Music / High Voltage

aka: Seventy Four Jailbreak

High Voltage.

'74 Jailbreak.

High Voltage is the debut studio album by AC/DC, released in 1975. Like its successor from the same year - T.N.T. (1975) - the album was released only in Australia. An album of the same name was released internationally the following year, but it only features "She's Got Balls" and "Little Lover" off this album. Nearly all the remaining songs (except for "Love Song" and "Stick Around") are included on the internationally released EP 74 Jailbreak, which was released in 1984.

This album is notable as it features neither Mark Evans nor Phil Rudd - the band's first stable rhythm section (discounting Malcolm Young of course) . At the time, the band's bassist and drummer were Rob Bailey and Peter Clack respectively. However, neither Bailey nor Clack appeared on the album much, with the latter appearing on just one song ("She's Got Balls"). The rest of the drum parts were played by session musicians: either George Young (older brother of Malcolm and Angus; famous in his own right as a member of The Easybeats and as a songwriter and producer. Young produced this album with Harry Vanda, also of The Easybeats), Tony Currenti and John Proud. Aside from Bailey, the bass was played by Malcolm and George Young.

Hits and favourites include "Baby Please Don't Go", "She's Got Balls", "Little Lover", "Soul Stripper" and "Show Business".

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Tracklist:

1. "Baby, Please Don't Go" (4:50)
2. "She's Got Balls" (4:51)
3. "Little Lover" (5:37)
4. "Stick Around" (4:40)
5. "Soul Stripper" (6:25)
6. "You Ain't Got A Hold On Me" (3:31)
7. "Love Song" (5:15)
8. "Show Business" (4:46)

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Tracklist ('74 Jailbreak):

1. "Jailbreak" (4:40)
2. "You Ain't Got A Hold On Me" (3:31)
3. "Show Business" (4:46)
4. "Soul Stripper" (6:25)
5. "Baby, Please Don't Go" (4:50)

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Principal Members:

• Rob Bailey - bass
• Peter Clack - drums
• Mark Evans - bass ^note Only on "Jailbreak" from the EP '74 Jailbreak
• Phil Rudd - drums, percussion ^note Only on "Jailbreak" from the EP '74 Jailbreak
• Bon Scott - lead vocals
• Angus Young - guitar
• Malcolm Young - guitar, vocals, bass

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Trope Business:

• Album Title Drop: Averted. The song "High Voltage" appeared on T.N.T. (1975) instead.
• Alliterative Title: Little Lover
• Call-and-Response Song: The middle section of "Baby Please Don't Go" has a very funny one of these between Bon's voice and Angus's guitar, with Angus exactly mimicking Bon's phrasing: at one point, Bon utters an offhand "Uh-huh" instead of singing a phrase, and Angus makes his guitar go "Uh-huh" by dragging his finger up the string and then quickly down again. Later, when Bon sings an unusually long line, Angus plays a really disgusted-sounding guitar break instead of trying to copy it.
• Careful with That Axe: "BABY PLEASE DON'T GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO NOOOO NOOOOO NOOOO NOOOOOOOOO!"
• Cover Version: "Baby, Please Don't Go", originally by Big Joe Williams, although AC/DC's version is a faster, harder, tighter and flashier version of the Them version, making it a cover of a cover.
• Early-Installment Weirdness: Can be considered this. Especially considering that it largely lacks their signature sound that they would soon fully develop. Doesn't help that this was before either Mark Evans or Phil Rudd joined the band, and not long after Bon Scott replaced Dave Evans.
• Non-Indicative Name: The song "High Voltage" doesn't appear on this album, it appears on T.N.T. (1975) instead.
• Silly Love Songs: "Love Song".

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