REMEMBER the line in the classic Aussie film where Darryl Kerrigan asks his wife Sal: “What do you call these things again?”
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“Rissoles… everybody cooks rissoles Darl”, Sal answers
“Yeah, but it’s what you do with them.”
The same could be said of Aussie rock legend Malcolm Young and his unmistakable rhythm guitar playing that has been often replicated, but rarely duplicated.
Most of his iconic guitar riffs are built around the simplest of guitar chords, but – just like Sal and her rissoles – it’s what Young does with those chords that are the magic behind the powerhouse sound of AC/DC.
Think what Young does with just an E, G and A chord to blast out the chugging riff of the mighty Let There Be Rock.
How he turned those same three chords – E, G and A – into the thunderous TNT.
What he does with the most basic of chords – A – that is the basis for one of Australia’s greatest rock anthems It’s A Long Way To The Top. Instantly recognisable.
How the simplicity of an E, D, G and A chord blasts through the speakers on the intro to Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap with the force of a runaway train.
And how the three chords that most guitarists are taught to begin with – E, D and A – set the scene for arguably the greatest of them all – Back in Black. Simple, yet genius.
The list goes on, such is the legacy that riffmaster Young with the jackhammer right hand and his 1963 Gretsch Jet Firebird leaves behind following his death on Saturday aged 64 following a battle with dementia.
A truly sad day for rock n roll that comes less than a month after the death of his older brother, George Young, of Easybeats fame and one of the driving forces behind the scenes in the early days of AC/DC, which included playing the Eaglehawk Town Hall back in January of 1976.
For those about to rock… Malcolm, we salute you. Luke West – AC/DC fan
