Few bands unite people quite like AC/DC. From tattooed bikers to such A-list celebrities as Stephen King and Robert Downey Jr, you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who actively dislikes them. Let’s face it, the 200 million people who have bought their records – 50 million of who picked up Back In Black – can’t be wrong.
But Angus Young and co had one very unlikely fan: Frank Zappa. On paper, this meeting of minds didn’t make much sense. The late Zappa was art-rock provocateur whose music straddled psychedelia, jazz, classical and pretty much everything in between. By contrast, AC/DC were the ultimate blue collar rock’n’roll band, one who would have run a mile from the words ‘avant garde’.
Yet Frank was an avid fan of the Australian band, as his son, Dweezil, confirmed to Classic Rock in 2015. “He loved rhythm and blues, and AC/DC is essentially is a very heavy-duty, electrified rhythm and blues band,” Dweezil said of his dad, who died in 1993.
Despite Zappa’s own highbrow approach to music, the Aussie band’s honesty and authenticity appealed to him. He was onboard with AC/DC impressively early – and he was prepared to put his money where his mouth was.
“When we first travelled to Australia [in the early 70s] he tried to sign them,” he said. “They ended up signing to Atlantic Records but he wanted them for his own label because he thought they were great
“I think he saw what everybody saw: they could play, they had a ton of energy and they were authentic. It was blues-based and it had an attitude. The thing about AC/DC is they’ve carved a massive career out of playing one style that’s changed very, very little. That’s what people love – that consistency. They’re rock-solid and they have a great sound.”
Sadly, these two musical worlds never actually collided, though Angus and Malcolm Young did participate in a still-unfinished piece of music titled What The Hell Was I Thinking?, that Dweezil himself began writing back in 1989 and also features appearances from Brian May, Eddie Van Halen and more.
Said Dweezil: “It was for a piece of music that I wrote and it’s pretty unique because as far as I’m aware I don’t think they’ve played on anything except AC/DC material. But they did, for me – both of them.
“The piece is something called What The Hell Was I Thinking. It’s a continuous piece of music that’s 65 minutes long. Maybe it’s best to describe it as an audio movie. There’s a whole bunch of other guitarists that play on it, too – Brian May, Edward Van Halen, Eric Johnson, Steve Morse, Steve Vai, Joe Walsh, Robben Ford, Yngwie Malmsteen… there are probably 40 different guitarists on there, and there are bound to be several more before it’s done because it’s still not completed.
“Angus and Malcolm are basically doing what they do, and the thing that’s so cool about it is that Angus played six or seven different takes for his solo and every single one was very well crafted. I was blown away by his natural ability to phrase a solo and have it make sense from beginning to end, despite being improvised. He has a very specific approach to playing. In some ways it’s very simplistic and in others it’s extremely sophisticated. That’s a great combination. And besides that, it has a really raw energy to it.”
