''If You Want Blood You've Got It'' (written as just ''If You Want Blood'') is the first live album by Australian
hard rock
Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...
band
AC/DC
AC/DC (stylised as ACϟDC) are an Australian Rock music, rock band formed in Sydney in 1973 by Scottish-born brothers Malcolm Young, Malcolm and Angus Young. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock, and Heavy metal ...
, and their only live album with
Bon Scott
Ronald Belford "Bon" Scott (9 July 1946 – 19 February 1980) was an Australian singer and songwriter. He was the lead vocalist and lyricist of the hard rock band AC/DC from 1974 until his death in 1980.
Born in Forfar in Angus, Scotland, ...
as lead vocalist. It was originally released in the UK and Europe on 13 October 1978, in the US on 21 November 1978, and in Australia on 27 November 1978. The album was re-released in 1994 on
Atco Records
ATCO Records is an American record label founded in 1955. It is owned by Warner Music Group and operates as an imprint of Atlantic Records. After several decades of dormancy and infrequent activity under alternating Warner Music labels, the comp ...
and in 2003 as part of the ''AC/DC Remasters'' series.
Background
The album was released six months after the band's previous studio album ''
Powerage
''Powerage'' is the fifth studio album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC, released in 1978. This was the band's first album to feature Cliff Williams on bass guitar, and it was also the first AC/DC album not to have a title track (aside fro ...
''. A 'best-of' package called ''12 of the Best'' had been in the works, but the project was scrapped in favour of a live album. It was recorded during the 1978 ''Powerage'' tour and contains songs from ''
T.N.T.
Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...
'', ''
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
''Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap'' is the third studio album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC, originally released only in Europe and Australia in 1976. The album was not released in the United States until 1981, more than one year after lead s ...
'', ''
Let There Be Rock
''Let There Be Rock'' is the fourth studio album by Australian rock band, AC/DC. It was originally released on 21 March 1977 in Australia on the Albert Productions label. A modified international edition was released on 25 July 1977 on Atla ...
'', and ''
Powerage
''Powerage'' is the fifth studio album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC, released in 1978. This was the band's first album to feature Cliff Williams on bass guitar, and it was also the first AC/DC album not to have a title track (aside fro ...
''. It is the last Bon Scott-era AC/DC album produced by
Harry Vanda
Johannes Hendrikus Jacob van den Berg (born 22 March 1946), better known as his stage name Harry Vanda, is a Dutch Australian musician, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as lead guitarist of the 1960s Australian rock band the Easy ...
and
George Young, who also produced the band's first five studio releases.
In his 1994 Bon Scott memoir ''Highway to Hell'', author
Clinton Walker
Clinton Walker is an Australian writer, best known for his works on popular music. He is known for his books ''Highway to Hell'' (1994; a biography of Bon Scott), ''Buried Country'' (2000; also a film and soundtrack album), ''History is Made a ...
observes, "Live albums, which tended to be double or triple sets in which songs short in their studio versions were stretched out into extended tedium, were for some reason popular in the seventies. ''If You Want Blood'' reversed this tradition... it boasted a blunt ten tracks and, allowing nothing extraneous, got straight to the point, that being raging AC/DC rock and roll."
A concert at the
Apollo Theatre
The Apollo Theatre is a Grade II listed West End theatre, on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster, in central London. in
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
, Scotland on 30 April 1978 was used for the live tracks. It has never been confirmed if any other tracks from the tour were also used. The concert is also remembered for the encore, when AC/DC came back on stage dressed in the Scottish football strip, paying homage to Scott's and the Young brothers' homeland.
:
"
Dog Eat Dog", performed on the night, was removed from the album release, while the encore – "Fling Thing/Rocker" – was edited, removing "Fling Thing" and cutting out Angus's extended solo, as he did a walk around the audience (with an early version of a wireless guitar lead). This part of the band's concert theatrics later accompanied "Let There Be Rock"; "Rocker" has been performed only a few times since Bon Scott's passing in 1980. The live "Dog Eat Dog" was released as the b-side of the single "
Whole Lotta Rosie
"Whole Lotta Rosie" is a song by Australian hard rock band AC/DC. It is the eighth and final track on the band's fourth Australian album, ''Let There Be Rock'', released in Australia in March 1977, and was written by Angus Young, Malcolm Young ...
" in November 1978, but only in Australia. It was rereleased worldwide in 2009 on the two (standard) and three (collectors) CD boxed set compilation ''
Backtracks'', featuring Australian-only songs not released internationally at the time, and live b-Sides from 7" and 12" singles. The encores "Fling Thing" and "Rocker" (with a complete guitar solo) appeared only on footage of the concert by a Dutch TV station played at the time, but were eventually released on the
''Family Jewels'' DVD.
According to the 2006 book ''AC/DC: Maximum Rock & Roll'', the album title was an extension of Scott's response – at the
Day on the Green
Day on the Green was a recurring concert in Oakland, California, presented by promoter Bill Graham and his company Bill Graham Presents. Held at the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum, these events began in 1973 and continued into the early 1990s ...
festival in July 1978 – when a journalist asked what they could expect from the band. The singer replied, "Blood." The cover art is from a shoot with
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...
' staff photographer Jim Houghton before a show at Boston's
Paradise Theater, the idea for which came from Atlantic's art director Bob Defrin.
A song titled "If You Want Blood (You've Got It)" appeared on the next album: the band's US chart breakthrough, ''
Highway to Hell
''Highway to Hell'' is the sixth studio album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC, released on 27 July 1979. It was the last album featuring lead singer Bon Scott, who would die early the following year on 19 February 1980.
Background
By 1978 ...
''.
Reception
The album is often considered to be one of the greatest live albums of all time. In a 1992 interview with ''Metal Hammer'' at the time of the band's
second live release, Malcolm Young admitted, "I personally still prefer the old album. We were young, fresh, vital and kicking ass." Greg Prato of
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
notes, "While most other rock bands of the era were busy experimenting with
disco
Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...
or creating studio-perfected epics, AC/DC was one of the few specializing in raw and bluesy hard rock, as evidenced by 1978's live set, If You Want Blood You've Got It." Eduardo Rivadavia of ''
Ultimate Classic Rock
Townsquare Media, Inc. (formerly Regent Communications until 2010) is an American radio network and media company based in Purchase, New York. The company started in radio and expanded into digital media toward the end of the 2000s, starting wit ...
'' enthuses, "Other concert records may boast more songs, more Top 40 hits or even more crowd-pleasing gimmicks. But very few can challenge the sheer excitement and reckless abandon captured on AC/DC’s terrific concert document." The album was listed at #2 on ''Classic Rock'' magazine's readers' poll of "50 Greatest Live Albums Ever". Carlo Twist of ''Blender'' magazine praised the album, saying that "They were always a mighty live act, and this is the sound of AC/DC in Europe just prior to 1979's U.S. breakthrough. The audience's hysteria regularly cuts through the amps, as they howl along to singer Bon Scott's tale of sexually transmitted disease ("The Jack") and punctuate guitarist Angus Young's staccato riffing on "Whole Lotta Rosie." Imagine a punk-rock Chuck Berry played at nosebleed volume."
Concert footage
The entire Glasgow concert was filmed but the complete footage has never been released. Eventually, "
Riff Raff
Riff Raff, Riffraff, or Riff-Raff, a term for the common people but with negative connotations, may refer to:
In music
* Riff Raff (rapper), from Texas
* Riff Raff (band), a UK progressive rock band
* Riff Raff, a band formed by Billy Bragg
* ...
" and "Fling Thing/Rocker" segments were made available on the DVD ''
AC/DC Family Jewels'', released in 2005. Video footage was also used from the show on ''Family Jewels'' using the "Rock 'n' Roll Damnation" studio version audio track promotional clip. Segments from the concert (the songs "Rock 'n' Roll Damnation", "Dog Eat Dog" and "Let There Be Rock") were made available on the DVD ''
Plug Me In
Plug, PLUG, plugs, or plugged may refer to:
* Plug (accounting), an unsupported adjustment to an accounting record
* Plug (fishing), a family of fishing lures
* Plug (horticulture), a planting technique
* Plug (jewellery), a type of jewellery wor ...
'', released in 2007. "
Bad Boy Boogie" was included on the bonus disc on the three-disc edition of ''Plug Me In''.
Track listing
Complete concert setlist
All songs written by Young/Young/Scott except "Fling Thing", which they use as a Scottish tradition.
Notes
* The song "Gimme a Bullet" was played during sound-check, according to the Official Apollo Theatre website setlist for the show.
* "Fling Thing" is the b-side to the original Australian only single of "
Jailbreak
A prison escape (referred as a bust out, breakout, jailbreak, or prison break) is the act of an inmate leaving prison through unofficial or illegal ways. Normally, when this occurs, an effort is made on the part of authorities to recapture the ...
", but is actually the traditional Scottish folk song "
The Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond
"The Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond", or "Loch Lomond" for short, is a Scottish song (Roud No. 9598). The song prominently features Loch Lomond, the largest Scottish loch, located between the council areas of West Dunbartonshire, Stirling and Arg ...
". The band played it live in Australia and Scotland as a staple part of the encores in the early years, and is replayed on the 1991 album ''
AC/DC Live
''AC/DC Live'' is the second live album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC, released on 27 October 1992. Two versions were released, one containing a single CD, with the second version being a double album on LP and CD known as ''AC/DC Live: ...
'' 2 CD Collectors edition from the Glasgow concert on the
Razors Edge World Tour
The Razors Edge World Tour was a concert tour played by the hard rock band AC/DC, in support of their twelfth studio album '' The Razors Edge''. This tour had 5 legs around the world lasting 12 months starting on 2 November 1990 in Worcester, ...
(though this time it is just called "Bonny") and it was re-released in its original form, for the first time since 1976, on the ''
Backtracks'' boxed set.
* This version of "Fling Thing / Rocker (reprise)" - as it was the encore for the concert - is on the ''
Family Jewels'' DVD, with some of the other songs from this concert, but the entire show has never been seen in its entirety since an original broadcast by a Dutch TV station around the same era.
Personnel
*
Bon Scott
Ronald Belford "Bon" Scott (9 July 1946 – 19 February 1980) was an Australian singer and songwriter. He was the lead vocalist and lyricist of the hard rock band AC/DC from 1974 until his death in 1980.
Born in Forfar in Angus, Scotland, ...
– lead vocals
*
Angus Young
Angus McKinnon Young (born 31 March 1955) is an Australian musician, best known as the co-founder, lead guitarist, songwriter, and only remaining original member of the hard rock band AC/DC. He is known for his energetic performances, school ...
– lead guitar
*
Malcolm Young
Malcolm Mitchell Young (6 January 1953 – 18 November 2017) was an Australian musician who was the co-founder, rhythm guitarist, backing vocalist and songwriter of AC/DC. Except for a brief absence in 1988, he was with the band from its beginn ...
– rhythm guitar, backing vocals
*
Cliff Williams
Clifford Williams (born 14 December 1949) is an English musician, best known as the bassist and backing vocalist of the Australian hard rock band AC/DC. He started his professional music career in 1967 and had previously been in the English g ...
– bass guitar, backing vocals
*
Phil Rudd
Phillip Hugh Norman Rudd (born Phillip Hugh Norman Witschke Rudzevecius, 19 May 1954) is an Australian drummer, best known as the drummer of AC/DC across three stints. On the 1977 departure of bass guitarist Mark Evans from AC/DC, Rudd became ...
– drums
Production
*Producers:
Harry Vanda
Johannes Hendrikus Jacob van den Berg (born 22 March 1946), better known as his stage name Harry Vanda, is a Dutch Australian musician, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as lead guitarist of the 1960s Australian rock band the Easy ...
,
George Young
*Sound: Mike Scarfe (MHA AUDIO)
Certifications
References
External links
Lyricson AC/DC's official website
{{Authority control
1978 live albums
Albums produced by George Young (rock musician)
Albums produced by Harry Vanda
AC/DC live albums
Atlantic Records live albums