Cover Me: Is That All to the Ball (Mr. Hall)

“[Billy Lee Riley] was a true original. He did it all: He played, he sang, he wrote. He would have been a bigger star but Jerry Lee came along. And you know what happens when someone like that comes along. You just don’t stand a chance.

 

So Billy became what is known in the industry — a condescending term, by the way — as a one-hit wonder. But sometimes, just sometimes, once in a while, a one-hit wonder can make a more powerful impact than a recording star who’s got 20 or 30 hits behind him.

 

He did it with style and grace. You won’t find him in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He’s not there. Metallica is. Abba is. Mamas and the Papas — I know they’re in there. Jefferson Airplane, Alice Cooper, Steely Dan — I’ve got nothing against them. Soft rock, hard rock, psychedelic pop. I got nothing against any of that stuff, but after all, it is called the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Billy Lee Riley is not there. Yet. — Bob Dylan, February 2015

We feature a lot of obscure covers here on the Shuffle, but today we’re pushing the envelope with a cover of a song that was never a hit by an artist that never made it big. Oh, and technically Bruce didn’t even cover it–he just soundchecked it twice, ten years apart.

If you’re not familiar with the story of Billy Lee Riley, you’re probably also not a subscriber to Andrew Hickey’s excellent and essential podcast, A History of Rock in 500 Songs. Go check out Episode 57 for the full and fascinating backstory on one of rock’s great unsung influencers, and if you’re a student of rock history, consider subscribing while you’re there. I learn new things from Andrew every week. (Plug over now.)

Anyway, suffice it to say that Riley had a knack for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and when he wasn’t he was probably at least doing the wrong thing. He had a couple of almost-hits in “Flying Saucers Rock and Roll” and “Red Hot” in 1957, but Riley was never able to translate his regional successes into national ones. But he was a rockabilly pioneer, and he shaped the sound of Sun Records. Riley’s story intertwined with Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, The Beach Boys, Glen Campbell and many other artists whose recordings he contributed to and influenced.

By the time Riley released “Is That All to the Ball (Mr. Hall),” in 1958, his popularity had already peaked. Good luck finding reviews or references to it–even in modern profiles of Riley, it’s rarely mentioned.

Bruce Springsteen knew of Riley, though, and he knew that song, too.

He never performed it in concert, but on opening night of the Darkness Tour, Bruce soundchecked “Is That All to the Ball (Mr. Hall)” for almost a half hour.

The clip below spotlights a rare attempt by a modern artist to cover Riley, but it’s also a fascinating eavesdrop on how the E Street Band works up a cover, trying and tweaking arrangements to get it just right.

Bruce didn’t end up actually playing “Is That All to the Ball (Mr. Hall)” that night. In fact, he’s never played it in public that I know of.

But almost exactly a decade later, Bruce and the E Street Band soundchecked it again, this time in Atlanta on the Tunnel of Love Express Tour.

Given how sparse the records of Bruce’s soundchecks are, it makes one wonder how many other times he’s played “Is That All to the Ball (Mr. Hall)” before the crowds came in, and why he’s never actually performed it in concert.

But for the (relatively) few Billy Lee Riley fans out there, it’s nice to at least know that Riley is still remembered by rock’s greatest icons to this day.

Is That All to the Ball (Mr. Hall)
First performed: May 23, 1978 (Buffalo, NY — soundcheck only)
Last performed: March 23, 1988 (Atlanta, GA — soundcheck only)