Beloved '70s Rock Icon Claimed This Guitar Legend 'Set Music Back 20 Years'
AC/DC guitarist Angus Young has been a trendsetter in the rock world for decades — but when it comes to musicians who experiment with different sounds, he hasn't always been generous with praise.
In a newly resurfaced 1986 interview with Guitar Worldmagazine, the legendary guitarist revealed the one artist he believes didn't push music forward, but rather held it back.
Young made it clear he was never a fan of effects-heavy playing — whether it was tremolo, wah-wah or phaser — and has always preferred to keep things simple.
'I just plugged it into the amp and played,' he said. 'I never used any of those 'wangy' bars of stuff like that. Those things never appealed to me. If I want to get a similar kind of sound, I just de-tune the strings.'
While AC/DC is known for their signature distortion, they've largely steered clear of other effects. According to Young, artists who lean too heavily on gear aren't truly playing guitar the way it's meant to be played.
And when asked to name names, Young didn't hold back. He singled out Hank Marvin — lead guitarist for The Shadows, Cliff Richard's backing band in the late '50s and '60s.
'Cliff Richard used to have this guy in his backing band, Hank Marvin,' he said. 'Who used that thing on almost every note.' Young went on to describe Marvin as more of a relic of the past than a trailblazer.
'He was like a Buddy Holly clone, he used to do these silly little steps,' Young recalled. 'Guys like Hank set the music world back 20 years. I couldn't believe guitarists like [Jeff] Beck looked at him as an inspiration. Whenever I saw guys like Hank Marvin, I'd always go in the complete reverse of what they were doing.'
Though Marvin found success in his own right — playing with legends like Roger Daltrey, Paul McCartney, Dire Straits and Brian May — Young remained unimpressed, especially with Marvin's love of tremolo. In fact, Young had dismissed that effect years earlier.
'They [my early instruments] did have tremolos, but I took it off,' he told journalist Steven Rosen in a 1983 interview. 'I used to fool around with them, but you begin sounding like Hank Marvin.'
While Young's opinions were strong at the time, the interview is nearly 40 years old — and there's always a chance his views have mellowed since then.
However, his opinions from the past serve as a reminder that even the biggest names in rock have their own limits when it comes to experimentation.
Beloved '70s Rock Icon Claimed This Guitar Legend 'Set Music Back 20 Years' first appeared on Parade on Jul 2, 2025
This story was originally reported by Parade on Jul 2, 2025, where it first appeared.
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