05 May 2012

The Jams

"I met this girl for the first time on Saturday night...."


Very early AC/DC, 1974. Dressed like rejects from the auditions for Queen, playing what is essentially a rockabilly jam, via Gibson, Fender and Gretsch. The beginnings of their tongue-in-cheek, fun filled and goofy brand of filthy rock n roll. It was a promise to be later fulfilled by the arrival of Bon Scott (more on him later), and lost in the wind with Brian Johnson and too much touring into too old age.

AC/DC has been with me for a long time. I found them as a teenager in high school, stuck with them through the punk years, and still enjoy them on the turntable with the volume way up. Despite their solidly cemented place in the annals of big bad bar rock of the 1970s, they managed to do it with enough humor to keep it timeless.

And for what its worth, Angus Young has been teaching me for years that there's nothing wrong with being the only guy in a jacket and tie if that's the way you're feeling it. In a world filled with jeans, t-shirts and beer, he was a king among men, always in a tie.

p.s. given the fact that for those of us with social lives, Saturday is for parties,my infrequent series of posts "the Jams" will now be a semi regular feature on weekends. It will give me an excuse to continue to dig up great moments in music the older among you may remember fondly and the younger among you can thank me for teaching to you.

7 comments:

WSTKS-FM Worldwide said...

EXCELLENT! Looking forward to more 'jams' like this.

Best Regards,

Ulrich von B.

Roger v.d. Velde said...

You're a connoisseur m'lud. Clearly I didn't realise they had a singer before Bon Scott. Scott's voice-quality made the AC/DC sound.
Favourite song: Highway to Hell.

wesman said...

I know that it's near blasphemy to say this, but I prefer Dave Evans to Bon Scott :)

randall said...

I think that "Big Balls" is one of the funniest songs ever.

Jho78 said...

I used to think SGs were huge because I didn't know Angus was a tiny man.

Phil Asby said...

Fascinating and as usual good stuff - I was equally shocked by the attire as I was by Malcolm Young playing a dueling (almost) lead with Angus, up front. I'm so used to him back by the drum riser only coming forward to sing, and never getting above the 5th fret well I didn't know he had it in him.

Mark Evans said...

Check out Dave Evans....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLz_gVQx054