Jimmy Barnes
Encyclopedia
James Dixon Swan better known as Jimmy Barnes, is a Scottish-born Australia
n rock
singer-songwriter. His father Jim Swan was a prizefighter
and his older brother John Swan
is also a rock singer. It was actually John who had encouraged and taught Jim how to sing as he wasn't really interested at the time. His career as both a solo performer and as the lead vocalist with the rock band Cold Chisel
has made him one of the most popular and best-selling Australian music artists of all time. The combination of 14 Australian Top 40 albums for Cold Chisel and 13 charting solo albums, including nine No. 1s, gives Barnes the highest number of hit albums of any Australian artist.
, South Australia
as a 4-year old on 7 January 1961 with his parents Jim and Dorothy Swan and siblings John, Linda, Lisa & Alan. They eventually settled in Elizabeth
. Shortly afterward, Barnes' parents divorced. His mother Dorothy soon remarried, to a clerk named Reg Barnes. After her daughter Lisa was teased by a schoolmate about being adopted, Dorothy encouraged her children to change their surname to Barnes. All of them did except for the oldest brother John, who would go on to be much better known as Swanee
, eventually recording a series of albums under that name from the 1980s. This would later cause confusion about Jimmy Barnes and Swan; many thought them to be half- or stepbrothers.
Barnes was raised a Protestant, and considers himself a Buddhist
, although in September 2009 he revealed that he has Jewish
ancestry, his maternal grandmother having been Jewish.
, who had just parted ways with singer Bon Scott
. Barnes took over the role but his tenure with the band was brief and before long he had joined a harder-edged band called Orange, featuring organist and songwriter Don Walker
, guitarist Ian Moss
, drummer Steve Prestwich
and bass player Les Kaczmarek. Within a short time the group had changed its name to Cold Chisel and began to develop a strong presence on the local music scene. Barnes' relationship with the band was often volatile and he left several times, leaving Moss to handle vocal duties until he returned. After a temporary move to Armidale, New South Wales
while Walker completed his engineering studies there, Cold Chisel moved to Melbourne in August 1976 and then three months later shifted base to Sydney. Progress was slow and Barnes announced he was leaving once again in May 1977 to join Swanee in a band called Feather. However, his farewell performance with Cold Chisel went so well he changed his mind and a month later the band was signed by WEA
.
By 1980 Cold Chisel was the biggest band in Australia and Barnes had developed a notorious reputation as a hard-drinking wild man who reportedly drank more than two bottles of vodka
a day, much of it onstage during performances.
While in Canberra in November 1979 however, he met Jane Mahoney (born Jane Dejakasaya, in Bangkok
, Thailand
, 1958) the stepdaughter of an Australian diplomat. Barnes began a relationship with her and they started living together but in March 1980 she began to feel overwhelmed by the rock lifestyle and followed her family to Tokyo
where her father was posted. Barnes wrote the song "Rising Sun" about this, which would appear on the album East
. The pair married in Sydney on 22 May 1981 and Jane soon gave birth to their first child Mahalia
, named after Mahalia Jackson
, on 12 July 1982. The couple now have four children (Mahalia Barnes
, Eliza-Jane Barnes, Elly-may Barnes and Jackie Barnes
who formed the group Tin Lids
). Barnes was already the father of a son, David Campbell
, who, due to the young age of his parents at the time of his birth, was being raised by his grandmother. While Barnes maintained contact with him, Campbell did not become aware that Barnes was his father and not merely a family friend until the mid-1980s.
The singer had never been careful with money and the increasing pressure on him to provide for his young family caused even more tension between him and the rest of Cold Chisel. Despite being hugely successful in Australia, the group had still not been able to crack the market internationally and a disastrous tour of the United States
in 1981 pulled them even further apart. While the 1982 album Circus Animals
provided Cold Chisel with its second consecutive No. 1 album, Barnes returned from the band's German
tour in 1983 virtually broke. He asked for a $10,000 advance from the band's management but was refused, as the terms of the group's contract meant that if one member was given such a sum, the rest of them were entitled to the same amount. At a meeting in August, it was decided that Cold Chisel should split up. The group had already begun to fragment, with Ray Arnott
having replaced Steve Prestwich earlier in the year. Sessions for the final album were spread across different studios as various members refused to work together but at the end of the year The Last Stand farewell tour (with Prestwich back in the band) became the highest-grossing concert series by an Australian band ever. The group's final performance was in Sydney on 12 December 1983, reportedly precisely ten years after its original formation. The resultant film of that show remains the best-selling live concert film of any Australian band.
Barnes had recorded seven albums with Cold Chisel between 1978 and 1983, including two live albums (the second of which, Barking Spiders Live 1983, was released in 1984), and was arguably now Australia's highest-profile rock singer.
) and Chris Stockley (ex-The Dingoes
) and began touring and writing for a solo album. Signing to Mushroom Records
, Barnes released his first solo album Bodyswerve. He was now billing himself as Jimmy Barnes, instead of merely 'Jim Barnes' as he had been credited during his Cold Chisel days. The album was immediately successful, entering the Australian charts at Number One on 8 October. This was the first of a remarkable run of top charting albums for Barnes, as each of his first six solo albums all debuted in the Number One position, a feat that no other Australian musical artist is likely to match. His list of Number One albums now totals eleven, including three Cold Chisel albums. His total of nine No. 1 albums as a solo performer is matched by no other Australian recording artist. The final Cold Chisel studio album 20th Century and the live album Barking Spiders Live were also released in 1984. 20th Century peaked at No. 1 on 23 April.
On 22 December 1984, days after Barnes had begun that year's Barnestorming tour, his second daughter Eliza-Jane was born.
Early in his solo career, Barnes was determined to break into the US
market and signed to Geffen Records
for release there. His second album For the Working Class Man
was tailored in this direction, featuring remixed songs from Bodyswerve plus five new tracks including "Working Class Man
" that was written by Journey
musician Jonathan Cain
and would become Barnes' signature tune. Several US musicians worked on the album including Cain, Charlie Sexton
, singer Kim Carnes
and British
drummer Mick Fleetwood
of Fleetwood Mac
. The album was released as a double vinyl set and shifted 250,000 copies in twelve months in Australia. Like its predecessor, For the Working Class Man debuted on the national chart at No. 1 on 16 December 1985. It remained at No. 1 for seven weeks. Titled simply Jimmy Barnes
in the US, the album was issued in February to tie in with the release of the Ron Howard
film Gung Ho
which featured "Working Class Man". Because of this, Gung Ho was released as Working Class Man in Australia.
The Jimmy Barnes band that toured Australia in support of the album featured Howe and Arnott, plus keyboardist Peter Kekell, former Rose Tattoo
guitarist Robin Riley and American guitarist Dave Amato
. With the release of the album in America, Barnes headed off with a band of Canadian musicians hand-picked by his North American management team and toured with ZZ Top
. It was the first time since 1981 that he had toured without his family as part of his entourage as Jane was pregnant. Shortly after their son Jackie
(named after Jackie Wilson
) was born on 4 February 1986 she and the children joined him in the US for the rest of the tour.
In 1986, Jimmy Barnes recorded two songs with INXS
, an Easybeats cover "Good Times
" and "Laying Down The Law", which he co-wrote with INXS members Andrew Farriss
and Michael Hutchence
. "Good Times" was used as the theme song for the Australian Made
series of concerts that toured the country in the summer of 1986-87. Australian Made was the largest touring festival of Australian music talent that had ever been attempted to that point. Barnes and INXS headlined and the rest of the line-up featured Mental as Anything
, Divinyls
, Models
, The Saints
, I'm Talking
and The Triffids
. The shows began in Hobart, Tasmania on 26 December and concluded in Sydney on Australia Day, 26 January 1987. A concert film of this event was made by Richard Lowenstein
and released later that year. "Good Times" peaked at No. 2 on the Australian chart and several months later was featured in the Joel Schumacher
film The Lost Boys
, allowing it to chart Top 40 in the US.
The "Good Times"/"Laying Down the Law" release was the first in a long line of songs Barnes would record with other well known singers and artists. In 1991 he recorded a version of "When Something is Wrong With My Baby" with John Farnham
as a single and centerpiece track for his Soul Deep
album. The following year he released a version of "Simply The Best
" as a duet with Tina Turner
that was used as the theme song for that year's Australian Rugby League
advertising campaign. It peaked at #13 in Australia. His 1993 album Flesh and Wood also featured several duets, including songs with Joe Cocker
, Archie Roach
, Tommy Emmanuel
and a version of The Band's
"The Weight
" with The Badloves
.
The next album release Freight Train Heart
(1987) again featured contributions from a range of US musicians including Huey Lewis
, Journey members Randy Jackson
and Neal Schon
and former Babys
and Rod Stewart
drummer Tony Brock, who would later accompany Barnes on tour. The recording process was deeply problematic however, as Barnes fought with producer Jonathon Cain over artistic control and Geffen Records wanted to feature a solo by Robert Cray
in the track "Too Much Ain't Enough Love
" in place of the one laid down by Schon. In the end, Barnes claimed the masters and returned to Sydney to rework the recording with English producer Mike Stone. Most of the songs were remixed, with parts added by Peter Kekell, Rick Brewster from The Angels, and Johnny Diesel
, the 20-year old guitarist and frontman of Perth
band Johnny Diesel and the Injectors, who had just begun to make a name for themselves. Jon Farriss
from INXS and ex-Angels bassist Chris Bailey also played on the album. Diesel, Kekell, Brock, Bailey and Dave Amato were kept on as Barnes' touring band, which hit the road in November just ahead of the release of the first single, "Too Much Ain't Enough Love" in December 1987. It became Barnes' first No. 1 hit single. The album followed the trend set by the previous two, and debuted in the No. 1 slot on 21 December.
Freight Train Heart found moderate success outside of Australia and as recently as 2003 was named as one of the top 100 rock albums of all time by British
magazine Powerplay. His problems with Geffen during the recording process caused him to sever his relations with them and he eventually signed to Atlantic
in 1990.
In Australia, Jimmy Barnes' success remained virtually unmatched. The Number One success of his first three albums continued with the live album Barnestorming, recorded during the promotional tour of the same name and peaking at No. 1 for three weeks from 5 December. A version of the Percy Sledge
standard "When A Man Loves A Woman" lifted from the album was a No. 3 hit. His next tour brought controversy by being underwritten by Pepsi
, which allowed him to expand the production and increase promotion, and at the end of the tour he made a $25,000 donation to the Children's Hospital in Camperdown
, Sydney.
In the middle of 1989, Jane Barnes went into Westmead Children's Hospital in Sydney with pregnancy complications; Elly-May Barnes was born almost three months prematurely on 3 May. Her father held off all further writing and recording until she was released from a humidicrib several months later.
to record Two Fires. The album featured songwriting contributions from the likes of Desmond Child
, Diane Warren
and Holly Knight
and vocal contributions from Brian Setzer
, and from his wife and children. Collectively known as the Tin Lids
(after Glaswegian rhyming-slang for "kids"), the four Barnes children later recorded three albums of their own. Two Fires combined live drums with synthesised drum machines and contained the hits "Lay Down Your Guns", "Make it Last All Night", "When Your Love is Gone" and "Little Darling". It had a slight funk influence and an even more polished sound than his previous albums but this proved no barrier to it becoming his fifth consecutive Australian No. 1 album.
The following year he released Soul Deep
, an album of soul
covers. Barnes had long fostered a love for soul and black music
, naming his children after influential black artists and including songs by Sam Cooke
and Percy Sledge
on previous albums. He and Gehman had discussed the idea during the sessions for Two Fires and both had apparently decided that it would be "a fun thing to do". Soul Deep went on to become Jimmy Barnes' most successful album ever, spawning the No. 3 single "When Something is Wrong With My Baby", a duet with John Farnham. Re-releases of the album were issued in special gatefold sleeves with embossed gold lettering, collector cards and extra live tracks. It remains one of the best-selling Australian albums of all time.
The 1993 album Heat saw Barnes return to hard rock. Influenced by the then-current grunge trend and the music of the Red Hot Chili Peppers
, Heat was an attempt to move back to Barnes' raw rock'n'roll roots after the polished sound of Soul Deep and Two Fires. While described as his most interesting album, it broke his run of Number One releases (it peaked at #2) but did contain the hit "Stone Cold", written by former Cold Chisel bandmate Don Walker
. It marked the first time Jimmy Barnes had worked with any member of his old band for almost a decade. The pair teamed up for an acoustic version of the track for an unplugged album Flesh and Wood, which appeared later the same year. Flesh and Wood reached #1 on the Australian album chart. It included a version of The Band
's "The Weight", recorded with The Badloves, which became a hit. Also in 1993, Barnes teamed up with Tina Turner
for a duet version of The Best
in the form of a TV promotion for rugby league's Winfield Cup
. The single reached the top ten that year.
Following this, in the mid-90s, Jimmy Barnes' career suffered a slump. The singer faced financial ruin as his music publishing company Dirty Sheet Music and his wife's children's fashion label both went broke. He was pursued by both the ANZ Bank
and the Australian Taxation Office
for amounts exceeding $1.3 million. The family sold their property in Bowral
, New South Wales and settled for some time in Aix-en-Provence, France, attracting some adverse publicity when he assaulted a television crew from Channel 7
. While there, Barnes did considerable live work throughout Britain and toured with the Rolling Stones. His 1995 album Psyclone reached number 2 in Australia and featured the top ten hit "Change of Heart", but it did not sell as well as previous albums. In 1996 the greatest hits compilation Hits returned Jimmy Barnes to the top of Australian charts, along with the hit single "Lover Lover". It was the beginning of a comeback that was hastened by the reformation of Cold Chisel in 1998.
In March 1999 he performed the 1978 Sylvester hit "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)
" live onstage at the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras' annual party.
Later that year Barnes released the heavy rock single "Love and Hate", followed by its parent album Love and Fear. An autobiographical record combining hard rock with electronic music
, Love and Fear was Barnes' first album to miss the Australian top ten.
at some shows throughout Australia between 1999 and 2001, but the reception to this was not encouraging. He also performed at the closing ceremony of the Sydney Olympics in 2000.
In 2004, Barnes recorded an album with Deep Purple
guitarist Steve Morse
, Uriah Heep
drummer Lee Kerslake
, bass player Bob Daisley
and keyboards player Don Airey
under the name Living Loud
. The self-titled album featured a number of songs originally written and recorded with Ozzy Osbourne
by Kerslake, Daisley and Airey.
Double Happiness
, released in July 2005, reaffirmed his popularity, debuting at #1 on the ARIAnet Albums Chart, his seventh album to do so. Double Happiness was a complete album of duets, including several with his children, daughters Mahalia
and Elly-May, son Jackie
and oldest son, entertainer David Campbell
. Roachford, Smoky Dawson
, Ian Moss and Tim Rogers
of You Am I
are among others who appear. After its initial success, it was re-released as a double CD/DVD package featuring many of his duets from previous albums, including those with INXS, John Farnham, Joe Cocker and Tina Turner. Double Happiness was followed in 2006 by karaoke
DVD version that featured many of his songs minus the vocal track.
Jimmy Barnes was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame
on 23 October 2005 for his solo career efforts, and coupled with Cold Chisel's 1993 induction, Barnes has entered into the Hall of Fame twice.
In late 2006, Barnes became patron of the Choir of Hard Knocks, a choral group formed by Jonathon Welch and consisting of homeless and disadvantaged people in Melbourne. The formation of the choir was documented by the ABC
as a five-part series aired in May 2007. Barnes took an active part in the teaching of the choir despite his health problems and has even busked with them. Barnes or a member of his extended family have regularly performed "Flame Trees
" with the Choir at their concerts including those at Melbourne Town Hall on 24 June and the Sydney Opera House
17 July 2007.
He underwent heart surgery in February 2007 and then in May, the boxed CD set 50 was released, featuring remastered versions of all his studio albums and a double CD of rare tracks. The collection was limited to 5000 copies.
On 7 July 2007 Barnes was a presenter at the Australian leg
of Live Earth
. In August he became a regular presenter on The Know
, a pop culture program on the pay TV channel MAX and has also been a presenter of the Planet Rock program on the Austereo network.
In September 2007 he started recording his 13th studio album, Out In The Blue
. Produced by Nash Chambers, it was released on 14 November and debuted in the ARIA chart at #3. The songs were written while he recovered from his heart surgery, and displayed a more subdued mood than much of his previous output. "When Two Hearts Collide" was a duet with Kasey Chambers
. The album was promoted with a performance at the Sydney Opera House
, which was released on CD and DVD.
He continues to recognise and give support to young bands and artists in Australia. In a January 2007 interview with The Bulletin
, Barnes spoke passionately about Australian rock musicians saying: "Australian bands for me will always have the grunt. Grunt is what gives you longevity, strength, the power to believe in yourself. We have great bands here because they play live, they cut their teeth playing to people.". In March 2008, Barnes appeared as a special guest during soul singer Guy Sebastian
's tour.
In September 2008 he undertook a tour of Europe. November saw the release of a duet with son David Campbell, a cover of the Righteous Brothers' "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" that featured on Campbell's album Good Lovin. In September the following year his fifteenth studio album The Rhythm and the Blues
was released, immediately becoming his ninth No. 1 charting solo release, thus giving him more No. 1 albums than any other Australian artist. The same week, after hinting about the possibility during his appearance on Good News Week
, it was announced that Cold Chisel would play at the V8 Supercars race in Sydney on 5 December 2009.
in October 2010, slated to be their only performance of the year followed by Jimmy touring with Vanessa Amorosi
at A Day At The Green concerts. The band is rumoured to be working on new material for the first time since 1998, with a possible tour in 2011.
Barnes released Rage and Ruin on 27 August 2010, his first album of original material since 2007. He has stated that the ideas for most of the lyrics and song themes came from a journal he kept during a period in his life (late 1990s to early 2000s) when he struggled with drug and alcohol addiction. Two singles have been released from the album: "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" and "God or Money". The album debuted at number 3 on the ARIA Albums Chart
on 5 September 2010. Three weeks later, on 27 September, it was revealed that Barnes has two adult daughters he had never previously met.
On 14 March 2011 he planted a flame tree
, made famous in Cold Chisel's 1984 song Flame Trees
, at the National Arboretum Canberra
.
He then headlined at Celebrate in the Park, playing a 90 minute set which included his solo hits and some Cold Chisel greats. He was joined by daughter Mahalia in a soulful rendition of "When the War Is Over
", which he dedicated to the memory of Steve Prestwich
.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
singer-songwriter. His father Jim Swan was a prizefighter
Prizefighter
A prizefighter is a boxer.Prizefighter may also refer to:*Don King Presents: Prizefighter, a video game by 2k Sports released in 2008*Prize Fighter, a video game by Digital Pictures released in 1994 for the Sega CD...
and his older brother John Swan
Swanee (singer)
John Swan, better known as Swanee, is a Australian rock singer. He was born John Archibold Dixon Swan in Glasgow, Scotland in 1952. He is the older brother of rock singer Jimmy Barnes and the uncle of singer and stage performer David Campbell. He emigrated to Australia with his family in 1961...
is also a rock singer. It was actually John who had encouraged and taught Jim how to sing as he wasn't really interested at the time. His career as both a solo performer and as the lead vocalist with the rock band Cold Chisel
Cold Chisel
Cold Chisel is a rock band that originated in Adelaide, Australia. It is one of the most acclaimed Australian rock bands of all time, with a string of hits throughout the 1970s and 1980s and huge sales that continue to this day, although its success and acclaim was almost completely restricted to...
has made him one of the most popular and best-selling Australian music artists of all time. The combination of 14 Australian Top 40 albums for Cold Chisel and 13 charting solo albums, including nine No. 1s, gives Barnes the highest number of hit albums of any Australian artist.
Early life
Jimmy Barnes was born in Glasgow, Scotland and arrived in AdelaideAdelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
, South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
as a 4-year old on 7 January 1961 with his parents Jim and Dorothy Swan and siblings John, Linda, Lisa & Alan. They eventually settled in Elizabeth
Elizabeth, South Australia
Elizabeth is a northern suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is located in the City of Playford.-History:Elizabeth was established in 1955 as part of a planned satellite town by the South Australian Housing Trust on rural land between the older towns of Salisbury and...
. Shortly afterward, Barnes' parents divorced. His mother Dorothy soon remarried, to a clerk named Reg Barnes. After her daughter Lisa was teased by a schoolmate about being adopted, Dorothy encouraged her children to change their surname to Barnes. All of them did except for the oldest brother John, who would go on to be much better known as Swanee
Swanee (singer)
John Swan, better known as Swanee, is a Australian rock singer. He was born John Archibold Dixon Swan in Glasgow, Scotland in 1952. He is the older brother of rock singer Jimmy Barnes and the uncle of singer and stage performer David Campbell. He emigrated to Australia with his family in 1961...
, eventually recording a series of albums under that name from the 1980s. This would later cause confusion about Jimmy Barnes and Swan; many thought them to be half- or stepbrothers.
Barnes was raised a Protestant, and considers himself a Buddhist
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
, although in September 2009 he revealed that he has Jewish
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
ancestry, his maternal grandmother having been Jewish.
The Cold Chisel Years 1973 - 1983
Barnes took an apprenticeship in an iron smelter with the South Australian railways in 1973 but the love he and his brother had for music led him to join a band. Swanee was now playing drums with FraternityFraternity (band)
Fraternity were an Australian rock band which formed in Sydney in 1970 and relocated to Adelaide in 1971. Former members include successive lead vocalists Bon Scott , John Swan , and his brother Jimmy Barnes...
, who had just parted ways with singer Bon Scott
Bon Scott
Ronald Belford "Bon" Scott was a Scottish-born Australian rock musician, best known for being the lead singer and lyricist of Australian hard rock band AC/DC from 1974 until his death in 1980...
. Barnes took over the role but his tenure with the band was brief and before long he had joined a harder-edged band called Orange, featuring organist and songwriter Don Walker
Don Walker (musician)
Don Walker is an Australian musician and songwriter known for writing many of the hits for Australian pub rock band Cold Chisel. He played piano and keyboard with the band from 1973 to 1983, when they disbanded. He has since continued to record and tour, both solo and with Tex, Don and Charlie,...
, guitarist Ian Moss
Ian Moss
Ian Moss is an Australian rock musician, best known as the guitarist and occasional singer of Cold Chisel. In that group's initial ten year career, Moss recorded eight albums, three of which were No. 1 national hits. His solo career began with a No. 1 album and single and five ARIA Awards...
, drummer Steve Prestwich
Steve Prestwich
-External links:* *...
and bass player Les Kaczmarek. Within a short time the group had changed its name to Cold Chisel and began to develop a strong presence on the local music scene. Barnes' relationship with the band was often volatile and he left several times, leaving Moss to handle vocal duties until he returned. After a temporary move to Armidale, New South Wales
Armidale, New South Wales
Armidale is a city in the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales, Australia. Armidale Dumaresq Shire had a population of 19,485 people according to the 2006 census. It is the administrative centre for the Northern Tablelands region...
while Walker completed his engineering studies there, Cold Chisel moved to Melbourne in August 1976 and then three months later shifted base to Sydney. Progress was slow and Barnes announced he was leaving once again in May 1977 to join Swanee in a band called Feather. However, his farewell performance with Cold Chisel went so well he changed his mind and a month later the band was signed by WEA
Warner Music Group
Warner Music Group is the third largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the big four record companies...
.
By 1980 Cold Chisel was the biggest band in Australia and Barnes had developed a notorious reputation as a hard-drinking wild man who reportedly drank more than two bottles of vodka
Vodka
Vodka , is a distilled beverage. It is composed primarily of water and ethanol with traces of impurities and flavorings. Vodka is made by the distillation of fermented substances such as grains, potatoes, or sometimes fruits....
a day, much of it onstage during performances.
While in Canberra in November 1979 however, he met Jane Mahoney (born Jane Dejakasaya, in Bangkok
Bangkok
Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...
, Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, 1958) the stepdaughter of an Australian diplomat. Barnes began a relationship with her and they started living together but in March 1980 she began to feel overwhelmed by the rock lifestyle and followed her family to Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
where her father was posted. Barnes wrote the song "Rising Sun" about this, which would appear on the album East
East (album)
East was the third studio album by Australian pub rock band Cold Chisel, released in June 1980. The album peaked at No. 2 and spent 63 weeks on the national chart. It was the biggest-selling Australian album release of the year...
. The pair married in Sydney on 22 May 1981 and Jane soon gave birth to their first child Mahalia
Mahalia Barnes
Mahalia Barnes is an Australian singer/songwriter, daughter of well-known Australian rock singer Jimmy Barnes.She began performing as part of kiddie pop group The Tin Lids with siblings, Eliza-Jane and Jackie; but has since become a respected session and backup singer.She performs regular live gigs...
, named after Mahalia Jackson
Mahalia Jackson
Mahalia Jackson – January 27, 1972) was an African-American gospel singer. Possessing a powerful contralto voice, she was referred to as "The Queen of Gospel"...
, on 12 July 1982. The couple now have four children (Mahalia Barnes
Mahalia Barnes
Mahalia Barnes is an Australian singer/songwriter, daughter of well-known Australian rock singer Jimmy Barnes.She began performing as part of kiddie pop group The Tin Lids with siblings, Eliza-Jane and Jackie; but has since become a respected session and backup singer.She performs regular live gigs...
, Eliza-Jane Barnes, Elly-may Barnes and Jackie Barnes
Jackie Barnes
Jackie Barnes is a Thai Australian musician. He has been performing since the age of five and has appeared on almost a dozen albums since 1990. He is currently the drummer in father Jimmy Barnes' band.-Early life:...
who formed the group Tin Lids
Tin Lids
The Tin Lids were an Australian group comprising Mahalia Barnes, Eliza-Jane Barnes, Elly-may Barnes and Jackie Barnes. All are children of Australian rock icon, Jimmy Barnes. The band released three albums following their first hit single, "Walk the Dinosaur". The first, in 1991, was a collection...
). Barnes was already the father of a son, David Campbell
David Campbell (Australian musician)
David Joseph Campbell is an Australian singer and stage performer. He has performed and recorded many different genres of music from rock to classics. He is the son of singer Jimmy Barnes.-Theatre career:...
, who, due to the young age of his parents at the time of his birth, was being raised by his grandmother. While Barnes maintained contact with him, Campbell did not become aware that Barnes was his father and not merely a family friend until the mid-1980s.
The singer had never been careful with money and the increasing pressure on him to provide for his young family caused even more tension between him and the rest of Cold Chisel. Despite being hugely successful in Australia, the group had still not been able to crack the market internationally and a disastrous tour of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1981 pulled them even further apart. While the 1982 album Circus Animals
Circus Animals
Circus Animals was a studio album released by Australian band Cold Chisel in 1982. It was recorded and mixed at Paradise Studios and EMI Studio 301, Sydney . It reached number one on the Australian charts, remaining in the charts for 40 weeks...
provided Cold Chisel with its second consecutive No. 1 album, Barnes returned from the band's German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
tour in 1983 virtually broke. He asked for a $10,000 advance from the band's management but was refused, as the terms of the group's contract meant that if one member was given such a sum, the rest of them were entitled to the same amount. At a meeting in August, it was decided that Cold Chisel should split up. The group had already begun to fragment, with Ray Arnott
Ray Arnott
Raymond "Ray" Walter Arnott is an Australian rock drummer, singer-songwriter, he was a member of Spectrum , which had a number one hit with "I'll Be Gone" in January 1971...
having replaced Steve Prestwich earlier in the year. Sessions for the final album were spread across different studios as various members refused to work together but at the end of the year The Last Stand farewell tour (with Prestwich back in the band) became the highest-grossing concert series by an Australian band ever. The group's final performance was in Sydney on 12 December 1983, reportedly precisely ten years after its original formation. The resultant film of that show remains the best-selling live concert film of any Australian band.
Barnes had recorded seven albums with Cold Chisel between 1978 and 1983, including two live albums (the second of which, Barking Spiders Live 1983, was released in 1984), and was arguably now Australia's highest-profile rock singer.
1980s
Barnes launched his solo career less than a month after Cold Chisel's Last Stand tour came to an end. He assembled a band that included Arnott, former Fraternity bass player Bruce Howe and guitarists Mal Eastick (ex-StarsStars (Australian band)
-Other appearances:-Members:*Glyn Dowding – drums *Malcolm Eastick – guitar, vocals *Mick Pealing – vocals *Graham Thompson – bass guitar *Andrew Durant – guitar...
) and Chris Stockley (ex-The Dingoes
The Dingoes
The Dingoes are an Australian country rock band initially active from 1973 to 1979, formed in Melbourne they relocated to the United States from 1976. Most stable line-up was John Bois on bass guitar, John Lee on drums, Broderick Smith on vocals and harmonica, Chris Stockley on guitar and Kerryn...
) and began touring and writing for a solo album. Signing to Mushroom Records
Mushroom Records
Mushroom Records is an Australian recoJrd company formed by Michael Gudinski and Ray Evans in Melbourne in 1972. After its sale in 1998, it merged into Festival Mushroom Records. From 2005 to 2009, it is one of the record labels operated by Warner Bros...
, Barnes released his first solo album Bodyswerve. He was now billing himself as Jimmy Barnes, instead of merely 'Jim Barnes' as he had been credited during his Cold Chisel days. The album was immediately successful, entering the Australian charts at Number One on 8 October. This was the first of a remarkable run of top charting albums for Barnes, as each of his first six solo albums all debuted in the Number One position, a feat that no other Australian musical artist is likely to match. His list of Number One albums now totals eleven, including three Cold Chisel albums. His total of nine No. 1 albums as a solo performer is matched by no other Australian recording artist. The final Cold Chisel studio album 20th Century and the live album Barking Spiders Live were also released in 1984. 20th Century peaked at No. 1 on 23 April.
On 22 December 1984, days after Barnes had begun that year's Barnestorming tour, his second daughter Eliza-Jane was born.
Early in his solo career, Barnes was determined to break into the US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
market and signed to Geffen Records
Geffen Records
Geffen Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operated as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-Beginnings:...
for release there. His second album For the Working Class Man
For the Working Class Man
For the Working Class Man is the second studio album by Australian rock singer Jimmy Barnes, released in 1985. The album was released in the United States on Geffen as Jimmy Barnes. It was re-released in 2005 in a special 20th anniversary edition, CD/DVD box set...
was tailored in this direction, featuring remixed songs from Bodyswerve plus five new tracks including "Working Class Man
Working Class Man
"Working Class Man" is a song performed and made famous by Australian singer Jimmy Barnes. It was written by Journey keyboardist Jonathan Cain. "Working Class Man" is generally considered Barnes' signature song as a solo artist....
" that was written by Journey
Journey (band)
Journey is an American rock band formed in 1973 in San Francisco by former members of Santana. The band has gone through several phases; its strongest commercial success occurred between the 1978 and 1987, after which it temporarily disbanded...
musician Jonathan Cain
Jonathan Cain
Jonathan Cain is an American musician, best known for his work with The Babys, Journey and Bad English.-Early life:...
and would become Barnes' signature tune. Several US musicians worked on the album including Cain, Charlie Sexton
Charlie Sexton
Charles Wayne Sexton is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter best known for the 1985 hit Beat's So Lonely and as the guitarist for Bob Dylan's backing band from 1999 to 2002 and since 2009...
, singer Kim Carnes
Kim Carnes
Kim Carnes is an American singer-songwriter. She is a two-time Grammy Award winner noted for her distinctive raspy vocal style. Some people have called her "The Female Rod Stewart" due to her raspy voice....
and British
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
drummer Mick Fleetwood
Mick Fleetwood
Michael John Kells "Mick" Fleetwood is a British musician and actor best known for his role as the drummer and namesake of the blues/rock and roll band Fleetwood Mac. His surname, combined with that of John McVie, was the inspiration for the name of the originally Peter Green-led Fleetwood Mac...
of Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac are a British–American rock band formed in 1967 in London.The only original member present in the band is its eponymous drummer, Mick Fleetwood...
. The album was released as a double vinyl set and shifted 250,000 copies in twelve months in Australia. Like its predecessor, For the Working Class Man debuted on the national chart at No. 1 on 16 December 1985. It remained at No. 1 for seven weeks. Titled simply Jimmy Barnes
For the Working Class Man
For the Working Class Man is the second studio album by Australian rock singer Jimmy Barnes, released in 1985. The album was released in the United States on Geffen as Jimmy Barnes. It was re-released in 2005 in a special 20th anniversary edition, CD/DVD box set...
in the US, the album was issued in February to tie in with the release of the Ron Howard
Ron Howard
Ronald William "Ron" Howard is an American actor, director, and producer. He came to prominence as a child actor, playing Opie Taylor in the sitcom The Andy Griffith Show for eight years, and later the teenaged Richie Cunningham in the sitcom Happy Days for six years...
film Gung Ho
Gung Ho (film)
Gung Ho is a 1986 Ron Howard comedy film, released by Paramount Pictures, and starring Michael Keaton and Gedde Watanabe. The film's story portrayed the takeover of an American car plant by a Japanese corporation...
which featured "Working Class Man". Because of this, Gung Ho was released as Working Class Man in Australia.
The Jimmy Barnes band that toured Australia in support of the album featured Howe and Arnott, plus keyboardist Peter Kekell, former Rose Tattoo
Rose Tattoo
Rose Tattoo is an Australian rock and roll band, now led by Angry Anderson, that was formed in Sydney in 1976. Their sound is hard rock mixed with blues rock influences, with songs including "Bad Boy for Love", "Rock 'n' Roll Outlaw", "Nice Boys", "We Can't Be Beaten" and "Scarred for Life"...
guitarist Robin Riley and American guitarist Dave Amato
Dave Amato
Dave Amato is an American musician, best known as the lead guitarist of the rock band REO Speedwagon.He was born and raised near Framingham, Massachusetts...
. With the release of the album in America, Barnes headed off with a band of Canadian musicians hand-picked by his North American management team and toured with ZZ Top
ZZ Top
ZZ Top is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "That Little Ol' Band from Texas". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based boogie rock, has come to incorporate elements of arena, southern, and boogie rock. The band, from Houston Texas, formed in 1969...
. It was the first time since 1981 that he had toured without his family as part of his entourage as Jane was pregnant. Shortly after their son Jackie
Jackie Barnes
Jackie Barnes is a Thai Australian musician. He has been performing since the age of five and has appeared on almost a dozen albums since 1990. He is currently the drummer in father Jimmy Barnes' band.-Early life:...
(named after Jackie Wilson
Jackie Wilson
Jack Leroy "Jackie" Wilson, Jr. was an American singer and performer. Known as "Mr. Excitement", Wilson was important in the transition of rhythm and blues into soul. He was known as a master showman, and as one of the most dynamic singers and performers in R&B and rock history...
) was born on 4 February 1986 she and the children joined him in the US for the rest of the tour.
In 1986, Jimmy Barnes recorded two songs with INXS
INXS
INXS are an Australian rock band, formed as The Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney, New South Wales. Mainstays are Garry Gary Beers on bass guitar, Andrew Farriss on guitar/keyboards, Jon Farriss on drums, Tim Farriss on lead guitar and Kirk Pengilly on guitar/sax...
, an Easybeats cover "Good Times
Good Times (Easybeats song)
"Good Times" was a song by The Easybeats released as a single in Australia in December 1968. It was written by George Young and Harry Vanda....
" and "Laying Down The Law", which he co-wrote with INXS members Andrew Farriss
Andrew Farriss
Andrew Charles Farriss is a rock musician , best known as the keyboardist and main composer for the Australian band INXS.-Career:...
and Michael Hutchence
Michael Hutchence
Michael Kelland John Hutchence was an Australian musician and actor. He was the founding lead singer-songwriter of rock band :INXS from 1977 to his death in 1997, a period of twenty years. Hutchence was a member of short-lived pop rock group Max Q and recorded solo material which was released...
. "Good Times" was used as the theme song for the Australian Made
Australian Made
Australian Made was a festival concert series held during 1986–1987 in the six state capitals of Australia and featured local rock acts Mental as Anything, I'm Talking, The Triffids, The Saints, Divinyls, Models, Jimmy Barnes and INXS. The series started in Hobart on 26 December 1986 and...
series of concerts that toured the country in the summer of 1986-87. Australian Made was the largest touring festival of Australian music talent that had ever been attempted to that point. Barnes and INXS headlined and the rest of the line-up featured Mental as Anything
Mental As Anything
Mental As Anything are an Australian New Wave–rock music band formed at an art school in Sydney in 1976. Their most popular line-up was Martin Plaza on vocals and guitar; Reg Mombassa on lead guitar and vocals; his brother Peter "Yoga Dog" O'Doherty on bass guitar and vocals; Wayne "Bird"...
, Divinyls
Divinyls
Divinyls were an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1980 and featuring vocalist Christina Amphlett and guitarist Mark McEntee. As the focal point, Amphlett performed on stage wearing a school uniform and fishnet stockings, often using an illuminated neon tube as a prop and displaying...
, Models
Models (band)
Models were an alternative rock group formed in Melbourne, Australia, in August 1978 and went into hiatus in 1988. They are often incorrectly referred to as The Models. They re-formed in 2000, 2006 and 2008 to perform reunion concerts. "Out of Mind, Out of Sight", their only No. 1 hit,...
, The Saints
The Saints (band)
The Saints are an Australian rock band, which formed in Brisbane in 1974 as punk rockers. Founders were Chris Bailey , Ivor Hay , and Ed Kuepper . Alongside mainstay Bailey, the group has had numerous line-ups...
, I'm Talking
I'm Talking
I'm Talking was a 1980s Australian funk-pop rock band, which featured vocalists Kate Ceberano and Zan Abeyratne. They formed in 1983 in Melbourne and provided top ten hit singles "Trust Me", "Do You Wanna Be?" and "Holy Word" and a top fifteen album, Bear Witness, before disbanding in...
and The Triffids
The Triffids
The Triffids were a seminal Australian alternative rock and pop band formed in Perth, Western Australia, in May 1978 with charismatic, David McComb as singer-songwriter, guitarist, bass guitarist and keyboardist. They achieved negligible success in Australia, but greater success in the U.K...
. The shows began in Hobart, Tasmania on 26 December and concluded in Sydney on Australia Day, 26 January 1987. A concert film of this event was made by Richard Lowenstein
Richard Lowenstein
Richard Lowenstein is an Australian film director. He has written, produced and directed the feature films He Died With A Felafel In His Hand, Dogs In Space, Say a Little Prayer, Strikebound and Ghost Story, as well as numerous ground-breaking and award-winning music videos for bands such as INXS...
and released later that year. "Good Times" peaked at No. 2 on the Australian chart and several months later was featured in the Joel Schumacher
Joel Schumacher
Joel T. Schumacher is an American film director, screenwriter and producer.-Early life:Schumacher was born in New York City, the son of Marian and Francis Schumacher. His mother was a Swedish Jew, and his father was a Baptist from Knoxville, Tennessee, who died when Joel was four years old...
film The Lost Boys
The Lost Boys
The Lost Boys is a 1987 American teen comedy horror film directed by Joel Schumacher and starring Jason Patric, Corey Haim, Kiefer Sutherland, Jami Gertz, Corey Feldman, Dianne Wiest, Edward Herrmann, Alex Winter, Jamison Newlander, and Barnard Hughes....
, allowing it to chart Top 40 in the US.
The "Good Times"/"Laying Down the Law" release was the first in a long line of songs Barnes would record with other well known singers and artists. In 1991 he recorded a version of "When Something is Wrong With My Baby" with John Farnham
John Farnham
John Peter Farnham, AO, formerly billed as Johnny Farnham , is an English-born Australian pop singer. He was a teen pop idol from 1964 to 1979, and has since forged a career as an adult contemporary singer. His career has mostly been as a solo artist although he briefly replaced Glenn Shorrock as...
as a single and centerpiece track for his Soul Deep
Soul Deep (Jimmy Barnes album)
Soul Deep is the fifth album by Australian rock singer Jimmy Barnes. It was his sixth consecutive Australian No. 1 album. The album was a collection of soul covers and featured duets with Johnny Farnham and Diesel...
album. The following year he released a version of "Simply The Best
The Best (song)
"The Best" is a song written by Mike Chapman and Holly Knight, originally recorded by Bonnie Tyler on her 1988 release Hide Your Heart, in reference to Tom Mason. The single reached reaching #10 in Norway and Portugal, #34 in Spain and #95 in the UK....
" as a duet with Tina Turner
Tina Turner
Tina Turner is an American singer and actress whose career has spanned more than 50 years. She has won numerous awards and her achievements in the rock music genre have led many to call her the "Queen of Rock 'n' Roll".Turner started out her music career with husband Ike Turner as a member of the...
that was used as the theme song for that year's Australian Rugby League
Australian Rugby League
The Australian Rugby League is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in Australia. It is made up of state bodies, including the New South Wales Rugby League and the Queensland Rugby League...
advertising campaign. It peaked at #13 in Australia. His 1993 album Flesh and Wood also featured several duets, including songs with Joe Cocker
Joe Cocker
John Robert "Joe" Cocker, OBE is an English rock and blues musician, composer and actor, who came to popularity in the 1960s, and is most known for his gritty voice, his idiosyncratic arm movements while performing, and his cover versions of popular songs, particularly those of The Beatles...
, Archie Roach
Archie Roach
Archie Roach is an Australian musician. A singer, songwriter and guitarist, he survived a turbulent upbringing to develop into a powerful voice for Indigenous Australians, a storyteller in the tradition of his ancestors, and a nationally popular and respected artist.- Biography :In his own words,...
, Tommy Emmanuel
Tommy Emmanuel
William Thomas "Tommy" Emmanuel AM is an Australian guitarist, best known for his complex fingerpicking style, energetic performances and the use of percussive effects on the guitar. In the May 2008 and 2010 issues of Guitar Player Magazine, he was named as "Best Acoustic Guitarist" in their...
and a version of The Band's
The Band
The Band was an acclaimed and influential roots rock group. The original group consisted of Rick Danko , Garth Hudson , Richard Manuel , and Robbie Robertson , and Levon Helm...
"The Weight
The Weight
"The Weight" is a song written by Robbie Robertson. It was released by The Band as Capitol Records single 2269 in 1968, and appeared one week later on the group's debut album Music from Big Pink. The song is listed as #41 on Rolling Stones 500 Greatest Songs of All Time published in 2004, and...
" with The Badloves
The Badloves
The Badloves is an Australian band that formed in 1990, dissolved in 1997 and reformed in 2008.-1990:The Badloves were formed by frontman Michael Spiby in Melbourne during January 1990 under the name DC3. The band consisted of Spiby , his brother John Spiby , John Housden , Stephen O'Prey and...
.
The next album release Freight Train Heart
Freight Train Heart
Freight Train Heart is an album by Australian rock singer Jimmy Barnes, released in late 1987 in Australia by Mushroom Records and in early 1988 in the US by Geffen. It spent 5 weeks at the top of the Australian Album charts in Dec 1987 / Jan 1988...
(1987) again featured contributions from a range of US musicians including Huey Lewis
Huey Lewis
Huey Lewis is an American musician, songwriter and occasional actor.Lewis sings lead and plays harmonica for his band Huey Lewis and the News, in addition to writing or co-writing many of the band's songs...
, Journey members Randy Jackson
Randy Jackson
Randall Darius "Randy" Jackson is an American bassist, singer, record producer, music manager, A&R executive, entrepreneur, and television personality. He is best known as a judge on American Idol and executive producer for MTV's America's Best Dance Crew...
and Neal Schon
Neal Schon
Neal George Joseph Schon is an American rock guitarist, songwriter, and vocalist best known for his work with the band Journey. He is the only member to have recorded on all of Journey's albums...
and former Babys
The Babys
The Babys were a British rock/pop group best known for their songs "Isn't It Time," and "Every Time I Think of You." Both songs were composed by Jack Conrad and Ray Kennedy, and reached #13 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart in the late 1970s...
and Rod Stewart
Rod Stewart
Roderick David "Rod" Stewart, CBE is a British singer-songwriter and musician, born and raised in North London, England and currently residing in Epping. He is of Scottish and English ancestry....
drummer Tony Brock, who would later accompany Barnes on tour. The recording process was deeply problematic however, as Barnes fought with producer Jonathon Cain over artistic control and Geffen Records wanted to feature a solo by Robert Cray
Robert Cray
Robert Cray is an American blues guitarist and singer. A five-time Grammy Award winner, he has led his own band, as well as an acclaimed solo career.-Career:...
in the track "Too Much Ain't Enough Love
Too Much Ain't Enough Love
"Too Much Ain't Enough Love" was the first single lifted from the 1987 album Freight Train Heart by Australian rock singer Jimmy Barnes. It was his first Australian No. 1 hit single....
" in place of the one laid down by Schon. In the end, Barnes claimed the masters and returned to Sydney to rework the recording with English producer Mike Stone. Most of the songs were remixed, with parts added by Peter Kekell, Rick Brewster from The Angels, and Johnny Diesel
Johnny Diesel
Johnny Diesel is an Australian musician, who has released material as leader of Johnny Diesel & the Injectors, under his birth name, or by the epithet Diesel...
, the 20-year old guitarist and frontman of Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
band Johnny Diesel and the Injectors, who had just begun to make a name for themselves. Jon Farriss
Jon Farriss
Jon Farriss is the drummer for the Australian rock band INXS.-Biography:...
from INXS and ex-Angels bassist Chris Bailey also played on the album. Diesel, Kekell, Brock, Bailey and Dave Amato were kept on as Barnes' touring band, which hit the road in November just ahead of the release of the first single, "Too Much Ain't Enough Love" in December 1987. It became Barnes' first No. 1 hit single. The album followed the trend set by the previous two, and debuted in the No. 1 slot on 21 December.
Freight Train Heart found moderate success outside of Australia and as recently as 2003 was named as one of the top 100 rock albums of all time by British
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
magazine Powerplay. His problems with Geffen during the recording process caused him to sever his relations with them and he eventually signed to Atlantic
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
in 1990.
In Australia, Jimmy Barnes' success remained virtually unmatched. The Number One success of his first three albums continued with the live album Barnestorming, recorded during the promotional tour of the same name and peaking at No. 1 for three weeks from 5 December. A version of the Percy Sledge
Percy Sledge
Percy Sledge is an American R&B and soul performer who recorded the hit "When a Man Loves a Woman" in 1966.-Early career:...
standard "When A Man Loves A Woman" lifted from the album was a No. 3 hit. His next tour brought controversy by being underwritten by Pepsi
Pepsi
Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink that is produced and manufactured by PepsiCo...
, which allowed him to expand the production and increase promotion, and at the end of the tour he made a $25,000 donation to the Children's Hospital in Camperdown
Camperdown, New South Wales
Camperdown is an inner-city suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Camperdown is located 4 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district and is part of the Inner West region...
, Sydney.
In the middle of 1989, Jane Barnes went into Westmead Children's Hospital in Sydney with pregnancy complications; Elly-May Barnes was born almost three months prematurely on 3 May. Her father held off all further writing and recording until she was released from a humidicrib several months later.
1990s
Barnes signed to Atlantic for worldwide release in mid-1990 and immediately headed into the studio with producer Don GehmanDon Gehman
Don Gehman is an American record producer, best known for his work in the 1980s with John Mellencamp.Gehman grew up in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and played bass in a local rock band...
to record Two Fires. The album featured songwriting contributions from the likes of Desmond Child
Desmond Child
Desmond Child is an American musician, songwriter, and producer. He is a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame.-Career:...
, Diane Warren
Diane Warren
Diane Eve Warren , is a US songwriter. Her songs have received six Academy Award nominations, five Golden Globe nominations, including one win and seven Grammy Award nominations, including one win. She was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2001...
and Holly Knight
Holly Knight
Holly Knight is a songwriter, vocalist and musician of pop and rock music.- Biography :She was born in New York City and started playing classical piano as a young child. She soon became interested in rock music, and left home at about sixteen to pursue her dreams...
and vocal contributions from Brian Setzer
Brian Setzer
Brian Setzer is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. He first found widespread success in the early 1980s with the 1950s-style rockabilly revival group The Stray Cats, and revitalized his career in the late 1990s with a jazz-oriented big band.-Career:Setzer was born in Massapequa, New York...
, and from his wife and children. Collectively known as the Tin Lids
Tin Lids
The Tin Lids were an Australian group comprising Mahalia Barnes, Eliza-Jane Barnes, Elly-may Barnes and Jackie Barnes. All are children of Australian rock icon, Jimmy Barnes. The band released three albums following their first hit single, "Walk the Dinosaur". The first, in 1991, was a collection...
(after Glaswegian rhyming-slang for "kids"), the four Barnes children later recorded three albums of their own. Two Fires combined live drums with synthesised drum machines and contained the hits "Lay Down Your Guns", "Make it Last All Night", "When Your Love is Gone" and "Little Darling". It had a slight funk influence and an even more polished sound than his previous albums but this proved no barrier to it becoming his fifth consecutive Australian No. 1 album.
The following year he released Soul Deep
Soul Deep (Jimmy Barnes album)
Soul Deep is the fifth album by Australian rock singer Jimmy Barnes. It was his sixth consecutive Australian No. 1 album. The album was a collection of soul covers and featured duets with Johnny Farnham and Diesel...
, an album of soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
covers. Barnes had long fostered a love for soul and black music
African American music
African-American music is an umbrella term given to a range of musics and musical genres emerging from or influenced by the culture of African Americans, who have long constituted a large and significant ethnic minority of the population of the United States...
, naming his children after influential black artists and including songs by Sam Cooke
Sam Cooke
Samuel Cook, , better known under the stage name Sam Cooke, was an American gospel, R&B, soul, and pop singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur. He is considered to be one of the pioneers and founders of soul music. He is commonly known as the King of Soul for his distinctive vocal abilities and...
and Percy Sledge
Percy Sledge
Percy Sledge is an American R&B and soul performer who recorded the hit "When a Man Loves a Woman" in 1966.-Early career:...
on previous albums. He and Gehman had discussed the idea during the sessions for Two Fires and both had apparently decided that it would be "a fun thing to do". Soul Deep went on to become Jimmy Barnes' most successful album ever, spawning the No. 3 single "When Something is Wrong With My Baby", a duet with John Farnham. Re-releases of the album were issued in special gatefold sleeves with embossed gold lettering, collector cards and extra live tracks. It remains one of the best-selling Australian albums of all time.
The 1993 album Heat saw Barnes return to hard rock. Influenced by the then-current grunge trend and the music of the Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers is an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles in 1983. The group's musical style primarily consists of rock with an emphasis on funk, as well as elements from other genres such as punk, hip hop and psychedelic rock...
, Heat was an attempt to move back to Barnes' raw rock'n'roll roots after the polished sound of Soul Deep and Two Fires. While described as his most interesting album, it broke his run of Number One releases (it peaked at #2) but did contain the hit "Stone Cold", written by former Cold Chisel bandmate Don Walker
Don Walker (musician)
Don Walker is an Australian musician and songwriter known for writing many of the hits for Australian pub rock band Cold Chisel. He played piano and keyboard with the band from 1973 to 1983, when they disbanded. He has since continued to record and tour, both solo and with Tex, Don and Charlie,...
. It marked the first time Jimmy Barnes had worked with any member of his old band for almost a decade. The pair teamed up for an acoustic version of the track for an unplugged album Flesh and Wood, which appeared later the same year. Flesh and Wood reached #1 on the Australian album chart. It included a version of The Band
The Band
The Band was an acclaimed and influential roots rock group. The original group consisted of Rick Danko , Garth Hudson , Richard Manuel , and Robbie Robertson , and Levon Helm...
's "The Weight", recorded with The Badloves, which became a hit. Also in 1993, Barnes teamed up with Tina Turner
Tina Turner
Tina Turner is an American singer and actress whose career has spanned more than 50 years. She has won numerous awards and her achievements in the rock music genre have led many to call her the "Queen of Rock 'n' Roll".Turner started out her music career with husband Ike Turner as a member of the...
for a duet version of The Best
The Best (song)
"The Best" is a song written by Mike Chapman and Holly Knight, originally recorded by Bonnie Tyler on her 1988 release Hide Your Heart, in reference to Tom Mason. The single reached reaching #10 in Norway and Portugal, #34 in Spain and #95 in the UK....
in the form of a TV promotion for rugby league's Winfield Cup
Winfield Cup
The Winfield Cup was an Australian rugby league trophy awarded to the winner of the New South Wales Rugby League premiership's Grand Final from 1982 to 1994, and to the winner of the Australian Rugby League Grand Final in 1995...
. The single reached the top ten that year.
Following this, in the mid-90s, Jimmy Barnes' career suffered a slump. The singer faced financial ruin as his music publishing company Dirty Sheet Music and his wife's children's fashion label both went broke. He was pursued by both the ANZ Bank
ANZ Bank
The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited , commonly called ANZ, is the fourth largest bank in Australia, after the Commonwealth Bank, Westpac Banking Corporation and the National Australia Bank. Australian operations make up the largest part of ANZ's business, with commercial and retail...
and the Australian Taxation Office
Australian Taxation Office
The Australian Taxation Office is an Australian Government statutory agency and the principal revenue collection body for the Australian Government. The ATO has responsibility for administering the Australian federal taxation system and superannuation legislation...
for amounts exceeding $1.3 million. The family sold their property in Bowral
Bowral, New South Wales
-Attractions:Bowral is perhaps the best known of the towns and villages of the Southern Highlands, and in recent years has become the commercial centre of the Wingecarribee Shire. Bowral is known for its boutiques, antique stores, gourmet restaurants, and rich coffee culture.Bowral is home to the...
, New South Wales and settled for some time in Aix-en-Provence, France, attracting some adverse publicity when he assaulted a television crew from Channel 7
Seven Network
The Seven Network is an Australian television network owned by Seven West Media Limited. It dates back to 4 November 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Melbourne and Sydney.It is currently the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach...
. While there, Barnes did considerable live work throughout Britain and toured with the Rolling Stones. His 1995 album Psyclone reached number 2 in Australia and featured the top ten hit "Change of Heart", but it did not sell as well as previous albums. In 1996 the greatest hits compilation Hits returned Jimmy Barnes to the top of Australian charts, along with the hit single "Lover Lover". It was the beginning of a comeback that was hastened by the reformation of Cold Chisel in 1998.
In March 1999 he performed the 1978 Sylvester hit "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)
You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)
"You Make Me Feel " is the title of a 1978 single by American disco singer Sylvester James, who performed using just his first name, Sylvester...
" live onstage at the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras' annual party.
Later that year Barnes released the heavy rock single "Love and Hate", followed by its parent album Love and Fear. An autobiographical record combining hard rock with electronic music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
, Love and Fear was Barnes' first album to miss the Australian top ten.
2000s
The comeback was continued with another string of solo releases, including a second album of soul tunes, Soul Deeper (ARIA #3, 2000), and two live albums, the first an acoustic performance and the second a performance of his soul songs. He appeared live on stage with INXSINXS
INXS are an Australian rock band, formed as The Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney, New South Wales. Mainstays are Garry Gary Beers on bass guitar, Andrew Farriss on guitar/keyboards, Jon Farriss on drums, Tim Farriss on lead guitar and Kirk Pengilly on guitar/sax...
at some shows throughout Australia between 1999 and 2001, but the reception to this was not encouraging. He also performed at the closing ceremony of the Sydney Olympics in 2000.
In 2004, Barnes recorded an album with Deep Purple
Deep Purple
Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in Hertford in 1968. Along with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, they are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock, although some band members believe that their music cannot be categorised as belonging to any one genre...
guitarist Steve Morse
Steve Morse
Steven J. "Steve" Morse is an American guitarist and composer, best known for his work in the hard rock band Deep Purple since 1994. He began his career to form the unique styled instrumental rock band Dixie Dregs in the 1970. Morse's musical inspiration comes from country, funk, jazz fusion, and...
, Uriah Heep
Uriah Heep (band)
Uriah Heep are an English rock band formed in London in 1969 and regarded as a seminal classic hard rock act of the 1970s. Uriah Heep's progressive/art rock/heavy metal fusion's distinctive features have always been massive keyboards sound, strong vocal harmonies and David Byron's operatic vocals...
drummer Lee Kerslake
Lee Kerslake
Lee Kerslake is an English musician, best known as the longtime drummer and backing vocalist for the rock band Uriah Heep, in addition to his work in the Ozzy Osbourne band...
, bass player Bob Daisley
Bob Daisley
Robert John "Bob" Daisley is an Australian musician, bassist and lyricist who has performed in genres of rock, blues, R&B, hard rock and metal.-Early career:...
and keyboards player Don Airey
Don Airey
Donald Airey has been the keyboardist in the rock band Deep Purple since 2002, succeeding Jon Lord...
under the name Living Loud
Living Loud
Living Loud was a recording project featuring bass player and songwriter Bob Daisley, Uriah Heep drummer Lee Kerslake, guitarist Steve Morse of Deep Purple and Cold Chisel singer Jimmy Barnes...
. The self-titled album featured a number of songs originally written and recorded with Ozzy Osbourne
Ozzy Osbourne
John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne is an English vocalist, whose musical career has spanned over 40 years. Osbourne rose to prominence as lead singer of the pioneering English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, whose radically different, intentionally dark, harder sound helped spawn the heavy metal...
by Kerslake, Daisley and Airey.
Double Happiness
Double Happiness (album)
Double Happiness is an album by Australian singer Jimmy Barnes. It was released on 18 July 2005 on CD and vinyl. The album contains duets Barnes performed with various solo artists and bands.-Track listing :...
, released in July 2005, reaffirmed his popularity, debuting at #1 on the ARIAnet Albums Chart, his seventh album to do so. Double Happiness was a complete album of duets, including several with his children, daughters Mahalia
Mahalia Barnes
Mahalia Barnes is an Australian singer/songwriter, daughter of well-known Australian rock singer Jimmy Barnes.She began performing as part of kiddie pop group The Tin Lids with siblings, Eliza-Jane and Jackie; but has since become a respected session and backup singer.She performs regular live gigs...
and Elly-May, son Jackie
Jackie Barnes
Jackie Barnes is a Thai Australian musician. He has been performing since the age of five and has appeared on almost a dozen albums since 1990. He is currently the drummer in father Jimmy Barnes' band.-Early life:...
and oldest son, entertainer David Campbell
David Campbell (Australian musician)
David Joseph Campbell is an Australian singer and stage performer. He has performed and recorded many different genres of music from rock to classics. He is the son of singer Jimmy Barnes.-Theatre career:...
. Roachford, Smoky Dawson
Smoky Dawson
Smoky Dawson, MBE , born Herbert Henry Dawson, was an Australian country music performer. He was widely touted as Australia's first singing cowboy.-Biography:...
, Ian Moss and Tim Rogers
Tim Rogers
Tim Rogers is the frontman of Australian rock band You Am I. He is also a solo artist, as well as having fronted and released albums with bands The Twin Set and The Temperance Union.-History:...
of You Am I
You Am I
You Am I are an Australian alternative rock band, fronted by vocalist/guitarist and main songwriter Tim Rogers. They were the first Australian band to have three albums successively debut at #1 on the ARIA Charts, and are renowned for their live performances.-History:Tim Rogers formed the first...
are among others who appear. After its initial success, it was re-released as a double CD/DVD package featuring many of his duets from previous albums, including those with INXS, John Farnham, Joe Cocker and Tina Turner. Double Happiness was followed in 2006 by karaoke
Karaoke
is a form of interactive entertainment or video game in which amateur singers sing along with recorded music using a microphone and public address system. The music is typically a well-known pop song minus the lead vocal. Lyrics are usually displayed on a video screen, along with a moving symbol,...
DVD version that featured many of his songs minus the vocal track.
Jimmy Barnes was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame
ARIA Hall of Fame
Since 1988 the Australian Recording Industry Association has inducted artists into its ARIA Hall of Fame. While most have been recognised at the annual ARIA Music Awards, in 2005 ARIA sought to create a separate standalone "ARIA Icons: Hall of Fame" event as only one or two acts could be inducted...
on 23 October 2005 for his solo career efforts, and coupled with Cold Chisel's 1993 induction, Barnes has entered into the Hall of Fame twice.
In late 2006, Barnes became patron of the Choir of Hard Knocks, a choral group formed by Jonathon Welch and consisting of homeless and disadvantaged people in Melbourne. The formation of the choir was documented by the ABC
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
as a five-part series aired in May 2007. Barnes took an active part in the teaching of the choir despite his health problems and has even busked with them. Barnes or a member of his extended family have regularly performed "Flame Trees
Flame Trees
"Flame Trees" is a song by Australian pub rock band Cold Chisel from their 1984 album Twentieth Century. It is one of their best known songs, and was written by drummer Steve Prestwich and organist Don Walker...
" with the Choir at their concerts including those at Melbourne Town Hall on 24 June and the Sydney Opera House
Sydney Opera House
The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in the Australian city of Sydney. It was conceived and largely built by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, finally opening in 1973 after a long gestation starting with his competition-winning design in 1957...
17 July 2007.
He underwent heart surgery in February 2007 and then in May, the boxed CD set 50 was released, featuring remastered versions of all his studio albums and a double CD of rare tracks. The collection was limited to 5000 copies.
On 7 July 2007 Barnes was a presenter at the Australian leg
Live Earth concert, Sydney
The Live Earth concert in Australia was held at Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney on 7 July 2007, in front of around 45,000 people. It was the first of the Live Earth concerts to kick-off the day-long event & promoted by Michael Chugg, Amanda Pelman of Chugg Entertainment, Joe Segreto of IMC /...
of Live Earth
Live Earth
-Background:Founded by Emmy-winning producer Kevin Wall, in partnership with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, Live Earth was built upon the belief that entertainment has the power to transcend social and cultural barriers to move the world community to action...
. In August he became a regular presenter on The Know
The Know
The Know is an Australian talk show on Max. The pop culture show features Yumi Stynes, musician Jimmy Barnes and actress Lisa Hensley as the main show hosts along with former Machine Gun Fellatio keyboardist, Chit Chat Von Loopin Stab. The show discusses and reviews movies, music, television and...
, a pop culture program on the pay TV channel MAX and has also been a presenter of the Planet Rock program on the Austereo network.
In September 2007 he started recording his 13th studio album, Out In The Blue
Out in the Blue
Out in the Blue is the thirteenth studio album by Australian singer Jimmy Barnes. It was released on November 24, 2007 as both a single-disc and limited double-disc edition. The majority of the songs on the album were written by Barnes, many of them in relation to his recent heart surgery...
. Produced by Nash Chambers, it was released on 14 November and debuted in the ARIA chart at #3. The songs were written while he recovered from his heart surgery, and displayed a more subdued mood than much of his previous output. "When Two Hearts Collide" was a duet with Kasey Chambers
Kasey Chambers
Kasey Chambers is an Australian country singer-songwriter. She is the daughter of steel guitar player Bill Chambers, and the sister of musician and producer Nash Chambers.-Solo success:...
. The album was promoted with a performance at the Sydney Opera House
Sydney Opera House
The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in the Australian city of Sydney. It was conceived and largely built by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, finally opening in 1973 after a long gestation starting with his competition-winning design in 1957...
, which was released on CD and DVD.
The Bulletin
The Bulletin was an Australian weekly magazine that was published in Sydney from 1880 until January 2008. It was influential in Australian culture and politics from about 1890 until World War I, the period when it was identified with the "Bulletin school" of Australian literature. Its influence...
, Barnes spoke passionately about Australian rock musicians saying: "Australian bands for me will always have the grunt. Grunt is what gives you longevity, strength, the power to believe in yourself. We have great bands here because they play live, they cut their teeth playing to people.". In March 2008, Barnes appeared as a special guest during soul singer Guy Sebastian
Guy Sebastian
Guy Theodore Sebastian is an Australian pop, R&B, and soul singer-songwriter who was the first winner of Australian Idol in 2003. He is currently a judge on the Australian version of The X Factor. Sebastian has released six top ten platinum/multi platinum albums, including a number-one and...
's tour.
In September 2008 he undertook a tour of Europe. November saw the release of a duet with son David Campbell, a cover of the Righteous Brothers' "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" that featured on Campbell's album Good Lovin. In September the following year his fifteenth studio album The Rhythm and the Blues
The Rhythm and the Blues
The Rhythm and the Blues is the fifteenth solo studio album by Australian rock musician Jimmy Barnes, released through Liberation Music on 28 August 2009. The album was produced by Don Gehman in Los Angeles and peaked at number one on the Australian Albums Chart for two weeks...
was released, immediately becoming his ninth No. 1 charting solo release, thus giving him more No. 1 albums than any other Australian artist. The same week, after hinting about the possibility during his appearance on Good News Week
Good News Week
Good News Week is an Australian satirical panel game show hosted by Paul McDermott that initially aired from 19 April 1996 to 27 May 2000, and resumed on 11 February 2008 to 9 May 2011. The show aired first on ABC TV before it was bought by Network Ten in 1999...
, it was announced that Cold Chisel would play at the V8 Supercars race in Sydney on 5 December 2009.
2010s
Cold Chisel will perform live at the Deniliquin ute musterUte muster
A ute muster is an Australian festival which brings together large numbers of utes and ute enthusiasts. These events typically include competitions and other side events, occur annually, and normally last several days...
in October 2010, slated to be their only performance of the year followed by Jimmy touring with Vanessa Amorosi
Vanessa Amorosi
Vanessa Amorosi is an Australian singer-songwriter and recording artist. Her combined album and single sales have reached over 2 million worldwide.-Early life:...
at A Day At The Green concerts. The band is rumoured to be working on new material for the first time since 1998, with a possible tour in 2011.
Barnes released Rage and Ruin on 27 August 2010, his first album of original material since 2007. He has stated that the ideas for most of the lyrics and song themes came from a journal he kept during a period in his life (late 1990s to early 2000s) when he struggled with drug and alcohol addiction. Two singles have been released from the album: "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" and "God or Money". The album debuted at number 3 on the ARIA Albums Chart
ARIA Charts
The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...
on 5 September 2010. Three weeks later, on 27 September, it was revealed that Barnes has two adult daughters he had never previously met.
On 14 March 2011 he planted a flame tree
Brachychiton acerifolius
Brachychiton acerifolius, commonly known as the Illawarra Flame Tree, is a large tree of the family Malvaceae native to subtropical regions on the east coast of Australia. It is famous for the bright red bell-shaped flowers that often cover the whole tree when it is leafless...
, made famous in Cold Chisel's 1984 song Flame Trees
Flame Trees
"Flame Trees" is a song by Australian pub rock band Cold Chisel from their 1984 album Twentieth Century. It is one of their best known songs, and was written by drummer Steve Prestwich and organist Don Walker...
, at the National Arboretum Canberra
National Arboretum Canberra
The National Arboretum Canberra is an arboretum in Canberra, the national capital of Australia, created after the area was burned out as a result of the Christmas 2001 and 2003 Canberra bushfires: The Himalayan Cedar forest lost about one third of its trees, and the commercial Radiata Pine...
.
He then headlined at Celebrate in the Park, playing a 90 minute set which included his solo hits and some Cold Chisel greats. He was joined by daughter Mahalia in a soulful rendition of "When the War Is Over
When the War Is Over
"When the War Is Over" is a power ballad originally performed by Australian band Cold Chisel on their 1982 album Circus Animals. The song was written by drummer Steve Prestwich and issued as the third single from the album, peaking at #25 on the national singles chart.-Cold Chisel version:Like many...
", which he dedicated to the memory of Steve Prestwich
Steve Prestwich
-External links:* *...
.
Cold Chisel
For complete solo discography see Jimmy Barnes discographyJimmy Barnes discography
This is a discography of the Scottish-born Australian rock singer-songwritern rock guitarist Jimmy Barnes.-Studio albums:-Live albums:-Compilation albums:-Singles:Notes*+^ Radio single / Promotional only release-Other albums:-Videos & DVDs:...
Studio Albums
- BodyswerveBodyswerveBodyswerve was the debut solo album by former Cold Chisel vocalist Jimmy Barnes. The album was released in on 10 September 1984 and went to No. 1 on the ARIA music chart. It contained covers of tracks by Sam Cooke and Janis Joplin. "No Second Prize" was the album's first single. The song was...
(1984) - For the Working Class ManFor the Working Class ManFor the Working Class Man is the second studio album by Australian rock singer Jimmy Barnes, released in 1985. The album was released in the United States on Geffen as Jimmy Barnes. It was re-released in 2005 in a special 20th anniversary edition, CD/DVD box set...
(1985) - Freight Train HeartFreight Train HeartFreight Train Heart is an album by Australian rock singer Jimmy Barnes, released in late 1987 in Australia by Mushroom Records and in early 1988 in the US by Geffen. It spent 5 weeks at the top of the Australian Album charts in Dec 1987 / Jan 1988...
(1987) - Two FiresTwo FiresTwo Fires is the fourth studio album for Australian rock singer Jimmy Barnes, and his first US release for Atlantic Records. It was released in Australia by Mushroom Records and was his fifth consecutive No. 1 album, peaking on release on 9 September 1990 and remaining at the position for 4 weeks...
(1990) - Soul DeepSoul Deep (Jimmy Barnes album)Soul Deep is the fifth album by Australian rock singer Jimmy Barnes. It was his sixth consecutive Australian No. 1 album. The album was a collection of soul covers and featured duets with Johnny Farnham and Diesel...
(1991) - HeatHeat (Jimmy Barnes album)Heat is the sixth album by Australian rock singer Jimmy Barnes. It reached number 2 on the ARIA album charts in 1993, and features the singles Sweat It Out, Stand Up, Stone Cold and Right By Your Side.-Track listing:# Sweat it Out# Wheels in Motion...
(1993) - Flesh and WoodFlesh and WoodFlesh and Wood is the seventh album by Australian rock singer Jimmy Barnes. The album was recorded using only acoustic instruments and includes various duets with artists including Diesel, Archie Roach, Joe Cocker, Ross Wilson, Tommy Emmanuel, Don Walker, Deborah Conway and The Badloves.-Track...
(1993) - Psyclone (1995)
- Love and Fear (1999)
- Soul Deeper (2000)
- Double HappinessDouble Happiness (album)Double Happiness is an album by Australian singer Jimmy Barnes. It was released on 18 July 2005 on CD and vinyl. The album contains duets Barnes performed with various solo artists and bands.-Track listing :...
(2005) - Out in the BlueOut in the BlueOut in the Blue is the thirteenth studio album by Australian singer Jimmy Barnes. It was released on November 24, 2007 as both a single-disc and limited double-disc edition. The majority of the songs on the album were written by Barnes, many of them in relation to his recent heart surgery...
(2007) - The Rhythm and the BluesThe Rhythm and the BluesThe Rhythm and the Blues is the fifteenth solo studio album by Australian rock musician Jimmy Barnes, released through Liberation Music on 28 August 2009. The album was produced by Don Gehman in Los Angeles and peaked at number one on the Australian Albums Chart for two weeks...
(2009) - Rage And RuinRage And Ruin-Track listing:# "God or Money"# "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead"# "Letter From a Dead Heart"# "Stupid Heart"# "Adam Was Just A Man"# "I've Seen It All "# "Can't Do It Again"# "Time Can Change"# "This Ain't the Day That I Die"...
(2010)
Further reading
- Who's Who of Australian Rock - Chris Spencer, Paul McHenry, Zbig Nowara, 2002. ISBN 1 86503 891 1
- Say it Loud with Alan WhitickerAlan WhitickerAlan J. Whiticker is an Australian non-fiction author with currently over 30 published books.Whiticker writes primarily on matters pertaining to the history of the sport of rugby league in Australia, but has also published works on subjects as diverse as the Wanda Beach Murders and an adaptation...
, Published by Gary Allen, Australia, September 2002. - ISBN 1875169903
- Icons of Australian Music: Jimmy Barnes - Scott Podmore. Published by Hyperactive Inc. 2008 ISBN 9780980449501