AC/DC Books

A history of the band up to the release of For Those About To Rock. The cover picture is the same as the poster that was in the French LP box set. UK discography in the back of the book.

AC/DC-Hell Ain't No Bad Place To Be by Richard Bunton Omnibus Press 1982

Again, this is a history of the band through FTATR. There are some cool old pictures, including some with original singer Dave Evans. There are also some errors in picture captions, and for some reason the author decided to include some pictures of people only peripherally associated with the band (backup bands, a writer.) UK discography in the back of the book, including bootlegs.

AC/DC (Monsters of Metal) by Tim Holmes Ballantine Books 1986

ISBN: 0345332393
No info on this one.

The AC/DC Story - Paul Ezra

No info on this one.

AC/DC Heavy Metal Photo Book Omnibus Press

Lots of incredible photos in BW and color. This is a must have for any fan of the band.

AC/DC Shock To The System by Mark Putterford Omnibus Press 1991

A history of the band through The Razors Edge. Lots of info about the early days in Australia. Many cool pictures, this is the best of the AC/DC biographies.

Highway to Hell The Life and Times of AC/DC Legend Bon Scott by Clinton Walker

[Thanks to Brendan Ring busa056@csc.canterbury.ac.nz]

First published in 1994 by Sun by Pan Macmillan Publishers a division of Pan Macmillan Australia Pty Limited, 63-71 Balfour Street, Chippendale, Sydney, Australia

ISBN: 0 7251 0742 1

324 pages, including discography of Bon's recordings, and a short biography of each of the major characters in the book.

This book covers Bon's entire life, including early childhood (with many photos) through to his death (he had japanese fish cakes for breakfast the day he died!).

Walker was not assisted by Albert Productions and hence many of those currently working with Alberts refused to have anything to do with it (including Angus and Malcolm). However, in many respects this has been an advantage as the author has instead been assisted by people who have no vested interest in following "the official line". Consequently, many AC/DC myths are shot down. The people he interviews include Bon's parents, his major girl friends, members of the Valentines, Fraternity, former AC/DC bassists Rob Bailey and Mark Evans, early AC/DC band managers etc. These interviews appear through out the text as transcripts so what you read is exactly what they said. This gives a great deal of credibility to the book. The author also includes many letters that Bon wrote to friends throughout his career (One from 1975 ends with "PS: If you can still manage the other $50 I'd love ya f'rever. It's no fun waiting around to be a millionaire.").

A criticism of this book is that the author really has it in for Angus and Malcolm, presenting them as ogres with very little supporting evidence. He also over-analysis Bon's life, analysising everything as if it plays a part in his eventual demise.

The book presents a complex picture of Bon. It shows him to be wild and reckless (nearly dying 3 times during the 70's), but very polite, likable, though basically alone in the world. At the time of his death Bon apparently had ambitions to settle down in California, and even to do a solo album. The following 2 quotes really sum up the book:

Mark Evans (former AC/DC bassist)

"They (implying Angus and Malcolm) would dispute this, but I think they viewed Bon to be ultimately disposable. In hindsight, it seems preposterous, but at the time, he was always in the firing line. And there was a lot of pressure, mainly from George (Young), and record companies. I think within that camp, there's been a certain rewriting of history, about how they felt about the guy - no that's wrong, how they felt about the guy professionally. Because there was no way you could spend more than 30 seconds in a room with Bon and not be completely and utterly charmed."

In 1978 Vince Lovegrove, Bon's friend and former member of the Valentines, interviewed Bon for RAM magazine. He wrote:

"(Bon said) Vinnie. I really am getting tired. I love it, you know that. It's only rock'n'roll and I like it. But I want to have a base. It's just the constant pressure of touring that's fucking it. I've been on the road for thirteen years. Planes, hotels, groupies, booze, people, towns. They all scrape something from you. We're doin'it and we'll get there, but I wish we didn't have these crushing day after day grinds to keep up with ...... Rock'n'roll, you know that's all there is,' he said. 'But I can't hack the rest of the shit that goes with it."

On the whole this book is well worth getting - it provides infintely more insight into Bon and AC/DC than any of the other books I have read about the band.

There are also many interesting comments about AC/DC in general:

Dennis Laughlin (early manager):

"The biggest problem I had with AC/DC in those early days, being a touring unit, and not having much money, was keeping everything together, keeping everyone happy. There's a few dope smokers in the band, right? Instead of giving everyone fifty bucks a week, it's like, alright, whatever you need, we'll get it. Thirty bucks a week plus a bag of dope, a bottle of Scotch. Well, Angus was a pain in the arse, because he says, Fuck ya, I don't drink booze, or fuckin' take drugs. I'd give him a bag of fish'n'chips, a Kit Kat, a packet of Benson and Hedges and a bottle of Coke."

Richard Griffiths (AC/DC's first booking agent in England, now Epic Records CEO).

"It was clear to me it was Malcolm's band. Bon was a great guy. But even then, I sensed, off Micheal (Micheal Browning, their manager), that he wasn't sure that Bon was the singer to take the band all the way....... He (Bon) was sort of seperate from the rest. Phil, he was off on his own, he was actually pretty obnoxious,. Angus and Malcolm were thick, obviously. And then Mark, you knew Mark wasn't going to last, he was just too much of a nice guy....."

Some other interesting points:

- So who has heard of a rare album from early 1973 called "Tales of Old Granddaddy" by the Marcus Hook Roll Band (Angus, Malcolm, and George Young, and Harry Vanda). This has actually been re-released by Sony Australia this year - it's not easy to get a copy though.

- Bon's girl friend at the time of his death claims that the title of "Rock and Roll Ain't Noise Pollution" was a line Bon used in an argument with his landlord during the time he was preparing the lyrics for the album to follow Highway to Hell!

- In the epilogue the author claims that AC/DC recently considered sacking Brian Johnson, though they thought better of it (though he presented no evidence)!¬

And in 1978 a compilation album called "12 of the Best" was to be released. Its release was cancelled in favour of If You Want Blood. The book shows the album cover and lists the tracks as:

Long way to the top
High Voltage
Problem Child
TNT
Whole Lotta Rosie
Let There Be Rock
Jailbreak
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
The Jack
Dog Eat Dog
She's Got Balls
Baby, Please Don't Go

AC/DC - The World's Most Electrifying Rock'N'Roll Band Edited by Malcolm Dome

First published in 1995 by Virgin Books, an imprint of Virgin Publishing Limited, 332 Ladbroke Grove, London W10 5AH

A well done history of AC/DC put together using info from two British music publications - Sounds (now defunct), and Kerrang. It features an introduction by Megadeath's Dave Mustaine, and lots of cool pictures and news clips taken from the two magazines.

AC/DC The World's Heaviest Rock by Martin Huxley St. Martin's Griffin 1996

A history of the band up to Ballbreaker. Not much new info, some nice old pictures, although all are in black & white. There is an album discography in the back of the book.

Get your JUMBO Jet out of my airport by Howard Johnson The Black Book Company 1999

ISBN 1-902799-01-1
The story of AC/DC from the fans point of view.

This book contains musical transcriptions of 20 AC/DC songs and the solos Angus plays in them. There are many good BW pictures of Angus in here. This book is interesting because the author knew little of the band when he did the transcribing. His comments in the introduction and with each transcription provide some interesting insight as to AC/DC's music and Angus' playing from a musicians standpoint.

AC/DC Best Of Their High Energy Hits "The Years With Bon Scott" Big3 Books

[Thanks to Dave Rector daveacdc@ix.netcom.com for the Oakland Coliseum info]

This book has music to a bunch of songs through Highway To Hell. The cover has a great series of pictures of the band...from the 'Day On The Green' concert at Oakland Coliseum in 1978. There are some nice pictures inside as well. There are also Angus and Bon cutout paper dolls included!!

"Here's your very own Angus Young paper doll, to bend, fold and mutilate... ...and your very own Bon Scott paper doll, cut him out and color him in... let your fantasies run wild!"

AC/DC Back in Black Big3 Books

Music to all the BIB songs, as well as earlier hits from the Bon era. Some good BW pictures, looks like they were taken at the early video shoot that went with the BIB album.

AC/DC Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap Big3 Books

Music to all the DDDDC tunes (the US and Europe version of the LP.) A few interesting pictures, all BW, and all with the band members eyes covered by that blackout as used in the LP.

AC/DC For Those About To Rock We Salute You Big3 Books

Music to all the FTATR tunes, as well as many color pictures, most all of them taken from live shows.

AC/DC Rock-n-Roll Comics Jay Allen Sanford, Mike Sagara, Todd Loren

A history of the band through release of The Razors Edge, in comic book form. It's decently put together, but there are some questionable perspectives on things. Ex: The book states that Phil Rudd left the band because he thought they were stale and could not keep up with him. Has anyone ever heard that story before? The book does include a classic Malcolm Young quote at the end, which originally was published in a Musician magazine interview with Charles M. Young (no relation.)

"Most people, when they progress, they progress right up their asses...we just try to keep it exciting."

There is also a short cartoon at the end of the comic book about a drunken young man helped out of the gutter by a stranger who warns him that a bottle, like any drug, equals death. The stranger's identity is revealed at the end of the story...he is Bon Scott.

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