ACϟDC producer and The Easybeats’ star – George Young has died at the age of 70. ACϟDC said in a statement the band would not exists without Young’s “help and guidance”.
“As a musician, songwriter, producer, advisor and much, much more, you could not ask for a more dedicated and professional man,” the statement read.
“You could not ask for a finer brother. We will always remember him with gratitude and hold him close to our hearts.”
Otherwise, George was the eldest brother of Australian rock legends Malcom and Angus Young. He was born in Scotland in 1946 but emigrated to Australia with his family when he was still a child.
He shot to fame in the early ‘60s as a guitarist for the Sydney rock band The Easybeats. While the band broke up in 1970, he and lead guitarists Harry Vanda were later inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame.

The interesting thing which is connected with Dire Straits, is that on the debut album of Dire Straits from 1977 (Dire Straits), actually Mark Knopfler in the classic song “Sultans of Swing” sings about Harry Vanda and George Young, in the third and fourth verse:
[Verse 3]
Check out guitar George, he knows all the chords
Mind, it’s strictly rhythm he doesn’t want to make it cry or sing
Left-handed old guitar is all he can afford
When he gets up under the lights to play his thing
[Verse 4]
And Harry doesn’t mind if he doesn’t make the scene
He’s got a daytime job, he’s doing alright
He can play the honky tonk like anything, saving it up for Friday night
With the Sultans
With the Sultans of Swing
George Young was also known for co-producing ACϟDC’s early albums including TNT, Dirty Deeds Done Cheap and Let There Be Rock.
Prior to ACϟDC’s formation, Young was the vocalist for the rock group Marcus Hook Roll Band, with his brothers on guitar. Rock legend Jimmy Barnes wrote on Twitter that the songwriter’s death was a “huge loss for music”. He said: “A great songwriter, producer and a great human being”, he said.
Among the other hits written by George, there is one special song that always bring us back to the old good times and George will be remembered forever after this song. It’s about the song “Love Is In The Air”, which he wrote together with Harry Vanda for John Paul Young’s fourth studio album in 1978.
The song become word wide hit in 1978 and peaking No.3 on the Australian charts, and No.5 in the UK Singles Charts.
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