ACDC by Paul Elliott

Author:Paul Elliott
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Palazzo Editions LTD
Published: 2020-05-24T16:00:00+00:00

9

Rolling Thunder

The place where AC/DC created their comeback album could not have been further removed from the cold and grey of London, where they had left behind them the tragedy of Bon’s death. They were in Nassau, on the island of New Providence in the Bahamas. What drew the band to Nassau was the caliber of Compass Point Studios, a world-class facility that had been established by the founder of Island Records, Chris Blackwell. According to Tony Platt, the engineer working on this album alongside producer Mutt Lange, it was also beneficial for the band to be in such a remote location, far away from all the distractions of London or Sydney. “That helped to bring everyone together,” he said.

Inside the studio, in a haze of cigarette smoke, the first song recorded was the funky number that had been demoed in London back in February with Angus and Malcolm Young on guitars and Bon on drums. They named it “Back In Black,” and in its lyrics was a statement of invincibility in which, Malcolm said, they were remembering “the good times” they had with Bon. It was a theme they picked up on again with the other track that Bon had worked on, titled “Have A Drink On Me,” its words a drunken toast from Brian to his predecessor. “The whole point of the album,” Brian said, “was to celebrate Bon’s life.”

As Angus revealed to me in 1991, some of the lyrics that Bon had written were used in these songs. Brian also admitted that there were times when he struggled to find the words for a song, when he felt intimidated by all the great stuff that Bon had written before him. “I was a little worried,” he said. “Like, who am I to try to follow in the footsteps of this great poet? Because Bon really was a kind of poet.” Mostly, Brian stuck to the one subject that was at the core of so much rock ’n’ roll and blues music, a subject in which AC/DC were well versed. Many of the song titles were self-explanatory: “Shoot To Thrill,” “Let Me Put My Love Into You,” “Given The Dog A Bone.” Brian had a way with double-entendre, just as Bon had, and some of his best lines were in “You Shook Me All Night Long,” in which he enthused about a girl’s “American thighs” before delivering the classic punchline: “She told me to come but I was already there”.

The biggest challenge for Brian, as a writer, was “Hells Bells.” The song’s slow, mighty riff—dubbed “ominous” by Malcolm and “mystical” by Angus—called for a heavy opening statement, but Brian was still working on it when the band had arrived at Compass Point. One night, he was sitting alone in his bedroom adjacent to the studio—a no-frills breeze-block cell with just a bed, a table, and a toilet—staring at a blank piece of paper and saying to himself, “I’m fucking running out of ideas here …” Then came a moment of divine inspiration.

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