It's A long way to the top
1946 – 1966: The Early Years
Bon Scott was born on 9 July 1946 at Fyfe Jamieson Maternity Hospital in Forfar, the son of Charles Belford "Chick" Scott and Isabelle Cunningham "Isa" Mitchell. He grew up in Kirriemuir and was the second of five children to his parents, the first-born was a boy, Sandy, who died shortly after birth. A third child, Derek, was born in 1949 and then the Scott family moved from Scotland to Australia in 1952. A fourth child, Graeme, was born in 1953 and also Bon had a younger sister named Valerie.
They initially lived in the Melbourne suburb of Sunshine, and Scott attended nearby Sunshine Primary School. In 1956, the family moved to Fremantle. Bon joined the associated Fremantle Scots Pipe Band, learning the drums. He attended North Fremantle Primary School and later John Curtin College of the Arts until Bon's strong distaste for authority led him to quit his studies at the age of 15. He spent a short time in Fremantle Prison's assessment centre and nine months at the Riverbank Juvenile Institution, relating to charges of giving a false name and address to the police, having escaped legal custody, having unlawful carnal knowledge, and stealing 12 gallons of petrol. He attempted to join the Australian Army but was rejected, being deemed "Socially maladjusted".
1966–1970: The Spektors and The Valentines
Bon's earliest musical efforts were both on vocals (Inspired by his idol “Little Richard”) and on the drums. After working as a postman, bartender and truck packer, Scott started his first band, The Spektors, in 1966 as drummer and occasional lead singer. One year later the Spektors merged with another local band, the Winston’s, and formed The Valentines, in which Scott was co-lead singer with Vince Lovegrove. The Valentines recorded several songs written by George Young (Older brother of Angus and Malcolm Young) and formally of The Easybeats. "Every Day I Have to Cry" made the local record chart. In 1970, after gaining a place in the National Top 30 with their single "Juliette", the Valentines disbanded due to artistic differences after a much-publicised drug scandal.
1970-1973: Fraternity
Within six months of The Valentine's dissolution and having moved to Adelaide, Bon joined a new blues-rock band called Fraternity. Fraternity released the LPs Livestock and Flaming Galah before touring the UK in 1973, where they changed their name to "Fang". During this time, they played support slots for Status Quo and Geordie, whose front man, Brian Johnson, would become the lead singer of AC/DC after Bon’s death. During this time, on 24 January 1972, Scott married Irene Thornton. The efforts of the band to achieve some success in Europe were largely fruitless and they returned to Australia slightly disillusioned. On his return Bon took a day job at the Wallaroo fertiliser plant and began singing with the Mount Lofty Rangers. After one rehearsal at about 11 pm on 3 May 1974, at the Old Lion Hotel in North Adelaide, a very drunk and belligerent Scott had a raging argument with a member of the band. Bon stormed out of the venue, threw a bottle of Jack Daniel's on to the ground, then sped off on his Suzuki GT550 motorbike. Bon suffered serious injuries from the ensuing motorcycle accident, spending three days in a coma and a further 18 days in hospital. Shortly however, after his recovery, Bon was given the chance to drive the tour bus for this new and upcoming band called AC/DC. Having watched the band, Bon was impressed, and he immediately wanted to join them, but thought they may be a bit too inexperienced and too young. After the show, backstage, Bon expressed his doubts about them being "Able to rock". The two Young brothers told Bon he was "Too old to rock". The upshot was that they had a jam session that night in the home of Bon's former mentor, Bruce Howe, and at the end of the session, at dawn, it was obvious that AC/DC had found a new singer. And Bon had found a new band.
1974-1980: The AC/DC Years
Bon replaced Dave Evans as the lead singer of AC/DC on 24 October 1974, when it became obvious the band and Evans were heading in different directions, with Evans having personal clashes with band members and management. With the Young brothers as lead and rhythm guitarists, session drummer Tony Currenti and George Young as a temporary bassist, AC/DC released High Voltage, their first LP in Australia in February 1975. Within a few months Currenti was replaced by Phil Rudd and Mark Evans was hired as a permanent bassist, and AC/DC began recording their second album T.N.T., which was released in Australia in December 1975. The first AC/DC album to gain international distribution however was a compilation of tracks from the first two albums, also entitled High Voltage, which was released in May 1976. Another studio album, Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap was released in the same year, but only in Australia; the international version of the album was released in November 1976 in the UK and in March 1981 in the US, with a different track listing. In the following years, AC/DC gained further success with their albums Let There Be Rock and Powerage. The 1978 release of Powerage marked the debut of bassist Cliff Williams and with its harder riffs, followed the blueprint set by Let There Be Rock. The album was the last produced by Harry Vanda and George Young with Bon Scott on vocals. An appearance at the Apollo Theatre in Glasgow during the Powerage tour was recorded and released as If You Want Blood You've Got It. The band's sixth album, Highway to Hell, was produced by Robert "Mutt" Lange and was released in 1979. It became AC/DC's first LP to break the US top 100, eventually reaching No.17 subsequently propelling AC/DC on to rock stardom.
1980: Bon’s Death
Sadly, behind the “Bonny Scott” demeanour, he was also a heavy drinker and this would ultimately lead to tragedy. On 15 February 1980, Bon attended a session where Malcolm and Angus Young were working on the beginnings of two songs that would later be recorded on the Back in Black album; “Have a Drink On Me” and “Let Me Put My Love Into You” with Scott accompanying on drums rather than singing or writing lyrics. Days earlier, Bon had gone with Mick Cocks to visit their friends the French group Trust in the Scorpio Sound studio in London where they recorded the album Répression. Bon was working on the English adaptation of texts by Bernie Bonvoisin for the English version of the album. During this visit, the musicians did a jam session of “Ride On”. This improvised session was Bon‘s last recording. Sometime during the late evening of 18 February and early morning of 19 February, Bon passed out and died at the age of 33. He had just visited a London club called the Music Machine (currently known as KOKO). He was left to sleep in a Renault 5 owned by a friend of Bon’s, Alistair Kinnear, at 67 Overhill Road in East Dulwich. Later that day, Kinnear found Bon lifeless, and alerted the authorities. Bon was taken to King’s College Hospital in Camberwell, where he was pronounced dead on arrival. Bon now lies buried in the Fremantle Cemetery's Memorial Garden in Australia.
Bon Scott was born on 9 July 1946 at Fyfe Jamieson Maternity Hospital in Forfar, the son of Charles Belford "Chick" Scott and Isabelle Cunningham "Isa" Mitchell. He grew up in Kirriemuir and was the second of five children to his parents, the first-born was a boy, Sandy, who died shortly after birth. A third child, Derek, was born in 1949 and then the Scott family moved from Scotland to Australia in 1952. A fourth child, Graeme, was born in 1953 and also Bon had a younger sister named Valerie.
They initially lived in the Melbourne suburb of Sunshine, and Scott attended nearby Sunshine Primary School. In 1956, the family moved to Fremantle. Bon joined the associated Fremantle Scots Pipe Band, learning the drums. He attended North Fremantle Primary School and later John Curtin College of the Arts until Bon's strong distaste for authority led him to quit his studies at the age of 15. He spent a short time in Fremantle Prison's assessment centre and nine months at the Riverbank Juvenile Institution, relating to charges of giving a false name and address to the police, having escaped legal custody, having unlawful carnal knowledge, and stealing 12 gallons of petrol. He attempted to join the Australian Army but was rejected, being deemed "Socially maladjusted".
1966–1970: The Spektors and The Valentines
Bon's earliest musical efforts were both on vocals (Inspired by his idol “Little Richard”) and on the drums. After working as a postman, bartender and truck packer, Scott started his first band, The Spektors, in 1966 as drummer and occasional lead singer. One year later the Spektors merged with another local band, the Winston’s, and formed The Valentines, in which Scott was co-lead singer with Vince Lovegrove. The Valentines recorded several songs written by George Young (Older brother of Angus and Malcolm Young) and formally of The Easybeats. "Every Day I Have to Cry" made the local record chart. In 1970, after gaining a place in the National Top 30 with their single "Juliette", the Valentines disbanded due to artistic differences after a much-publicised drug scandal.
1970-1973: Fraternity
Within six months of The Valentine's dissolution and having moved to Adelaide, Bon joined a new blues-rock band called Fraternity. Fraternity released the LPs Livestock and Flaming Galah before touring the UK in 1973, where they changed their name to "Fang". During this time, they played support slots for Status Quo and Geordie, whose front man, Brian Johnson, would become the lead singer of AC/DC after Bon’s death. During this time, on 24 January 1972, Scott married Irene Thornton. The efforts of the band to achieve some success in Europe were largely fruitless and they returned to Australia slightly disillusioned. On his return Bon took a day job at the Wallaroo fertiliser plant and began singing with the Mount Lofty Rangers. After one rehearsal at about 11 pm on 3 May 1974, at the Old Lion Hotel in North Adelaide, a very drunk and belligerent Scott had a raging argument with a member of the band. Bon stormed out of the venue, threw a bottle of Jack Daniel's on to the ground, then sped off on his Suzuki GT550 motorbike. Bon suffered serious injuries from the ensuing motorcycle accident, spending three days in a coma and a further 18 days in hospital. Shortly however, after his recovery, Bon was given the chance to drive the tour bus for this new and upcoming band called AC/DC. Having watched the band, Bon was impressed, and he immediately wanted to join them, but thought they may be a bit too inexperienced and too young. After the show, backstage, Bon expressed his doubts about them being "Able to rock". The two Young brothers told Bon he was "Too old to rock". The upshot was that they had a jam session that night in the home of Bon's former mentor, Bruce Howe, and at the end of the session, at dawn, it was obvious that AC/DC had found a new singer. And Bon had found a new band.
1974-1980: The AC/DC Years
Bon replaced Dave Evans as the lead singer of AC/DC on 24 October 1974, when it became obvious the band and Evans were heading in different directions, with Evans having personal clashes with band members and management. With the Young brothers as lead and rhythm guitarists, session drummer Tony Currenti and George Young as a temporary bassist, AC/DC released High Voltage, their first LP in Australia in February 1975. Within a few months Currenti was replaced by Phil Rudd and Mark Evans was hired as a permanent bassist, and AC/DC began recording their second album T.N.T., which was released in Australia in December 1975. The first AC/DC album to gain international distribution however was a compilation of tracks from the first two albums, also entitled High Voltage, which was released in May 1976. Another studio album, Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap was released in the same year, but only in Australia; the international version of the album was released in November 1976 in the UK and in March 1981 in the US, with a different track listing. In the following years, AC/DC gained further success with their albums Let There Be Rock and Powerage. The 1978 release of Powerage marked the debut of bassist Cliff Williams and with its harder riffs, followed the blueprint set by Let There Be Rock. The album was the last produced by Harry Vanda and George Young with Bon Scott on vocals. An appearance at the Apollo Theatre in Glasgow during the Powerage tour was recorded and released as If You Want Blood You've Got It. The band's sixth album, Highway to Hell, was produced by Robert "Mutt" Lange and was released in 1979. It became AC/DC's first LP to break the US top 100, eventually reaching No.17 subsequently propelling AC/DC on to rock stardom.
1980: Bon’s Death
Sadly, behind the “Bonny Scott” demeanour, he was also a heavy drinker and this would ultimately lead to tragedy. On 15 February 1980, Bon attended a session where Malcolm and Angus Young were working on the beginnings of two songs that would later be recorded on the Back in Black album; “Have a Drink On Me” and “Let Me Put My Love Into You” with Scott accompanying on drums rather than singing or writing lyrics. Days earlier, Bon had gone with Mick Cocks to visit their friends the French group Trust in the Scorpio Sound studio in London where they recorded the album Répression. Bon was working on the English adaptation of texts by Bernie Bonvoisin for the English version of the album. During this visit, the musicians did a jam session of “Ride On”. This improvised session was Bon‘s last recording. Sometime during the late evening of 18 February and early morning of 19 February, Bon passed out and died at the age of 33. He had just visited a London club called the Music Machine (currently known as KOKO). He was left to sleep in a Renault 5 owned by a friend of Bon’s, Alistair Kinnear, at 67 Overhill Road in East Dulwich. Later that day, Kinnear found Bon lifeless, and alerted the authorities. Bon was taken to King’s College Hospital in Camberwell, where he was pronounced dead on arrival. Bon now lies buried in the Fremantle Cemetery's Memorial Garden in Australia.
