Ball was born in Columbia, Mississippi.[5] An only child, he was raised in Foxworth, Mississippi by his parents and grandparents. His father ran a pool hall. "Earl Poole Ball" sounds like a stage name, but it is his given name; "Poole" is his grandmother's maiden name.
When Ball Jr was eight years old, he began taking piano lessons from his aunt Kathryn Ball,[3] the minister of music at The Foxworth First Baptist Church. He learned classical music and hymns, and later chords and music theory, and played the popular music from radio programs. Ball and some friends formed a band called The Hill Cats, and played at local venues.[3] Ball also worked as a bus boy in a diner.
Career
Early career
At the age of 16, Earl was hired to play piano on The Jimmy Swan Television Show in Hattiesburg.[3]
After graduating from High School, Ball moved to Hattiesburg and continued playing music on the show and in local night clubs. He supplemented his income by selling Fuller Brushes door-to-door. Ball was introduced to blues by Dr. John.
In 1959 Ball was hired to play piano as part of the re-election campaign for Louisiana Governor Jimmie Davis.
Ball enrolled in college in Hattiesburg for three months but spent most of his time playing in honky-tonks. His young marriage broke up, and Ball moved to Houston,[3] where he spent the next three years playing in honky-tonks at night and selling sewing machines by day. His old band from Hattiesburg relocated to Houston and Earl had a regular gig with them at The Silver Dollar Lounge. He learned some practical skills from country piano player and singer Mickey Gilley.
After three years in Houston, Earl headed to Los Angeles. He was hired as a piano player in a Country Music TV series which eventually became a movie called “Country A-G0-G0”.[3] There he met drummer Jon Corneal, who Earl would later work with on the Gram Parsons recording sessions.
Back in L.A., Ball performed as part of the house band at The Aces Club and played every Sunday afternoon on the TV show Cal's Corral. He then was hired for the house band at The Palomino Club. He was so busy that he turned down an offer from Elvis Presley's guitarist James Burton to join Elvis' stage band.[7] Ball also played on a number of sessions with Buck Owens' Buckaroos.[3]
In 1971 Ball was transferred to Nashville, where he continued to produce and do session work for Capitol Records. He produced Freddie Hart's album “My Hang-Up Is You”, which included two #1 singles on the Country Music Chart. Ball also performed in the Nashville club scene and in studio sessions for Atlantic records. His friend Harlan Howard introduced him to Johnny Cash. He recorded with Cash in 1973 on a record that Don Davis was producing, and again in 1977, at which time he was hired to tour with Cash. He produced Cash's 1980 album “Rockabilly Blues”. Ball stayed with the band for 20 years, touring and performing on Cash's TV specials until Cash's retirement in 1997.[1][4]
Ball played piano on two songs on the 1985 album Lost & Found by Nashville-based cowpunk band Jason & the Scorchers: "Broken Whiskey Glass" and "Far Behind". In 1999, he recalled that while he was working on the latter tune, James Burton dropped by the studio to show Scorchers guitarist Warner E. Hodges some licks.[8]
Film career
Director Peter Bogdanovich included the song I Don't Think I Could Take You Back Again, which was written by Earl Poole Ball and Jo-El Sonnier, in his 1981 film They All Laughed. Ball was hired to play piano in the film, and began to take acting lessons. He also appeared in a 1981 TV movie with Cash and Brenda Vaccaro called The Pride of Jesse Hallam. In 1983, he and Cash worked together on another made-for-TV film Murder in Coweta County with actor Andy Griffith.
In 1986 Earl moved back to California and found more work in character roles on movies such as Texasville (1990) and The Thing Called Love (1993).
Austin, Texas
Earl Poole Ball & Friends performing a weekly Saturday afternoon residency at the Continental Club
In 1999 Ball moved to Austin, Texas. He continues to write songs, perform and do session work. He performs live with several bands including Heybale!,[9]Earl Poole Ball's Rockabilly Blues Band, Earl Poole Ball and The Cosmic Americans,[10][11] and Earl Poole Ball & Friends,[9] with whom he performs a weekly residency at The Continental Club in Austin.
