'The great thing about the music business is that anything can happen. As far as a business goes, I guess the point is sell some records. You got so much music out there, and so much of it sounds alike. 'This is the birth of an independent record label, and it happens (when) the majors are downsizing. (They) wanted a company that could act quickly on stuff.' They act and move so slowly with things that it's frustrating. They knew the problems with major labels. They wanted to do something on their own terms. 'Here are two guys from Arista who came out of of a big company just like me. In the back of my mind, it's more important to have some emotion than to spend all day working on drum sounds.'īall indicates the timing may be right for him and DualTone thanks to a certain Private Malone.

'This is just a bunch of friends putting this together. 'The only difference was this record was more of a homemade (record) which is where I was comfortable being,' says Ball. It doesn't take a genius to (understand) that.' You have all these huge rock and rollers who like country music, but they won't listen to country radio. It can bring back some listeners and some listeners.' I think this record is coming along when radio needs me. 'I don't tend to make my records sound all alike. I made a record that I'd like and my fans would like.'Īnd now Ball apparently has a lot of fans. I wasn't too concerned about what anybody what would have thought of this record. 'My very first album.had what I call disguise swing ('Honky Tonk Healin' and 'Down at the Bottom of a Broken Heart') - but we couldn't present it for one reason or another in a swing setting. The album also contains the instrumental 'New Shiner Polka,' also a swing composition. This is song is a tribute to the guitar and what it can do for you.'īall says he's been into swing a long time, only his albums don't necessarily show it. I'm a huge fan of guitar playing - that's of anybody who can pick up a guitar and play it. It's of course a nod to Bob Wills and to swing music in general. 'That was one of the things that got me going back into the studio to make a record,' Ball says of the song. Of course, one song does not make up an entire album.īall tackled Count Basie's 'Linger Awhile' and penned the lead-off and title track with Kostas. I hope it will always be able to do that. 11, 'unity in America became a priority after that. 'The song had been out for three weeks, and we had been getting an overwhelming response to the song.'Īfter Sept.

It just fills you with pride whether you were for the war or against the war. The country was divided, and all the soldiers who had fought over there had gotten a raw deal. The message of the song - the Viet Nam war ended on the wrong foot. I was familiar with all the ingredients of the song, but I had never heard it put together. Number one, bam, it was very well written. I just thought it was one of the best songs I'd ever heard.' 'I'd been looking for a story song for a long time. 'Wood thought the record was done,' he says.

Wood said, 'Shoot man, why do you want this thing?' I said I want to learn it.' When I heard it, I heard Thom Shepherd play it live on the radio one night, and I told Wood to give me a copy of it. 'They put a lot of heart and soul in this song. Newton wrote the song with Thom Shepherd. But on his very first day back home, he was killed in a car wreck. Newton's first cousin, Jeff, served in Viet Nam and survived the war. The story actually has some truth behind it. All they had so far is a guy who buys a used car, and there's a note in a glove box.' One day while riding in the car with Newton, Ball says, 'he told me about this song. Private Malone then serves as the angel for the owner, saving his life one day in a bad accident. Looking around the glove compartment, he finds a note from Andrew Malone, who said 'if you're reading this, then I didn't make it home' from Viet Nam. He never even drives it, but takes a chance on a 1966 Corvette. The reason, of course, is the easy going 'Riding With Private Malone.' The song describes a guy with $1,000 in his pocket, looking to buy a car.

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