AC/DC frontman Brian Johnson recently spoke with Matt Manochio at USA Today about his new book, Rockers and Rollers: A Full-Throttle Memoir. An excerpt from the story is available below:

Friends prodded Johnson to write down his memories because of his sense of humor — clearly present and gregarious, sometimes a bit bawdy, in his 209-page tome.

"I've always loved comedians, and I've always loved storytellers," Johnson said before meeting the hundreds of fans lined up outside Bookends to get an autographed copy. "Storytelling's a dying art, though, because we've got computers and DVDs. And when I was a kid I used to love listening to stories — you know, they were tall tales, really, but it didn't matter because it was exciting. And I liked telling stories after dinner and all of that."

Johnson began writing when the band recorded its most recent studio album, Black Ice, in 2008.

"I just took a pencil and a legal pad and I just started writing and writing," he said, adding the book's all him — no ghostwriter.

"Oh, no, I wouldn't entrust a ghostwriter to write my story," he said. "Bollocks, this is me and a pencil and a piece of paper because I cannot type."

Johnson's big break came in the wake of tragedy in 1980. AC/DC's former singer, Bon Scott, died accidentally after a night of heavy drinking. Johnson said he met Scott when they were on the road in the western part of the British Isles in 1974. Johnson was then a member of Geordie, and Scott was in a supporting act.

"He was up on stage singing, and we met and had a couple of beers," Johnson said. "He watched us play, and God bless his cotton socks again, when he did join AC/DC he was talking to the boys and he did say something to the effect that the only rock singer that he'd seen that was worth a damn was me, which was really nice of him, and the boys never forgot that."

Go to this location for the complete story.

Johnson made his first in-store appearance at Barnes & Noble on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan on May 24th in support of his new book, Rockers And Rollers: A Full-Throttle Memoir, which is now available in hardcover format in North America, via It Books/HarperCollins.

A description of the book reads:

From 'Pink Cadillac' to 'Low Rider' to 'Little Red Corvette', rock music has always had a racy love affair with cars. And AC/DC lead singer Brian Johnson is not only a rock legend, second-to-none at infusing razor-sharp lyrics with the screaming metal energy of a true rock and roller, but also a dyed-in-the-wool car fanatic. Books like AC/DC: Maximum Rock and Roll and Why AC/DC Matters revealed the secrets of the the world’s greatest rock band—now, in Rockers and Rollers, fans will get a rare, riveting window into Brian Johnson’s other driving passion, his love for automobiles. From teenage memories in the backs of beat-up coups to a side career as a racecar driver, Johnson shares his tantalizing life story—a memoir told through his lifelong love affair with cars.

By night, Brian Johnson sings in the biggest rock ’n’ roll band on the planet. But by day, AC/DC’s frontman drives balls to the wall. Cars and rock ’n’ roll—they were made for each other.

When he was a young boy growing up in a working-class English town, Brian developed what would become a lifelong passion for cars, trolling junkyards and even pretending to drive the family car. From there, he steamed up the windows of his old Mini Cooper as a teenager, spent untold time in hygienically challenged tour buses with helpful signs such as No Shitting Allowed. Shagging Expected, was chauffeured in leather-trimmed limos, and raced cars to a checkered flag. Featuring guest stars Cliff Williams, Malcolm and Angus Young, and many, many others, even Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rockers and Rollers is a tribute to Brian’s obsession with four wheels. By turns surprising, poignant, funny, and maybe a little bit bawdy, these are the stories of a man who drives as hard as he rocks.

Artisan News has posted the following report from the aforementioned in-store: