Jimmy Barnes

After his tenure as part of the successful Cold Chisel, Jimmy Barnes' solo career outstripped Chisel's record sales and enshrined him as one of the biggest selling Australian recording acts of all time.

James Dixon Swan was five on January 7, 1961 when he arrived in South Australia from Scotland with the rest of the family - Jim Sr, Dorothy and their six children. Jim Sr's drinking eventually led Dorothy to leave her husband for Reg Barnes, a clerk at the local Kelvinator plant. When younger sister Lisa was taunted at school about being adopted, Dorothy and Reg put it to the children that they might change their surname. All but the oldest son John Swan decided to become Barnes.

Brothers John Swan and Jim Barnes were both keen on music and hung out together listening to bands. John joined a band, and soon Jim found one to join too. John Swan had just replaced Bon Scott as lead singer in Fraternity when he was approached by a new band just forming about becoming their lead singer. He recommended his 17 year old brother Jim instead. That was the start of Cold Chisel.

From the beginning to the end, Jim's tenure with Cold Chisel was volatile. On their way to success he quit more than once, and the band never bothered to look around for a replacement, with the excellent voice of guitarist Ian Moss to fall back on. More than once Jim left in the hope of being in the same group as "Swanee". He'd quit the band again in 1978 (just before Cold Chisel signed a record contract) to join John in Feather, but enjoyed his farewell performance so much he changed his mind again and stayed.

Five years later, Jimmy was feeling restless again. The biggest band in Australia, Cold Chisel were struggling to make an impact internationally. They'd just come back from a gruelling tour of Germany and were straight into Australian gigs. Jimmy, now supporting a wife and a child, and less frugal than the others, needed some money. He asked for a 10,000 dollar advance. The way the band worked, if he received 10,000, the other band members would have to as well. Jimmy was told no, but a meeting was called to discuss it anyway. During that meeting Cold Chisel decided to call it a day with a farewell tour and album.

After Cold Chisel's final performance on December 12 1983, Jimmy jumped almost straight into his solo career. He still had that wife and child to feed. He had the Dingoes in mind when he formed his initial backing group, which included a couple of Dingoes alumni. The Dingoes were the original inspiration, but the first album, 'Bodyswerve' was more like the Cold Chisel Jimmy everyone loved and wanted to hear. The album shot to No.1.

Straight away Jimmy turned his attention to the international market and recorded extra tracks in Los Angeles and New York to incorporate in the American version of his album, using American musicians, including Jonathan Caine from Journey. Jonathan came up with a song called 'Working Class Man'. He was also so struck by Jim's no-nonsense attitude in the studio he considered asking Jim to join Journey. In Australia the American sessions were released together with seven remixes from 'Bodyswerve' as the double "EP" 'For The Working Class Man'....another No.1. The American version didn't make an impression. Back at home Jim engaged in a quick recording session with INXS, which included an unreleased version of 'Locomotion'. The track they put out to promote their joint Australia Made tour was a version of the Easybeats' 'Good Times'.

For the next couple of years Jimmy divided his time between Australia and America, forming a songwriting partnership with Jim Vallence of Bryan Adams' fame for the album 'Freight Train Heart'. A double live album 'Barnstorming' followed, before Don Gehman (REM, John Mellencamp) produced 'Two Fires' at Jimmy's home studio in rural Bowral in New South Wales. The singer's biggest selling album followed in November 1991, a tribute to his favourite soul/r&b performers of the sixties, and featuring the John Farnham duet 'When Something Is Wrong With My Baby'. 'Soul Deep' would be also be Mushroom's biggest selling album ever, with more than 600,00 sold. All six of Jimmy's albums so far had been No.1 in Australia.

Don Gehmen returned to produce 1993's grunge-era 'Heat', the first album not to reach the top. The album's highlight was Jim's reunion with Cold Chisel songwriter Don Walker for 'Stone Cold'. 'Heat' was followed by 'Flesh And Blood' an acoustic album characterized by guest appearances from the Badloves, Deborah Conway, Archie Roach and Diesel.

In the space of nine years Barnes had recorded eight albums and toured almost constantly, not just to satisfy the singer's love of performing, but also to cater for his live-now pay-later lifestyle. In 1994 it all caught up with him. He was forced to sell his vast property, home and studio to help pay unpaid taxes and took his family to live in France, where he recorded 1995's 'Psyclone'. Apart from a triple platinum 'Hits' album (a record seventh number one) album, the days of the big selling albums seemed to be over.

In 1997 the event Cold Chisel fans dreamt of eventuated, with the band reforming for the highly anticipated but ultimately disappointing 'The Last Days Of Summer" album and tour. Barnes followed up with an 11th solo album 'Love And Fear' in November 1999, peaking at #16, his final for Mushroom. With the departure of friend and former manager Michael Gudinski from Mushroom Jimmy saw the chance to make a fresh start, back with Cold Chisel's record company Warners. He travelled to Memphis to take his 'Soul Deep' adventure one important step further, recording that kind of music where it was born, with the musicians who were part of it. The result was 'Soul Deeper'.

In 2004, Jimmy 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.

In July 2005 Jimmy released 'Double Happiness', an album of duets, with other Australian recirding artists as well as his three children. It debuted at #1, Jimmy's eighth chart-topping album. Jimmy Barnes was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame on the 23 October, 2005 for his solo career efforts.

'Bird On A Wire' the Double Happiness track recorded with Troy Cassar-Daley, and produced by Nash Chambers was the starting point for 'Out In The Blue', Jimmy's first album of new material since 2001. Nash ended up producing the album in eight productive days at Jimmy's home studio. On the way to collecting ideas and songs for his new album Jim learned that he needed open heart surgery to replace a faulty aortic valve. He underwent the operation in February 2007, and wrote the title song for the new album 'Out In The Blue' in his hospital bed recuperating. The operation and the chance to reflect on his life and family became the central theme of the album. On the cover Jimmy bares his scar and the tattoo of wife Jane's name over his heart.

During his recovery period Jimmy Barnes also 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 and has even busked with them.