For Malcolm Young, it was rock or bust
AC/DC guitarist strived for simplicity
AC/DC thrives on simplicity. Excepting the Ramones, no other band has made so much out of so little. Oh sure, singers Bon Scott or Brian Johnson have turned a clever phrase or two (but honestly, not more that two). Guitarist Angus Young certainly adds more drama and creativity to his lead lines than the average player.
But AC/DC conquered the world with a steady beat, dumbbut-fun lyrics and simple riffs. Rhythm guitarist and riff master Malcolm Young was a huge part in building and maintaining that aesthetic.
Malcolm Young, whose death at the age of 64 was announced yesterday, hadn’t toured with AC/DC since 2010. The guitarist had been suffering from dementia for years, and eventually wasn’t capable of going out on the road. But every night, in every city his band played, they paid tribute to his legacy.
Malcolm kept a low profile. He left the pyrotechnics and histrionics of the big rock ’n’ roll band to the frontmen and younger brother Angus Young. But Malcolm was an integral part of the writing team: He helped pen every tune from 1975 debut “High Voltage” to their most recent album, 2014’s “Rock or Bust.”
You’d think the guy behind “Highway to Hell” and “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap” would be an out-of-control egomaniac. But that wasn’t Malcolm.
“I’ve never felt like a pop star, this is a nine-to-five sort of gig,” Malcolm said in an interview with Rolling Stone in 2008. “It comes from working in the factories, that world. You don’t forget it.”
He put that blue-color factory chug and thump into every riff, verse and chorus he wrote.
AC/DC came up in the ’70s. At the time, Queen was adding opera to rock, Rush was writing sci-fi epics and Pink Floyd was building a literal wall between audience and band at stadium shows. But Malcolm made sure none of these uppity flourishes infected AC/DC. Under his watch, the band would never embrace prog synthesizers, rock operas or exotic time signatures.
The keep-it-simple-stupid approach worked. The band has sold more that 200 million albums and has never gone out of fashion — only two years ago it sold out Gillette Stadium.
Always in deference to his brother, Angus told the Chicago Tribune in 2003: “It was Malcolm who had the vision of what the band should be. He said, ‘We’re going to play the only music worth playing: rock ’n’ roll. And we’re going to play it hard.’”