Man Down - A Tribute To AC/DC's Malcolm Young

Malcolm Young was only twenty years old when he and his little brother Angus Young formed AC/DC in 1973! Young was born on January 6th, 1953 in Glasgow Scotland, U.K. Malcolm (alongside fifteen members of his family, including Angus and their big brother George, as well as their older brothers Stephen and William Jr., the only sister Margaret Horsburgh and their parents, William and Martha), all left Scotland due to 1963's "The Big Freeze".

"The Big Freeze" was the worst winter on record in Scotland. The snow reached a height of eight feet! A TV advertisement at the same time offered assisted travel for families for a different life in Australia. And so, in June 1963, the Young family left Scotland via aeroplane. In describing his family's musical background, Malcolm replied: "All the males in our family played. Stevie, the oldest, played accordion, Alex and John were the first couple to play guitar and being older, it was sort of passed down to George, then to me then to Angus."

The Young family stayed at the Villawood Migrant Hostel in Nissen huts. This is where George Young met and become friends with another migrant -- Harry Vanda! George Young and Harry Vanda formed a band called "Marcus Hook Roll Band". Malcolm and Angus were also members of the band. The band released an album in Australia called: "Tales Of Old Grand Daddy". Malcolm played guitar on the 1974 release "Evie" by Stevie Wright. The song was written by George Young and Harry Vanda. The song has three parts and is eleven minutes long. Malcolm played on the first part. For a short time, Malcolm was in a short lived Newcastle band called: "The Velvet Underground" (this is not to be confused with the popular "Velvet Underground" band of the 1960's).

Malcolm Young was only twenty years old when he and Angus first formed the band -- AC/DC! This was in 1973. Angus played lead guitar while Malcolm played rhythm guitar. The band's first release was "Can I Sit Next To You, Girl?" The brothers named AC/DC after seeing the letters on the back of their sister's sewing machine. By October of 1974, AC/DC had released (in Australia only) the record: "High Voltage". Recording took ten days with instrumental song that were written by Malcolm and Angus. Within a few months, AC/DC's membership had stabilized. Besides the Young Brothers, the band consisted of singer Bon Scott, Bassist Mark Evans and drummer Phil Rudd. Later on that year, the band released the song: "It's A Long Way To The Top", A fun (and well known) promotional video was made for the program "Countdown". It featured the band miming the song while on the back of a flatbed truck. The song is regarded as their perennial rock anthem! It was placed on the band's second album "T.N.T." in 1975. This album was released in both Australia and New Zealand only.

In 1976, the band signed an international deal with Atlantic Records. The first album to achieve worldwide distribution was an 1976's compilation of tracks taken from both "High Voltage" and "T.N.T." The album was also called "High Voltage". To date, the album has sold three million copies worldwide. AC/DC's first American exposure was through the Michigan radio station AM 600 WTAC in 1977. Manager Peter C. Cavanaugh booked the band to play at Flint's Capitol Theater. The band's major breakthrough was in 1979 with the album: "Highway To Hell". AC/DC's reputation and fame continued to grow. The Australian punk rock band Frenzal Rhomb released both an album and a song called "Forever Malcolm Young" in tribute for Young.

In April of 2014, Malcolm became seriously ill and was unable to continue touring. On April 16th, the band stated that Malcolm w ould be "Taking a break from the band due to ill health. "There were rumors that AC/DC were retiring. Singer Brian Johnson stated that the band would continue. Malcolm's nephew, Stevie Young, substituted for Malcolm. On September 26th, 2014, it was revealed that Malcolm was suffering from dementia and had been admitted to a nursing home. At the conclusion of the Black Ice tour, Malcolm was diagnosed with lung cancer. It was treated early and was removed via surgery. Malcolm also had an unspecified heart problem for which he wore a pacemaker.

Malcolm Young died November 18th , 2017. He was only 64. Young's older brother George Young had died a few weeks earlier on October 22nd, 2017. Tributes to Malcolm Young have been quickly forthcoming. Dave Mustaine of Megadeth stated in 2004 that he considered himself, Malcolm , and James Hetfield of Metallica to be the best rhythm guitarists in the world!

Malcolm Young co-founded AC/DC, one of the best bands around. R.I.P.