Angus Young’s favorite AC/DC riff and song

The guitarist of AC/DC Angus Young speaking about his band’s discography in a 2014 interview with Triple M he revealed what his favorite song was, as well as the guitar riff he likes to play the most.

Angus’ favorite song dates back to the group’s early period, in the seventies, when the singer was still Bon Scott. “I think for me it’s probably the song that started it all. I think it’s the first great song we ever had, especially in Australia, ‘Long Way to The Top if Want to Rock N’ Roll’. Or as some people say ‘Long Way to the Shop if You Want a Sausage Roll’.”

The
AC/DC
they didn’t spend much time recording their first albums. Second
Angus Young
this song was born from a jam recorded by their brother and producer,
George Young
. “Many of our early songs were done in one or two rehearsals. ‘Long Way To The Top’ was a jam session. We were just playing and my brother George let the tape record. After we finished, he would jump up and down in the studio, saying, ‘Great, great! This is magic!’ We thought, ‘What is he talking about?’ He played it back for us and there it was, it had that magical vibe.”

Curiously, that song has a bagpipe solo recorded by
Bon Scott
who had never played that instrument before in his life. “He had never played it before in his life. He comes into the studio and George asks him, ‘Why did you tell me you played it?’ He replies: ‘No, I told you I was in a Highland pipe band. I played the drums.'”

In the same conversation with Triple M,
Angus Young
told an interesting fact about another song on the album
“TNT”
in
“High Voltage”
played ACDC chords. “Yes, it’s true. I remember when the idea came to me. We were in a truck heading to Whyalla in South Australia. I was singing that ‘High Voltage, Rock and Roll’ thing. And I think it was Phil (Rudd, AC/DC drummer) who said to me: ‘It’s a bit cheesy’. I said: ‘Yes, it might be cheesy, but it could be our next song’.”

When it comes to playing, Angus takes great pleasure with
“Back in black”
: “Man… I like ‘Back in Black’. I like it because it’s a song where you immediately hit that first chord ‘bump, dadan, dadan’. Then you play a cool little riff, it’s just wonderful. When I play I say to myself: ‘Man, what a joy. I can stand up and try to look cool, which is quite difficult when you’re standing there. I’m not a kid anymore, so standing there in the school uniform is not easy.”

Close to him during the interview
Brian Johnson
he says that when Angus plays those first chords it’s like “exploding a grenade”, because the audience goes crazy. According to him the same thing happens when they play
“Thunderstruck”, “You Shook Me All Night Long”
And
“Highway to Hell”
. “It’s exactly those chords that the kids make. It sets off a fuse, it’s really exciting to watch them from the stage.”

Regard
“Back in black” Malcolm Young
and brother Angus worked on it during the tour of
“Highway to Hell”
the last one before the death of
Bon Scott
. Once backstage, Malcolm played the song’s intro and asked Angus for his opinion. He recalls: “From the first day I heard Mal play the riff idea to me, I thought ‘What a great riff’.”