“Actually, I’ve never felt like a pop star,” Malcolm Young told ROLLING STONE US in 2008. “It’s more of a regular job for me.” When AC/DC were on stage, the guitarist would usually be in the background while his younger brother, Angus, dressed in typical schoolboy attire, played the dervish.
Malcolm Young was always the quietest and most reserved part of the band. Brian Johnson remembers how the Rolling Stones invited the group to a small blues jam in 2003. Young, apparently with some nausea, declined. Johnson: “It was hilarious to see Keith Richards and Ron Wood trying to drag him there. He sang with them for a bit and then went back to the amps. That’s the way he was.”
The most underrated rhythm guitarist in rock ‘n’ roll history
It was the rhythmic flair demonstrated by Malcolm Young on guitar that drove AC/DC for decades. But although he mostly played in the background, the musician, who died on November 18 at the age of 64, was as integral a part of the band as his flamboyant brother Angus. He co-wrote almost all of AC/DC’s anthems with Angus, Johnson and his predecessor Bon Scott, and developed many brilliant riffs.
“Angus was the obvious star, but Malcolm was the most powerful and the most underrated rhythm guitarist in rock ‘n’ roll history,” says Tom Morello. “This band is uncompromising about their power. And the reason for that is Malcolm and the way he played. This is the tectonic plate that the AC/DC world exists on.”
Malcolm left high school at 15 and first started working as a mechanic after the Youngs relocated to Australia from Scotland. In the early ’70s he first joined a band confusingly called the Velvet Underground (not to be confused with the New York group, of course) – before he and Angus joined forces.
Driving force of the band
Although Angus said of his brother that he could easily have played the lead solos, Malcolm preferred to lay the musical foundations. At the same time he was the driving force of the band. As Angus told ROLLING STONE US in 2016, “Malcolm was always a tough guy. Even in times of the greatest crisis, he would look at me and say, ‘We’ll just go in there and do some work… write some songs.’ He just had that drive.”
More about AC/DC
It’s clear to Brian Johnson that Malcolm Young has always been the leader of AC/DC. “Malcolm was the catalyst,” said the singer, who recently took early retirement because of his impaired hearing. He remembers the writing sessions for his first album with the band, Back in Black (1980), one of the biggest bestsellers ever in the US. “He came into my room with a cassette and a notebook and said, ‘This is really rough music. Let’s see what comes to your mind.’ I said, ‘What’s the title again?’ and he said, ‘You shook me all night long.’ I said, ‘That’s a damn long title!’ Malcolm gave rock ‘n’ roll the middle finger and kicked her ass.”
“He was really like a machine up there on stage,” says Cheap Trick’s Rick Nielsen, who toured with AC/DC from a young age. “He was totally serious and didn’t make any mistakes. He was just freezing.”
How Malcolm Young defeated alcohol
However, things were very different with Malcolm Young’s private life. In the late 80’s his binge drinking got out of hand. “Malcolm had a problem,” said his older brother George, who passed away in October. “In our family, if we have a problem, we take care of it ourselves.” Young was struggling to get rid of the devil’s stuff after missing out on a full US tour. And he found his way back – back to life and to AC/DC. When Megadeth toured with the band a few years ago, Dave Mustaine marveled at their terribly solid lifestyle: “Someone said, ‘Can I get you a bottle of something?’ and someone else said, ‘All they do is drink tea and smoke cigarettes.’”
Young’s dementia became apparent, according to Brian Johnson, when AC/DC began rehearsals for the Black Ice tour in 2008 and the guitarist had to relearn some of their old songs. By the time they started post-production on ‘Rock or Bust’ (2014), he just wasn’t good enough to contribute anymore. Only a little later that year he was admitted to a nursing home in Australia. In 2016, Angus said he was difficult to communicate with. “I always let him know how much everyone missed him.”
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