AC/DC - Black Ice

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(Electric Outlaws Fanzine NO: 20)

Available on CD in Australia, on Sony.

This album was recently released on CD and this was the project that Angus and Malcolm were involved before they formed AC/DC (see sleeve notes). The album has very much a mega jam, "lets all have a bit of play around in the studio", and that is apparently what the whole thing started out as, feel, with possiby too many musicians playing on some of the tracks, but you really do get a feel of where AC/DC came from, the sound is there but not yet as tight as it was to became.

Track listing:
1/ Natural Man. This track has a very early AC/DC feel to it.
2/ Louisiana Lady. That jam session feel, plus saxophones.
3/ Shot In The Head.
4/ Can't Stand The Heat.
5/ Goodbye Jane.
6/ Quick Reaction. Has a very 70's Stomp rock feel to it.
7/ The People And The Power. Heavy political stuff, "the people don't have the power to change things anymore" (we disagree with the sentiment behind that one).
8/ Red Revolution. Part 2 of the above.
9/ Cry For Me. A bit of an expressive guitar solo from Angus, and a huge dose of self pity from the rest of the band.
10/ Silver Shoes And Strawberry Wine. Very Deep Purplesque.
11/ Watch Her Do It Now. Real pre AC/DC double entendre mayhem, adds a whole new slant on the saying "family get together".
12/ Ape Man. A bit of a dig at rednecks, lager stouts, and suburban numbnuts, and like the abovementioned song, guite funny.

Verdict; One worth getting hold of if you can, unfortunately most of the people we know who have obtained copies had to go to Australia for them.

-Nikki Goff

After repeated requests for a tour to support the product were turned down flat, American interest waned and album release was scrapped (its only issue being in Australia as "Tales of Old Grand-Daddy"). The Marcus Hook tracks follow in the tradition of the Easybeats' material - tough, perfectly structured and intelligent. A very convincing political and social sentiment rund through many of the songs, as does a strong soul/funk influence. "Natural Man" has become a cult classic, adored for its exhilarating pop/rock form; while "Shot In The Head" (originally recorded by Haffey's Whiskey Sour and also covered by Savoy Brown) is as close to a theme song as the extraordinary duo have ever penned.

"I've been 52 years in a rock 'n' roll band, ten thousand women on a one night stand. And all I got to show is a hole in my hand, where my money fell through."

AC/DC YEAR 1974
(Electric Outlaws Fanzine NO: 20)

AC/DC were actually formed at the end of 1973, and did actually play a few gigs with very tentative line ups in the last few weeks of the year. The band was actually officially launched on the new years eve 1973 at the Chequers club which was on Gouldburn street in Sydney, which according to the book that comes with the Bon Fire box set had originally been the haunt of such easy listening stars as Frank Sinatra and Shirley Bassey, and according to recent reports, the venue is now a wine bar. According to Australian music critics, the start of 1974 was regarded as the poorest period for popular music in Australia since the arrival of Rock and Roll in the 50's, and AC/DC were determined to change that.

AC/DC's very first line up for the first night that they played, as well as Angus and Malcolm, included singer Dave Evans, bassist Larry Van Knedt and drummer Colin Burgess. The band was named by Margaret Young, after she saw a plate on the side of a piece of electrical equipment. Different stories give it as a vacuum cleaner or a sewing machine, it was also her idea that Angus should wear his school uniform on stage, as by that time he had a job working for a magazine.

According to all reports, for their first gig , AC/DC played all cover versions, songs by Elvis, the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, Chuck Berry and blues standards. About this time , the band were playing all sorts of gigs at some very unlikely venues, they played at parties, weddings, pubs, clubs, shop openings, any opportunity to get a performance in. By April the line up included Rob Bailey (bass) and Peter Clack (drums).

Their first major gig and the one that launched them into the interest of the media was supporting a reunion of the Easybeats at a free show at the Sydney Opera House. Please correct us if we are wrong, but apparently there is a recording of this performance in existance, what is known that by this stage they were starting to experiment with their own compositions.

Things weren't going too well for Bon Scott. He was working for a band called the Mount Lofty Rangers, which were formed from the remains of Fraternity, plus a few others, and at the time were laying down a few tracks for what might have been a new album. Bon was working away on lyrics about life on the road, but the Mount Lofty tracks would not see the light untill 1996 (see no fanzine 17). Bon was doing a day job that he hated , he was having a fraught relationship with his wife, and the rest of the band, so on one night in February he'd had enough. He got drunk and roared off on his motorbike, and collied with a car, nearly getting killed, and being laid up for the next couple of months.

In the meantime, AC/DC had taken a manager called Dennis Laughlin who managed to get the band on to a TV show called The Last Picture Show. They also released their first single about this time, featuring the song "Can I Sit Next To You Girl". They also toured to support Lou Reed, and then went on a tour of their own. When the tour reached Adelaide, a plot was being hatched by Vince Lovegrove, who organized a gig for the band at the Pooraka theatre. He had Bon working for him as an odd jobs person and a driver, so he arranged to get him and AC/DC together. Bon liked the band, and it didn't take long to organise a jam with them, but they still had Evans singing for them, so Bon hung about as a roadie and a driver. The singer was not always turning up for the gigs, so Bon would end up singing . So eventually the decision was made, Bon went away with AC/DC, and away went Irene and Dave Evans (he later went on to join Rabbit).

Shortly after, a much more professional manager, Michael Browning took over on management. Towards the end of the year they started to record what was going to be the Australian version of High Voltage. They moved into a house together in Melbourne, but at the end of the year it was back to playing Christmas and New gigs for clubs and parties in the coastal towns of Australia.

-Nikki Goff.