“I thought I’d seen the last of me too, haha!” he guffaws. And yet here he is once more, just when we thought we’d seen the last of him.
Two years later, Johnson quit the band mid-tour with severe hearing damage, although the dates were completed thanks to the appearance of a certain Axl Rose of Guns N’ Roses.Īlso in 2016, Williams announced his retirement: then 66 years old, the bassist had been treading the boards with AC/DC since 1979, and had definitely earned a break. I don’t think the boys would have appreciated me slapping around. The following tour, on which Stevie took his uncle’s place, also included a replacement drummer, Chris Slade, depping for the sidelined Rudd, who was working through some rather serious legal issues. The band’s 16th album, Rock Or Bust, appeared in 2014 and was their first without Malcolm, who was suffering from dementia.
1979 gibson thunderbird bass guitar plus#
Several decades later, AC/DC – now Williams plus Johnson, drummer Phil Rudd, and guitarists Angus and Stevie Young, who are respectively Malcolm’s brother and nephew – have had a chaotic time of it over the last six years or so. Williams joined AC/DC in 1977, three years before their singer Bon Scott died of a booze and/or heroin overdose, depending on which source you consult, and Brian Johnson was recruited for the band’s imperial phase. “My wife loves The Alchemist, so now and then we’ll put that on, but other than that I don’t listen to Home that much. I was definitely in awe of the James Jamersons of the world: In fact, it might have been him who I first heard playing.”īy the early '70s, Williams was making his name in the psychedelic band Home, but he never listens to their music any more, he tells us. “I had a buddy that somehow got hold of a lot of American blues records, and I’d go over to his place and we’d listen to them, and I don’t know who the players were, but it was a type of music that really attracted me.
I just stood outside and listened to the bass – it was incredible stuff. This was before I’d started playing an instrument. “I remember standing outside a youth club and listening to some soul music, and hearing the basslines. He recalls the first time that bass impressed him, as a young kid in Essex. It’s about the song first, most definitely, and it’s about trying to play the song as best you possibly can every night.”Īn attitude which the bassists who first influenced Williams would appreciate, we think. I try to bring it down to what it needs.”ĭoes he change up his bass parts on tour? “On live stuff, sometimes I’ll vary it a little bit I might put something in that I feel might work, and try it, but that’s about it. I just try and do my bit as best I can,” he muses. He’s also not trying to improve or evolve his bass playing. Flea’s a monster at that stuff, and there are other guys out there that are really good – but it was not for me.” But I never wanted to be very good at it. “I can’t say I didn’t try it, sitting around in a room on my own, just for shits and giggles. They would have slapped me around, I think,” he snickers. “I don’t think the boys would have really appreciated me trying to slap around. I make a habit of asking inappropriate questions about slap, just to see what will happen. Yes, I asked him that question, even though I had a good idea what the answer would be. I just need to be playing the framework, and driving it as part of the rhythm section The songs are very guitar- and chorus-driven, so I don’t need to be noodling around underneath. I know there’s some awesome bass players there, though.” Too busy! My wife hated it, so we got out of there. “My wife and I went and saw John McLaughlin years ago playing at some club, and it made me feel uncomfortable. We went along and I got a chance to talk with him.” I do think Pino Palladino is a great player, and I had the distinct pleasure of having a beer with Rocco Prestia when Tower Of Power were playing in Florida. There’s probably a lot of great young bass players out there, but I’m just not aware of them. “I’m stuck with the old stuff that I know and love. He doesn’t bother looking at YouTube for the next big thing in bass.
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