George Young ...1946-2017...former Easybeats guitarist and songwriter tribute post

Former Easybeats guitarist/songwriter and older brother of ACDC's Angus and Malcolm Young has died at the age of 70.

George Redburn Young (born 6 November 1946) was an Australian musician, songwriter and record producer. Born in Scotland, he moved to Australia with his family as a teenager, and became a naturalised citizen. He was a member of the 1960's Australian rock band the Easybeats, and with band mate Harry Vanda he was a co-writer of the international hits "Friday on My Mind" and "Love Is in the Air", the latter recorded by John Paul Young (no relation). Vanda & Young were also the producers of some work by the Australian hard rock band AC/DC, formed by his younger brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. Vanda & Young were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 1988 and The Easybeats in 2005. 

George Young started his music career in Sydney, after attending Sefton High School as his secondary school. He formed a beat pop band, The Easybeats in late 1964, on rhythm guitar alongside Dick Diamonde (born Dingernam Vandersluys) on bass guitar, Gordon "Snowy" Fleet on drums (ex-Mojos), Harry Vanda (born Johannes Vandenberg) on lead guitar (ex-Starfighters, Starlighters) and Stevie Wright on lead vocals. Aside from performing and recording, Young co-wrote nearly all of their tracks. Early top 10 hits on the Australian singles chart for the Easybeats were co-written by Young with band mate Wright. The group had relocated to United Kingdom to record and perform; they disbanded in late 1969.

After the Easybeats dissolved Young formed a production and song writing duo with Vanda, as Vanda & Young in 1970, initially living in London.They provided pop and rock songs for other recording artists, and for themselves under various stage names: Paintbox, Tramp, Eddie Avana, Moondance, Haffy's Whiskey Sour and Band of Hope. The pair worked with Young's elder brother Alex in Grapefruit. Young and Vanda returned to Sydney in 1973 where they worked for Ted Albert, at his Albert Productions recording studio to become the in house producers.

One studio-based group Marcus Hook Roll Band, was joined in 1974 by Young's brothers, Malcolm and Angus. The brothers had already formed a hard rock group, AC/DC, in 1973. Young helped them with AC/DC, which went on to become a success internationally. Young briefly played as AC/DC's bass guitarist for a short stint, early in their career.

In mid-1976 Young formed Flash and the Pan, initially as a studio-based duo with himself on guitar, keyboards and vocals, and Vanda on guitar and keyboards. They had local top 10 hits with "Hey, St. Peter" (No. 5, September 1976) and "Down Among the Dead Men" (No. 4, July 1978).

Vanda & Young also co-produced Rose Tattoo, The Angels and John Paul Young (no relation).

After retiring from the music industry in the late 1990's, Young resided mainly in Portugal with his family. George Young died on 22 October 2017.

See also Easybeats post on this blog: http://theaussiemusicblog.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/the-easybeatsthe-definitive-anthology.html

AC/DC..High Voltage..first album as released in Australia 1975

This is AC/DC's original first album as it was released in Australia. It shows that even from the beginning the band had that sheer energy that propelled them to the international success they are today.

AC/DC were formed in November 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young, who have remained constant members. Commonly referred to as a hard rock or blues rock band, they are also considered pioneers of heavy metal and are sometimes classified as such, though they have always dubbed their music as simply "rock and roll". To date they are one of the highest-grossing bands of all time.

Malcolm and Angus Young developed the idea for the band's name after their sister, Margaret Young, saw the initials "AC/DC" on a sewing machine. "AC/DC" is an abbreviation meaning "alternating current/direct current" electricity. The brothers felt that this name symbolised the band's raw energy, power-driven performances of their music. "AC/DC" is pronounced one letter at a time, though the band are colloquially known as "Acca Dacca" in Australia.

In November 1973 Malcolm and Angus Young formed AC/DC and recruited bassist Larry Van Kriedt, vocalist Dave Evans, and Colin Burgess, ex-Masters Apprentices drummer.Pushing hard for the band's success were Australia's legendary roadie Ray Arnold and his partner Alan Kissack. Gene Pierson booked the band to let the band play at Bondi Lifesaver on New Year's Eve, 1973.

By this time, Angus Young had adopted his characteristic school-uniform stage outfit. The idea was his sister Margaret's. Angus had tried other costumes: Spider-Man, Zorro, a gorilla, and a parody of Superman, named Super-Ang. In its early days, most members of the band dressed in some form of glam or satin outfit but this approach was abandoned seeing as Melbourne band Skyhooks had already adopted this approach to their stage presentation.

The Young brothers decided that Evans was not a suitable frontman for the group because they felt he was more of a glam rocker like Gary Glitter. On stage, Evans was occasionally replaced by the band's first manager, Dennis Laughlin, who was the original lead singer with Sherbet prior to Daryl Braithwaite joining the band. Evans did not get along with Laughlin, which also contributed to the band's ill feeling toward Evans.

In September 1974 Ronald Belford "Bon" Scott, an experienced vocalist and friend of George Young, replaced Dave Evans after friend Vince Lovegrove recommended him to George Young. Like the Young brothers, Scott had been born in Scotland before emigrating to Australia in his childhood.

By October 1974, the Australia-only album High Voltage had been recorded. It took only ten days and was based on instrumental songs written by the Young brothers, with lyrics added by Scott. Within a few months, the band's line-up had stabilised, featuring Scott, the Young brothers, bassist Mark Evans and drummer Phil Rudd. High Voltage was released on 17 February 1975.

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This almost 12 minute version of "Baby Please Don't Go" is live from 1976