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

Ted Mulry Gang....Here We Are and Struttin' from 1974/76

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Ted Mulry first came to the attention of the music industry when he sent a demo of some of his own compositions to Albert Productions in Sydney. The company persuaded him to become a recording artist and he soon rose to fame as a solo singer/songwriter with his own composition, the pop ballad "Julia", which made the Australian charts in 1970. He followed that with "Falling in Love Again", a song by The Easybeats songwriting team Harry Vanda and George Young, which was a major hit in 1971.


After getting tired of being backed by different backing bands, in 1972 he switched from acoustic guitar to bass and formed his own band, Ted Mulry Gang, with guitarist Les Hall and drummer Herman Kovac.The band signed a recording deal with Albert Productions in 1974 and released their first album Here We Are. When that album didn't do as well as expected, the record company wanted Mulry to go back to singing solo. Ronnie Clayton told them to stick to it and brought in second guitarist Gary Dixon to complete the foursome. With his own band behind him he adopted a more hard rocking style.

Their first major hit, and the biggest of their career was the 1975 single "Jump in My Car" which spent 6 weeks at number one on the Australian singles charts in 1976. It was the second single released from the Here We Are album produced by Ted Albert at Alberts Studios. Over the next few years they achieved a string of hit singles including a rocked up version of the old jazz song, "Darktown Strutters' Ball", "Crazy", "Jamaica Rum" and "My Little Girl". Many of TMG's songs, including "Jump in My Car", were co-written with guitarist Les Hall. Their second album, "Struttin" was released in 1976.

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Stevie Wright 1947-2015 RIP - Former Easybeats vocalist dies aged 68. Tribute post.

From ABC news: Stevie Wright, who fronted rock outfit The Easybeats in the 1960's, and is widely regarded as Australia's first international pop star, has died at the age of 68. The ARIA hall of famer became ill on Boxing Day and was taken to Moruya Hospital on the New South Wales south coast, where he died on Sunday night with his son Nick by his side. Rock historian Glenn A Baker said Wright "was a dynamo on stage". Read full article HERE.

Stephen Carlton "Stevie" Wright (20 December 1947– 27 December 2015), formerly billed as Little Stevie, was an Australian musician and songwriter who has been called Australia's first international pop star. During 1964–1969 he was lead singer of Sydney-based pop/beat/rock and roll band The Easybeats, widely regarded as the greatest Australian pop band of the 1960's (see original post on this blog about The Easybeats HERE).

After The Easybeats disbanded in 1969, Wright fronted numerous groups including The Stevie Wright Band and Stevie Wright and The Allstars; his solo career included the 1974 single, "Evie (Parts 1, 2 & 3)", which peaked at No. 1 on the Kent Music Report Singles Chart. (See original post on this blog HERE).

Wright's life was detailed in two biographies, Sorry: The Wretched Tale of Little Stevie Wright by Jack Marx (1999) and Hard Road: The Life and Times of Stevie Wright by Glenn Goldsmith (2004). On 14 July 2005, The Easybeats, with Wright as a member, were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame alongside Renée Geyer, Hunters & Collectors, Smoky Dawson, Split Enz and Normie Rowe.

Albums:

Hard Road - 1974

Black Eyed Bruiser  - 1975

Live at the Bridgeway Hotel - 1987

see also: Stevie Wright Sings The Easybeats at Ozzie Music Man

The Easybeats - Definitive Anthology

see original post from this blog HERE

Anthology #1 / Anthology #2

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Rose Tattoo...Aussie hard rockers self-titled debut album from 1978

Rose Tattoo, led by Angry Anderson, formed in Sydney in 1976 with Leigh Johnston on rhythm guitar, Tony Lake on lead vocals and were led by slide guitarist Peter Wells—who had just departed as bass guitarist of heavy metal band Buffalo. Drummer Michael Vandersluys completed the line-up and Ian Rilen from Band of Light joined on bass guitar. . Their sound is hard rock mixed with blues rock influences, with songs including "Bad Boy for Love", "Rock 'n' Roll Outlaw", "Nice Boys", "We Can't Be Beaten" and "Scarred for Life". Their first four albums were produced by Harry Vanda and George Young who also worked with AC/DC. They disbanded in 1987, subsequently reforming briefly in 1993 to support Guns N' Roses on an Australian tour. They reassembled again from 1998 and have since released two more studio albums.

According to Australian rock music historian Ian McFarlane, Rose Tattoo are "one of the most revered bands of all time. The Tatts played peerless, street-level heavy blues with the emphasis on slide guitar and strident lyric statements". Guns N' Roses, L.A. Guns, Keel, Nashville Pussy, Motosierra, Pud Spuke Helen Schneider, and the Uruguayan band The Knight's Night have covered Rose Tattoo songs. On 16 August 2006, they were inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame. Six former members have died in recent years including four of the original recording line-up, Dallas Royall (1991), Peter Wells (2006), Ian Rilen (2006), Mick Cocks (2009), and Lobby Loyde (2007), who was a member between October 1979 and September 1980, and Neil Smith (2013), who played bass temporarily prior to Loyde.

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Stevie Wright..Hard Road...1974...blockbuster solo debut from legendary Easybeats singer

Stevie Wright's first taste of fame was with the now legendary 60's group, The Easybeats. Together with Harry Vanda and George Young, they created some of the most memorable and iconic music to come out of Australia in the 1960's. They rivaled The Beatles in their talent and success and scored an international hit with "Friday On My Mind".

After the breakup of The Easybeats, Stevie went solo and released his debut solo album, Hard Road, in 1974. Produced by none other than his former Easybeats partners, Harry Vanda and George Young, the album was a huge success in Australia, topping the charts everywhere.

Hard Road is without question Stevie's finest hour, and it remains one of the best Australian albums of the period. The classic Vanda-Young tracks -- the autobiographical "Hard Road", "Didn't I Take You Higher?" and the epic "Evie" were ably complemented by Stevie's own strong compositions "Movin' On Up", "Commando Line", "Life Gets Better" and "Dancing in the Limelight".

Stevie's groundbreaking debut solo single "Evie (Parts I, II and III)" is a genuine rock epic. It is arguably the perfect rock'n'roll song, encapsulating the three basic themes of all love songs -- (A) "Baby it'll be great once we're together, (B) "Baby, it's so great now that we're together" and (C) "Baby, it's so bad since you left me". Clocking in at a whopping eleven minutes in total, it seemed an unlikely chart contender, but the three parts were wisely split across the two sides of the single, and the head-on power rock of "Evie Part I" proved irresistible. Lyrically, it revisited the perennial "gonna have a good time tonight" theme of "Friday On My Mind" and "Good Times" and musically it is perhaps the ultimate distillation of the full-frontal hard rock Vanda & Young had previously essayed on V&Y classics like "Good Times", and showcased the no-frills hard-rocking sound which they would soon hone to perfection with AC/DC.

Released in May 1974, Evie shot to the top of charts, peaking at #2 nationally during July. It did especially well in Melbourne, where it stayed at #1 for seven weeks. The Hard Road album also peaked at #5 nationally and #1 in Melbourne. It was released on Atlantic in the USA and Polydor in the UK and made a strong impression overseas -- Suzi Quatro later covered "Evie", and Rod Stewart included a version of "Hard Road" on his Smiler album. "Evie" is now widely considered to be one of best Australian singles of Seventies.

To promote the records, Stevie hit the road with his aptly-named backing group, The All Stars. The band's lineup shifted several times during its existence but it featured many top-flight players including Warren "Pig" Morgan (piano; ex-Chain, Aztecs), Tim Gaze (lead guitar; ex-Tamam Shud, Kahvas Jute, Ariel) and Johnny Dick (drums; ex-Meteors, Doug Parkinson In Focus, Aztecs).

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The Easybeats...The Definitive Anthology..Aussie Beat That Shook the World

"Aussie Beat That Shook the World"

The Easybeats formed in Sydney in late 1964 and disbanded at the end of 1969. They are regarded as the greatest Australian beat/pop band of the 1960s, echoing The Beatles' success in Britain, and were the first Australian rock and roll act to score an international pop hit with their 1966 single "Friday on My Mind".

The band's line-up exemplified the influence of post-war migration on Australian society. All five founding members were from families who had migrated to Australia from Europe: lead singer Stevie Wright and drummer Gordon "Snowy" Fleet were from England; rhythm guitarist George Young was from Scotland; lead guitarist Harry Vanda and bassist Dick Diamonde were from the Netherlands.The band formed at the Villawood Migrant Hostel where the members' families spent their first years in Australia.

Beginning their career in Sydney in late 1964, the band was inspired by the "British Invasion" spearheaded by The Beatles. They quickly rose to become one of the most popular groups in the city. Real estate agent turned pop manager Mike Vaughan took over as their manager and through his efforts they were signed to a production contract with Albert Productions, one of Australia's first independent record production companies. It was established by Ted Albert, whose family owned J. Albert and Sons, one of Australia's oldest and largest music publishing companies.

Albert then signed the band to a recording contract with EMI's Parlophone label, and they began a meteoric rise to national stardom. By the end of 1965 they were the most popular and successful pop band in Australia, and their concerts and public appearances were regularly marked by intense fan hysteria which was very similar to 'Beatlemania' and which was soon dubbed 'Easyfever'.

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