Country Music Star David Ball by Joe

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#006699" TEXT="#080000" background="77afd5a3.jpg"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><B>P & W Think Tank </B></FONT><B>    </B><B> |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="P W Think Tank "><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id163.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Photography Page"><U><B><IMG SRC="7760e0e0.png" border=0 width="14" height="14" ALT="up" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A><B>   </B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="14" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="14"><B>     </B><A HREF="id338.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mud Slinging Politicians? Na, just the k"><U><B><IMG SRC="7770e0e0.png" border=0 width="14" height="14" ALT="previous" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A><B>  </B><A HREF="id339.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Strawberry Hill Auto Show for KOPS KIDS"><U><B><IMG SRC="7780e0e0.png" border=0 width="14" height="14" ALT="next" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I>Country Music Star David Ball by Joe</I></div> <div> <IMG SRC="989db640.jpg" border=0 width="475" height="356" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Country Music Star David Ball (on the right) played a gig at Summit Hills Retirement Center in Spartanburg, SC, on July 4, 2005. I took this photo of us myself, shortly before he took to the stage. This was the first time we had seen each other since a practice session of "Uncle Walt's Band" in Walter Hyatt's parents' basement in Spartanburg, SC. Walter, David and Champ Hood had joined their musical talents in "Uncle Walt's Band" at that time.</div> <bR> <div> I knew Walter better than David or Champ. Walter and I were introduced by my best friend, Steve Gore, in high school. I would visit Walt just to talk, or jam guitars and sing two part harmonies fairly often during our high school days. He taught me a lot about playing guitar and singing. Walter would direct Steve and me in three part harmonies sometimes. Many times we did "Peter, Paul and Mary" songs, and I always wound up with Mary's part because of my higher pitched voice. Walt tried to help the guys and me in "The Ace of Spades" that played some of the "Battle of the Bands" at the Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium and a party or two, but we were never a very good band. I graduated from Spartan High in 1968 and left Spartanburg in January 1969 for military duty during the Vietnam War. "Uncle Walt's Band" wound up leaving for Nashville, Tenn. and Austin, Texas.</div> <bR> <div> Walter was killed in a commercial airliner crash in route from Florida to Nashville, Tenn., and Champ Hood died of cancer. Steve is now a practicing emergency room medical doctor. David landed a recording contract. His best known hit in this area is "Thinking Problem." David's music has sort of a western swing flavor that's more popular west of the Mississippi, but it's good music. After this gig David gave me a copy of his "Freewheeler" album. You can check out his web site at <A HREF="http://www.davidball.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.davidball.com"><U>www.davidball.com</U></A>. The site opens with a musical clip of "Too Much Blood in My Alcohol Level Tonight," from "Freewheeler" (as of this 03-18-2006 web site update).</div> </td> </tr></table></body>