Remembering AC/DC's Malcolm Young  Band's Rock Mastermind
Malcolm Young
"There's very few rock & roll bands "  Malcolm Young  explained to a Dutch TV interviewer around the time of AC/DC's 2000 album Stiff Upper Lip. "There's rock bands  there's sort of metal bands  there's whatever  but there's no rock & roll bands â there's the Stones and us "  he  chuckled. When asked by the interviewer to explain the difference between rock bands and rock & roll bands   he  replied  "Rock bands don't really swing ... a lot of rock is stiff. They don't understand the feel  the movement  you know  the jungle of it all."
Related  Malcolm Young   AC/DC Guitarist and Co-Founder  Dead at 64 Musician who co-founded Australian rock legends in 1973 with  brother Angus Young  dies following battle with dementia
Few rock & rollers have ever understood "the jungle of it all" like  Malcolm Young   and fewer still have ever been as single-mindedly devoted to  its  perpetuation. From 1973  when  he  formed AC/DC with  his  younger brother Angus  to 2014  when dementia and other health issues forced  his  premature retirement   Malcolm  never once allowed the band to deviate from its swinging  swaggering  riff-driven course. During  Malcolm 's tenure  AC/DC's recordings featured three different lead vocalists  three different bassists and five different drummers; and yet  the band's musical aesthetic remained so stubbornly consistent as to make the Ramones look like flighty trend-jumpers by comparison.
But if AC/DC's public image was largely defined by Angus's naughty schoolboy  Bon's lascivious pirate and Brian's lusty bricklayer personas  it was Malcom who truly defined the band's lean 'n' mean sound. In addition to serving as the captain of the good ship AC/DC  he was also its chief architect and mechanic  tinkering with riffs and songs as tirelessly as he tinkered with his 1963 Gretsch Jet Firebird  which underwent countless modifications as he strove to unleash the ultimate guitar tone. "He's the engine in the Mack truck that is AC/DC " Anthrax's Scott Ian told Loudwire in 2014. "He's the driving force behind that band; has been since Day One. To the casual listener  they probably don't know who Malcolm Young is ... but Malcom's the guy. He's the greatest rhythm guitar player ever."
" Mal  always had a better ear for recording and mixing than I did " Angus told me. " He  was more involved with that when we were younger  fiddling around with sounds and stuff.  He  tunes into it more than  me ; I'm more about just picking up the thing and play it.  He  helped me a lot with dialing in sounds from my amp; I would be saying  'I can't get nothin' out of this Marshall ' and  he  would help me sort it out and get the best out of it."
While Malcolm's death at the too-young age of 64 is certainly a massive blow for AC/DC fans everywhere  it's unlikely that he would want Angus to bring it all to an end on his account. Even in his absence  AC/DC has continued to function like a finely-tuned clockwork mechanism â the band successfully soldiered following his retirement  recording and touring behind 2014's Rock or Bust with nephew Stevie Young taking over for his uncle on rhythm guitar. That the band continues to thrive without Malcolm isn't a reflection on his lack of importance to it  but rather a testament to the enduring brilliance of the material he wrote  and the perfection of the musical machine that he designed to deliver it. So long as there's enough electricity left in the world for some guitarist somewhere to hit a ringing  window-rattling A chord  Malcolm Young's spirit will live on. Rock in Peace  Mal.
"There's very few rock & roll bands "   [TGT] explained to a Dutch TV interviewer around the time of AC/DC's 2000 album Stiff Upper Lip. "There's rock bands  there's sort of metal bands  there's whatever  but there's no rock & roll bands â there's the Stones and us "  he  chuckled. When asked by the interviewer to explain the difference between rock bands and rock & roll bands   he  replied  "Rock bands don't really swing ... a lot of rock is stiff. They don't understand the feel  the movement  you know  the jungle of it all."
Related   [TGT]    AC/DC Guitarist and Co-Founder  Dead at 64 Musician who co-founded Australian rock legends in 1973 with  brother Angus Young  dies following battle with dementia
Few rock & rollers have ever understood "the jungle of it all" like  Malcolm Young   and fewer still have ever been as single-mindedly devoted to  its  perpetuation. From 1973  when  he  formed AC/DC with  his  younger brother Angus  to 2014  when dementia and other health issues forced  his  premature retirement    [TGT] never once allowed the band to deviate from  [TGT]  swinging  swaggering  riff-driven course. During  Malcolm 's tenure  AC/DC's recordings featured three different lead vocalists  three different bassists and five different drummers; and yet  the band's musical aesthetic remained so stubbornly consistent as to make the Ramones look like flighty trend-jumpers by comparison.
But if AC/DC's public image was largely defined by Angus's naughty schoolboy  Bon's lascivious pirate and Brian's lusty bricklayer personas  it was Malcom who truly defined the band's lean 'n' mean sound. In addition to serving as the captain of the good ship AC/DC   [TGT]  was also its chief architect and mechanic  tinkering with riffs and songs as tirelessly as  [TGT]  tinkered with  [TGT]  1963 Gretsch Jet Firebird  which underwent countless modifications as  [TGT]  strove to unleash the ultimate guitar tone. " [TGT] 's the engine in the Mack truck that is AC/DC " Anthrax's Scott Ian told Loudwire in 2014. " [TGT] 's the driving force behind that band; has been since Day One. To the casual listener  they probably don't know who  [TGT]  is ... but Malcom's the guy.  [TGT] 's the greatest rhythm guitar player ever."
" Mal  always had a better ear for recording and mixing than I did " Angus told me. "  [TGT]   was more involved with that when we were younger  fiddling around with sounds and stuff.   [TGT]   tunes into it more than  me ; I'm more about just picking up the thing and play it.   [TGT]   helped me a lot with dialing in sounds from my amp; I would be saying  'I can't get nothin' out of this Marshall ' and   [TGT]   would help me sort it out and get the best out of it."
While  [TGT] 's death at the too-young age of 64 is certainly a massive blow for AC/DC fans everywhere  it's unlikely that  [TGT]  would want Angus to bring it all to an end on  [TGT]  account. Even in  [TGT]  absence  AC/DC has continued to function like a finely-tuned clockwork mechanism â the band successfully soldiered following his retirement  recording and touring behind 2014's Rock or Bust with nephew Stevie Young taking over for his uncle on rhythm guitar. That the band continues to thrive without  [TGT]  isn't a reflection on  [TGT]  lack of importance to it  but rather a testament to the enduring brilliance of the material  [TGT]  wrote  and the perfection of the musical machine that  [TGT]  designed to deliver it. So long as there's enough electricity left in the world for some guitarist somewhere to hit a ringing  window-rattling A chord  Malcolm Young's spirit will live on. Rock in Peace  Mal.