Brian Johnson – ‘The Lives of Brian’ – Book Review

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic

Being a fan of AC/DC, this purchase was a no brainer. An autobiography of Brian Johnson, yes please! And the book didn’t disappoint, but it also wasn’t what I expected. The book takes place from basically birth up until his getting hired in to AC/DC and the ‘Back in Black’ album, but that is all the AC/DC you get. It stops there. It then does jump up to the time where he had to step away from the band for his hearing issues, but nothing in between as he is saving that for another book. I’ll buy that one too.

Usually, I find the childhood stuff a little tough to get through for most autobiographies, but I can’t say that here. I really enjoyed it. As Brian was born on October 5, 1947 in Dunston, England, you get a fantastic glimpse in to life in Post World War II in England. I know what life was like here in the States, but not so much in England. Is was interesting hearing about how hard things were during that time and it was really fascinating learning about day-to-day life. The book takes you through his school years and all the events that shaped who Brian Johnson, the man, is.

Brian’s humor also shows out nicely in his take on life and the stories are detailed and colorful as only Brian can describe. I loved learning about the housing, the cars and every day life. The Johnson’s were not a rich family, nope, they were quite poor. His mom was from Italy as that is where his dad met her during the war. The family lived with his grandparents for awhile and then finally got a house of their own. It is as miserable as it sounds, but for Brian it was normal and he seems fond of those times.

I loved his journey and how he got in to music and all the bands he had been in and there were quite a lot. He had many brushes with fame, but never quite had success. His band Geordie was the closest he ever got to hitting it big. They were on Tops of the Pops, he met Roger Daltrey and even went to his house. He even had a run-in with the late, great Bon Scott before there was even an AC/DC and it is funny how that all turned out. It is a story as old as time of how close he came to glory, but couldn’t quite reach it.

Brian was almost ready to call it quits after failed bands, failed marriage and failed everything. He was working for a living at a real job installing vinyl roofs on cars (and he was really good at it) all the while he was still in a band, another version of Geordie and they were playing regular gigs and but it wasn’t going anywhere. Then one day the phone rang that changed his life forever. A huge band, AC/DC, needed a lead singer after the death of Bon Scott and Brian got that call. He didn’t really believe it was happening, he thought he failed miserably at the audition although it went really well. His confidence was such, that there was no way he was going to get hired…but he did.

The band went down to the Bahamas and recorded the album ‘Back in Black’ with Mutt Lange and the pressure he was under was immense as he had to come up with lyrics practically every night to all the new songs & riffs that Angus and Malcolm would bring him. Somehow, the words just flowed and the music just clicked and AC/DC had their biggest album ever! Brian goes on in detail about that time and it is mesmerizing to read. But he stops the story here and says he will save the 35 years of stories with AC/DC for another book.

But, the stories doesn’t end, instead it jumps 35 years to where Brian was having trouble with his hearing and what was going on around that. He stepped away from the band because if he didn’t, he would go deaf. Axel Rose from Guns ‘N Roses filled in, but Brian has not listened to any of those shows which I find interesting. He talks about his doctors appointments and the surgeries, the setbacks, the breakthroughs and everything around that. Then he mentions he was back with the band and they go in to record ‘Power Up’ and that is the end. No detail on the recordings, but I am sure that will come later.

I found the stories he told were all so engaging and a wonderful glimpse in to what events shaped who he was. You even get a story about where the Brian Johnson hat comes from which is great. You get snapshots of family life as a boy, as a married man, as a father, as a bandmate and everything that is Brian Johnson. I really enjoyed the band stories and the struggles he went through to even get in to bands or gigs, or signed to a label. All the dues were paid and success didn’t come over night. Brian was in his 30’s when he finally saw success with AC/DC. It didn’t come easy and Brian worked for every ounce of what he got and I enjoyed reading every little tidbit. My Overall Score is a 5.0 out of 5.0 Stars as when I got in to the book and had time set aside to read it, I couldn’t put it down. It was a simple, engaging and entertaining read.

32 thoughts on “Brian Johnson – ‘The Lives of Brian’ – Book Review”

            1. It doesn’t sound like Bon had much to do or anything to do with the Black album according to Brian. At least that is what I gathered. Lyrics seem to have been written by Brian during the recording process (mostly)

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                1. I don’t think he said that about Bon but I don’t remember him ever saying Bon was involved. He talked about how almost every night they would bring him songs and he would have to write the lyrics to them over night. It was stressful and exhausting. But the words just flowed.

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  2. Good stuff John. Gorman from the Crowes had about 15 pages of growing up and about 250 pages on the Robinson bros in his book. lol I will probably get this at some point but I guess Brian didn’t want to hear Axl sing his tunes like if it was your ex moving onto another relationship. I get that…

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    1. That’s one of the biggest reasons why I enjoyed Gorman’s book: he went straight into the dirt with the Robinson brothers. People can talk about their childhood all they want, but learning what went down behind the scenes in the music business is much more interesting!

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  5. I just finished this book last week, myself. I blogged it on my pesonal ceeteejackson.com site …. but in short, I 100% agree – Brian comes across as so engaging. I know the area well (my wife even went to the same primary school, though a few years behind Brian) and I’ve been to several of the Social Clubs he played at. So all that helped me buy into the book.
    But more than anything, it seems that the ‘rock star’ tag is what he always wanted, but it seems to have changed his personality very little.
    Sounds like a top bloke …. I’d definitely love to go for a beer or two with him 🙂

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  6. Sounds like a nice read, honestly it’s kind of cool he told the story that way. It lets what he has to say get more room than trying to cram that long of a career into one average sized book. I hope he does complete his run through AC/DC in another book, I’m sure there’s some prime stories to tell.

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  7. I have this one on order. Looks like I’ll be getting to that Def Leppard book first.

    Just browsed through this one Kerrang! Living Loud: Four Decades on the Frontline of Rock, Metal, Punk, and Alternative Music…not sure it that kind of camaraderie exists in todays music world.

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  8. I have the Brian Johnson book, but I never found time for it yet. I’ll get to it eventually. I’ve read reviews about it and to be honest, I’d rather hear Brian talk about his time in the band from ‘For Those About to Rock,’ ‘Flick of the Switch,’ ‘Fly on the Wall,’ etc. I don’t want to hear about ‘Back in Black’ over and over again. Glad you enjoyed the book, though!

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    1. Fair enough. I enjoyed learning about life after the war and how the poorer side of Britain lived. I find that stuff interesting. But I can’t wait for a full on AC/DC book by Brian. I’m sure it will be great.

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      1. You bring up a good point about how he grew up in a poor environment and escaped that with music. Oh yeah, if Brian does an entire AC/DC book, I’m getting that! I would love Angus to write a book too, can you imagine all the hilarious stories he could tell?

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    1. I get it. You do get stories of his early bands and a lot on Back in Black, but that is it. A lot of his formative years and early 20’s. If he does release the next book, that is where the stories will fly.

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