Earl Ball is a name shared by multiple notable individuals, most prominently an American musician and an early professional football team owner. Because the name refers to more than one established figure, the following entries cover the principal persons bearing this name.
Earl Poole Ball (born 1941)
Earl Poole Ball Jr. (born March 12, 1941, in Columbia, Mississippi) is an American singer-songwriter, pianist, music producer, and actor. His musical work spans the Ameripolitan, Country, Americana, and Rockabilly genres. He is best known for his 20 years touring and recording with Johnny Cash (1977–1997), earning him the nickname "Mr. Honky-Tonk Piano."
Ball began piano lessons at age eight from his aunt, the minister of music at the Foxworth First Baptist Church. At 16, he was hired to play piano on The Jimmy Swan Television Show in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. After moving to Houston and then Los Angeles, he worked as a session player and associate producer at Capitol Records under Ken Nelson, contributing to recordings by Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, Wynn Stewart, Wanda Jackson, and Phil Ochs, among others.
Ball played on the original recording of "Don't Bogart Me" by The Fraternity of Man, featured in the 1969 film Easy Rider. He also recorded with Gram Parsons and The International Submarine Band on Safe at Home and with The Byrds on Sweetheart of the Rodeo. In 1971 he moved to Nashville, where he produced Freddie Hart's album My Hang-Up Is You, which yielded two number-one country singles. He produced Johnny Cash's 1980 album Rockabilly Blues.
Ball has also appeared in films, including They All Laughed (1981), Texasville (1990), and The Thing Called Love (1993). Since 1999 he has lived in Austin, Texas, where he continues to perform, write, and record, including a weekly residency at The Continental Club.
Earl Wayne Ball (1885–1947)
Earl Wayne Ball (1885–1947) was a co-owner of the Muncie Flyers football team from 1917 until 1922 and a co-founder of the American Professional Football Association (APFA), which was renamed the National Football League (NFL) in 1922.
Ball took over as the team's manager in 1917 and recruited former college players, including Al Feeney of Notre Dame and Dick Abrel of Purdue. The 1918 season was cancelled due to World War I. In 1919, Ball and team quarterback Cooney Checkaye reorganized the Flyers to a 4-1-1 record. In 1920, the pair attended the organizational meeting of the APFA at Ralph Hay's Hupmobile dealership in Canton, Ohio, and the Muncie Flyers became a charter member of the new league. The team struggled in league play, and after the 1922 season, Ball and Checkaye folded the team and left the APFA.
Other individuals
The name "Earl Ball" has also been associated with other individuals, including a shuffleboard player who authored instructional material for the Florida Shuffleboard Association and a fictional character (Principal Earl Ball) in the television series The Goldbergs and Schooled. These references are less prominent in encyclopedic sources.
