The legendary guitarists that Angus Young will always “get off on”
Perhaps one of the most unfair takes in music is the idea that AC/DC’s sound is overrated.
A lot of music lovers will often turn their nose up at the hard rockers, criticising their style for being overly simple, given that the majority of songs are only made up of about three or four chords. What people miss is that this simple approach to music isn’t a bad thing, it’s rock boiled down to its essence and presented better than the majority of musicians who have ever made music.
How many albums in are we now? 16? 17? It’s a lot, and yet AC/DC still manage to channel that energetic hard rock sound which so many fans have fallen in love with. They use few chords, and yet every song is its own being, it has a unique rhythm and structure, which shows just how much creativity is on display.
Don’t take my word for it either, if you think this simplistic approach to music is somehow less genuine, one of the most complicated musicians to ever live was a huge fan of the Australian rockers – Frank Zappa. He liked their approach to music and authenticity so much that he even tried to sign them once.
“I think he saw what everybody saw: they could play, they had a ton of energy, and they were authentic,” said Dweezil, Zappa’s son. “It was blues-based, and it had an attitude. The thing about AC/DC is they’ve carved a massive career out of playing one style that’s changed very, very little. That’s what people love – that consistency. They’re rock-solid, and they have a great sound.”
It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to people that AC/DC’s ethos revolves around making good music which is authentic, consistent, and not overly complex. A lot of Angus Young’s initial inspirations are those early rock ‘n’ roll legends, who weren’t necessarily playing something too complicated, but were playing it in a way that grabbed the attention of everybody in earshot.
“I plug into a lot of old rock & roll,” said Young. “Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis. I love all that stuff. In fact, if I get a chance and I’m on my way to a gig, I’ll put one of their tapes on. Because they’re good vibe-meters and I still get off on them.”
One of his favourites from that list is Chuck Berry. Angus Young has never been shy about making his adoration for the early incarnation of rock ‘n’ roll clear, and you can see Berry’s influence a lot in the work of AC/DC, not only with how they sound, but with how Angus Young conducts himself on stage. Half of the moves that Young is famous for pulling out the bag when performing live are essentially just variations of what Berry did, and can you blame him?
“He melded all these kind of different genres of music, but he seemed to bring it together and bring it out, and it [came] out in that rock and roll style — so plain and simple, but it was so effective,” said Young, concluding, “I saw him live once when I was younger. I just loved his stage presence and how he performed. He was one of those people, when he got on a stage, he owned it.”
