Guitar Tricks Insider November / December Issue | Page 31

COVER STORY
out and worked for a while until I got enough
money to get it. I still have it. It’s had a lot
of accidents since then, but it’s probably
still the best one I’ve got. I have a thing for
those guitars. I pick them up, and they feel
right. They’re very light. They’re not heavy
or cumbersome. I picked up a Les Paul once,
and nearly dislocated my hip! I do have some
Les Pauls and Strats, but I use the SG for
stage work and in the studio. I’ve got little
hands, and it’s hard getting them around
some of the bigger guitars.”
AC/DC found how to forge a perpetual
connection with every generation of young
listeners coming up through the ranks,
despite facing the traditional hurdles with
radio acceptance. “It’s a music the kids feel,”
Young notes. “In the early days, it was there
with bands like Small Faces, The Who, and
The Kinks. This is what the kids wanted to
hear and see live. Through the latter years,
when it became the usual thing again, the
radio programmer was boss. If his wife didn’t
like hard rock, that was it. We used to play so
many places where the radio guy would tell us
how many requests they get for our stuff, but
they couldn’t play it. In countries where we’re
the biggest band they’ll ever see and the album
is No. 1, they still won’t play it on the radio.
Programmers should play what the kids want
to hear, and not dictate to them. But I’ll never
dictate to people.”
To the end, Young feels his holy mission is to
keep AC/DC music both real and relatable.
“Music reflects the life of a kid. When we go
onstage. It’s meant to show them their lives are
no different than ours. We don’t pose, and we
don’t try to go over the top of our audience,”
he concludes. “We try to appeal to them as us
being five of them. We don’t say, ‘Bless you.’ We
just go out there and say, ‘Here it is! We want
to give you what you want.’” In other words, for
those about to rock, AC/DC salutes you. ■
Angus Young plays acoustic guitar with the chords AC/DC for High Voltage
NOVEMBER / DECEMBER
DIGITAL EDITION
GUITAR TRICKS INSIDER
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