On Monday 11 August 2025, Gene Watson shared a very rare photo of his first road band, which was known as The Hail Ball Express.
‘Here’s a very rare photo!
The Hail Ball Express was the name of my very first road band.
Where I come from, we called hail, ‘hail balls’, and the vehicle I had to travel in was hit hard by hail, so it was nicknamed ‘The Hail Ball Express’, and it then became the band’s name.
This photo was taken in May 1977 at a Chicago club called North Nashville, and I’m wearing what fans called the ‘Paper Rosie‘ suit, which was made in Texas – before I started using Judy’s of Nashville for a lot of my suits.
That’s me in the front, kneeling, then behind me is my cousin, Donnie ‘Drop’ Watson (bass player), Gary ‘Wichita’ Anderson (lead guitar), Chris ‘Tiny’ Olson (pedal steel) and Phil DeAngelo (drums).
Friday 27 January 1939 – Friday 14 August 2009
(photo taken in Kentucky on Saturday 15 December 2007)
I didn’t have a piano player on the road, until I hired my late, great friend, Joe Eddie Gough (Friday 27 January 1939 – Friday 14 August 2009), and that’s about when we started using the new band name – The Farewell Party Band’
Source
Gene Watson on Facebook
Gene Watson recorded ‘Paper Rosie‘, which was written by Dallas Harms (Thursday 18 July 1935 – Saturday 12 October 2019), and included the track on ‘Paper Rosie‘ (Capitol Records, 1977); the track reached No.3 on the Billboard country music singles chart in 1977, No.1 on the Canadian RPM Country Tracks Chart in 1977, No.4 on the Cash Box country music singles chart in April 1977, and No.1 on the Record World country music singles chart for one week in April 1977 (Saturday 16 April 1977 – Saturday 23 April 1977).
Gene Watson recorded ‘After The Party’, which was written by Joe Eddie Gough (Friday 27 January 1939 – Friday 14 August 2009), and included the track on ‘Should I Come Home‘ (Capitol Records, 1979).
Gene Watson recorded ‘Beautiful You’, which was written by Joe Eddie Gough (Friday 27 January 1939 – Friday 14 August 2009), and included the track on ‘Should I Come Home‘ (Capitol Records, 1979).
On Tuesday 27 January 2009, England’s Hux Records released Gene Watson’s ‘Should I Come Home‘ (Capitol Records, 1979), along with Gene Watson’s ‘Reflections‘ (Capitol Records, 1978), as a special 2-for-1 CD set.
Gene Watson recorded ‘I’m Telling Me A Lie’, which was written by Joe Eddie Gough (Friday 27 January 1939 – Friday 14 August 2009) and Rick Winston, and included the track on ‘Between This Time & The Next Time‘ (MCA Records, 1981).
