Why Didn't The AC/DC Style Originate In America?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by thnkgreen, Jan 12, 2021.

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  1. thnkgreen

    thnkgreen Sprezzatura! Thread Starter

    Location:
    NC, USA
    I agree Chuck Berry was a clear inspiration. That is what I am asking - why didn't an American band amplify the Chuck Berry rock 'n' roll style before AC/DC?
     
  2. joelee

    joelee Hyperactive!

    Location:
    Houston
    ditto
     
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  3. GoodKitty

    GoodKitty FloydM

    Location:
    Pacific
    AC/DC covered Chuck Berry's "School Days" in 1975 on the T.N.T. album, one of only two (or three?) cover tunes that they ever recorded. That says a lot.



    They also covered "Baby Please Don't Go" in 1974, likely inspired by Them's version.
     
    Last edited: Jan 12, 2021
  4. WolfSpear

    WolfSpear Music Enthusiast

    Location:
    Florida
    Explain their style...

    I've always viewed them as hard rock band with a viscous prowl. I think in hindsight, they embody the spirit of early rock, hence it had already existed...
     
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  5. blastfurniss

    blastfurniss Forum Resident

    Location:
    Marion, OH, USA
    The thing about Chuck Berry is he influenced nearly everyone. You can hear it in the Stones, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, Springsteen, etc. America produced it's share of noisy guitar driven bands. MC5, Alice Cooper, The Stooges and many more long before the Young brothers came on the scene. Given the influence of Buddy Holly and the Crickets you could argue that their rightful pop heirs should be American and not from Liverpool. I like to think that rock & roll is the universal language and that any band from any country can leave their stamp on the genre and the world.
     
  6. E.Baba

    E.Baba Forum Resident

    Vanda and Young. Say no more.
     
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  7. JosepZ

    JosepZ Digital knight of the analog masters

    Location:
    Barcelona, Spain
    If that's the point, it originated with Hendrix. He made pop music and the blues really electric and heavy. He just seemed to lack the rock n'roll/dance factor most of the time. AC/DC took the Rolling Stones and added Hendrix's energy, and there it is. And never underestimate Cream's and Led Zeppelin's importance in the process, even if Young will never acknowledge Zeppelin.
     
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  8. nolazep

    nolazep Burrito Enthusiast

    Maybe if the New York Dolls wore jeans and t-shirts they'd have come close.
     
  9. E.Baba

    E.Baba Forum Resident

    Listen to the live recordings. Not 'heavy' ?
     
  10. JosepZ

    JosepZ Digital knight of the analog masters

    Location:
    Barcelona, Spain
    I'm not a fan, but that's pretty much what Blue Cheer did. It just wasn't as catchy. And maybe it lacked a bit of groove.
     
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  11. YardByrd

    YardByrd rock n roll citizen in a hip hop world

    Location:
    Europe
    Their genius isn't in the loud, crunchy guitars and primal stomp... they didn't invent it... their genius is in the riffs and hooks, songs and performances...
     
  12. Leroyd

    Leroyd Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ireland
    And Australia
     
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  13. thnkgreen

    thnkgreen Sprezzatura! Thread Starter

    Location:
    NC, USA
    Let's just pick a track as an example. Point me to a band from either America or the UK that sounded like this before AC/DC, bearing in mind that the entire album from which this track originates sounds like this. Even Hendrix would have a 'Little Wing' on his album.

     
  14. MartyGabriel

    MartyGabriel Jaded Realist.

    Location:
    USA
    For the most part, yes, but it's a matter of perspective really. In the 50's and the early 60's stuff like his and Rockabilly stuff that the Cramps championed were the scourge of the earth, not music because they were so noisy -- just like hardcore punk. It really didn't take that much to scare America at that time.

    When I first heard AC/DC around 1976 I didn't think anything more than "oh more noisy big schlong rock." They didn't seem any different than say, Aerosmith or Led Zeppelin, really, and I thought it was more or less cute. I thought Todd Rundgren had stuff that was heavier (e.g. "Everybody's Going to Heaven").

    Look about for a semi-bootleg series from Crypt Records called "Songs the Cramps Taught Us" and you'll hear pre garage-rock heaviness.
     
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  15. thnkgreen

    thnkgreen Sprezzatura! Thread Starter

    Location:
    NC, USA
    Without question, genius. I am just surprised that someone in the US didn't come up with it first, like a Link Wray for example making a whole album that sounded like 'Rumble'... yet even that is a slow song.
     
  16. JosepZ

    JosepZ Digital knight of the analog masters

    Location:
    Barcelona, Spain
    Good point.
     
  17. E.Baba

    E.Baba Forum Resident

    E
    Even more so in the early 70s.

    At the time very limited to recent European immigrants and openly derided by everyone else.
     
  18. YardByrd

    YardByrd rock n roll citizen in a hip hop world

    Location:
    Europe
    just as crunchy, just as primal, just as loud... and 1966 to boot! The Sonics - Cinderella

     
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  19. YardByrd

    YardByrd rock n roll citizen in a hip hop world

    Location:
    Europe
    play post #43 LOUD
     
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  20. thnkgreen

    thnkgreen Sprezzatura! Thread Starter

    Location:
    NC, USA
    I think the Ramones are the American equivalent of AC/DC, as their songs hark back to earlier song structures while being very heavy. But they came after AC/DC.
     
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  21. E.Baba

    E.Baba Forum Resident

    You might as well ask why did the Church come from Australia ?
     
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  22. thnkgreen

    thnkgreen Sprezzatura! Thread Starter

    Location:
    NC, USA
    I agree it's loud, but the organ prevents it from having that AC/DC sound I am referring to. The vocals have that Bn Scott quality too. The Ramones on the other hand - heavy (really heavy) guitar, bass drums - that is the sound I am talking about, though Joey Ramone didn't sound like Bon.
     
  23. JosepZ

    JosepZ Digital knight of the analog masters

    Location:
    Barcelona, Spain
    Now that you made me think about it, I think it actually makes sense. Keep in mind that Australia was heavily exposed to both British and American acts. I can't help but see AC/DC as and amplified Rolling Stones AND a simplified Led Zeppelin. And they were exposed to both bands and all their American predecessors.
     
  24. MrGrumpy

    MrGrumpy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Burbank
    Damn. I thought there was a "vomit" emoji.
     
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  25. JosepZ

    JosepZ Digital knight of the analog masters

    Location:
    Barcelona, Spain
    Also, I think that as a fan you are over estimating what you call the AC/DC style. It's just loud electric heavy blues rock. Several bands were already doing that in the UK and America. Cream, the Stones, Zeppelin, Sabbath, Blue Cheer, Mountain, Montrose, UFO...
    It's just that to obtain the true AC/DC style, you just need AC/DC. But the seeds were already planted elsewhere.
     
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