How Angus Young & Bon Scott Created the Blue Print for AC DC's Future | Professor of Rock

once upon a night brothers angus and malcolm young were jamming in the studio after hours when suddenly angus had a brilliant idea for a riff that he immediately played that riff galvanized brother malcolm who promptly jumped onto the drums at a beat it changed everything the story of a life-changing hard rock riff and the sessions that followed including firing a legendary producer for an up-and-coming producer that producer would help to take ac dc to global domination the story is next on professor of rock hey music junkies professor of rock always here to celebrate the greatest artists and the greatest songs of all time if you've ever wondered where a certain song came from the stories behind your favorite songs you're going to be right at home with this channel make sure to subscribe below so you never miss out on our daily content i mean we interview we get the stories of these songs straight from the artists we also have a patreon you can take a look at the link below where you can get more content and we reward you with that and that helps our mission of curating music history it's so important you know in the grand scheme of things uh bands come and go i mean one day they're on top maybe the next day they could be dropped by their label but when the dust settles and uh 40 or 50 years go by we get to see who the real titans of music are you know who has and will stand the test of time beyond the flavor of the week or even a few big albums with that in mind there is no question that ac dc has endured as much as any band in music history metallica u2 guns n roses aerosmith journey fleetwood mag even the rolling stones they all stand behind ac dc in terms of record sales in the us ac dc is essentially tied with pink floyd only the beatles led zeppelin and the eagles are ahead in terms of rock groups now worldwide ac dc is in the top 20 that's when you consider all artists all genres now when you take into account the biggest selling albums of all time ac dc back in black is the third best-selling album ever it's just behind michael jackson thriller and pink floyd dark side of the moon again i said globally i always say that if an alien from another planet wanted to know what rock and roll is i just play macdc maybe van halen that takes me to the subject of today's video if you had to define ac dc by one song i mean if you had to dial it down to just one riff that captures their essence what would it be let us know in the comments but the riff for me that led to back in black you know the epitomizes their sound that took them to the masses and influenced so many who came after you'd be hard-pressed to find something better than highway to hell this riff is seismic it's absolutely [Music] galactic when the band started working on the session for highway to hell their last album with the legendary frontman bon scott they had released the five albums globally with really no support from radio in america they had designs of course on making it in the states they were coming off of the live album if you want blood and their last studio album before that was powerage from 1977 which built upon their hard rock bluesy sound of course they were ready for their close-up up to that point their albums had been produced by brother george young and harry vanda who were name checked we just talked about this and dire straits song sultan's a swing george and harry had produced everything from high voltage on up well the bands label atlantic records who had rejected their 1976 album dirty deeds done dirt cheap they were of the belief that ac dc was ready to blow up in america but they felt that the band needed a different producer at the helm the band members were against this out of loyalty to their brother of course and friend they felt disrespected and they felt that older brother george young wasn't given proper credit they felt that uh george was like a sixth member of the band really they're pretty much forced to work with an outside producer though they didn't really have a choice so atlantic matched him up with legendary producer eddie cramer now eddie had guided jimi hendrix a kiss and led zeppelin seemed like an inspired pairing except that it wasn't when eddie kramer met the band at criteria studio in florida they kind of mixed like oil and water first of all they didn't want to go to florida but as some of the band members would later relate eddie kramer actually looked at lead singer bon scott and he said to the band can you guys sing this is that's exactly what he said as rhythm guitarist malcolm young would say and i quote eddie kramer was a bit of a prat he might have sat behind the knobs for hendricks but he's certainly not hendrix i could tell you that much and a quote eddie kramer really didn't get what ac dc was about word is that he was considering having the band record uh cover song spencer davis song give me some lovin [Music] it wasn't gonna work malcolm called then ac dc manager michael browning in protest telling him of the rough start of the sessions and he brought in an up-and-comer from zambia named robert lane of course otherwise known as mutling at that point mutt had made a name for himself by producing the boomtown rats uk number one hit rat trap [Music] so when they worked with eddie kramer before mutt came in it had been over three weeks and they hadn't accomplished anything with him you know with kramer at the console one story that emerged is that they actually tricked kramer by telling him they were taking a day off so that he wouldn't come into the studio but they snuck in and worked and one day without eddie kramer looking over the shoulder they actually laid down six songs they put it on tape they sent it to mutt lang prior to his arrival or to him working on the album and now as we go into this breakdown of this song i want to thank our sponsor zany eyewear the brand that i always wear when you go to zeni.com to look at the glasses there you shop according to the shape of your face that way you can ensure that you always have a variety of really great and distinctive eyewear that will look good on you [Music] so the sessions for highway to hell were moved to roundhouse studios in north london in the spring of 1979 and what would become a hallmark of their working relationship with butlane going forward the band basically lived at the studio they worked virtually around the clock to get the the best out of their creative flow now up to that point they hadn't worked for more than three weeks on any record with highway to hell they worked like 15 hours a day around the clock with muttling's no-nonsense philosophy which was embraced by the band by the way in an interview with mojo magazine malcolm young said and i quote mutt liked the simplicity of a band we were all minimalist we felt it was the best way to be he knew we were all dedicated so we sort of got it but he made sure the tracks were solid and he could hear if a snare just went off end of quote lead guitarist angus young was elated how meticulous moat was about getting the right sound whether it was guitar drums or vocals he said that bond was mighty impressed as well with how his voice was sounding at that moment that was a challenge for the band members at first as mutt was no holds barred in fact uh there were two incidents that opened the band's eyes to the way mutt was the first one was with angus one day mount walked up to angus while he was working on his guitar part and mutt said very directly and i quote sit here and i'll tell you what i want you to play angus was a bit surprised but he sat next to mutt who pointed at the fretboard and said here hold that now go into that it was actually the exalted solo of highway to hell that i'm talking about here the band was very impressed as the solo of course soared from there [Applause] another time mutt was watching bond record a vocal part and he was struggling with the really challenging part of that song i must said the bond there's more breath and voice coming out listen you have to coordinate your breathing bond wasn't happy with the criticism so he said something to the effect of you know if you're so good you do it and mud answered straight away he just sat in the seat and sang the part effortlessly without standing up he earned the respect of the band because mutt never forced them and he never asked him to do something that he couldn't do himself that trust that was developed is why highway to hell and back in black were just almost flawless recordings really matlang was a trained singer he showed bana how to properly breathe and it helped him become so much better as a singer was part of the process he recorded background vocals he even had to stand on another side of the room of the studio because his voice was so powerful and distinct in fact that was one of the major parts that mutt brought to the band's developing sound those melodic backing vocals so let's get into the title track highway to hell a song that has blown the minds of so many including eddie van halen and joe perry of aerosmith from the beginning atlantic records was not happy about using the song as the title of the album this was around the same time of the famous satanic panic where parents groups and people in the media you know they'd read into anything and create false narratives and incorrect notions around bands and their music no different here because as malcolm has said on a few occasions the song highway to hell was about being on the road it wasn't about satan the grueling schedule of touring angus would say and i quote just because you call an album highway to hell you get all kinds of grief and all we've done is describe what it's like to be on the road for four years like we'd been a lot of it was bus and car touring with no real break you crawl off the bus at four o'clock in the morning and some journalist is doing a story and he says what would you call an ac dc tour well it was a highway to hell it really was when you're sleeping with the singer's socks two inches away from your nose that's pretty close to hell end the quote the song actually came one night when they were in miami the band was virtually broke at the time angus and brother malcolm were just jamming in a rehearsal studio all of a sudden angus had this idea for a guitar intro he started to play a riff that would become highway to hell malcolm would say about the riff and i quote there were hundreds of rifts going down every single day but this one we thought that's good it just stuck out like a dog's balls end of quote directly after hearing the riff like i said in the intro malcolm was so inspired he jumped on the drum kit and he started banging out a beat there happened to be a guy in the studio that was working with them who recorded it [Music] i guess this guy took the demo cassette home that had it on it he gave it to his kid to play with who ended up unraveling the tape i mean can you even imagine so angus gave the messed up tape to bon scott who apparently was really great at fixing broken cassettes and he put it back together ensuring that this great song wouldn't be lost forever wow von scott would put a vocal on highway to hell that uh only multiplied its impact i mean the word seemed to convey bond's fierce independence and his life choices up to that point think about the lyrics you know how he brashly sings [Music] nobody's going to slow me down going down party time [Music] was as if bond was staring death down in this song he wasn't willing to compromise unfortunately now bond wrote the lyrics and angus and malcolm were credited with the [Applause] music apparently the highway that inspired the title is canning highway that connects the perth quinana uh freeway to its port fremantle which was home to a lot of bonscott's favorite pubs and hotels including the raffles hotel highway to hell was chosen as the opening song and of course the title track with mutlang's influence everything came together for one of hcdc's greatest songs with the emergence of that double guitar sound with the towering backing vocals [Applause] it just electrified everyone involved it was a precursor definitely to the over-the-top global domination that would follow with back and black highway to hell really paved that way highway to hell the album was released in mid-summer in 1979 it was the band's first album to break into the top 100 album chart in america settled at number 17 became ac dc's second biggest selling record in the u.s up to date it sold seven million copies now speaking of satanic panic the label who was initially upset about the title of the album being highway to hell they contradicted themselves at the last minute the label took an already released black and white glossy pick of the band and they took it upon themselves to superimpose a tell and horns on angus young you know making them look like the devil satan himself shocked everybody including the band further rumors of course escalated from the pentacle that bond scott is wearing around his neck in the picture although if you you look closely the pentacle is pointed upwards which is supposed to protect whoever wears it from evil uh it's exactly the same way that many have misinterpreted the so-called devil horns that originated with ronnie james dio that's become the international symbol of heavy metal of course there are many stories that have come from this symbol about this symbol this gesture whatever you want to call it uh but ronnie's widow wendy dio has said and i want to quote this exactly a lot of people claimed it was theirs and it's okay it wasn't ronnie's it's an old italian sign called molochio the evil eye as to ward off evil his grandma when he was about five used to walk down to town to give his grandpa lunch at the steel mill and he'd see his grandma doing the sign it was like you know warding up evil and he didn't think about it it was just part of his heritage end of quote highway to hell has reached far and wide through pop culture since its release it's become a pinnacle it's been featured prominently in many films school of rock i actually love how they used it there also the adam sandler flick little nikki as well as in the final destination series empire records longest yard shoot him up and just to name a few it's been covered too many times to mention in song billy joel's made it a highlight of all of his shows for many years where he takes a break and his rohde nickname chainsaw takes over for an audience galvanizing rendition of the classic song i've seen them a ton of times live and it just gets everybody going [Applause] i mean looking back on the sessions for highway to hell with mutlang at the helm it changed everything for hdc i mean the uber producer helped them recognize their incomparable abilities as creators and musicians they conquered america and it set up their path to their masterpiece although in all their glory and success and that pivotal year would also prove to be the last few months of lead senior bond scott's life bomb passed away in february of 1980. the tragedy would devastate the band but they would come back with a vengeance highway to hell is a powerful example of why bond scott was one of the greatest hard rock singers ever i mean his uncompromising independence in his take no prisoners vocal attack is a living exclamation mark to the end of an era in hard rock history with angus young's earth shattering riff on the same song being the preamble to a new era as acdc trudged on [Music] leave us a comment about this mind-blowing guitar riff and some what do you think or what did you think the first time you experienced it what are your memories of ac dc and your thoughts on bond scott one of the great singers if you like our content we do invite you to be a full-time part of por by subscribing below uh check out our content on patreon help us keep the music alive until next time three chords and the true my friends you

Channel: Professor of Rock

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Keywords: 1970s, 70s, 70s classic rock, 70s music hits, 70s rock, 70s songs, 70s vinyl, 80s, ac dc, ac dc reaction, ac dc's, ac dc's highway to hell, acdc, album, angus young, bon scott, classic rock, highway to hell, in depth, music, music community, music comunity, music history, music junkies, mutt lange, pop fix, professor of rock, professor rock, rock, rock and roll, rock community, song, story of ac dc, story of highway to hell, video essay, vinyl community, vinyl junkies, vox

Id: xQlnYNLyi68

Length: 18min 46sec (1126 seconds)

Published: Wed Jun 30 2021