After The Ball

We moved Steve’s drums into a side room, which created a more focused sound. That opened up the Great Hall, which gave us a grander piano tone, as well as a bigger electric guitar sound than we were able to achieve in the Scottish barn. The hymn-like echoes of “Amazing Grace” are counter-balanced by the rocking electric guitar solos at the end. My acoustic slide parts were played on the Ovation Adamas.

Laurence Juber, in Guitar With Wings, 2014

[…] Paul gave me a great deal of latitude on Back to the Egg. There I’d offer up an idea and he’d either nod or he’d kind of raise an eyebrow and then I’d tweak it. I remember very specifically when we were mixing “After the Ball,” I’d played an acoustic slide part and sat there just thinking, “I’d like to get my hand on that fader.” I’d never been an engineer at that point and Paul noticed my discomfort and said, “Laurence, you run that fader.” Not only did he accept my contribution but encouraged me to put it to the forefront.

Laurence Juber, interview with DAYTRIPPIN’ BEATLES MAGAZINE, 2010

After the Ball. The slide is played on an Ovation. On the electric stuff I played a Gibson 335, Denny a Les Paul and Paul an Epiphone.

Laurence Juber, from Club Sandwich N°14, April / May 1979

Lyrics

Officially appears on

Bootlegs

Live performances

Paul McCartney has never played this song in concert.

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