AC/DC's Back in Black: Bon Scott's Tragic End to Brian Johnson's EPIC Comeback

Host PJ Pat dives into the fascinating history of AC/DC's monumental album 'Back in Black.' After the tragic death of their former frontman Bon Scott, the band faced the challenge of continuing their legacy with new singer Brian Johnson. Explore the making of the record, the emotional tribute to Bon Scott, and how 'Back in Black' became one of the best-selling rock albums of all time. 

PJ Pat also shares insights from an article in Guitar World Magazine, highlighting exclusive interviews, production secrets, and the lasting impact of this iconic album. Whether you're a longtime AC/DC fan or new to the rock scene, this episode captures the essence and enduring power of one of rock 'n' roll's greatest comebacks.

00:11 Introduction to AC/DC's 'Back in Black'
01:45 The Impact of Bon Scott's Death
02:29 Brian Johnson's First Performance with AC/DC
07:06 Recording 'Back in Black' in The Bahamas
13:06 The Success and Legacy of 'Back in Black'

Transcript

[00:00:00] Hey, rock fan. I got one thing to say to you. 

[00:00:01] Welcome to the It's 1 Louder podcast. Your host, PJ Pat, has done absolutely nothing that you would know about. 

[00:00:09] That is right. Thanks for joining. My name is PJ Pat, and today I wanna bring you an article that I saw in the latest Guitar World Magazine called Back to the Future about the one and only AC dc and about their one and only album Back in Black, which is.

[00:00:25] The first album that they released after Bon Scott, rest in Peace, Bon Scott passed Away and this is the first album after that incident. And uh, what a classic to this day. I mean, it's still so refreshing to hear these songs on radio compared to what else is out there these days. You got back in Black Hell's Bells and you shook me all night long.

[00:00:50] Singles from this album. Can you imagine those three on one album? Incredible. And wow, what a debut album from their quote unquote, not so new singer anymore. Brian Johnson. You couldn't have asked for a better outcome for an album after Bon Scott passed away for a CDC and I'm really, uh, just in awe that they've been around for this long.

[00:01:13] And I'm not sure if you heard the latest album, but it's actually pretty damn good, you know, considering they've been around for. What seems age is at least 45 years. 'cause this is when black and black came out. And um, man, we gotta pay our respects to A CDC and their live show. I'm telling you, they still kick ass.

[00:01:31] And Angus Young is still as energetic as ever just running around. The stage, man. Check out this picture. Back in the day, Angus Young rocking out his Gibson sg. So cool. Alright, let's get into it. Back to the future. The death of A CDC, frontman Bon Scott in February, 1980 looked like it might have also dealt a fatal blow to the band.

[00:01:56] But then they got a new singer and made a career rejuvenating record that became the biggest selling rock album of all time back in Black. Really? Wow. Article by Paul Elliot. I'm actually quite surprised about this. I thought it was Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. I know they have some sort of record of.

[00:02:17] Being in the billboard top 100 for the longest consecutive weeks, or the longest weeks total ever. So that's interesting. That's cool. Good to know. They obviously deserve it. For Angus Young, the pre-show ritual was the same as it had always been in the dressing room backstage at. The PA in the Belgian city of Nur, AC DC's lead guitarist changed out of his jeans and t-shirt and put on his schoolboy uniform.

[00:02:45] Went for a piss and had one last cigarette to take the edge off his nerves. But this was no ordinary gig. On this evening, June 29th, 1980 A CDC, were about to perform in public for the first time with their new singer Brian Johnson. And in the last few minutes before going on stage, as Angus looked around the room, he could see the tension in Johnson's face.

[00:03:07] He was shitting himself, Angus said. Johnson had big shoes to fill, the man he'd replaced. Bon Scott had been a great rock and roll singer and charismatic front man, a free spirited hell raiser whose easy charm earned him the epithet bon the likable. Following bon's death in February, that year, the band had pushed on with Johnson to make the album back in black, of which Angus later said, when I first heard it in all its glory, I thought, fuck it's magic.

[00:03:36] But on that warm summer evening with the release of the album, still a few weeks away, Johnson was a worried man as he waited for Showtime. Wondering how a CDC fans would react to him, especially when he was singing the old songs Bond's words. It was only when he got on stage and looked down to the audience that he realized how much those fans were rooting for him In the audience, he saw Banner raise the loft on which it was written.

[00:04:02] Rest in peace. Bon Scott. Good luck, Brian, that he recalled just lifted me. I. There were moments during the show when all that anxiety and adrenaline got the better of him. It was a very traumatic night. He said. I was so nervous. Halfway into the set, he had a brain freeze and sang the same lyrics to two songs.

[00:04:23] I thought, oh God, what have I done for that? He received a balking from rhythm guitarist, Malcolm Young, Angus's Elder brother Malcolm looked at me and went, what the fuck was that? Come on Malcolm. Give the guy a break. It's his first night out, man. Perfectionist. Okay. It was baptism of fire, but Johnson got through it.

[00:04:45] He won respect of that audience by singing his balls off and by being his own man. The flat cap he wore was a sign of his working class roots in the northeast of England, and his onstage demeanor was different from Bonds. Johnson was. Kaling fish shaking, ramble, rouser, but without the macho swagger that Scott had or the glint of craziness that was always in his eyes.

[00:05:10] Johnson also knew from the start how the band worked on stage seeding the center ground for Angus to run amok that night. A CDC performed seven songs from back in Black, beginning with album opener. Hell's Bells, the Set End with Let There Be Rock Significantly. The last song Bon ever sang on stage just five months earlier.

[00:05:30] At Southampton Gomont on January 27th, 1980. Wow. I didn't realize that. They released an album of five months only after his death. That's kind of crazy. Not sure how long it took for them to actually record it then. I don't mustn't have taken them that long. Johnson leader said of the The Moore Show, we had enough spirit to cover up any mistakes on a deeper level.

[00:05:55] There was also a feeling within a band that they had a spirit watching over them. As Angus said in the first days after their new singer had joined them. We still think bonds around. Bon Scott had known in his last days that A CDC were onto something big. Their 1979 album, highway to Hell was the band's first million seller.

[00:06:14] And in the early days of January, 1980, when work began on new songs in London, he was buzzing. These new songs were demoed by Angus and Malcolm with bond playing drums as he had done in his first groups back in Australia. He was convinced that he had the markings of an album that would be even bigger than Highway to Hell and a phone call to his mother Isa in Australia.

[00:06:35] He had told her this one is gonna be it. It was only a few days after that call on February 19th, 1980. That bond was found dead in East Dovi, London. He had been out drinking with friends the previous night. Rumors suggested that he might also have taken heroin in the official inquest. A coroner's report cited death by Misadventure Bond was just 33.

[00:06:59] Wow. That's crazy. Live fast, die young. Some people just, I don't know, are born that way. It was a Bond's funeral in his hometown of Fremantle in Western Australia that his father Chick urged Malcolm and Angus to carry on with the band on April 1st, Johnson. Then 32, formerly of Glam Rock Band. Jordy was announced as AC DC's, new singer Nassau on the island of New Providence in The Bahamas.

[00:07:25] Was a tropical paradise as Johnson would tell. Record mirror, actually, it's quite difficult recording in The Bahamas. All you want to do is lounge on a beach and you can't get a decent pint of beer added with tongue in cheek. Somehow we managed 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.

[00:07:51] According to Tony Platt, the engineer working on the album alongside producer Robert Mutt Lang, it was also beneficial for the band to be in such a remote location away from all the distractions of London or Sydney that helped to bring everyone together. Plat said there was something different from previous A CDC albums, and not only because they had a new singer, while the music was anything but subtle, the change in it was.

[00:08:13] While the essence of A CDC, the hard riffing, the heavy grooves remain intact, the tone had shifted a little. It was rock and roll, but with more of a heavy metal edge. And what Mutt Lang had begun with the band on highway to hell, adding a touch of sheen while retaining maximum power was brought into full effect.

[00:08:33] The sound was huge and at the highest end of it was Johnson's voice pushed to its limit. That's a really good point. If you go back and listen to that album, the sound on that, the way it was makes, the way it was produced, and just the sound, the guitar sounds, the drum sounds, just sounds phenomenal. Mutt Lang, for those of you who don't know, he's a, obviously a very famous producer and he work with, uh, Brian Adams.

[00:09:00] And also Def Leppard. Uh, so he definitely knows what he's doing from what I read. I heard he is quite the perfectionist and uh, but I mean, he definitely has a sound that he goes for and, uh, pushes his bands to the limit take after take to get what's in his head out there. And, you know. You really can't complain.

[00:09:21] I mean, look at his track record. Unbelievable albums. So he did Brian Adams, uh, waking Up The Neighbor's Album, and also Def Leppard's Hysteria, not too shabby. Okay, I'm not gonna read you the whole interview. I'm gonna leave you a little mystery just in case you wanna go check it out yourself. But I'll pick and choose a couple of specific incidents where they talk about the album As Angus confirmed in a 1991 interview, some lyrics were in by bond, were used in the new songs.

[00:09:48] In other songs, there were echoes of his spirit and sense of humor, just as Bon had poked fun at religion and let there be rock and highway to hell. So Brian delivered a Christian beating one-liner in Hell's Bells. If good's on the left, then I'm sticking to the right. In a similar vein, the bluesy boogie rock and roll ain't noise pollution.

[00:10:09] The last track recorded for the album written on the spot in around 15 minutes. Had an intro in which Brian did what he called the southern preacher thing, just talking off the top of his head and hailing with missionary fervor just talking off the top of his head, and healing with missionary fervor, the life-affirming power of rock and roll.

[00:10:31] With the album completed in six weeks. Six weeks for such a classic, unbelievable, wow. No wonder it only took five months from Bon Scott's death to the release of the album. That's crazy. So six weeks, they knew what they had was dynamite. Atlantic Records knew it too. The only problem as the label saw, it was a band's idea for the album cover all black with the A CDC logo and album title.

[00:10:56] The only detail, it was suggested by Atlantic that this would not be good for business, but the band would not yield, as Angus put it. The whole back and black album was our dedication to bond. That's why the album cover was Pure Black and why the album starts with a bell ringing, something somber and different to anything else we've done.

[00:11:17] Wow. Pretty cool, 

[00:11:19] right? I didn't really think about that, but yeah, it makes sense now. That's so cool that they stuck to their guns and did that. Okay. There's a fun fact bubble here. The BC boys sampled back in black for their 1984 song Rock Hard. They sought ACD C'S permission after the fact, but permission was denied based on AC DC's anti sampling policy.

[00:11:41] Wow. So they probably didn't make a dime off that song. Not sure if they released it as an official single though. Actually, this reminds me of the story behind p Diddy, puff Daddy, freaking Stupid Criminal that abuses women, whatever you wanna call 'em, song called Missing You, where he ripped off, uh, stings, or I should say the police's, uh, uh, every breath you take, uh, base Lick.

[00:12:06] Some of you may recall that was a hugely popular song 'cause after, uh, notorious BIG died, that was one of the singles and it was called Missing You. Pete Diddy talking about his friend and reminiscing on that song, but guess what? He never asked. Sting the songwriters permission. To use that freaking sample, super recognizable sample.

[00:12:31] He never asked permission, believe it or not. And so he was stuck. The song I think was already released. It was already popular, it was in mainstream pop culture. He asked things, permission, and I think the negotiated, uh, so Sting obviously had the upper hand and had p Diddy by the balls. And um, I heard something crazy like Sting makes like.

[00:12:51] $3,000 a day off that song or something like that, at least back then before streaming. Isn't that crazy? But yes, if you're an artist, you gotta do things right, ask permission, get that license, or else it's just not worth it. Okay, there's a section here talking about Back in Black was an immediate hit within two weeks of its release.

[00:13:11] It was at number one in the uk. The first single from it. You Shook me all night long, made the top 40 in the UK and US and the top 10 in Australia. By early October when the band finished tour in North America, the album was certified Platinum in the US as it began an incredible 13 month residency in the billboard top 10.

[00:13:34] It had been a punishing schedule in North America. 64 shows in three months, and there was no let up. The resurrection of VCDC with back in black was arguably the greatest comeback in the entire history of rock and roll. Out of their darkest hour had come a heroic victory. Guns N Roses guitar slash was just 15 when Back in Black was released many years later.

[00:13:56] He recalled the impact that record had on him and spoke of it as a triumph, not just for Brian Johnson in AC CDC, but also for rock music. Period. Back in black Saved Rock and roll slash said, it was a defining rock record of that time and it just exploded. A CDC was always a great band, totally genuine, but the miracle of the whole thing was that back in black was just a great new record.

[00:14:20] It was still a CDC. We all Ms. Bond, but we let him go and at the same time, welcomed and embraced Brian. The key songs from Back in Black, the title song was Jerry Cantrell once called The Ultimate Rock Song. Hells Bells Shoot, the Thrill and You Shook Me All Night Long have remained in AC DC's life set for decades.

[00:14:42] Of course. I mean, it'd be very hard to go to an ac d concert without them playing those three songs for sure. Most remarkable of all in the sheer scale of this album. Success Back In Black is not only the biggest selling rock album there has ever been bigger than anything by Led Zeppelin, pink Floyd, the Rolling Stones, or even the Beatles, with more than 50 million copies sold.

[00:15:06] It's also the second biggest selling album of all time after Michael Jackson's thriller. No way. Alright. I think a lot of people knew that Michael Jackson sort was, was top. No one could beat that, but I had no idea. Wow. Back in black is number two. Crazy. And the fact that it's a rock album. Yes. In the making of Back and Black.

[00:15:27] Their tribute to Bond as Angus Young called it AC CDC, dug deep as Malcolm Young once said, the emotion in that album, it will be around forever. Joe Elliott from Def Leppard and millions of others who feel the same way. What a CDC achieved on back and Black was perfection. That record sounds as good now as it did the day it was released.

[00:15:48] Elliot said, yeah, that's what I was saying, like first of all, sometimes I, I must admit, sometimes. I'm driving to my car, I hear back in black, come on. Or I hear you shook me all night long. Come on. And I gotta say, sometimes I do forward it just 'cause I've heard that song just so many times. You know what I mean?

[00:16:05] It's like I don't need to hear it one more time, but sometimes I let it go and. Just soak in the sound and the, the energy of those songs. And I just love the guitar sound and tone that Angus has and Malcolm have. It's just great and you can really understand why. Wow. Okay. I, I get it. Why the world knows about this song, you know, and this album.

[00:16:30] So Elliot says it's timeless and very few records are like that. The first Montrose album, the first Van Halen album, the first Boston album, A CDC was always about full on rock and roll based on the blues and Chuck Berry, but with Back In Black, they blew everybody else out of the water. It is one of the greatest rock albums ever made, and the sales.

[00:16:54] You can tell that same story. So ac, DC, I mean, no one can deny their staying power. No one can deny their sound. No one can deny their talent. And yes, have they been playing the same song for the last 50 years? Okay. One could argue yes, but it's still a pretty damn good song. You know? I mean, yes. Do they play three, four chords in every song?

[00:17:20] Yeah, but they do it better than anyone else out there. Let's just say you had to send a package out into space for Alien to discover in a couple of thousand years from now, and you wanted the aliens to understand what rock and roll was about for the human race on earth. If you were to pick one band to represent what rock and roll was, ac CDC would be it.

[00:17:39] There's no doubt in my mind. A CDC is it. They're the ultimate rock band. They play the biggest concerts when they tour the world. And everyone reveres them. Everyone cites 'em as an influence, uh, when you're into music. Thank you so much for listening. By the way, if you're digging this cap, go check out.

[00:17:57] It's one ladder.com. That's ITS, the number one ladder.com. There's a bunch of rock and roll gear on there. Hopefully you'll find a thing or two that you like. And that'd be a great way for you to support the show. Really appreciate Rock on 1 louder.