Christopher Joseph Ward, best known to Ramones fans as C. J. Ramone, risked jail time to realize his punk rock dreams and join the Ramones. Yes, you read that one right.
“I had a friend who played in a band with Joey [Ramone]'s brother,” he explains in a new interview with Guitar World. “He called me up, and said, ‘Hey, The Ramones are having open auditions for a bass player…’ I was in the Marine Corps at the time, which made it a little complicated, but I went down to that open audition.
“I learned a couple of songs really quickly, went down to the audition, and it was really simple. I walked in, introduced myself, and realistically, because I was in the Marine Corps, I had no expectation of making it, which made me even more relaxed.”
He continues, “At some point, I realized I was gonna get it because I was showing up early, and staying later, and I realized I wasn’t seeing anybody twice, and that most of these guys aren’t getting callbacks.”
Over the next month, C. J. went through a couple more auditions, learning the Ramones’ repertoire and adjusting to playing with a pick. However, things would soon take an unexpected turn.
“By this time, I was a deserter from the Marine Corps,” he divulges. “They were waiting for me to decide what I was gonna do, so I called back to base when I realized I might pass the audition, and they sent the cops over, came and picked me up, and took me to jail.
“First, I went to Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn. Then, I got transferred to the naval rig in Philadelphia. And from there, I went to Quantico, Virginia, and that’s when the band caught up with me.”
As C. J. recalls, he was actually sitting in the common area when he got the phone call that would change the trajectory of his life.
“The guard on duty was like, ‘Hey, you’ve got a phone call,’ and I went to the phone, picked it up, and they were like, ‘Chris, it’s Johnny Ramone…’ I was like, ‘Johnny, listen… I’m really sorry. I should have told you what was going on. I apologize.’
“He was like, ‘Well, what’s happening?’ I said, ‘I’m gonna be here for a couple months, and then they’re gonna process me out, and give me a discharge.’ He was like, ‘Alright. Do your time. When you get out, you’ve got a job.’”
Guitar World's upcoming interview with C. J. Ramone will be published in the coming weeks.
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