But it was a wonderful thing to discover that you could do - even at the age of 32. ' And I just wanted to do it all the time. I've heard you do it.' And I went, 'Well, I'll give it a try.' And it was just like being set free from a strait jacket - once I found out I could do it, I went, 'Wow! This is just. That was Mutt Lange, the producer, who said, 'Sing it higher. That's a good little song.' And then 'Back In Black' came, which was fascinating, because I never knew that I could sustain notes like that. And as soon as it finished, I went, 'I like that. I don't know… And I remember just sitting there, 'What have I got to lose? I've got a week's holiday in the Bahamas, at least.' I wrote it down in about 20 minutes - honestly - and I went, 'That's it.' And I took it to 'em next day, and they said, 'Sing what you've written.' And what you hear is basically that first day. But I remember it being 'Shook Me All Night Long'. But to this day, Angus argues it was 'Back In Black'.

They gave me the title - they said, 'It's called 'Shook Me All Night Long'.' And I said, 'Bugger, that's a long one.' And it was just a basic track of it there.

And they said, 'Well, this song, it's a very basic track.' It was ' Shook Me All Night Long'. When I got to the Bahamas, Malcolm and Angus came to me and said, 'Hey, by the way, can you write lyrics?' And I went, 'Well, I'll give it a shot.' And the first night, they brought me a legal pad - yellow legal pad - and a pen, and a little cassette player.

shipments of 25 million copies - Johnson said (hear audio below): 'It's a little frightening. AC/DC had made some serious headway in America before Scott's death, but no one knew how 'Back In Black' would be received.Īsked in a new interview with WMMR's Pierre Robert how he reflects on the incredible success of 'Back In Black' - with the record having been certified by the Recording Industry Association Of America for U.S. The group quickly decided to press on and hired Johnson from the band GEORDIE to take over on vocals, and they headed to the Bahamas for about six weeks to do the album. It was the band's first album without lead singer Bon Scott, who had died a few months earlier after passing out and choking on his own vomit following a long night of drinking. On July 25, 1980, AC/DC released 'Back In Black' in the U.S., followed by the album's U.K. AC/DC singer Brian Johnson says that he still can't wrap his head around the fact that it's been 40 years since the band recorded its classic 'Back In Black' album.

Brian johnson range vocal