to cook up a mess of barbecue.
Your jarhead daddy would be proud of you.
Bill’s spirit is molecules now. Tears in heaven.
WILLIAM D. EVANS leaves a mother and a sister.
Goodbye, Bill.
Jon Newton
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October 17th, 2007 at 7:22 am
and I were as different as they come. He was from the right and I am from the left but at the end of the day if he needed me I was there and if Bill needed me I would be there.
I remember the first time I met Bill. At the time I was the director of the Pipesteam Folk Festival. I was passing around posters about the festival and somehow ended up at this photo place where Bill worked. I was telling him about the festival and he told me I should have a web site. Well at the time I was one of those hippie, computers are going to take over the world, open the door Hal kind of guy. Bill had a way about him and put his finger up in the air and turned his head a bit and said something like, âIâll tell you what.â I am from the Bronx and could tell a sell when I see it coming. But Bill said something like, âOk, I will build you a web site for FREE and you tell me if it works.â Well how could I turn that down? So I let him do it and he and I built it. Well, the truth is told because of that web site I got volunteers from DC, Kentucky, and Baltimore, coming this small folk festival in WV. And the festival made a little bit of money. So Bill got my attention, and that is when I started to check this tool outâ¦. the net.
Here is another story I can tell about Bill. When dmusic drop him, Bill was flatass broke and was getting put out on the street. He called me to tell me he was going to camp out and I told him there was no way. At the time I was living with a roommate and I told him about Bill and we both had Bill move in with us until he got on his feet. I can tell you he has done the same thing for me too. So in a way Bill was my brother or family if you want to look at it that way. We sat through 9/11 and shared many times together. And like brothers we fought. When this war was ready to get started he was on one side and I was on the other and we did have our blow outs but then he or I would call because of one thing or another.
Itâs been about a week and I feel like I still want to call him up and ask him a question or e-mail him. We will miss you Bill.
I will see you on the other side.
By the way Billâs Sister passed away so his uncle is the only one now that survives him.
Still Pickinâ
Bill Hudson
October 17th, 2007 at 11:56 am
Bill Evans is my Hero! Not fair he is dead! Not fair for all the innocents victims in Darfour, Burma, New-York-DC, london, Spain and elswhere! Not fair! Not Fair and Not Fair!
But we are not going to kill ourselves. We are going to raise hell on earth instead.
And when we die we are going to raise HELL in heaven too! Don’t worry if you hear thunder in the sky! It’s us!