Jailbreak

"Jailbreak"
Single by AC/DC
from the album Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
B-side	"Fling Thing" (Australia & UK) "Show Business" (US)
Released	June 1976
Format	7-inch
Recorded	January 1976
Genre	Hard rock
Length	4:36
Label	Albert Productions
Producer	Harry Vanda, George Young
AC/DC singles chronology
"T.N.T. / Rocker" (1976) "Jailbreak" (1976) "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap / R.I.P. (Rock in Peace)" (1976)

"Jailbreak" is a song by Australian hard rock band AC/DC. It is the ninth and final track of their third Australian album Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, released in September 1976. It was written by Angus Young, Malcolm Young, and Bon Scott, at the Grafton Basketball stadium in the northern New South Wales town of Grafton during a soundcheck in 1975.^{[citation needed]}

Releases

It was first released as a single in Australia and the UK in mid-1976, with the non-album track "Fling Thing" as its B-side. The single was re-issued in the UK in 1980 with a picture sleeve (see photo).

As "Jailbreak" was only included on the Australian version of Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, and not on its international counterpart, it did not see a release in the United States, Canada, and Japan until October 1984 as part of the international '74 Jailbreak EP. A promo-only single, with "Show Business" as its B-side, was released to radio stations in the US at the time.

Live recordings

"Jailbreak" was included on the 1992 AC/DC live album Live: 2 CD Collector's Edition, sung by Scott's replacement Brian Johnson. This live recording also features extended guitar solos by Angus Young. Another version, recorded in Dallas in 1985 and also sung by Johnson, was released on the 2009 AC/DC Backtracks album.

The version from their show Live at Donington is included on AC/DC Live: Rock Band Track Pack.

Music video

The music video for "Jailbreak" was filmed in March 1976 for the Australian music programme Countdown, and was directed by Paul Drane. It was filmed in a park near the Elsternwick railway station in Melbourne, and featured the band's then-current lineup. Phil Rudd and Bon Scott were dressed as prisoners, Mark Evans and Malcolm Young as guards, and Angus Young in matching white shorts and shirt with a seashell pattern, which was the Australian uniform for maximum security prisoners. The Young brothers, Evans and Rudd all appeared while playing their instruments, while Scott sang. This video was featured on AC/DC's Family Jewels DVD.

"Jailbreak" is one of the first videos to make the use of explosives and fake blood. Paul Drane, the director of the video, is quoted saying, "We didn't really know how much [explosive] we were going to need to make the doors fly open, and I had a couple of guys from props with sticks, trying to push the doors apart, so the hinges are not really there..." "It was the first time we'd had access to anything like this, these exploding blood packs."

Additionally, the band acts out the section of the song that details the protagonist's escape from prison. The film shows the prisoners (Scott, A. Young and Rudd) doing hard labor under watch of the prison guards (M. Young and Evans). Later it shows the prisoners manage to blow open the gates to the prison. Rudd and Angus Young are able to escape. Scott, portraying the protagonist, is shot by Malcolm Young and Evans as he attempts to escape. The video is dubbed with the studio track from the Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap album.^[1]

An alternate video, which features the band simply playing on a stage, was also filmed which is available in the Backtracks box set.

Personnel

• Bon Scott - lead vocals
• Angus Young - lead guitar
• Malcolm Young - rhythm guitar, backing vocals
• Mark Evans - bass guitar, backing vocals
• Phil Rudd - drums

References