Malcolm Young is considered to be the greatest rhythm guitarist ever, but...

[The Great Saiyaman]

The Late Great Malcolm Young, pretty much the engine which powered the AC/DC machine, big open chords played with impeccable time and rock solid, his battered Gretsch Firebird never leaving his side. These days he's renowned for being the best Rhythm player ever.


So what was there rhythm playing wise prior to AC/DC, were there any inklings on what was about to happen, any players where Malcolm could have drawn inspiration from? Oh yes there were, you could bet your strings there were players prior to Malcolm which pioneered that kind of driving rhythm guitar he was known for.

(Note that I won't be mentioning Bo Diddley because although rhythmic, his playing was more about embellishing the Rhythm, like a pair of maracas would do, not big chords or perfect timing, like Malcolm did)

- Elvis Presley
Now this might sound strange since Elvis wasn't known for his prowess on guitar but take a song like "That's alright mama" there's NO drums on there, Elvis really drove that song home like a metronome. Another good example would be on "Blue Suede shoes" he puts the "Roll" into to "Rock n Roll" with his impeccable timing and very violent strumming.


- Don Everly.
Far too many people dismiss the Everly brothers as guitarists, as their guitars were just part of their stage clothes. But Don Everly was smart enough to ask people about Bo Diddley and John Lee Hooker and was told how they would tune their guitars into open chords. So Everly took what he learned at heart and used that knowledge on songs like "Bye bye love" where his open chords and perfect time gave that song its driving beat.


- John Lennon
Again, not really an obvious one to name in such a list, since Lennon was better known for his song writing than for his actual guitar playing. Until you actually start to pay attention to exactly WHAT he is playing and HOW he plays it. A good example would be on "All my loving" where he does this incredible triplet strumming while playing these difficult Jazz chords, making good use of his Rickenbacker's tiny neck. But an even better example which fits into the Malcolm Young idiom so well is "Ticket to ride" where his unrelenting slamming into that A-chord together with Ringo's tom-tom breaks creates that songs' driving beat.


- Pete Townshend
What do you do when your band has a drummer who doesn't actually does the "Boom-pop, boom-pop." rhythmic support playing that a drummer usually does? In Pete Townshend's case it meant becoming the drummer by default as he started doing the "Boom-pop, boom-pop" on his guitar because SOMEBODY had to do so. Again, playing big chords and unrelenting violence in his way of strumming but all in perfect clockwork. "Substitute" is a killer example of Townshend's playing being the wall which kept the castle together.


- Rick Parfitt
Look up the song "Roll over, lay down" off of Status Quo's 1972 album "Piledriver" and you'll find the closest "Malcolm Young" before Malcolm himself arrived in the scene. Much like Malcolm, Parfitt played with very heavy strings, plugged straight in Marshall full stacks and played every single chord with conviction. But different from Malcolm, he didn't bring the "Rock" but focused on the "Roll" of Rock N Roll and like a steam roller drove that band so hard.