Angus Young reveals the arrival of the last two great rock songs in 1968
Rock ‘n’ roll, at its heart, is simple. As Angus Young himself notes, it’s the perfect soundtrack for teenagers, built on a foundational spirit rather than needless complexity. The secret, he suggests, lies in serving vital soul food; why change the recipe?
Young argues that the genre’s initial appeal stemmed from its simplicity and spirit, tracing its ultimate influence back to figures like Chuck Berry. In his view, certain bands merely subverted this magical formula a little too far, moving away from the core sound that first captured the masses.
He drew a hard line in the sand regarding evolving musical trends, dismissing genres like progressive rock as needlessly pretentious. For Young, these complex concoctions felt like putting the cheese on the outside of the toastie—a distraction from the pure energy of rock and roll.
This feeling of divergence crystallized around 1968. Young felt that the explosion of increasingly intricate rock sounds marked a departure from the essential sound, signaling the end of an era where imitation was a celebrated boon.
He pinpointed the shift to classic rock as a definitive moment, suggesting that the music stopped getting genuinely good once bands began chasing soulless originality instead of maintaining authenticity. The transition was marked by the rise of bands that favored orchestral overtures and dissonant saxophone solos over raw blues foundations.
The true, enduring power of rock resides in its core, and Young found this truth perfectly encapsulated in two specific tracks: ‘Jumpin’ Jack Flash’ and ‘Street Fighting Man’ by the Rolling Stones. These songs captured the raw, rebellious attitude of the Stones precisely when their blues roots and thrilling riffs combined perfectly.
Young admired the Stones’ ability to achieve greatness with minimal notes, observing how Keith Richards could convey immense feeling with just one note. He recalls struggling to master the performance of ‘Jumpin’ Jack Flash’ as a youngster, admitting that the effort was about capturing the feeling rather than technical perfection. What truly counts is the credibility of the performance, not the notes played.
Ultimately, the essence of those two masterpieces lies firmly in the blues. While the personality of the Stones brought individualism to the sound, Young observed that subsequent attempts to introduce excessive complexity merely masked the original brilliance. The classic rock sound, he concluded, stopped when the focus shifted from genuine rock energy to complicated fashion.
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