More Jimmy Barnes
Jimmy Barnes has always had a remarkable work ethic.
On May 22, 1981, Jimmy married Jane Mahoney, whom he’d met in Canberra in 1979. They wed at the Registry Office in Macquarie Street, Sydney, with Barnesy’s big brother John Swan as best man.
That night, Barnesy did a gig with Cold Chisel at Blacktown’s Comb and Cutter Hotel. “How romantic of me,” he laughs.
Scattered amongst the crowd were the wedding guests, including members of Flowers, The Angels and Mental As Anything.
The support act was the much-loved Sydney power pop band The Lonelyhearts.
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Barnesy doesn’t have many memories of his wedding-night gig. “By the end of the set, Jimmy was paralytic, and Swanee took over the vocals,” his biographer Toby Creswell recalls. “What are brothers for?”
Two days after the wedding, Cold Chisel signed an American recording deal with Elektra, which led to their ill-fated US tour, the inspiration for the searing You Got Nothing I Want.
The Lonelyhearts split in 1984, the year that Jimmy Barnes released his debut solo album, Bodyswerve.
Singer John Rooney put the band back together at the end of 1990, releasing a new Lonelyhearts single called The Spell.
The Lonelyhearts called it quits for good in 1992, with John Rooney focusing on his day gig as a doctor.
And that’s where Barnesy returns to this story.
After years of wear and tear, Barnesy found himself in hospital for a hip operation. He discovered his surgeon was John Rooney, The Lonelyhearts’ lead singer.
“This man got me up dancing again when he operated on my hips, not once, not twice, but three times,” Jimmy reveals.
Jimmy’s most recent hip surgery was in February this year. He calls John a “singing super surgeon”.
Dr John never lost his love of making music. In fact, he has a new solo album called Hoodwink.
“As well as being one of Australia’s leading orthopaedic surgeons, John’s a great singer,” Barnesy says.
Produced by Kevin Shirley, Hoodwink, features a stellar array of musicians, including Waddy Wachtel (Warren Zevon, Jackson Browne, Stevie Nicks) on guitar, Don Was (who has produced The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Bonnie Raitt) on bass, Benmont Tench (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers) on keyboards, and Jim Keltner (John Lennon, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Traveling Wilburys) on drums.
The record was mixed by the legendary Bob Clearmountain, who also mixed For The Working Class Man.
And Jimmy Barnes appears on the opening track, Trouble Always Finds Me.
Barnesy has now added John Rooney to the bill for his shows celebrating the 40th anniversary of Working Class Man, a lineup that already includes ICEHOUSE, Ian Moss and Kate Ceberano.
The 40th anniversary edition of For The Working Class Man is out today, on CD, cassette and double vinyl.
As well as the already announced shows, Jimmy Barnes today added three additional Working Class Man shows – March 21 at Sandstone Point Hotel in Queensland, March 28 at Centennial Vineyards in Bowral, and April 10 at Rod Laver Arena.
Forty-four years after that wedding-night gig, John Rooney will be the opening act for all of the shows, aside from Rod Laver Arena and the Sydney Opera House.
“I’m so excited to be celebrating For The Working Class Man with some of my dearest friends and favourite artists,” Barnesy says.
