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Angus Young

Angus Young

Overview
Angus McKinnon Young (born March 31, 1955) is a Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

-born Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...

n musician
Musician
A musician is a person who performs or writes music. Musicians can be classified by their roles in creating or performing music:* An instrumentalist plays a musical instrument.* A singer uses his or her voice as an instrument....

 and the lead guitarist, songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is someone who writes the lyrics, as well as the musical composition or melody to songs. One who writes only lyrics is a lyricist, while one who writes only music is a composer.-History and background of songwriters:...

, and co-founder of the hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock or heavy rock is a sub-genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage and psychedelic rock and is considerably harder than conventional rock music...

 band AC/DC
AC/DC
AC/DC are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1973 by Scottish-born brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. Although the band are commonly classified as hard rock and are considered pioneers of heavy metal, they have always classified their music as "rock and roll".AC/DC underwent several line-up...

. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shores of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, dedicated to recording the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, and other people who have in some major way influenced the music...

 along with other members of AC/DC in 2003. Known for wild, energetic performances and schoolboy-uniform stage outfits and the duck walk, Young is ranked 96th on Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a United States-based magazine devoted to music, politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J. Gleason.The magazine was named after the 1948 Muddy Waters song of the same...

's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".

Angus Young, the youngest of eight children of William and Margaret Young, was born in Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 and moved with his parents to Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the largest city in Australia, and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney has a metropolitan area population of approximately 4.34 million and an area of approximately 12,000 square kilometres. Its inhabitants are called Sydneysiders, and Sydney is often called "the Harbour City"...

, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...

 in 1963 with his older brothers Malcolm
Malcolm Young
Malcolm Mitchell Young is a Scottish-born Australian guitarist, best known as a founding member, rhythm guitarist, backing vocalist and co-songwriter for the Australian hard rock band AC/DC, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003 along with the other members of AC/DC...

, George, and Alex
Alexander Young (musician)
Alexander Young aka George Alexander was a Scottish guitarist and session musician....

, who all became musicians, and their older sister Margaret.
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Quotations

If it was happening, I'd call it Heavenly Beast. If it wasn't happening, I usually call it Arsehole.

When asked if he specifically named his guitar. From Rolling Stone Magazine.

I don't like to play above or below people's heads. Basically, I just like to get up in front of a crowd and rip it up.

Interview with NME magazine in October 1976

We want to appeal to everyone and get rich quick. We want to be millionaires. I've got this plan to buy Tasmania you see...

Interview with Sounds magazine in June 1976

It's just rock and roll. A lot of times we get criticized 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.

Interview with the Atlanta Gazette in May 1979

We're a rock group. We're noisy, rowdy, sensational and weird.

Bonfire Box Set

You should hear me on my own. It’s horrendous. I saw Deep Purple live once and I paid money for it and I thought, Geez, this is ridiculous.’

1983 Interview in West Hollywood, California (Sunset Marquis Hotel)

The best AC/DC cover I've heard? There was an all-girl cover band in America, the Hell's Belles.

Blender, 2003
Encyclopedia
Angus McKinnon Young (born March 31, 1955) is a Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

-born Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...

n musician
Musician
A musician is a person who performs or writes music. Musicians can be classified by their roles in creating or performing music:* An instrumentalist plays a musical instrument.* A singer uses his or her voice as an instrument....

 and the lead guitarist, songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is someone who writes the lyrics, as well as the musical composition or melody to songs. One who writes only lyrics is a lyricist, while one who writes only music is a composer.-History and background of songwriters:...

, and co-founder of the hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock or heavy rock is a sub-genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage and psychedelic rock and is considerably harder than conventional rock music...

 band AC/DC
AC/DC
AC/DC are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1973 by Scottish-born brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. Although the band are commonly classified as hard rock and are considered pioneers of heavy metal, they have always classified their music as "rock and roll".AC/DC underwent several line-up...

. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shores of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, dedicated to recording the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, and other people who have in some major way influenced the music...

 along with other members of AC/DC in 2003. Known for wild, energetic performances and schoolboy-uniform stage outfits and the duck walk, Young is ranked 96th on Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a United States-based magazine devoted to music, politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J. Gleason.The magazine was named after the 1948 Muddy Waters song of the same...

's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".

Biography


Angus Young, the youngest of eight children of William and Margaret Young, was born in Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 and moved with his parents to Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the largest city in Australia, and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney has a metropolitan area population of approximately 4.34 million and an area of approximately 12,000 square kilometres. Its inhabitants are called Sydneysiders, and Sydney is often called "the Harbour City"...

, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...

 in 1963 with his older brothers Malcolm
Malcolm Young
Malcolm Mitchell Young is a Scottish-born Australian guitarist, best known as a founding member, rhythm guitarist, backing vocalist and co-songwriter for the Australian hard rock band AC/DC, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003 along with the other members of AC/DC...

, George, and Alex
Alexander Young (musician)
Alexander Young aka George Alexander was a Scottish guitarist and session musician....

, who all became musicians, and their older sister Margaret. Angus first started playing on banjos, but re-strung them with six strings. Angus first started playing guitar on his brother's (Malcolm) used Hofner (which was obtained from one of their older brothers), and was given it when Harry Vanda
Harry Vanda
Harry Vanda , is a Dutch-Australian popular music singer, guitarist, songwriter and record producer.-Career:...

 gave Malcolm a 1963 Gretsch Jet Firebird. Angus' first SG was bought second hand in 1970, from a music shop just down the street from his home.

Formation of AC/DC


As a teenager Angus Young played in a band called 'Kantuckee'. He was 19 when he and his 21 year old brother Malcolm
Malcolm Young
Malcolm Mitchell Young is a Scottish-born Australian guitarist, best known as a founding member, rhythm guitarist, backing vocalist and co-songwriter for the Australian hard rock band AC/DC, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003 along with the other members of AC/DC...

 formed AC/DC in 1973 with Angus on lead guitar, Malcolm on rhythm guitar
Rhythm guitar
Rhythm guitar is the use of a guitar to provide rhythmic chordal accompaniment for a singer or other instruments in a musical ensemble. In ensembles or "bands" playing within the acoustic, country, blues, rock or metal genres , a guitarist playing the rhythm part of a composition supports the...

, Colin Burgess
Colin Burgess
Colin Burgess is an Australian musician who was the drummer in The Masters Apprentices from 1968-1972 and was the first drummer with rock band AC/DC....

 on drums
Drum kit
A drum set is a collection of drums, cymbals and sometimes other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person . The term "drum kit" first became used in the 1700s in Britain...

, Larry Van Kriedt
Larry Van Kriedt
Larry Van Kriedt was the first bassist with rock band AC/DC. He was recruited at the time of the group's formation in 1973, joining Malcolm Young , Angus Young , Dave Evans and Colin Burgess...

 on bass guitar
Bass guitar
The electric bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a plectrum....

 and Dave Evans
Dave Evans (singer)
Dave Evans is an Australian singer best known for being the first lead singer of the Australian rock 'n' roll band AC/DC from 1973-1974.-AC/DC:...

 on vocals. "Can I Sit Next To You Girl", their first single, was later re-recorded with Bon Scott
Bon Scott
Ronald Belford "Bon" Scott was an Australian rock musician, best known for being the lead singer and lyricist of Australian hard rock band AC/DC from 1974 until his death in 1980...

 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
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer and editor Stan Lee and artist and co-plotter Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...

, Zorro
Zorro
Zorro is a fictional character created in 1919 by pulp writer Johnston McCulley. He has been featured in several books, films, television series, and other media....

, a gorilla
Gorilla
Gorillas are the largest of the living primates. They are ground-dwelling and predominantly herbivorous. They inhabit the forests of central Africa. Gorillas are divided into two species and either four or five subspecies...

, and a parody of Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional character, a comic book superhero widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective Comics, Inc...

, 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 from his secondary school, Ashfield Boys High School
Ashfield Boys High School
Ashfield Boys' High School is a Public, Secondary school for boys', located in Ashfield, an Inner Western suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It can be found on Liverpool Road, just off Parramatta Road.-History:...

 in Sydney. 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
Glam rock
Glam rock is a style that developed in the UK in the post-hippie early 1970s that was "performed by singers and musicians wearing outrageous clothes, makeup, hairstyles, and platform-soled boots." The flamboyant costumes, and visual styles of glam performers were a campy, theatrical blend of...

, when costumes were common for pop and rock acts.

Recent events


Although Young prefers to keep his private life out of the media, it is known that he now lives in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the largest city in Australia, and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney has a metropolitan area population of approximately 4.34 million and an area of approximately 12,000 square kilometres. Its inhabitants are called Sydneysiders, and Sydney is often called "the Harbour City"...

, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...

 and also has a home in Aalten
Aalten
Aalten is a municipality and a town in the eastern Netherlands. The former municipality of Dinxperlo has been merged with Aalten on January 1, 2005.A notable inhabitant of Aalten is Angus Young, guitarist of the Australian rock band AC/DC....

, Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a country in Northwestern Europe, constituting the major portion of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east...

 where his wife grew up. Young married his Dutch wife, Ellen, in 1980 shortly before Bon Scott
Bon Scott
Ronald Belford "Bon" Scott was an Australian rock musician, best known for being the lead singer and lyricist of Australian hard rock band AC/DC from 1974 until his death in 1980...

 died at the age of 33 after a night of heavy drinking in London.

On 24 August 2006, Young received Kerrang!
Kerrang!
Kerrang! is a rock music magazine published by Bauer Consumer Media in the United Kingdom. The magazine's name is onomatopoeic and refers to the sound made when playing a power chord on an electric guitar.-History:...

magazine's Legend Award from the editor, Paul Brannigan. Brannigan called AC/DC "one of the most important and influential rock bands in history".

Guitars


Angus Young has used Gibson SG
Gibson SG
The Gibson SG is a popular model of solid-bodied electric guitar that was introduced in the early 1960s.-Origins:In 1960, Gibson Les Paul sales were significantly lower than they had been in previous years, so in 1961 the model was given a completely new body style that was thinner and had two...

s in various forms (his original, and the basis for his current signature model, was a 1968 SG) throughout his career. He also used a modified version of the SG called the Jaydee SG, which was made custom for Angus by Jaydee guitars. The Jaydee SG featured signature lightning bolt inlays on the fretboard. Gibson made a custom SG for Angus with lightning bolt inlays to replace the Jaydee SG. He is rarely seen with another guitar, though he also owns Fender Telecasters, Gibson Firebird
Gibson Firebird
The Gibson Firebird is a solid-body electric guitar manufactured by Gibson from 1963 to the present.-History:The Gibson Guitar Corporation released several new styles during the 1950s to compete with Fender's instruments, such as the Telecaster and Stratocaster. After success with the Les Paul in...

s 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
Keith Richards
Keith Richards is an English guitarist, songwriter, singer, record producer and a founding member of The Rolling Stones. As a guitarist, Richards is mostly known for his innovative rhythm playing. In 2003 he was ranked 10th on Rolling Stone magazine's "Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Guitarists of...

, perhaps one of the few 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
Alnico
Alnico is an acronym referring to alloys which are composed primarily of aluminium , nickel and cobalt , hence al-ni-co, with the addition of iron, copper, and sometimes titanium, typically 8–12% Al, 15–26% Ni, 5–24% Co, up to 6% Cu, up to 1% Ti, and the balance is Fe. Alnico alloys are...

 II or V pickups with matched coils typically reading 7.5k ohm. Angus uses Ernie Ball RPS-9 Slinky Nickel Wound guitar strings (RPS-9 being gauges .009-.042).

Angus Young Signature SG


Angus Young and Gibson Guitar Corporation
Gibson Guitar Corporation
The Gibson Guitar Corporation, of Nashville, Tennessee, USA, is a manufacturer of acoustic and electric guitars. Gibson also owns and makes guitars under such brands as Epiphone, Kramer, Valley Arts, Tobias, Steinberger, and Kalamazoo. In addition to guitars, the company makes pianos through its...

 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
Humbucker
A conventional humbucker is a type of electric guitar pickup, first patented by Seth Lover and the Gibson company, that uses two coils, both generating string signal. Humbuckers have high output since both coils are in series and the magnetic circuit is low loss...

 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, antique 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 mainly uses the Marshall model 1959 100 watt Super Lead Plexi (reissued as the SLPX with the X denoting added, but bypassable features.) heads and model 1960 AX and BX 4x12 cabinets with Celestion G12M "Greenbacks".

Angus tells Celestion speakers that:
Angus Young has used JMP 50 and JTM 45 heads in the studio. He used JMP 50 most notably on Back In Black. Ballbreaker was almost all recorded with JTM 45's. Angus does have a black flag JMP50 and there is an isolation box under the stage during live performances with either a JTM 45 or JMP 50 running through them mixed with the onstage amplifiers to get the mix through the PA.

Influence


Angus Young's energetic guitar style has been an influence on many young hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock or heavy rock is a sub-genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage and psychedelic rock and is considerably harder than conventional rock music...

 guitarists. His work with AC/DC has been an influence on bands ranging from Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses is an American rock band that was formed in Los Angeles, California in 1985. The band, led by frontman and co-founder Axl Rose, has gone through numerous line-up changes and controversies since its formation...

, The Cult
The Cult
The Cult are an English rock band, formed in 1983. They gained a dedicated following in Britain in the mid 1980s as a post-punk and gothic rock band with singles such as "She Sells Sanctuary", before breaking mainstream in the United States in the late 1980s as a hard rock band with singles such as...

, Jackyl
Jackyl
Jackyl is an American rock band formed in 1990. Their sound has been described as hard rock, heavy metal, Southern rock, and glam metal.The band is probably best-known for its songs "Down On Me", and "The Lumberjack," which features a chainsaw solo by lead singer Jesse James Dupree. Dupree would...

, Metallica
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1981. Founded when drummer Lars Ulrich posted an advertisement in a local newspaper, Metallica's line-up has primarily consisted of Ulrich, rhythm guitarist and vocalist James Hetfield, and lead guitarist Kirk...

, and Def Leppard
Def Leppard
Def Leppard are an English rock band from Sheffield, who formed in 1977 as part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement. Largely on the strength of their albums Pyromania and Hysteria, Def Leppard became one of the top-selling rock bands throughout the 1980s, selling over 65 million albums...

 to newer artists like Disturbed
Disturbed
Disturbed is a Grammy Award-nominated American rock band from Chicago, Illinois, formed in 1996 when musicians Dan Donegan, Steve "Fuzz" Kmak, and Mike Wengren hired singer David Draiman. Since the band's formation, they have sold over 11 million albums worldwide, making them one of the most...

, Jet
Jet (band)
JET is a rock band from Melbourne, Australia composed of Cameron Muncey, Mark Wilson, and brothers Nic and Chris Cester. The group has sold 4 million records worldwide; with their debut album Get Born, released in 2003, accounting for about 3.5 million of that figure.-Formation and Dirty...

, Alter Bridge
Alter Bridge
Alter Bridge is an American rock band based in Orlando, Florida. The band was formed in 2004 by then-former members of Creed, Mark Tremonti , Brian Marshall and Scott Phillips , with Myles Kennedy , formerly of The Mayfield Four.-Formation :The band was formed in 2004 by Mark Tremonti and Scott...

, Buckcherry
Buckcherry
Buckcherry is a Grammy-nominated hard rock band from Los Angeles, California formed in 1995. The band released two albums, Buckcherry and Time Bomb , before dissolving in the summer of 2002...

, Airbourne
Airbourne (band)
Airbourne is an Australian rock band originating from Warrnambool, Victoria, Australia, where they gained a steady following with their hard rock sound. The band is strongly influenced by the hard rock band AC/DC.-Formation :...

, The Darkness, Wolfmother
Wolfmother
Wolfmother are an Australian hard rock band that formed in Erskineville, Sydney in 2000. Originally a trio comprising vocalist and guitarist Andrew Stockdale, bassist and keyboardist Chris Ross and drummer Myles Heskett, the band released their debut self-titled album in October 2005, which reached...

, and You Am I
You Am I
You Am I is an Australian alternative rock band, fronted by vocalist/guitarist and main songwriter Tim Rogers. They were the first Australian band to have three albums successively debut at #1 on the ARIA Charts, and are renowned for their live performances....

. Young cites his own influences as Chuck Berry
Chuck Berry
Charles Edward "Chuck" Berry is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter.Chuck Berry is one of the pioneers of rock and roll music...

, Muddy Waters
Muddy Waters
McKinley Morganfield , better known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician and is generally considered "the Father of Chicago blues". He is also the actual father of blues musicians Big Bill Morganfield and Larry "Mud Morganfield" Williams...

, Leslie West
Leslie West
Leslie West is an American rock guitarist, singer and songwriter.-Biography:West was born in New York City, and grew up on Long Island, in East Meadow, Forest Hills and Lawrence. After his parents divorced, he changed his surname to West...

, Keith Richards
Keith Richards
Keith Richards is an English guitarist, songwriter, singer, record producer and a founding member of The Rolling Stones. As a guitarist, Richards is mostly known for his innovative rhythm playing. In 2003 he was ranked 10th on Rolling Stone magazine's "Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Guitarists of...

, B.B. King, Buddy Guy
Buddy Guy
George "Buddy" Guy is a five-time Grammy Award-winning American blues guitarist and singer. Known as an inspiration to Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and many other guitarists, Guy is considered an important exponent of Chicago blues. He is the father of female rapper Shawnna and...

, and other blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre created within the African-American communities in the Deep South of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...

/rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States after World War II in the late 1940s, from a combination of the rhythms of the blues, from the African American culture, and from America's country music and gospel music scenes...

 players.

Style


Angus Young's playing style is very straight blues, playing in both the minor and major pentatonic blues scale
Blues scale
The term blues scale is used to describe a few scales with differing number of pitches and related characteristics.The hexatonic, or six note, blues scale consists of the minor pentatonic scale plus the 4 or 5 degree...

. 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.
T.N.T. (song)
"T.N.T." is a single recorded in 1975 by the hard rock band AC/DC, taken from their Australian album T.N.T. and the international version of High Voltage...

" and "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)
It's A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)
"It's A Long Way To The Top " is a song by Australian hard rock band AC/DC. It is the first track of their album T.N.T., released in December 1975 , and was written by Angus Young, Malcolm Young and Bon Scott...

". He also utilises touches of Scottish folk in his playing, and pull-off arpeggio
Arpeggio
In music, an arpeggio is Italian for broken chord where the notes are played or sung in sequence, one after the other, rather than ringing out simultaneously. This word comes from the italian word "arpeggiare" , which means "to play on a harp"...

s (pull-offs, played one-handed) are a popular trick, appearing in songs such as "Who Made Who
Who Made Who (song)
"Who Made Who" is a song and a single by the Australian Hard rock band AC/DC, taken from their 1986 album, Who Made Who. The 12" single format of the single features an extended mix of the song...

", "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (song)
"Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" is a song by Australian hard rock band AC/DC. It is the title track and first track of their album Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, released in September 1976, and was written by Angus Young, Malcolm Young, and Bon Scott....

", "Sin City" and "Let There Be Rock
Let There Be Rock (song)
"Let There Be Rock" is a song by Australian hard rock band AC/DC. It is the third and title track of their album Let There Be Rock, released in March 1977, and was written by Angus Young, Malcolm Young, and Bon Scott....

" (live). In 1976, the band recorded an instrumental arrangement of the Scottish traditional song "Loch Lomond
The Bonnie Banks O' Loch Lomond
Loch Lomond is a well-known traditional Scottish song . It was first published in 1841 in Vocal Melodies of Scotland.Loch Lomond is a large Scottish loch located between the traditional counties of Dunbartonshire and Stirlingshire...

", retitled "Fling Thing", which has appeared in their stage act over the years. The title refers to the Highland Fling
Highland Fling
This dance is now performed at dance competitions and events around the world. It is no longer danced on a shield, but it is still the goal of the dancer to stay in the same spot throughout the dance. The Highland Fling is danced at almost all competition levels, from Primary to Premier. It is also...

.

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:

Stage antics


Angus Young is famous 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
Brian Johnson
Brian Johnson is a English singer and songwriter who, since 1980, has been the lead singer for the Australian rock band AC/DC, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003 along with the other members of the band....

's shoulders, and also in Portland, Oregon on the "We Salute You Tour" in 1982. When performing live he frequently uses a Chuck Berry
Chuck Berry
Charles Edward "Chuck" Berry is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter.Chuck Berry is one of the pioneers of rock and roll music...

 move, the Duck Walk
Duck Walk
The Duck Walk is a guitar move created by T-Bone Walker but made famous by American guitarist Chuck Berry, and adopted by others such as Pete Townshend of The Who, Angus Young of AC/DC and the Swedish rock musician Ulf Dageby of Nationalteatern. Various artists such as Mike Barton have also been...

, which involves hopping on one leg while bringing the other one up and down.
Also when live he performs his "spasm
Spasm
A spasm is a sudden, involuntary contraction of a muscle, a group of muscles, or a hollow organ, or a similarly sudden contraction of an orifice. It is sometimes accompanied by a sudden burst of pain, but is usually harmless and ceases after a few minutes...

", 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
Live at Donington (AC/DC)
Live At Donington is the DVD recording of the AC/DC show at Donington Park on 17 August 1991, and it was the band's third "Monsters Of Rock" festival. The show was a 2 hour performance before 35,000 spectators that included real cannons, the Hells Bell, an inflatable Rosie and an inflatable Angus...

. 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
Jailbreak (AC/DC song)
"Jailbreak" is a song by Australian hard rock band AC/DC. It is the ninth and final track of their third Australian album Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, released in September 1976...

" on the 1991 Live at Donington DVD
DVD
DVD, also known as Digital Versatile Disc or Digital Video Disc,is an optical disc storage media format, and was founded in 1995. Its main uses are video and data storage...

, during "Boogie Man" on No Bull
No Bull
No Bull is a live video released by AC/DC in November 1996, filmed on Super 16mm at Madrid's Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas on 10 July 1996 during the Ballbreaker world tour...

, during "Bad Boy Boogie" on Stiff Upper Lip Live
Stiff Upper Lip
Stiff Upper Lip is the 14th album by Australian band AC/DC; it was released in 2000. The album was recorded at The Warehouse Studio in Vancouver, British Columbia and mastered at Sterling Sound in New York City. The album was produced by George Young, older brother of Malcolm and Angus Young...

and during "The Jack" on the Black Ice tour. And sometimes when he "strips" he will pull down his shorts, 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
Devil
The Devil is believed in certain religions and folklore to be a powerful, supernatural entity that is the personification of evil and the enemy of God and humankind. The Devil is commonly associated with heretics, infidels, and other unbelievers...

 horns act—usually before playing "Highway to Hell
Highway to Hell (song)
"Highway to Hell" is the opening track of is AC/DC's 1979 album Highway to Hell and the twelfth track on AC/DC Live. It was initially released as a single in 1979....

" or "Hell Ain't a Bad Place to Be" - whether being on stage or having his picture taken by the press.
AC/DC appeared in "Private Parts
Private Parts
Private Parts is a euphemism for a human's intimate parts.It may also refer to:*Private Parts , a 1993 autobiography by radio personality Howard Stern...

" a movie based on Howard Stern
Howard Stern
Howard Allan Stern is an American radio and media personality most notable for his radio show which since January 9, 2006, has been broadcasting on Sirius XM, an uncensored satellite radio service...

's book about his life and early career, they are frequent guests on his radio show.

External links