Angus Young

Angus Young

Angus McKinnon Young (born 31 March 1955) is a Scottish-born Australian musician and the lead guitarist, songwriter, and co-founder of the Australian hard rock band AC/DC. Known for wild, energetic performances and schoolboy-uniform stage outfits, Young was ranked 96th on Rolling Stone's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".

Biography

Angus Young, one of eight children of William and Margaret Young, was born in Glasgow, Scotland and moved with his parents to Sydney, Australia in 1963 with his older brothers Malcolm, George, and Alex, who all became musicians, an elder sister Margaret, and three other siblings. Angus started playing guitar when he was five years old—a local child had one and Angus would play it during visits. He got his own guitar as a gift from his older brother George. His very first guitar was acoustic.

Formation of AC/DC

As a teenager Young played in a band called 'Kentucky'. He was 18 when he and his 20 year old brother Malcolm formed AC/DC in 1973 with Angus on lead guitar, Malcolm on rhythm guitar, Colin Burgess on drums, Larry Van Kriedt on bass guitar and Dave Evans on vocals. "Can I Sit Next To You Girl", their first single, was later re-recorded with Bon Scott as their vocalist. They got the name AC/DC after seeing the letters "AC/DC" on the back of a sewing machine owned by their sister, Margaret.

Angus tried a number of stage costumes, such as Spider-Man, Zorro, a gorilla, and a parody of Superman, named Super-Ang. before settling on his signature schoolboy trademark. To match this image the press and public were told that Young was born in 1959, not 1955. The original uniform was reputedly from his secondary school, Ashfield Boys High School in Sydney. One rumour is that he did not have time to change his clothes between school and band practice, and simply wore the uniform; while such an event may have occurred years earlier, by 1973, Angus had long left school. His sister Margaret suggested he wear the uniform after Malcolm asked each band member to come up with their own gimmick, which was ironic as Angus very much disliked being at school. This was the era of glam rock, when costumes were common for pop and rock acts.

Recent events

Performing live in 2001 in Germany

Although Young prefers to keep his private life out of the media, it is known that he now lives in Sydney, Australia and also has a home in Aalten, Netherlands. Young married his Dutch wife, Ellen, in 1980 shortly before Bon Scott died from heavy drinking.

On 24 August 2006, Young received Kerrang! magazine's Legend Award from the editor, Paul Brannigan. Brannigan called AC/DC "one of the most important and influential rock bands in history".

Equipment

Guitars

Angus Young has used Gibson SGs in various forms (his original, and the basis for his current signature model, was a 1968 SG) throughout his career. He is rarely seen with another guitar, though he also owns Fender Telecasters, Gibson Firebirds and ES335s. When AC/DC played a jam of "Rock me Baby" with the Rolling Stones in 2003, he played a Gibson ES-335 borrowed from Keith Richards, perhaps one of the only times he was without an SG onstage. Young's 1968 SG has T Top pickups. Another 1964 SG that he used on the recording of Ballbreaker, has patent # pickups. All of these are high output Alnico 2 pickups with matched coils. Young has used Ernie Ball Slinky RPS strings for over 40 years, gauge .09 – .042 or .010 – .048

Angus Young Signature SG

Angus Young and Gibson Guitar Corporation have collaborated to make the Angus Young Signature SG, which is special in several ways.

The model features a pickup designed by Young himself (the Angus Young Signature Humbucker) in the bridge position, and a '57 Classic Humbucker in the neck. The headstock features Young's famous "Devil Schoolboy!" engraved picture, and the tremolo bar features Angus' name instead of the Gibson logo. The guitar has a rosewood fingerboard, trapezoid fret inlays, a signature black pickguard, 22 frets, a worn cherry finish, and nickel hardware. The volume and tone knobs are bigger than those of a regular SG but it still features the standard 3-way selector switch.

Amplifiers

Young's amps have been plexi Marshalls: JTM45s, JTM50s, JMP50s and Superleads (plus a few Wizard amplifiers). His main amp is a JTM45, which he uses both live and in the studio. When Young plays live, he runs this through an isolation speaker box that sits under the stage and feeds directly into the PA system. In the studio, Angus has often used a 100 W plexi for riffs and a smaller plexi (jmp50, jtm50, or jtm45) for solos.

Speaker cabinets he has used have been Marshall 4x12"s (model 1982 and 1960, mostly B models) with Celestion G12H 30 watt (on old recordings), Vintage 30s (on newer recordings) and G12M 25 watt speakers (on solos/overdubs on newer recordings). Malcolm has used Mesa Boogie Cabs before as seen on AC/DC's 1992 live album, Live. Angus is said to, by Marshall, use the 1987X 50 watt head.

Influence

Angus Young's energetic guitar style has been an influence on many young hard rock guitarists. His work with AC/DC has been an influence on bands ranging from Guns N' Roses, The Cult, Jackyl, and Def Leppard to newer artists like Disturbed, Jet, Buckcherry, and You Am I. Young cites his own influences as Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters, Leslie West, B.B. King, and other blues/rock and roll players.

Style

Young plays a solo during a performance of "Let There be Rock"

Angus Young's playing style is very straight blues, playing in both the minor and major pentatonic blues scale. His style is spiced by additional non-blues tricks. In AC/DC's earlier recordings, power chords can be heard in songs such as "T.N.T." and "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)". He also utilises touches of Scottish folk in his playing, and pull-off arpeggios (pull-offs, played one-handed) are a popular trick, appearing in songs such as "Who Made Who", "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap", "Sin City" and "Let There Be Rock" (live). In 1976, the band recorded an instrumental arrangement of the Scottish traditional song "Loch Lomond", retitled "Fling Thing", which has appeared in their stage act over the years. The title refers to the Highland Fling.

He is especially noted for his vibrato, his intricate improvisation in live shows, and his stripped down approach to the guitar, with regard to amp-provided effects and guitar accessories.

He often receives criticism from the music press, many of his critics stating that AC/DC's songs sound too similar, focusing on the same handful of chords. However, as Young stated in an interview with the Atlanta Gazette in 1979:

It's just rock and roll. A lot of times we get criticised for it. A lot of music papers come out with: 'When are they going to stop playing these three chords?' If you believe you shouldn't play just three chords it's pretty silly on their part. To us, the simpler a song is, the better, 'cause it's more in line with what the person on the street is.

Stage antics

Angus Young is notorious for his wild onstage antics: intense jumps and running back and forth across the stage while playing his guitar. Young would clamber on to Bon Scott's shoulders during concerts and they would make their way through the audience with smoke streaming from a satchel on his back, while he played an extended guitar solo, usually during the song "Rocker". At a concert in Donington he rode on Brian Johnson's shoulders, and also in Portland, Oregon on the "We Salute You Tour" in 1982. In some of his concert videos, he would raise his foot and bring it back down to the front of his other foot like a zig-zag on stage while keeping the same rhythm on the guitar as he played.

Angus (left) performing his Devil Horns act, along with Campino (right), lead singer of German Punk rock band Die Toten Hosen.

In later years, Young performed moves such as his own version of the Duck Walk, which was inspired by his idol Chuck Berry, and his "spasm", during which he throws himself to the ground, kicking, shaking, and spinning in circles, while playing the guitar. Both moves can be seen on various videos, such as "Live At Donington". Young developed the "spasm" while he was playing live in a small club in Australia, after he accidentally tripped over a cable on stage while playing his solo. He covered it up by having a seizure-like "spasm" on stage to make it seem like part of the act. It has been a trademark of his ever since.

Angus Young also performs "the bob". In the bob, he headbangs while tapping his feet. He taps his right foot twice when headbanging up, and his left foot twice when headbanging down. This is his general rhythmic movement while performing.

Other gimmicks employed by Young include his strip act, which can be seen during "Bad Boy Boogie" on the most definitive live concert footage Let There Be Rock (1980). It is also viewable in during "Jailbreak" on the 1991 Live at Donington DVD, during "Boogie Man" on No Bull, during "Bad Boy Boogie" on Stiff Upper Lip Live and during "The Jack" on the Black Ice tour. And sometimes when he "strips" he will pull down his pants, revealing his undergarments, often decorated with the flag of the country in which the concert takes place or with AC/DC on it as shown in the "Black ice" tour in 2008/2009, then pulls them up and moons the crowd. Sometimes he would use his fingers to perform his devil horns act -- usually before playing "Highway to Hell" or "Hell Ain't a Bad Place to Be" - whether being on stage or having his picture taken by the press.

References

• Guitar Legends magazine issue #78 - AC/DC: We Salute You!

External links

• ACDC.com Official Website
• AC/DC profile page by Epic Records
• AC/DC profile page by Albert Music
• AC/DC profile page by Atlantic Records
• Angus interview with Gibson Guitars