Original AC/DC Singer DAVE EVANS Records Cover Of ELVIS PRESLEY's 'Heartbreak Hotel'

It was back in 1974 when AC/DC, then fronted by Dave Evans, performed its own interpretation of "Heartbreak Hotel", a classic hit song by Elvis Presley, which got a special mention in the newspaper review of AC/DC's performance at the Sydney Opera House and became such a success at every concert. And despite the talked-about intention, AC/DC has never recorded this cover.

Paying tribute to AC/DC's upcoming 50th anniversary, Evans chose to record the song in almost the exact way the band used to perform it live. The music was recorded as a collaboration with musicians from Denmark and produced by Danish sound engineer, record producer and Grammy Award winner Flemming Rasmussen, recording engineer of the album "Difficult To Cure" by RAINBOW and producer of METALLICA's albums "Ride The Lightning", "Master Of Puppets" and "…And Justice For All". As the final layer, the vocal tracks were recorded earlier this week by Evans on the Caribbean island of Aruba at Studio Tiss.

Evans's version of "Heartbreak Hotel" will be released later in the year.

Dave recorded AC/DC's first two singles, "Can I Sit Next To You Girl" and "Baby, Please Don't Go". But in October 1974, less than a year after AC/DC's first gig, Evans was out of the band. He was replaced by Bon Scott, who sang on AC/DC's first six studio albums and became a legend himself after his death in 1980.

Last year, Dave was asked in an interview with The Rocker Diaries if he thought "that would be it" for AC/DC after Bon's death in 1980. He responded: "No, not at all. I mean, we all keep going. And AC/DC has had that many players through [the history of] the band. I don't know how many. 20? And three singers, plus a stand-in singer as well.

"We were always ambitious when we first started," he continued. "We always wanted to be the best in the world — all of us. And after me, Bon Scott got his chance. He did great with the band. And when he died, I just thought, 'Who are they gonna get?' I never thought [I would be approached about it] myself, because that's water under the bridge. And I was busy with bands as well at the time, and doing my own music and recording. I was just wondering who it would be. I had heard of [Brian Johnson's pre-AC/DC band] GEORDIE — just the name GEORDIE. I'd never heard of Brian. And then Brian popped up and, of course, the 'Back In Black' album came out, which was a massive album around the world, and they were off and running with Brian. But if Brian quit, they'd get another singer, and another singer. [They've gone through] different bass players [and] different drummers.

"The drive was always Malcolm Young," Dave added. "I remember Malcolm when I first met him. He was such a driving force. Just a tiny little guy — just a little touch over five foot tall — but, boy, he had a big heart and a big personality. And he was tough, too — Malcolm was very tough. And no matter what, he was AC/DC through and through. And, of course, once he passed away, which is very sad, AC/DC, of course, will never, ever be the same without Malcolm. How can it be?"

Last May, Evans released a new compilation album called "BADASS Greatest Hits". The effort contains "20 massive hits on one album," including Dave's version of "Rockin' In The Parlour", the song that originally appeared as the B-side of the "Can I Sit Next to You Girl" single.