AC/DC – Whole Lotta Rosie

“Whole Lotta Rosie” – Single by AC/DC from the album Let There Be Rock, released August 1977.

Originally released on the Let There Be Rock album, this song didn’t get much publicity until AC/DC re-released it a year later on If You Want Blood, You Got It when the band became internationally popular.

This song is about a very large woman lead singer Bon Scott had relations with early in the band’s career. In a 1976 interview with the band for Sounds magazine, their guitarist Malcolm Young prodded Scott to tell the story about “the fat one.” Scott explained that backstage at a show in Australia, a rotund woman they called “Big Bertha” came forward when he asked, “Who wants it?” Too frightened to refuse, he did the deed with Bertha, who then called to her friend, “that’s the 37th this month,” and produced a black book where she recorded her conquests. Scott turned the incident into a song, this time naming the woman “Rosie.”

In their early days, the band shared a house in Australia where lots of unsavory incidents occurred. This gave them material for songs like this one and “The Jack.” Bon Scott had great affection for the full-size girls, and occasionally put his conquests in his songs. Another song on the album, “Go Down,” mentions Ruby Lips, who is another real person. This is confirmed in the Let There Be Rock liner notes.

The music is based on the Chuck Berry song “No Money Down.”

The song’s first verse reveals Rosie’s substantial physical measurements (42″-39″-56″), and that she weighs nineteen stone, or 266 pounds (121 kg). On the Live from the Atlantic Studios disc, however, Scott describes the titular woman as “… a Tasmanian devil … weighs 305 pounds (138 kg)…,” a measurement that differs from the “nineteen stone” lyric.

First video on the top, is Live At River Plate, December 2009.

Video below is from the live show in Paris, 1979.

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AC/DC - Whole Lotta Rosie (1979 Paris)

AC/DC - Whole Lotta Rosie (1979 Paris)04:50

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