Over the next few months I'm going to post reminiscences of musicians who played on the road with or knew AC/DC during 1977–80. First up is KENNY SOULE, drummer of Nantucket. Nantucket, from Jacksonville, North Carolina, did a fantastic cover of 'It's a Long Way To The Top' in 1980 and supported AC/DC on their North American Back in Black tour. All exclusive to bonthelasthighway.com. ‘In the early summer of 1978, Nantucket was enjoying our ‘local celebrity’ status in the Carolinas/Virginia area with the release of Nantucket, our first album. We had been earning our stripes there since 1972, playing full-time on the club circuit, gradually replacing the cover tunes with lead singer Tommy Redd’s originals. ‘The promoters in the area were beginning to plug us into opening slots with national acts like Kiss, Charlie Daniels, Mother’s Finest, et cetera. We found ourselves with two dates supporting two up and coming major label bands, Cheap Trick and AC/DC. They were back-to-back small arena gigs, one in Salem, Virginia, and then Fayetteville, North Carolina. In Salem, we played first, then we stuck around for label-mates Cheap Trick, who we later became a little chummy with down the line.' Fayetteville was where he saw AC/DC for the first time. ‘[After the show] I remember awkwardly blurting out, “Great show guys!” The next day I bought Powerage and Let There Be Rock, went home, cranked it way up, and have been a changed man ever since. Nantucket opened for most of the big headliners of the late 1970s, and all paled in comparison to AC/DC. No balls! ‘The following summer, 1979, Nantucket was recording our second album in Orlando, Florida. One day our lead singer Larry Uzzell came to the studio, telling us about bumping into Bon Scott. Bon remembered Larry, and was very cordial. They shared a drink or two. According to Larry, Bon said, “You boys blew us off the stage in Fayetteville!” Yeah, right! ‘Nantucket opened for most of the big headliners of the late 1970s, and all paled in comparison to AC/DC. No balls!' – Kenny Soule, drummer, Nantucket ‘Of course by the time we shared a bill again, in 1980, Bon was gone. Nantucket’s third album, Long Way To The Top was hovering around the bottom of the Top 100 album charts. To our amazement we found ourselves with approximately 12 dates on the Back In Black tour that summer. It began in Erie, Pennsylvania, with Humble Pie as the middle act on the tour. After two or three shows, they were gone, and it was just Nantucket and AC/DC headed down the US east coast, and across to Texas, and then two dates in California. We were loving life at that point; we were on the biggest tour of 1980. ‘Our summer of glory ended the next morning after our final Back In Black date in Oakland, California. We were duly informed by Epic Records that they had dropped us. At least they held off until our final show with AC/DC! Epic dropped us because each album sold progressively worse, and by the second album, our sound and looks became passé seemingly overnight. We weren’t interested in suddenly wearing skinny ties, shaving, and getting haircuts. “Going New Wave”, as everyone called it. One of the reasons we were able to do the third album, Long Way To The Top, at all was that our A&R person, Doreen Reilly, suggested we cover “Long Way". We were happy to oblige.' BON: THE LAST HIGHWAY: THE UNTOLD STORY OF BON SCOTT AND AC/DC'S BACK IN BLACK is available to preorder now through Amazon, Barnes & Noble and hundreds of other retailers.
7 Comments
Richard Beddoes
6/12/2017 11:39:53 am
brill stories...keep 'em coming...love Bon...also loved 'The Young's' book...excellent!!! a pleasure to read!!! This next book will be a 'must have' for me!!
Reply
6/12/2017 04:27:48 pm
Thanks very much, Richard. Great to hear! Feel free to connect on Facebook. Look forward to your feedback on the new book! Jesse
Reply
Andy Czubai
6/14/2017 08:24:49 am
I was a tech on the Tucket crew during the East Coast run that Summer.
Reply
Jesse Fink
6/15/2017 08:41:47 pm
Great to hear from you, Andy. Must have been some great times. Jealous!
Reply
Jonathan Lee
6/15/2017 07:49:10 am
I was at the August 10th, 1978 show at Cumberland County Memorial Arena in Fayetteville that Kenny mentions. That was something like my fifth major concert. I still have the ticket stub, which only mentions Nantucket, AC/DC and Cheap Trick are not listed. I gather that this is because this concert was being billed as Nantucket's big homecoming show after having been out on the road in support of their debut album on Epic Records. I was floored by everyone on the bill but when AC/DC came on, everyone was flattened. Up that point, I had not experienced anything quite like that as far as live music. It is an evening I will never forget.
Reply
Jesse Fink
6/15/2017 08:43:26 pm
I saw the ticket you posted, Jonathan. I think you're right about the reasoning for the billing on the ticket. Thanks so much for sharing your memories of the concert. Kenny said he was flattened too. I have a bit more from Kenny in the book.
Reply
Terry Robison
8/30/2017 08:35:26 pm
Working for Nantucket at the Norfolk, VA gig Kenny Soule talked about, I recall that was the day Bon was introduced to American moonshine. As I recall, "It's bloody brake fluid" was the description.
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorJesse Fink is the author of Bon: The Last Highway: The Untold Story of Bon Scott and AC/DC's Back In Black, which is available now. For more information about the book, click HERE or click the book covers below to be directed to editions in your preferred territory and language. Archives
February 2018
Categories
All
|