Ace Ball - The Pueblo Years

Thanks to Dorothy and Larry Balch.
Additional information used with kind permission from Peter Burg, Pueblo Songwriters and Musicians newsletter, Notes (July-August 2003).
 
In 1968, Arthur Chester Balch, his wife Dorothy, and their young family packed up their belongings and left their longtime home in West Texas for Pueblo.

Billboard - May 23, 1953

The move had to have been difficult. Balch was a big fish in a little pond in West Texas. Known professionally as Ace Ball, he was a popular disc jockey (in Levelland, Lubbock, and Big Spring) and country music performer. For almost two decades previous he was a member of Hank Harral's Palomino Cowhands, recorded for the Dallas-based Star Talent label, a solo artist on the Okeh and Caprock labels, and shared the stage with Elvis Presley and Waylon Jennings.

His elderly parents had previously moved to nearby Cañon City, and family obligations forced him to trade the West Texas arid plains for the Steel City. He took a job with local country radio station KPUB.

Billboard - October 30, 1976

While in Colorado he picked up where he left off and went back into the recording studio, producing songs on his own Ace-Hi and later Pedestal record labels. After almost 20 years at KPUB he moved across town to KIDN, where he hosted a weekly Saturday night show.

Peter Burg and Ace Ball (2003)
(photo courtesy of Peter Burg)

In 2004, after performing at a local senior center, he fell down a flight of stairs and sustained a fatal head injury. He was 84.

Ace Ball Discography:

Hank Harral and his Palomino Cowhands

Star Talent (1948-1950) 760 - Dream Band Boogie / Dilly Dally Doodle (NOTE: Please visit the excellent Lone Star Stomp blog. There you will find the story behind this recording). 764 - When They Raised The UN Flag In South Korea / You've Got A Sweetheart (I've Got Just A Friend) 773 - Red Barn Boogie / Dear




Little Oakie Darlin'
Ace Ball
Okeh (1953-1954) 18007 – Change of Heart / Home Isn’t Home Anymore 18019 – Homeless Heart / There’ll Be a New Day 18040 – Weeds of Hate / She’s Worth a Million to Me 18047 – One Armed Love / Lost






Ace Ball
Caprock (1959) 110 – I’ve Lost Again / High School Wedding Ring (NOTE: Please visit the invaluable Rockin' Country Style site to hear a sample of this song)






 

Ace Ball
Ace-Hi Records (1968-?)< 5464- I Cried at Your Wedding/Girls, Girls, Girls 215 - Homeward on a Hijacked Plane / For Old Times Sake 216 – Pretty is as Pretty Does / Country Boy at College 217 – The Last Rodeo / Little Red Sportscar 218 – I’ll Never Forget / Daddy’s Weakness – Cecilia Sisneros






Ace Ball
Pedestal Records (1978-1979) 1381 - Carolers Carolers / The King's Birthday (featuring Little Roy Wiggins) 1615 - Just a Little Time / A Big Hearted ET (Ernest Tubb) 1524 - You Can’t Take The Past Away / Blue Ribbon Girl 2160 - The Role Of a Step Son / There'll be a New Day Tomorrow (featuring Little Roy Wiggins)







Ace Ball
JB (1983) LP BJR101 - Ace Colorado Country - Ace Ball Sings Gene Bloomfield and Some of His Own

Ace Ball
Hornet (1984-1985?) HR 1016 - "Overnight Sensation"/"Thank You Darlin"