26 AC/DC Books part2
Description
This article is from the AC/DC FAQ, by Phil Rose acdcfaq@yahoo.com with numerous contributions by others.
26 AC/DC Books part2
Highway to Hell The Life and Times of AC/DC Legend Bon Scott
by Clinton Walker
[Thanks to Brendan Ring <busa056@csc.canterbury.ac.nz>]
First published in 1994 by Sun by Pan Macmillan Publishers a
division of Pan Macmillan Australia Pty Limited, 63-71 Balfour
Street, Chippendale, Sydney, Australia
ISBN: 0 7251 0742 1
324 pages, including discography of Bon's recordings, and a short
biography of each of the major characters in the book.
This book covers Bon's entire life, including early childhood
(with many photos) through to his death (he had japanese fish
cakes for breakfast the day he died!).
Walker was not assisted by Albert Productions and hence many of
those currently working with Alberts refused to have anything to
do with it (including Angus and Malcolm). However, in many
respects this has been an advantage as the author has instead
been assisted by people who have no vested interest in following
"the official line". Consequently, many AC/DC myths are shot
down. The people he interviews include Bon's parents, his major
girl friends, members of the Valentines, Fraternity, former AC/DC
bassists Rob Bailey and Mark Evans, early AC/DC band managers etc.
These
interviews appear through out the text as transcripts so what you
read is exactly what they said. This gives a great deal of
credibility to the book. The author also includes many letters
that Bon wrote to friends throughout his career (One from 1975
ends with "PS: If you can still manage the other $50 I'd love ya
f'rever. It's no fun waiting around to be a millionaire.").
A criticism of this book is that the author really has it in for
Angus and Malcolm, presenting them as ogres with very little
supporting evidence. He also over-analysis Bon's life,
analysising everything as if it plays a part in his eventual
demise.
The book presents a complex picture of Bon. It shows him to be
wild and reckless (nearly dying 3 times during the 70's), but
very polite, likable, though basically alone in the world. At
the time of his death Bon apparently had ambitions to settle down
in California, and even to do a solo album. The following 2
quotes really sum up the book:
Mark Evans (former AC/DC bassist)
"They (implying Angus and Malcolm) would dispute this, but I
think they viewed Bon to be ultimately disposable. In hindsight,
it seems preposterous, but at the time, he was always in the
firing line. And there was a lot of pressure, mainly from George
(Young), and record companies. I think within that camp, there's
been a certain rewriting of history, about how they felt about
the guy - no that's wrong, how they felt about the guy
professionally. Because there was no way you could spend more
than 30 seconds in a room with Bon and not be completely and
utterly charmed."
In 1978 Vince Lovegrove, Bon's friend and former member of the
Valentines, interviewed Bon for RAM magazine. He wrote:
"(Bon said) Vinnie. I really am getting tired. I love it, you
know that. It's only rock'n'roll and I like it. But I want to
have a base. It's just the constant pressure of touring that's
fucking it. I've been on the road for thirteen years. Planes,
hotels, groupies, booze, people, towns. They all scrape
something from you. We're doin'it and we'll get there, but I
wish we didn't have these crushing day after day grinds to keep
up with ...... Rock'n'roll, you know that's all there is,' he
said. 'But I can't hack the rest of the shit that goes with it."
On the whole this book is well worth getting - it provides
infintely more insight into Bon and AC/DC than any of the other
books I have read about the band.
There are also many interesting comments about AC/DC in general:
Dennis Laughlin (early manager)
"The biggest problem I had with AC/DC in those early days, being
a touring unit, and not having much money, was keeping everything
together, keeping everyone happy. There's a few dope smokers
in the band, right? Instead of giving everyone fifty bucks a
week, it's like, alright, whatever you need, we'll get it.
Thirty bucks a week plus a bag of dope, a bottle of Scotch.
Well, Angus was a pain in the arse, because he says, Fuck ya, I
don't drink booze, or fuckin' take drugs. I'd give him a bag of
fish'n'chips, a Kit Kat, a packet of Benson and Hedges and a
bottle of Coke."
Richard Griffiths (AC/DC's first booking agent in England, now
Epic Records CEO).
"It was clear to me it was Malcolm's band. Bon was a great guy.
But even then, I sensed, off Micheal (Micheal Browning, their
manager), that he wasn't sure that Bon was the singer to take the
band all the way....... He (Bon) was sort of seperate from the
rest. Phil, he was off on his own, he was actually pretty
obnoxious,. Angus and Malcolm were thick, obviously. And then
Mark, you knew Mark wasn't going to last, he was just too much
of a nice guy....."
Some other interesting points:
- So who has heard of a rare album from early 1973 called
"Tales of Old Granddaddy" by the Marcus Hook Roll Band
(Angus, Malcolm, and George Young, and Harry Vanda).
This has actually been re-released by Sony Australia this year -
it's not easy to get a copy though.
- Bon's girl friend at the time of his death claims that the
title of "Rock and Roll Ain't Noise Pollution" was a line
Bon used in an argument with his landlord during the time
he was preparing the lyrics for the album to follow Highway
to Hell!
- In the epilogue the author claims that AC/DC recently
considered sacking Brian Johnson, though they thought
better of it (though he presented no evidence)!
And in 1978 a compilation album called "12 of the Best" was to be
released. Its release was cancelled in favour of If You Want Blood.
The book shows the album cover and lists the tracks as:
Long way to the top
High Voltage
Problem Child
TNT
Whole Lotta Rosie
Let There Be Rock
Jailbreak
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
The Jack
Dog Eat Dog
She's Got Balls
Baby, Please Don't Go
Continue to:
My Books
