A Rockin' Rollin' Man: Bon Scott Remembered – An Excerpt

by Greg Prato

There have been few rock singers as beloved as the late/great Bon Scott of AC/DC. After all, it was his unmistakable vocals and street-wise/sexually-charged lyrics that were a major part of such all-time classic rock anthems as "Highway to Hell," "Sin City," "Whole Lotta Rosie," "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap," and "TNT." And it was the "Bon era" that set the stage for AC/DC to go on to become one of rock's most universally popular and enduring bands.

But few rockers partied as hard as Bon - sadly resulting in his death at the age of 33, just before AC/DC scored their worldwide breakthrough, with the mega-selling Back In Black. To mark 40 years since Bon's tragic passing, A Rockin' Rollin' Man: Bon Scott Remembered has been assembled - comprised entirely of all-new interviews with renowned rockers, discussing what made Bon so special and unforgettable.

Below are excerpts from the book...
Blaine Cartwright [Nashville Pussy singer/guitarist]: People in America first saw them on The Midnight Special back in 1978 - when Ted Nugent hosted. People didn't know who they were. The Midnight Special came on Friday night, and when we all got on the school bus on Monday, we were talking about The Midnight Special, and we were talking about the band AC/DC. I had actually put a cassette recorder up to the TV - the old school ones, like an open-air recorder that you talk into - and taped AC/DC. It was so good.

They played "Sin City," and we all rushed out to get whatever album that was on. I think my friend got Powerage and I got If You Want Blood. So, that was our "big band that people didn't know yet." The real hardcore people that really liked music. I was just 13/14 years old. We had seen their album covers, and we didn't know what to think - because a couple of them didn't get released in America. So, that was kind of "the big moment." I liked those guys ever since Powerage. There were so many rock bands back then - this is when Kiss was huge, and Led Zeppelin was still around, and the Stones were coming to town and everything else.

Michael Monroe [Hanoi Rocks singer/saxophonist]: Bon Scott was a hero. His lyrics defined rock n' roll singers - as opposed to some fantasy about being a star and living some kind of fantasy life. He was very down to earth. Living on the road - like in "It's a Long Way to the Top." Actually, we referred to it - there is a song called "The Pitfalls of Being an Outsider" on our new record [2019's One Man Gang]. It says, "It ain't a long way to the bottom" - it's kind of reflecting Bon Scott's "It's a Long Way to the Top." He was an idol. He was one of my biggest inspirations. I had already decided to be a rock singer, but when I got the first AC/DC album, I thought, "OK, this is it. This guy is the business."

And then he had tattoos. Wherever he got his tattoos, to me, it was cool - rockers should have tattoos. Like in the lyrics from "Rocker," off Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap - "Got Lurex socks, Blue suede shoes, V8 car, And tattoos." To me, that was one of the inspirations for me having tattoos - back then only the Stray Cats and Bon Scott had tattoos. That's when I got mine. Now, everybody has them. You can't find anybody with no tattoos. But Bon Scott was the inspiration for me to have tattoos, as well. I have three of them - the rose, a black panther, and the Geisha girl. I didn't want anymore, anyways.

But yeah, Bon Scott - one of the greatest singers. His voice was unique. And the lyrics - "Hotel, Motel, Make you wanna cry" - they were genius. It was so basic and simple. He was for real. You could tell when you listened to "Sin City," for example, he's singing about, "Fingers Freddy, Diamond Jim." They were probably friends of his that he played cards with or something! He was real - you could tell that he was for real. He was not faking it. Absolutely one of the greatest ever.

Bun E. Carlos [ex-Cheap Trick drummer]: We saw them later that summer in Germany [on September 1, 1979, at Zeppelinfeld in Nurnberg] with the Who. There's a picture of me, Robin, and Bon shooting pool in the hotel bar on a day off somewhere. The morning after the gig, me and Robin went down to the restaurant to eat, and Bon was sitting there, and said, "Join me!" - he took his arm and cleared the table, and knocked everything on the floor! The waitress wanted to kill him, of course, because it was Germany.

By then, he was walking around with two bottles and was drunk all the time. And one more thing about Germany, I have a picture of us when we were on a TV show, and we were all taking a break. AC/DC was doing five live songs, for a show that was going to be put on later that fall, and the other bands were lip-synching to one song. We took a break, and me and three roadies walked out back, and somebody had a joint, and Bon came walking along - so we were all sitting out there. There was a bike rack, and Bon hopped on some guy's bike, and started riding it around. It was a station employee's. Of course, this guy comes out and starts yelling at Bon - in German. So, Bon stands up... and gives him the "Heil Hitler" salute, and starts going, "Heil Hitler!" And the guy was just steaming - he wanted to kill Bon - but if you played the Hitler card on a German back then, they couldn't do anything. They had to just stand there and suffer, kind of, because it was the shame of the country. So, Bon was getting to be kind of like that. And that was the last time we saw him - was Germany.

We were billed above AC/DC, so that was kind of neat [at the Zeppelinfeld show]. They put on Miriam Makeba after us, so the crowd would calm down before the Who, and Daltrey threw a beer in Kenney Jones' face, because he wasn't too happy with his drumming. And AC/DC were killer - they did the usual set that they were doing that summer. It was all good.

They were so good back then, and you didn't know it at the time. A few years later, when Bon was not around, you're looking back and you're going, "Man, I didn't realize how good these guys were."

AC/DC at the Apollo Manchester, 1979<br>Photo: Harry Potts, used with permissionAC/DC at the Apollo Manchester, 1979
Photo: Harry Potts, used with permission
Tony Platt [Highway to Hell and Back in Black mixing engineer]: That particular morning is burned into my memory [February 19, 1980]. I was working with Mutt on another album [the self-titled debut by an English band, Broken Home]. I was staying at this friend of mine's flat in Kensington, so Mutt was picking me up in his car on the way through to the studio. We actually had started listening to rehearsal demos of songs from the guys. Because Back in Black, we already had the plans ready and the studio booked. So, we knew that album was about to start - it was the next one we were going to do.

We got to the studio and started working, and Mutt got called out to take a call, and he came back - he was just grey-faced. He said, "You're not going to believe what that was about... Bon's dead." It was just the most incredible shock. You go, "Wow. How did that happen?" At that time, there was only scant details about it - but more emerged as the day went on.

I think it was a surprise, because there was something that Malcolm said actually, when we'd started recording Back in Black. Mal and I were sitting out, having a beer one evening, and during the course of the conversation the subject of Bon would come up. One of the things that Mal said was, "The thing about Bon is it didn't matter what happened... he'd disappear at the end of a gig, and we'd have another gig in another town the next day, and he'd always be there. He'd never fail. It didn't matter what he did - he was always there. He always turned up. The difficult thing is getting used to the fact that he's not going to turn up anymore."

Simon Wright [ex-AC/DC drummer]: No, I never meet him. I met a lot of people who knew him, and I take trips to Australia, and I've got some friends over there that I play with at least once a year, and they do a Bon Scott tribute - it's called Bon But Not Forgotten. It's a bunch of Australian players that are renowned in Australia. We get up there and do a lot of Bon songs, and have a good laugh. You meet the people, and some of the stories are pretty cool. He sounds like a really great guy - a real bundle of energy and a good time.

I actually did a show with Mark Evans, who was the second AC/DC bass player. While I was over in Australia, we did some shows together, and he was telling me some stories. We actually did some TV interviews, and he was reminiscing about the time when he first met Bon. Apparently, Bon came in and Mark was there. Bon bought him a drink, said hello, and the next thing you know, Mark is ironing Bon's trousers before the show! Mark was like, "Bon was off at the bar... and I was left there ironing his trousers." That's what a smooth talker Bon was - he could get the bass player to iron his trousers.

They would bring up little things [when Simon was in AC/DC]. Kind of reminiscing, and saying, "Oh, remember when Bon did that?" Or "Bon loved that." That kind of thing. But they would never really elaborate. I think they were so close, that it kind of just went without saying. You could tell that they were still really affected by not having Bon around as a friend.

Don Jamieson [That Metal Show co-host]: I think Bon should be - and is - remembered as a rock star. We don't really have those anymore. With social media and everything, the rock star thing has kind of lost its mystique. Do you think Bon would be on Twitter or Instagram if he was alive today?! He'd be like, "Get this shit out of here! Go get me a bottle of Bourbon and a little speed - I've got a show to play!" I don't think he'd be hanging out on Twitter - or Myspace back in the day. So, he's a bonafide rock star, and that's how he should be remembered.

Here is the ordering info for A Rockin' Rollin' Man: Bon Scott Remembered.

Further reading:
The End Of The Rock Era
Buck Dharma (Blue Öyster Cult) interview
Suzi Quatro interview
Fact or Fiction: Scorpions
Paul Dianno (ex-Iron Maiden) interview
Steve "Zetro" Souza interview

January 30, 2020

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