It’s Turntable Tuesday…because life is too short not to listen to great music! Turn that TV off! Crank up the local fireplace and ignore that cold winter weather! You need some music to warm things up and AC-DC just came out of my collection to knock the chill off via the heat from my power amplifier.
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It is Summer 1980 and the seventh album from AC-DC called “Back in Black” has just released. The band has a new singer, one Brian Johnson as the previous singer Bon Scott had just died. This album was recorded at Compass Point Studios in Nassau, Bahamas over a seven week period that started with a tropical storms which seems to have had a bit of influence on some lyrics of “Hells Bells.”
I’m rolling thunder, pouring rain
I’m coming on like a hurricane
My lightning’s flashing across the sky…
Photo by Andrew Talbert.
This album was produced by Mutt Lange who had also worked on their previous hit album back in 1979. When you look at the spectrum of work Robert John Lange produced he is the driver behind a long list of hits which include the likes of everyone from The Cars to Lady Gaga. Once the album recording was completed in April and May of 1980 the mixing took place at Electric Lady Studios in New York City.
“Hells Bells” is a track on this record and it begins with a slow church bell that sounds a bit like a funeral tone. It was not recorded in the Bahamas as a bell tower could not be used due to the birds living there. After the album recording was completed this track was recorded using a 2000 pound bronze bell which was manufactured in Loughborough at John Taylor and Company. The sound was recorded by the assistant engineer Tony Platt using Ronnie Lane’s Mobile Studio inside the foundry.
This album run time is 42:11 which is almost perfect to get a stellar vinyl pressing of roughly 20 minutes per side. This vinyl copy in the photos is a 2003 remastered repress that has only been played once and sounds great. There are many reviews of this album all over the internet and publications and most will agree that this album is the template for a great rock and roll recording. I will leave it right there for the blog. Tune in for a story or two on the podcast!
Until next time I’ll see you, down the road.