Angus McKinnon Young (born 31 March 1955) is a Scottish-born Australian guitarist best known as a co-founder, lead guitarist, and songwriter of the Australian hard rock band, AC/DC. Known for his energetic performances, schoolboy-uniform stage outfits, and his popularization of Chuck Berry's duckwalk, Rolling Stone magazine has ranked Young as the 24th greatest guitarist of all time. In 2003, he and the other members of AC/DC were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Prior to forming AC/DC, Young played in a local group called Kantuckee. Kantuckee's lineup included Bob McGlynn (vocals), Angus Young (guitar), Jon Stevens (bass) & Trevor James (drums). The band split and was later called Tantrum with the following line up: Mark Sneddon (vocals-guitar), Angus Young (guitar), Jon Stevens (bass) and Trevor James (drums). He was 18 when he and his older brother Malcolm formed AC/DC in 1973 with Angus on lead guitar, Malcolm on rhythm guitar, Colin Burgess on drums, Larry Van Kriedt on bass guitar and Dave Evans on vocals. "Can I Sit Next To You Girl," their first single, was later re-recorded with Bon Scott as their vocalist. They may have gotten the name AC/DC after seeing the letters "AC/DC" on the back of a sewing machine, or it may be credited to George Young's wife, Sandra.
Angus tried a number of stage costumes, such as Spider-Man, Zorro, a gorilla, and a parody of Superman, named Super-Ang, before settling on his signature schoolboy look at the suggestion of his sister. To match this image the press and public were told that Young was born in 1959, not 1955. The original uniform was from his secondary school, Ashfield Boys High School in Sydney.--178.209.133.237 (talk) 05:45, 31 May 2012 (UTC) "I don't like to play above or below people's heads. Basically, I just like to get up in front of a crowd and rip it up."
Angus Young's playing style is very straight blues playing in both the minor and major pentatonic twelve bar blues. In AC/DC's earlier recordings, power chords can be heard in songs such as "T.N.T." and "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)". He also utilises touches of Scottish folk in his playing, and pull-off arpeggios (pull-offs, played one-handed) are a popular trick, appearing in songs such as "Who Made Who", "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap", "Sin City", "Thunderstruck", "Let There Be Rock" (live). In 1976, the band recorded an instrumental arrangement of the Scottish traditional song "Loch Lomond", retitled "Fling Thing", which has appeared in their stage act over the years. The title refers to the Highland Fling. Young occasionally provides backing vocals along with Malcolm and bassist Cliff Williams on songs such as "T.N.T." and "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap".
A common criticism of AC/DC is that their songs are excessively simple and formulaic. In reply, Young stated in an interview with the Atlanta Gazette in 1979:
“ It's just rock and roll. A lot of times we get criticised for it. A lot of music papers come out with: 'When are they going to stop playing these three chords?' If you believe you shouldn't play just three chords it's pretty silly on their part. To us, the simpler a song is, the better, 'cause it's more in line with what the person on the street is.Angus Young is famous for his wild onstage antics: intense jumps and running back and forth across the crowd. Once Young would clamber on to Bon Scott's or Brian Johnson's shoulders during concerts and they would make their way through the audience with smoke streaming from a satchel on his own back, while he played an extended improvised guitar solo, usually during the song "Rocker" with Scott or during "Let There Be Rock" with Johnson. He frequently does Chuck Berry's duck walk, as well as a kind of spasm, during which he throws himself to the ground, kicking, shaking, and spinning in circles, while playing the guitar. He first feigned a spasm to avoid embarrassment when he tripped over a lead at a gig.
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