“It was obvious”: The show that made Malcolm Young stop playing lead guitar
AC/DC is often a misunderstood band. People look at them and see two standout aspects that they decide to champion: Brian Johnson’s gritty vocals and Angus Young’s eccentric guitar playing. Yes, both of these parts of the band are incredibly exciting and draw the eye fairly easily; however, many other important aspects of AC/DC lead to the band’s dynamic sound.
One of these was the drummer Phil Rudd. After Rudd left the band, Malcolm Young admitted how much of an impact he made on the band’s overall sound and that while they used alternative drummers, they were just keeping things going until Rudd felt well enough to come back.
“We were just putting drummers in there really until we got him back because he’s, he is the real sound with the rest of the guys, it’s the real deal, you know?” said Malcolm before continuing to discuss albums that were made without Rudd, “It still sounded like an AC/DC record; it just didn’t have as much oomph under it.”
Of course, another huge secret weapon was Malcolm Young himself. One of the things that AC/DC championed above everything else was solid guitar music. This meant taking simple chord structures and adding rhythm and inflexions that created something unlike anybody else has heard. Every AC/DC track sounds completely individual, yet they are all made up of the same few chords. Malcolm Young’s ability with the rhythm guitar meant the band could keep creating these dynamic tracks.
Angus Young was always quick to praise his brother when talking about his favourite guitar riffs of the band. “I would say, ‘Bad Boy Boogie’,” said Angus Young, “[It] has got a flavour because it’s got a little bit of a twist in it. It sounds easy, but Malcolm had a little twist that I don’t think many could do […] How clever was he to do that? I still play it just for the fact that he just changed that little note around.”
Just because he was AC/DC’s rhythm guitarist didn’t mean that Malcolm wasn’t capable of playing lead. When the band initially started, given that he and Angus both had equal playing abilities, the plan was for them to share soloing duties. However, as soon as they started playing shows together, it became clear that Angus should have been the band’s lead guitarist, as he was completely unwavering in his approach to the instrument.
“On the Australian version of High Voltage, there was a song called ‘Soul Stripper’ where me and Angus traded off on some licks, and there’s also another tune on there, ‘You Ain’t Got a Hold on Me’, where I did a bit of soloing,” said Malcolm, “But when we got onstage it was just obvious that I should sit in the back and keep time, because Angus, as soon as he put on that school uniform, he started going all over the place.”
It was a good decision to let Angus take the reins as the band’s lead guitarist. While both are equally matched, Angus has an undeniable stage presence that has become a staple for the band since, and his compelling nature was clear from some of AC/DC’s earliest shows.
