AC/DC Album Discussion and Listening Party - NP: Rock or Bust and Power Up

[jammindude]

So I decided to only briefly mention the pre-Bon Scott days, as they really only have one single to show for it. 

But the gist of it, is that AC/DC was originally formed by Angus and Malcolm Young in late 1973.  Larry Van Kriedt played bass, Colin Burgess played drums and Dave Evans was the lead singer.   They were more of a glam rock band early on, even though Angus was already experimenting with costumes and uniforms on stage before finally settling on the now famous schoolboy outfit.  Most of the rest of the band dressed in the satin look which was very popular at the time.   This incarnation of the group recorded one single, the now infamous "Can I Sit Next to You Girl", and even made a music video that appeared on TV.  According to Wiki, that's Peter Clack (drums) and Rob Bailey (bass) in the music video, even though they didn't play on the recording.   And for what it's worth, they apparently didn't like the bass track that original bassist Van Kriedt had played, so the bass you're actually hearing on the recording was played by Angus and Malcom's brother (and early producer of AC/DC) George Young.

"Can I Sit Next to You, Girl" with Dave Evans on vocals:
https://youtu.be/vIfxe1TUHss

This version has it's own charm, in a way.   But the band soon became aware that too many bands were doing the "glam" thing, and they desperately wanted to stick out as being very different.   Opting to go with a harder edged blues rock sound, it became immediately apparent that Dave was not a good fit.    Bon Scott was a chauffeur for the band, an experienced singer, and a friend of both George Young and recommended by (then manager) Vince Lovegrove.   So quite quickly, goodbye Dave, and hello rock legend Ronald Belford "Bon" Scott. 




High Voltage

Side 1:
Baby, Please Don't Go
She's Got Balls
Little Lover
Stick Around

Side 2:
Soul Stripper
You Ain't Got a Hold On Me
Love Song
Show Business

Bon Scott - Vocals
Angus Young - Lead Guitar
Malcolm Young - Rhythm Guitar, Backing Vocals, Lead on "Little Lover" and traded leads on "Show Business" and "Soul Stripper"
Rob Bailey - Bass (although there is some confusion. Some bass parts were apparently re-done by both George and Malcolm)
Peter Clack - Drums on "Baby, Please Don't Go"
Tony Currenti - Drums on tracks 2-8

High Voltage was recorded in late 1974, and released on Feb 17th 1975 in Australia only.   

Quite different from its international counterpart that would be released over a year later.  Most of the international version would be culled from the second album TNT (but we'll get more into that later)  Only She's Got Balls and Little Lover survived to make it to the more well known international version.  I'll bet most people didn't know that the famous Mark Evans/Phil Rudd rhythm section did not appear on those two songs. 

While I had heard most of these songs before, there were a couple I had not heard in years, and I only just heard all the the songs in their original running order for the first time yesterday.   Like many debut albums, what we have here is a snapshot of a band who is trying to leave behind their glam rock beginnings, and chasing a harder edged sound...but definitely still searching for who they are.

I still remember the very rare occasion when the DJ of the local rock station would bring in this album from his personal collection, and tell everyone to get their tape decks ready because he was going to play "Soul Stripper" which was only available as an expensive import, and most of us couldn't afford to get our hands on it.   I had the song on cassette for years and it was always one of my favorite songs by them.   I was extremely happy when it finally got an official release in 1984 on the '74 Jailbreak EP...which also included the then unknown tracks Baby Please Don't Go, You Ain't Got a Hold on Me, and Show Business.   Since She's Got Balls and Little Lover had already been around for years on the international version of High Voltage, that only left Stick Around and Love Song as the rare and unreleased songs until the recent Backtracks boxed set. 

The most interesting of these to my ears is Love Song (released as an A-side single "Love Song (Oh Jene)" with Baby Please Don't Go as the B-side).   It's the most un-AC/DC song in their entire catalog and almost sounds more like a holdover from one of Bon's older bands. But I suppose it made sense that, since it was their first album, they would try to at least write something they thought would make it on the radio.  Thankfully, it sounds like most DJ's thought the A track was boring, and the B-side was smokin, so they did what any good DJ would do, flipped the record over and played the crap out of it.    Suddenly, AC/DC had a local hit doing a hard-rockin blues song, and even got asked back to doing a TV appearance (featuring the now famous performance with Bon Scott in drag, and Mark Evans and Phil Rudd in tow, even though they hadn't played on the recording).    So now Angus and Malcolm had found their front man, their rhythm section, and their sound.   What came next will blow your mind....


TV appearance of Baby Please Don't Go with Bon Scott dressed up as a school girl:
https://youtu.be/Jmoz-cRCXQE

[Anguyen92]

Yeah, sure.  I'll give this a follow.  Also, the image you linked is currently unavailable.

[jammindude]

Sorry about the confusion. When I went to go load the image, I accidentally hit post instead of preview when I was only halfway done.

I still can’t find a site that’ll give me an image hosting. I used to use photo bucket, but they don’t give free image hosting anymore and I couldn’t get any other links to embed properly. Does anybody have a certain site that they use?

Never mind...I found one that worked.

[Cool Chris]

Probably won't have anything to contribute, but will check in for the write-ups, as I really don't know much about the band and their history.

[jammindude]

Probably won't have anything to contribute, but will check in for the write-ups, as I really don't know much about the band and their history.

 If you like YouTube videos, those links are kind of fun.

[Cool Chris]

It was crazy, in the other thread when someone posted that early video of Brian Johnson in Geordie, I clicked on the link without getting the context, and watched the whole video thinking "What am I watching, and what does this have to do with ACDC?"

[Kwyjibo]

Definitely following, and maybe even posting once in a while. 

[jjrock88]

Bon Scotts charisma is off the charts

[jingle.boy]

Thankfully some of these songs are available on Spotify in an album called '74 Jailbreak.  Gonna be spinning that next.

And try to keep up with this.  Fortunately, I'm familiar with about 1/2 of the discog, so I think I'll be able to keep up (as opposed to the UFO thread, as I knew virtually nothing of them, and mother-of god that was a big discog to try and keep up with - I am still chugging away at it, Tim).

[Kwyjibo]

Can't comment much on this record as I have only the international version, so I only know Little Lover and She's Got Balls, two tunes that are okay, but I like most of the other ones on the international version better.

Should listen to that '74 Jailbreak record to hear the other ones and see if I like them.

[TAC]

"Can I Sit Next to You, Girl" with Dave Evans on vocals:
https://youtu.be/vIfxe1TUHss

This version has it's own charm, in a way.   But the band soon became aware that too many bands were doing the "glam" thing, and they desperately wanted to stick out as being very different.   Opting to go with a harder edged blues rock sound, it became immediately apparent that Dave was not a good fit.

I've never seen that before. Dave Evans had a nice voice and a good look. I definitely thought he came off as glam-ish. The bass player reminded me of Dennis Dunaway.
I wonder if Dave Evans ever surfaced anywhere else? I assume he was Marc Evans' brother?





As far as High Voltage, Soul Stripper is the best of the bunch IMO. I would've loved to have heard that done in the Let There Be Rock sessions.

[Stadler]

I remember reading - it might have been in the Bon Scott biography I read not long ago - that Love Song WAS brought in by Bon from one of his previous gigs.   

Also I do not think that Dave and Mark Evans are related (or at least aren't brothers). 

I had that and the Aussie Dirty Deeds on vinyl from back in the day.  Loved all of that stuff.  It was a lot more...  pure. 

By the way, it was released way later, but "Plug Me In" will be invaluable through this.  Watching some of those older videos are just gold.

[jingle.boy]

Wow... US version of High Voltage is completely different, only 2 overlapping tracks.  Just had to create the playlist in Spotify to match this release.  Will report back later.

But holy shit ... Soul Stripper = Squealer.

[jingle.boy]

Though it's missing the 'hits' that I've come to love from the US release of High Voltage, this set of tracks was pretty darn nice.   Strange to start of with a cover, but it was nice.  Little Love was a great blues plodder (in a good way).  Strong vibes of The Jack on that tune.  Love Song started and finished strong, but I wasn't too keen on the middle section.  Ballads are not for AC/DC.  Stick Around and Show Business... classic Bon-era sound right there.

Excellent start to the party.  I'll definitely ..... stick around. 

[Bolsters]

The international High Voltage is essentially just the next Aussie album, TNT. No idea why the label called it High Voltage instead, guess they just liked that title more.

As far as the real High Voltage goes, yeah it's not bad but it suffers from debut album syndrome in that it's clear the band hasn't found their feet or their core sound quite yet.

[jammindude]

T.N.T.

Side 1:
It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)
Rock 'n' Roll Singer
The Jack
Live Wire

Side 2:
T.N.T.
Rocker
Can I Sit Next to You Girl
High Voltage
School Days



High Voltage (International Version)

Alternate European Cover:


Side 1:
It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)
Rock 'n' Roll Singer
The Jack
Live Wire

Side 2:
T.N.T.
Can I Sit Next to You Girl
Little Lover
She's Got Balls
High Voltage

Bon Scott - Lead Vocals
Angus Young - Lead Guitar
Malcolm Young - Rhythm Guitar
Mark Evans - Bass
Phil Rudd - Drums

T.N.T began recording sessions with the recording of High Voltage and School Days in the spring of 1975, and the rest of the tracks were recorded later that summer.  The album saw its release in Australia on Dec 1st 1975.  It's a Long Way to the Top went to #5, and got the attention of Atlantic Records UK head Phil Carson, who signed them to a worldwide deal.   Arrangements were made for them to fly out and tour England, and it was decided that their worldwide debut album would be called High Voltage, using most of the T.N.T. album.  Two tracks (Rocker and the Chuck Berry cover School Days) were dropped in favor of Little Lover and She's Got Balls from the original High Voltage (the original tracks were used, meaning that Mark and Phil did not play on these tracks, and Rob Bailey and Tony Currenti went uncredited for years).  A shorter version of Rocker would later appear on the international version of Dirty Deeds (which would not see a US release until 1981) and School Days would not see it's US debut until the Bonfire boxed set in 1997.  The international High Voltage was released on April 30th 1976 with the US release happening on May 14th.

Even though TNT was AC/DC's 2nd album, it was their first fully realized album.  Not only with their sound and direction they wanted to go, but also now as a full band with the rhythm section of Mark Evans on bass guitar and Phil Rudd on drums.

This is the classic AC/DC that most people know and love.  Although I still put half the songs of the original High Voltage as standout tracks, there can be no denying that TNT is top to bottom, wall to wall classics.  And even though I grew up with the international version of High Voltage, I have to say that I truly enjoy the arrangement of the original.   I bought it on vinyl years and years ago and I still own that.   I actually dug it out tonight to verify what I thought I remembered.     The original version of Rocker is a few seconds longer than what is commonly heard.   Almost all modern versions (both the US Dirty Deeds version and the remasters of TNT) fade out a few seconds early.   This is probably what was actually intended, as the original version extends the ending guitar solo before cutting off abruptly.  (one source says the tape ran out)    The other cool thing I like is that the song High Voltage also goes on a bit longer at the end with the band slowly stopping the play while Angus plays a sustained note which then closes with Phil playing a hi-hat which then turns into School Days.   It gives the ending of TNT a sortof fun "jam session" kinda feel.    "So, that's a wrap.  You wanna play something else and have some fun?  Hey sure, let's do School Days."    I mean, I know it didn't literally happen that way, but it does convey that feel.   

Most people tend to gravitate towards TNT, Live Wire, and It's a Long Way to the Top, but I have a personal affinity for Rock 'n' Roll Singer and Can I Sit Next to You Girl.      Also, when I was a kid, I thought the live version of The Jack was the best.   But know that I'm older, I find myself preferring the original, and slightly more subtle "winking" entendre of the original.   I almost wish they would bring back the original lyrics instead of just retreading Bon's live improvisations.   

It should be noted that the band really seemed to be "on their way" at this time.   But believe it or not, very dark times were just around the corner.   

[TAC]

So to me, Rock n Roll Singer is the best song on the album.

I love the Intro to Can I Sit Next To You Girl, but ultimately I'm not really a fan of the song.

The Jack has to be my least favorite AC/DC track, live or studio. I just never understood the fascination with this song. I think it's plain awful.

High Voltage (the song) is pretty good, but it's fully realized on If You Want Blood.

[Anguyen92]

I don't have anything much to say of high value other than I just love the use of the bagpipes in It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll).

[jingle.boy]

So much awesome music.

[jjrock88]

So much awesome music.

 

[TAC]

I don't really go back to High Voltage (US version) very much, if at all. If I'm craving some Bon, it just doesn't compare with Let There Be Rock-Powerage-Highway To Hell.

[jingle.boy]

I don't really go back to High Voltage (US version) very much, if at all. If I'm craving some Bon, it just doesn't compare with Let There Be Rock-Powerage-Highway To Hell.

That's funny, cuz High Voltage and Dirty Deeds would be my 'go-to' Bon-era albums.

[Kwyjibo]

This is a great "debut" album. For a long time I didn't know, that this was not the first AC/DC record and that there are different versions.

The adding of the bagpipes in It's A Long Way To The Top is an odd choice but it works. There are a lot of classics on that record, Rock 'n' Roll Singer might be my favorite. T.N.T imo shows best the three chord riff magic that they are known for, somehow simple but somehow great.

[Stadler]

I don't really go back to High Voltage (US version) very much, if at all. If I'm craving some Bon, it just doesn't compare with Let There Be Rock-Powerage-Highway To Hell.

That's funny, cuz High Voltage and Dirty Deeds would be my 'go-to' Bon-era albums.

Yeah, me too.  The others are good, don't get me wrong (there's not one dud Bon album, if you ask me), but those first two have a singular feel; they sound WONDERFUL and they're a little more.... innocent?  Light hearted?  than what came after.  HtH is a dark fucking album, if you really dig in. 

[jammindude]

Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (Australian Version)

Side 1:
1. Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
2. Ain't No Fun (Waiting 'Round to Be a Millionaire)
3. There's Gonna Be Some Rockin'
4. Problem Child

Side 2:
1. Squealer
2. Big Balls
3. R.I.P. (Rock In Peace)
4. Ride On
5. Jailbreak




Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (International Version)

Side 1:
1. Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
2. Love at First Feel
3. Big Balls
4. Rocker
5. Problem Child

Side 2:
1. There's Gonna Be Some Rockin'
2. Ain't No Fun (Waiting 'Round to be a Millionaire)
3. Ride On
4. Squealer


It's very difficult to imagine now, knowing how classic these first few albums are now considered to be, but this was one of the most difficult periods of the history of AC/DC.   Dirty Deeds started to be recorded in December of 1975 with the original idea of putting out an EP.   These early sessions produced "Love at First Feel" (later released on the international version), "Carry Me Home", and "Dirty Eyes" (which would later be re-worked into Whole Lotta Rosie, with the original recording released on the Bonfire boxed set).   But the EP was scrapped.   But recording sessions continued into March of 1976, after which AC/DC would travel to the UK, where "It's a Long Way to the Top" had been released as a single in sync with the international release of High Voltage in April of 1976.    The UK tour went fairly well by most counts, but the problem was the US market.   The reviews of High Voltage were mixed at best, with Rolling Stone famously writing:

"Those concerned with the future of hard rock may take solace in knowing that with the release of the first U.S. album by these Australian gross-out champions, the genre has hit its all-time low. Lead singer Bon Scott spits out his vocals with a truly annoying aggression which, I suppose, is the only way to do it when all you seem to care about is being a star so that you can get laid every night. Stupidity bothers me. Calculated stupidity offends me."

Ouch!

Even more bad news.   On top of the poor reviews for High Voltage, the US branch of Atlantic Records heard the Dirty Deeds album and told UK Atlantic head Phil Carson (who had signed the band), "We're sorry, but this album actually doesn't make it.  We're not putting it out, and we're dropping the band."

Ouch!

Part of the problem for Atlantic Records was Bon's voice, which they said was horrible and you couldn't tell what he was even singing and that no one would ever want to listen to it.   According to bassist Mark Evans, the band's manager Michael Browning was assuming Bon Scott would be fired as a result. 

Ouch!

So Phil went to Atlantic Executive Neshuhi Ertgun and pleaded his case for the band, and basically had to pull out the books and *PROVE* that High Voltage had sold modestly well, and had even made Atlantic a small profit to keep AC/DC from being dropped altogether.    So a compromise was made.   Dirty Deeds was released in its original form in Australia in September of 1976, and a revamped and rearranged international version (that would not see a US release until 1981) was released in December 1976. 

There are a few differences.   The title track went on for a few extra bars on the Australian version (this has actually been restored on most modern day releases), and Ain't No Fun fades out a full half minute earlier on the international release.    Jailbreak and R.I.P. were dropped in favor of "Rocker" from T.N.T. (which had been left off the international version of High Voltage) and "Love at First Feel" from the early sessions, which had been released only as a single in Australia, making it the only AC/DC song on an international release that never appeared on an Australian version of an album.   Also, this version of Problem Child has a small "coda" at the end which was omitted from the version that saw US release on the international version of Let There Be Rock a year later.

Again, I grew up with the international version, but I find myself drawn to the track listing in its original form.   It's refreshing hearing these albums the way they were originally intended.   I love the "jamming" feel of this album.  Ain't No Fun goes on for a bit, but when you're a teenager with a tennis racket in front of a mirror, you never want it to end.   Big Balls was so "pearl clutching" at the time of release, but these days it seems almost quaint.  Squealer is a long lost classic, and I was so used to it closing the album that I wasn't sure how it would work as a side 2 opener...but it totally does. Of the two (then) non-US tracks, Jailbreak is the obvious standout classic, and R.I.P. is a fun romp similar to the feel of There's Gonna Be Some Rockin'...which btw, makes a great acoustic track at parties.  I know this from experience.  And how can we talk about this album without addressing one of their only ballads, and most revered works.   Ride On is just Bon Scott perfection, and it's hard to think now that some US record label honestly believed there was nothing to be had on this album.   

A brief memory about Jailbreak.   Before its US release, a DJ at the local rock station KISW would occasionally bring in his import albums and play hard to find stuff.   At one time, I had tape copies of Soul Stripper, Jailbreak, and Cold Hearted Man that I had taped off the radio because I couldn't get them anywhere else.   But my most treasured tape was a version of Jailbreak where the DJ did a bit of extra credit.    You all know the spot near the end where Bon sings "RIFFLES!!!   FIRING!!!     But he made it out......"

The DJ spiced in this excerpt perfectly:
https://youtu.be/LKPOhFZuFQg

"........with a bullet in his BACK!!!"

I kept that tape for at least 6 or 7 years, and I *ADORED* that version of Jailbreak, but I eventually lost it.   I could probably make a version of my own on Audacity.   Maybe I'll try my mixing skills someday. 

EDIT - Since it was recorded in this time period, I'm including a link to the rare track "Carry Me Home", which eventually found release on the Backtracks boxed set in 2009

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWFmJXo0MXA


What say you guys?   Any childhood memories of Dirty Deeds?   Did anyone here actually own either version of this release before its 1981 US release? 

[TAC]

I turned 13 in 1981, so I wasn't really familiar at all with Dirty Deeds until the US release. But when it came out here, I was a huge AC/DC fan and had everything they had released here up until then.

When I got it, I thought it was OK. I understood it was an earlier recording that was just now being released. If I'm being honest I'm not a huge fan of the album.

I will say that I LOVE Jailbreak (the song).




I do have a childhood story!

I remember playing Scrabble with my mother. We played together a lot and the games were quite intense. We usually kept a dictionary nearby. Anyway, I form the word "lurex" with the x landing on the triple letter score. She says, "that's not a word". And I was like, "Yes it is!". So she grabs the dictionary and it's not in there. Doing one better, I grab my Dirty Deeds vinyl album sleeve with the lyrics and point out, "See, it says he's got lurex socks!"

[Stadler]

I love that story!   

I'm with Tim; I got it when it was released in the US, and sort of "went back"  and later got the Australian version.  I'm more familiar with the US version, and I LOVE "Love At First Feel" so that's what I generally listen to.  I love this record; another one that sounds really good, and has a sort of innocence to it. 

[jammindude]

When was the last time you guys actually sat down and listened to these albums?

I’ll admit, AC/DC is a band I rarely revisit. But I absolutely lived and breathed these albums between the ages of 12-16.  However, even when I re-purchased them on CD I barely ever spun them just because I felt like I had practically memorized them all.

But with the new album on the horizon, I had just begun to go back and spin a couple of my dark horse favorites (Powerage and Blow Up Your Video) and I found that it really whet my appetite. Now that I’m going all the way back, I’m realizing that I haven’t really listened to these albums in probably 30 years. And I’m having fun with it. And giving the Australian versions a spin is putting a fresh perspective on familiar material.

You have to know (and I’ll get more into this later) that this was the first band I liked that my parents had forbidden from entering the house.



......so of course I immediately went out and collected every single album, and created a secret hiding spot for albums that my parents could not know I had. 

[jingle.boy]

No early childhood stories for me.  I didn't gravitate to this era of music until just after I turned 14 ('86).  Pretty sure I would've grabbed my AC/DC collection courtesy of a Columbia House Records subscription.  Back In Black, Dirty Deeds were probably the first 2, then I the Johnson-era stuff.  Took me a long time to go back and get the Scott-era stuff.  I still don't own Powerage outright.

[Stadler]

My mom got me Blizzard of Ozz and High Voltage on vinyl one Christmas.  I had to be about 14 or so.  I thought I had died and gone to heaven.   My dad had a kick-ass Fisher stereo (tubes!) and I can just remember him letting me play it out loud (i.e., no headphones) once in a while and it was like... I can't even put it into words.   Listening to the rumble of the bagpipes, it was SO freakin' cool.   

That was also back when album covers were a thing unto themselves.   Loved the black bars over the eyes of the people on the DD cover, and I can recall being able to faintly see where either Problem Child or Rocker was added to the track list (you could see the faint outline of a grey square where it was added).  Those were the days...

[jjrock88]

No early childhood stories for me.  I didn't gravitate to this era of music until just after I turned 14 ('86).  Pretty sure I would've grabbed my AC/DC collection courtesy of a Columbia House Records subscription.  Back In Black, Dirty Deeds were probably the first 2, then I the Johnson-era stuff.  Took me a long time to go back and get the Scott-era stuff.  I still don't own Powerage outright.

Powerage is awesome.....it’s time for an Amazon visit Chad

[jammindude]

No early childhood stories for me.  I didn't gravitate to this era of music until just after I turned 14 ('86).  Pretty sure I would've grabbed my AC/DC collection courtesy of a Columbia House Records subscription.  Back In Black, Dirty Deeds were probably the first 2, then I the Johnson-era stuff.  Took me a long time to go back and get the Scott-era stuff.  I still don't own Powerage outright.

Powerage is awesome.....it’s time for an Amazon visit Chad

We will be getting to it in two weeks. But I think it’s their best album, and Brian Johnson himself shares my opinion. he told Eddie Trunk that on his television show. Eddie was pretty surprised.

[TAC]

When was the last time you guys actually sat down and listened to these albums?

So I have listened to the albums as you have posted them. Not paying attention to the Australian this or the US that, to me it's High Voltage and then Dirty Deeds. Neither one are go to AC/DC albums for me, especially Dirty Deeds. I haven't listened to that in decades, easily.  I like High Voltage a lot more. Dirty Deeds feels so....I don't know..immature. And I don't mean lyrics wise, but music wise. I have no idea how they made this and Let There Be Rock back to back.

To me, the standout track of this early era is Jailbreak.

[jammindude]

I actually had to look up Lurex socks. I found out that it’s actually a brand name, which wasn’t allowed in scrabble the last time I checked, so you may have gotten away with one there. 

[TAC]

I actually had to look up Lurex socks. I found out that it’s actually a brand name, which wasn’t allowed in scrabble the last time I checked, so you may have gotten away with one there. 

My mother wouldn't let me use it! I was like, "It's right there in the lyrics!".

I mean, that was 24 points just for the X!