by Jimmy Barnes
I’ve got nothing but time.
IN THIS NEW BOOK, I have had to learn to forgive myself. It hasn’t been easy. There is a lot to forgive. And I don’t think that the simple act of writing this all down will help me forgive. But it was the key to opening the floodgates this time around. Once it all came out, I had a lot of work to do. I had to start putting my life back on track, facing the hard, sometimes ugly truth and then learning from it. There are some things we do that we can’t take back. God knows I’ve tried. But we can make sure that we never make the same mistakes again. A friend told me once that we never tread in the same river twice. Each time we enter the water it is new and on a new path. That’s what I’m doing now. Diving headlong into the river of life and fighting my way up to the surface. If I work hard enough and I can forgive enough then I will be able to breathe. I am determined not to let the things I have done wrong in the past hold me back for a second time. I will break through the dark cold water and find the sunshine once and for all.
As dark as it has been at times, I have been helped through that darkness by my beautiful family. My Jane, my children and my grandchildren have been my light. Whenever things got overwhelming, they knew, and offered their love. I am so blessed. I don’t take them for granted. I know how lucky I am to have such a beautiful family. So, thank you all so much. I couldn’t have gotten through this without you.
Every day I sat in my study writing. I was left alone to write, but the family were never far away. Jane would walk in and check on me, encouraging me at every step, offering tea and shortbread to give me the strength to keep working. My two little schnauzer brothers, Oliver and Snoop Dog, sat next to my chair. They seemed to know when it was getting too hard and would wag their tails and nudge me with their paws, telling me to take a break and go for a walk. Of course, they might have just needed a walk but I think they were saving me. I couldn’t ask for better friends.
Before sending anything to my publisher, I would send it to my dear friend and manager, John Watson, to read first. ‘I’m not sure this is any good. I can’t tell anymore,’ I would say. John would ring and tell me to keep writing. ‘It’s really good, Jimmy. Can you send more? I feel like I am watching a serial. I need to see how it ends.’ But he knew how it ended. He had seen the way it was heading for a long time too, and was willing me to get through it and come out the other side. So, thanks John, for hanging in there when it looked bad and helping me sift through it all.
I would like to thank my publishers. In particular, Helen Littleton for the encouragement. Nicola Robinson my editor. I love working with you, Nicola. You have helped make sense of my ramblings. Karen-Maree Griffiths for keeping me sane on the road. And Rina Ferris for making me work so hard. You are a hard task mistress but we still love you. Scott Forbes, once again, for his Scottish dialect coaching and also for helping Jane sift through all the photos for the book. Jane went through thousands and thousands of photos. If she wasn’t sick of my face before she started, there is a good chance she was by the time she finished.
My life has been helped by all of you who love music. The punters out there who go out to watch live bands. The ones who excitedly wait for an album to come out and then rush out and buy it. Not just mine, but all music. You guys give us a reason to sing. I can’t thank you enough. I also want to thank everyone who read Working Class Boy. I shared that story with a lot of people who had a similar journey to myself. I made it through and so can you.
I would like to say thanks to Michael Lawrence. Your book has been an invaluable fact checker for us all. Robert Hambling deserves a big thank you. He helped search for photos that sometimes didn’t exist, and he found most of the ones we needed. Thanks also to Philip Mortlock for his photo work, plus all the other photographers whose work appears here. Thank you to Peter Cox. If ever a therapist worked for his money, it’s you, Peter. And thank you to Richard Cobden, my consigliere, for helping bring my family closer together.
I would like to thank my friends who have played in my many bands and have helped me make music over the years. Especially my brothers from Cold Chisel. Don, Ian, Phil and dear Steve. And of course, Charley, who helped put us all back together when we thought we couldn’t do it anymore. Also Rod and Gay Willis for their help. And of course, John Watson and John O’Donnell for their continued guidance.
Michael and Sue Gudinski. Frank Stivala. Warren and Leith Costello. You guys have been my Mushroom family. What a trip we’ve had, eh? Thanks guys.
I want to thank Jane’s mum and dad, Kusumphorn and John Mahoney, and their wonderful family for taking me in like a stray cat and putting up with me while I learned how to behave and feel like a normal human being. I love you.
Every single roadie who I worked with. You guys never get enough thanks. Rock’n’roll happens because of you guys. I spent more time travelling and drinking and laughing and crying with you guys than nearly anyone else.
I can’t thank everyone that I have worked with personally, and I am sure if I tried I would miss someone and offend them. So I just want to make a broad statement here. I have worked with and for a lot of great people. I have made great friends and I have met a lot of people I wish to never see again. But I genuinely want to thank you all because each of you has helped bring me to where I am today. This book is for all the people that got lost on the road. I was one of them but now I am found.
And I know that I have thanked you earlier, Jane, but from the day I first saw you in the Motel 7 I loved you. I still love you and I will always love you my darling.
Peace and Love
Jimmy
LYRIC CREDITS
‘Tutti Frutti’ (D.Labostrie/J.Lubin/R.Penniman)
© 1955 Sony/ATV Songs LLC
For Australia and New Zealand: Sony/ATV Music Publishing Australia Pty Limited.
All rights reserved. Used by Permission.
‘Letter to Alan’ (D. Walker)
© 1982 Sony/ATV Music Publishing Australia Pty Limited.
All rights reserved. Used by Permission.
‘Flame Trees’ (D. Walker/S. Prestwich)
© 1984 Sony/ATV Music Publishing Australia Pty Limited/Copyright Control.
All rights reserved. Used by Permission.
‘The Last Wave of Summer’ (D. Walker)
© 1998 Sony/ATV Music Publishing Australia Pty Limited.
All rights reserved. Used by Permission.
‘On Your Way Down’ (A. Toussaint)
© 1972 Screen Gems – EMI Music Inc and Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp.
International copyright secured. All rights reserved. Reproduced by Permission of EMI Music Publishing Australia Pty Limited and Devirra Group.
‘I’m Still on Your Side’ ( J. Barnes/J. Vallance/J. Cain)
© 1987 EMI Music Publishing Australia Pty Limited, Chappell & Co, Inc/Frisco Kid Music and Almo Music Corp/Testatyme Music.
International copyright secured. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.
‘Time Will Tell’ ( J. Barnes/M. McEntee/J. Barnes)
© 1999 EMI Music Publishing Australia Pty Limited and Mushroom Music Publishing Pty Limited.
All rights reserved. Used by Permission.
‘Working Class Man’ ( J. Cain)
© 1986 Chappell & Co, Inc/Frisco Kid Music.
International Copyright Secured. All Rights Reserved. Reproduced by permission of Devirra Group.
‘Khe Sahn’ (D. Walker)
© Universal Music Publishing Pty Ltd
All rights reserved. International copyright secured. Reprinted with Permission.
‘Choir Girl’ (D. Walker)
© Universal Music Publishing Pty Ltd
All rights reserved. International copyright secured. Reprinted with Permission.
‘Plaza’ (D. Walker)
© Universal Music Publishing Pty Ltd
All rights reserved. International copyright secured. Reprinted by Permission.
‘Four Walls’ (D. Walker)
© U
niversal Music Publishing Pty Ltd
All rights reserved. International copyright secured. Reprinted by Permission.
PHOTOS SECTION
1. With Les Kaczmarek in Adelaide, 1973. I think there was a special on checked cheesecloth shirts. Les and I swooped in and bought a couple. (BARNES FAMILY COLLECTION)
2. This mid-1970s shot captures us playing an early gig at a high school dance. The program described us as ‘one of Adelaide’s top bands’. (BARNES FAMILY COLLECTION)
3. Steve outside the farm in Kentucky, northern NSW, in 1974, next to our truck. Yes, it was small, but it was still a truck. (GARY SKINNER, COURTESY OF MICHAEL LAWRENCE)
1. Armidale Town Hall, 23 February 1974. The gigs got wilder later on, but this one looks pretty tame. No sign of Don. Maybe he had a uni lecture that night. (BARNES FAMILY COLLECTION)
2. Cold Chisel and friends in Armidale, 1974. I was going to comment on how Don is dressed here, then I looked at what I was wearing. Next to me is our roadie, Michael Porter. (GARY SKINNER, COURTESY OF MICHAEL LAWRENCE)
1. My brother John joined the band and decided that we should all wear makeup. He went first. (GARY SKINNER, COURTESY OF MICHAEL LAWRENCE)
2. It wasn’t long till I followed. Damn, I knew this would turn up one day. (BARNES FAMILY COLLECTION)
3. Cold Chisel in Armidale, 1974. I’m not sure if I’m wearing a lot of makeup or just had no sleep the night before. (GARY SKINNER, COURTESY OF MICHAEL LAWRENCE)
1. An early publicity shot of Cold Chisel, taken at Adelaide Railway Station in 1975. (BARNES FAMILY COLLECTION)
2. Vince Lovegrove, our first manager, was well known on the Adelaide scene, singing solo and in bands and writing for music magazine Go-Set. (BARNES FAMILY COLLECTION)
3. In the 1960s, Vince (bottom right) was a member of pop band The Valentines, along with Bon Scott (centre right). Obviously from here ‘It’s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock ’n’ Roll)’.
1. Fraternity, with me singing, at the Largs Pier Hotel in 1975. A couple of the band members’ wives had decided to make me trousers. They were so excited that I felt I had to wear them. (BARNES FAMILY COLLECTION)
2. My mate Ben Quilty’s painting of the Largs Pier Hotel. This is what it looked like on many a night when I left. (COURTESY OF BEN QUILTY)
3. Poster for a Largs Pier show. ‘Four solid hours’ – the punters got their money’s worth. (COURTESY OF COLD CHISEL)
4. Soon we spread our wings, heading to the eastern states. Here we’re performing at the first Sydney Festival, at the Haymarket in January 1977. (BOB KING)
1. Signing our first record deal, with WEA, in September 1977. Our manager Rod Willis is at top right and Dave Sinclair from the record label is at top left. (PHILIP MORTLOCK)
2. Opening for Sherbet, at Victoria Park, Sydney, on 15 January 1978. After the show, I left the venue with them – in an armoured van. (BOB KING)
1. Supporting Peter Frampton, November 1978. I’m wearing a red leather outfit made by Madame Lash, a well known Sydney dominatrix. (MARC CHRISTOWSKI)
2. At the Dirty Pool office, in Bondi, doing interviews for Breakfast at Sweethearts – note the album beside me. (PHILIP MORTLOCK)
3. Lining up in a dark alley for a band publicity shot, 1979. (PHILIP MORTLOCK)
4. Cold Chisel at our Paddington house in 1980 – the Brown Street days. (PHILIP MORTLOCK)
1. This photo of Jane and me was taken by Rick Brewster at an open-air gig in Townsville in July 1980. (RICK BREWSTER)
2. Jane, at far right, with her mum, siblings and cousins, when they were leaving Thailand for Australia in 1963. (BARNES FAMILY COLLECTION)
3. Jane and I got married on 22 May 1981, in a Sydney city registry office. (PHILIP MORTLOCK)
4. After the ceremony, attended by close friends and family, we partied back at our place – before I headed off to play a gig. (PHILIP MORTLOCK)
1. Making billy tea on the epic road trip up the east coast with a pregnant Jane, which ended abruptly when our Mahalia arrived early. (BARNES FAMILY COLLECTION)
2. Mahalia, Jane and me, just after we moved into our Bowral farm. (BARNES FAMILY COLLECTION)
3. Giving ‘Two Up’, Jane’s horse, a pep talk: ‘Please don’t throw the kid off.’ (BARNES FAMILY COLLECTION)
4. Jane on my horse ‘Big Jim’. She was always a better rider than me. (BARNES FAMILY COLLECTION)
5. Mahalia and me, living the country life, in the early Bowral days. (BARNES FAMILY COLLECTION)
1. The cover shoot for East, 1980. I think I have the headband on upside down. (GREG NOAKES)
2. Playing my black and white Fender Telecaster on Countdown, 1980. My first guitar, it got stolen a few years later in Germany. I still miss it. (GREG NOAKES)
3. This show at the Capitol Theatre, Sydney, in 1980, was recorded for the Swingshift live album. ‘Hey mate, get your hand off my arse. I’m trying to climb the PA.’ (PHILIP MORTLOCK)
4. ‘Big Alan’ Dallow with his son, my nephew James. I sang about my good mate in ‘Letter to Alan’. (BARNES FAMILY COLLECTION)
5. Billy Rowe worked for Cold Chisel alongside Big Alan, before we lost them both in a tragic truck crash. (BARNES FAMILY COLLECTION)
1. I used to dive off the stage long before stage diving was a thing. At the Bombay Rock in Melbourne, the audience got wise to me and parted like the Red Sea. This was the result. (BARNES FAMILY COLLECTION)
2. The calm before the storm at the 1981 Countdown/TV Week Music and Video Awards. Moments later we started smashing up the set. (BOB KING)
3. ‘Family’ photo, beside our tour bus in the USA, in 1981. The first big cracks appeared between us during this tour. (COURTESY OF COLD CHISEL)
4. Me and Phil looking for trouble somewhere in America. I think we found it. (BARNES FAMILY COLLECTION)
5. Mark Opitz producing Circus Animals at Paradise Studios, Sydney, in 1982. (MARK OPITZ)
6. For the album cover photo shoot, we towed a caravan out into the desert near Lake Eyre. You can just see me peeking out of it, behind Don. (COURTESY OF PHIL SMALL)
1. The tent we used for the Circus Animals tour. We had a circus and we were animals. (BARNES FAMILY COLLECTION)
2. I was also the trapeze artist, flying high above the crowd. (PATRICK JONES STUDIO)
3. Climbing on Don’s piano. ‘Hey, does this hair come off?’ (BOB KING)
4. Artist Martin Sharp designed this poster for the tour. (COURTESY OF THE ESTATE OF MARTIN SHARP/VISCOPY/COLD CHISEL)
5. On the road, if anyone got drunk and passed out, we’d always do something stupid to them – like put a bucket on their head. Our sound guy, Gerry Georgettis, is driving here. (COURTESY OF COLD CHISEL)
6. We did a series of gigs in jails for inmates. We certainly got all their attention and they were intense shows. This is Steve and me laughing nervously at Pentridge in Melbourne, on 2 June 1982. (GREG NOAKES)
1. Waiting backstage before one of the final Last Stand shows in 1983, at the Entertainment Centre in Sydney. (BARNES FAMILY COLLECTION)
2. This classic photo of the Last Stand audience captures the passion of our fans. (GREG NOAKES)
3. These days, it seems like a million people claim to have had one of the 50,000 tickets to our final Last Stand gigs. (COURTESY OF COLD CHISEL)
4. I wanted to give it everything and get right in among the crowd. Lucky I had the security guys to haul me out. (GREG NOAKES)
5. Singing from the inside, looking out. (BOB KING)
6. A moment lost in thought, before I drank the rest of the vodka and went off again. (BOB KING)
1. ‘Pretty little thing, there’s a smokin’ moon.’ Me and the dancers on the Last Wave of Summer tour. (TONY MOTT)
2. A Last Wave backstage pass. (COURTESY OF COLD CHISEL)
3. Jane backstage during the Ringside tour, in 2003. (ROBERT HAMBLING)
4. Rehearsing with Ian and Steve on the Ringside tour. We were probably trying to work out how to deal with that revolving stage. (ROBERT HAMBLING)
5. A backstage pass for the Ringside tour. (COURTESY OF COLD CHISEL)
1. This was the last official photo of Cold Chisel with Steve Prestwich, taken backstage at the V8 Supercars show at the Olympic Stadium, Sydney, on 5 December 2009. (GREG WEIGHT, COURTESY OF COLD CHISEL)