Larry Van Kriedt
Larry Van Kriedt (born in the United States c.1954) was the first bassist with rock band AC/DC. He was recruited at the time of the group's formation in 1973, joining Malcolm Young (Rhythm Guitar), Angus Young (Lead Guitar), Dave Evans (Lead Vocals) and Colin Burgess (Drums). Van Kriedt also played occasional saxophone.
Biography
Early life
Larry was born in San Francisco into a musical family. His father was the renowned jazz musician David Van Kriedt who composed, arranged played and recorded with such giants as Dave Brubeck, Paul Desmond, Stan Kenton and many more. All of Larry’s life has been centred around music, particularly jazz. He began playing the double bass at age 9, guitar at 12, and added saxophone and vocals to the list at 15. He studied jazz, harmony, composition and musical arrangement with his father.
In 1969 his family moved to Sydney, Australia. There at an early age he started his professional career and his passion for recording music. One of his first studio sessions was as the bassist in the original line-up of AC/DC in 1973.
With AC/DC
Van Kriedt was with the band for around four months, and after his departure in February 1974 he was replaced by Neil Smith. AC/DC employed a succession of bass players over the following few months, and Van Kriedt returned for a few days in January 1975 after Rob Bailey was fired. It was then decided that the role of bass player would be filled by Malcolm Young or older brother George Young until a more permanent solution could be found. That solution arrived in the form of Mark Evans in March 1975.
After AC/DC
Van Kriedt has played many different styles of music and has been involved with making many albums both as an artist and as a producer, and to this day he owns and operates his own recording studio. Bands Van Kriedt was a member of include: The Eighty Eights, Non Stop Dancers, Def Fx, Afram, The LPs, and The Larry Van Kriedt Quartet. He has written and recorded songs that have been successful in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, the U.S. and Europe, and has worked in North Africa and toured all over the world.
From 1997 to 1999 he lived in Morocco, working there as a musician with his band Afram doing radio, television and concerts such as the first Gnawa Festival in Essaouira in 1998, and raising money for the charity, B.A.Y.T.I. After leaving Morocco he travelled the world busking, that is, playing jazz on the street from London to Provence to Sydney. This was when he started making backing tracks of jazz standards.
Larry is a director of One Eleven Records, a label specialising in live jazz. He records, produces, and mixes all the product for the label.
References
- "Two Sides To Every Glory", Paul Stenning, 2005
- "Metal Hammer & Classic Rock present AC/DC", Metal Hammer magazine special, 2005
