great photo of a young Ernie Ball

[Colin]

The resemblance between Ernie and Brian is amazing. great thread

 

[Quarter]

Great pics! and for those that are not up on their steel fun facts, that appears to be a Paul Bigsby steel Mr Ball is playing

 

[Eddies kid]

Here is another pic that I stumbled across on tgp, not sure if its been seen here or not, so apologies if its a repeat.
Says the guitarist that Mr. Ball is playing with was named Eddie Cletro.

This photo was taken on the set of "Western Varieities", a show than ran for about 6 years in the early 50's.
Ernie Ball was a regular member of the house band, 'Eddie Cletro and his Roundup Boys'. Show was on KTLA every Friday night.
Eddie is my dad. Still kickin. He'll be 91 next week. Still gets the guitar out once in awhile.

 

[paranoid70]

Are there recordings of Ernie Ball on the pedal steel?

 

[Eddies kid]

The rest of the band........

Forgot to introduce the rest of the band.
Always a good idea, right?

Left to right:
Fiddles: John Stout and Joe DeRose
Accordian: Eddie Carver
Bass: Bill Flynn
Drums: Muddy Berry

........and you know the other 2.
This pic was from my dads collection (can tell from the '1958 sticker on the corner). I prolly posted it on another site and it was taken from there.
Eddies other steel player was Tommy Sargent.
Theres a video on 'you tube' of the band . Also a 3rrd steel player in the band. Leodie Jackson. hes on the 'you tube' video.

My dad is so proud to have played with Ernie...says that he was just a kid.

 

[Eddies kid]

Are there recordings of Ernie Ball on the pedal steel?

yes, Ernie played with Eddie and the boys backup for some songs by Rose Maddox (of "The Maddox Bros. and Rose).

A couple of years ago, I wanted to get Eddies and the guys songs out there for posterity...so I contacted a publisher to see if he was interested. He had a researcher who researched the guys and their music for a couple of years, and then put out a CD of Eddies recordings (and some of Rose Maddox where they played backup),
and a booklet of their history.
CD is called 'Flyin Saucer Boogie'. Which I'm not trying to push, BTW....just giving you the info.

Are you Ernies son? Or Grandson? I'd be happy to send you a copy of the CD.

 

[Astrofreq]

This is about the coolest thread ever. The history is intensely interesting.

 

[Eddies kid]

I looked through some of my notes of dads discography and found the following info on which recording sessions of Rose Maddox's that Eddie Cletro and his Roundup Boys played backup where Ernie Ball played steel guitar.

Feb. 24, 1955: "Wild, Wild Young Men" ...Its rockabilly with some solos by Ernie.



and "I'm gonna Be Loved Tonight"..

June 6, 1955: "When The Sun Goes Down"

 

[Spudmurphy]

Thanks for posting EK - it's nuggets of info like this that are priceless!!!

 

[lenny]

Does Brian Ball ever look like his Grandfather!!!...wowsers its uncanny!!!

 

[Eddies kid]

Thanks for posting EK - it's nuggets of info like this that are priceless!!!

I appreciate the appreciation.


If you check out the video on 'you tube' (just put 'Cletro' in the search), you'll recognize the set from the above posted photo.

 

[GoKart_MoZart]

This is about the coolest thread ever. The history is intensely interesting.

Thanks for posting EK - it's nuggets of info like this that are priceless!!!

Yeah man, this is great stuff!

 

[musikarero]

Such a great thread to read!

 

[Headstock]

Are you Ernies son? Or Grandson? I'd be happy to send you a copy of the CD.

"Big Poppa" or Sterling Ball is Ernie's Son.

 

[Big Poppa]

Id love to hear the Stuff...as they said Ernie was my father....

 

[Smellybum]

Way to go Eddies Kid, That's really cool, You guys are so Lucky - 50's music in Scotland was like being in a mental hospital!

I know it's been covered before - but it's scary how alike Brian and Ernie are in Photographs.

And something you should be really proud of - not a million miles away from this guy....

 

[Trev]

Great thread!

 

[Adamr]

nice to see big. big poppa. that pic does look like it was set in a saloon. ^^

 

[browndog]

That was a very enjoyable read.

 

[Eddies kid]

Id love to hear the Stuff...as they said Ernie was my father....

Hi Sterling:

I'd love to send you a copy of Eddies CD which has the songs your dad played with the band on, if you'd like to have it. Also has a cover booklet with the discography in it.
Brian does, indeed, look exactly like Ernie. Would that be your son, then?

I have no idea how to get in touch with you.
If you can get an address to me, I'll get a CD in the mail to you.
I'll check back in here later.

Eddie worked as a professional musician all his life and was always busy, and made a good living, but never made it to the heights of fame that Ernie did. Although Eddie was well known in his day....today, no one has heard of him. One of the things he is most proud of as a lifetime accomplishment is that Ernie Ball was in his band.
I overheard him at a guitar shop when he was getting his '54 Gibson repaired a few years ago. He and the young clerk talked about the guitar and Eddie told him he had a career in music. The clerk told him he had never heard of him, and Eddies response was...."Well, you've heard of ERNIE BALL haven't ya?????? He was in my band!"