BC/DC! Lost 1973 LP featuring AC/DCโ€™s Angus and Malcolm Young, finally reissuedโ€ฆ

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If the Marcus Hook Roll Band are known for anything itโ€™s as the first vehicle for AC/DC siblings Angus and Malcolm Young. But the story began in London in 1972 when Australians George Young and Harry Vanda, formerly of The Easybeats, handed a demo to EMI. Producer Wally Waller, a former Pretty Things bassist, recorded two singles but by the time an album was requested Young and Vanda were back in Australia. Waller was told to follow. โ€œI stood there tutting, making out it would be a terrible drag,โ€ chuckles Waller.

In Sydney, George roped in elder brother Alex, once of Beatles prodigies Grapefruit, on sax while guitar came from 20-year-old Malcolm. โ€œMalcolm was playing stuff you needed to be 30 to play, stuff that required a bit of soul, some life experience,โ€ recalls Waller. โ€œI said to George: โ€œYour brother is really somethingโ€. He said โ€œThereโ€™s another like him at homeโ€. Angus turned up and was just as good.โ€ The album โ€“ named after Wallerโ€™s duty-free bourbon consumed in well-oiled sessions โ€“ thus became the first record featuring Malcolm and Angus Young, and the only album to feature four Young brothers.

Itโ€™s an odd one, covering slick 70s rock (โ€œCanโ€™t Stand The Heatโ€), glam (โ€œGoodbye Janeโ€), 60s throwbacks (โ€œSilver Shoes And Strawberry Wineโ€) and Faces-meets-Queen show-stoppers (โ€œCry For Meโ€). You can hear proto-DC riffing on โ€œQuick Reactionโ€ and also some AC/DC sexual politics on the (literally) grunting โ€œApe Manโ€.

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Particularly odd is the radical-chic two-hander โ€œThe People And The Powerโ€ and โ€œRed Revolutionโ€. Five bonus tracks include previously unreleased country cornball โ€œRide Baby Rideโ€. Nobody can remember who played what but Malcolm was on everything and Waller is sure Angus played on โ€œWatch Her Do It Nowโ€. As it was, the album was shelved after Young and Vanda refused to tour America, but Waller wasnโ€™t surprised to hear of Angus and Malcolmโ€™s subsequent success. โ€œI knew how talented they were,โ€ says Waller. โ€œAnd they had everything else that was required โ€“ drive, luck and a brother who knew the industry.โ€

Extras: Five bonus tracks.

PETER WATTS

Photo credit: Philip Morris