On the "Live From The Atlantic Studios" CD included in the "Bonfire" box set, something of a minor miracle occurs. Of all AC/DC songs, one of my least favorite is "The Jack". Perhaps because it is *always* on their live setlist, and is predictable beyond redemption, but also because I find it generally listless and lacking spark. Predictability is not necessarily an indictment of the band, but when a song avoids verve then one despairs as it veers toward banality.

This version doesn't promise much more. Bon Scott obviously forgets a couple of lines, mangling the crude verses. Is he drunk? Going by his half-incomprehensible stage patter, yes. But no matter, he continues on. A small deviation, of interest to the afficionado, perhaps.

The audience in the studio is small but enthusiastic. The material is apparently unfamiliar to them; Scott attempts to start a sing-along during the chorus. Despite his game attempts the effort falls flat, making the song even more of a drag then normal.

Then something happens. Angus begins his solo and almost immediately drops it. The audience have begun chanting the chorus -- of their own accord, for all we know. Repetitions of "the jack, jack, jack, jack" are not difficult to pick up on, but give them credit for figuring it out.

It's in the bridge between the chorus and Angus' renewed attempt at the solo that the song, for me, dramatically improves. Instead of the muted and then growling fifths that he usually plays here, Malcolm chimes in with ringing, huge chords. I don't know if this was an improvisation, or a planned change for this performance, but I haven't heard it in any other recording or live. Without effort the tempo and rhythm alter subtly -- all for the better as far as this song is concerned.

And the solo is inspired. I can only think that, in the now-truncated space available for his performance, Angus was forced to pull something out of the air, instead of hanging something around the structure of the solo from the "High Voltage" recording. He wrings from his SG a melancholy melody. Impossible for me to describe fully, but the climax of the solo had me gasping and on the verge of shouting something into the darkness, even though I was walking past the Ascension Catholic Church, taking Boris the dog for his evening exercise.