George Young

George Redburn Young (6 November 1946 – 22 October 2017) was an Australian musician, songwriter and record producer. He was a founding member of the bands The Easybeats and Flash and the Pan, and was one-half of the songwriting and production duo Vanda & Young with his long-time musical collaborator Harry Vanda, with whom he co-wrote the international hits "Friday on My Mind" and "Love Is in the Air", the latter recorded by John Paul Young (who is unrelated).

Born in Glasgow, Young moved to Sydney, Australia with his family as a teenager, and became a naturalised citizen. He was also one of the producers of early work by the Australian hard rock band AC/DC, formed by his younger brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. Young (along with Vanda) was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 1988 and The Easybeats were inducted in 2005.

George Redburn Young was born 6 November 1946 in Glasgow, Scotland. Young's father, William Young (born 16 February 1911), and his family lived at 6 Skerryvore Road in the Cranhill district of Glasgow in Scotland. William worked first as a wheel boy in a rope works and then as a machine and saw operator in an asbestos and cement business. In 1940, William joined the Royal Air Force serving in World War II as a flight engine mechanic. After the war, William worked as a yard man for a builder and then as a postman. His wife, Young's mother, Margaret (born 14 July 1913; her maiden name was also Young) was a housewife.

The 'big freeze' of 1962–63 was the worst winter on record in Scotland, with snow eight feet deep. A TV advertisement at the same time offered assisted travel for families for a different life in Australia. Fifteen members of the Young family left Scotland by aeroplane in late June 1963, including William's fifth son, George, and younger sons Malcolm (6 January 1953 – 18 November 2017) and Angus (born 31 March 1955). Also aboard were George's eldest brother Stephen (24 June 1933 – 1989) and his wife and two sons, one of whom was Stevie Young (who later joined AC/DC to replace his uncle, Malcolm Young), his only sister, Mrs Margaret Horsburgh (2 May 1935 – 2019) and her husband and son, and brother William Jr (born 15 December 1940 – 2011) and his wife.: 6–7 Another elder brother, Alex (28 December 1938 – 4 August 1997), stayed in the UK, and was later a member of London-based group Grapefruit.: 6–7 A final brother, John Young (born 17 May 1937), had migrated to Australia separately.: 6–7 Malcolm later described the family's musical background: "All the males in our family played, Stevie, the oldest played accordion, Alex and John were the first couple to play guitar, and being older it was sort of passed down to George, then myself, then Angus.": 6–7

Initially staying at Villawood Migrant Hostel (a site later developed as Villawood Immigration Detention Centre) in Nissen huts, George Young met and became friends with another migrant, Harry Vanda. The William Young family moved into a semi-detached house at 4 Burleigh Street in the Sydney suburb of Burwood. For secondary schooling, Young attended Chester Hill High School across the road from the migrant hostel until he was expelled in 1964 for having long hair. Malcolm Young, his younger brother, attended the same school for a time until the family moved to Burwood. George Young married Sandra Ramsey in London in 1969.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.