Working Class Boy

With special guest:

• Jimmy Barnes
  …in conversation with Bill Kable
  

Normally we expect to listen to Jimmy Barnes’s creative output as the lead singer and one of the main songwriters for iconic Australian rock band Cold Chisel. But Jimmy has now produced Working Class Boy which has become an Australian bestselling book.

This is not the story of that well-known band or his more recent exploration of the soul music catalogue. In today’s program we hear about Jimmy’s family upbringing and the influence that had on him in his adopted country.

Looking back Jimmy can see that he had a tough childhood both in his native Scotland and after the age of 5 in Elizabeth, a satellite city of Adelaide. As Jimmy tells us there was a lot of trauma in that childhood with alcohol and violence part of the daily mix.

While Jimmy freely acknowledges that he has done well out of the music industry he still carries the shame within him from his early days of poverty. But at the same time Jimmy is a great story teller and this is not all about the hard times. Jimmy was inspired by his mother’s second husband, Reg Barnes and we can all take some inspiration from the way Jimmy was able to face his demons.

As Jimmy says if you have a problem that is tearing you apart the only way to tackle it is head-on. It took him a long time to learn this, through his own boozy days as a rock and roll legend but now Jimmy likes to challenge himself by keeping busy. He is extending his stage show to include readings from his book. Hear it first on today’s show, hear another side of one of our greatest entertainers who reveals some of his darkest secrets for the first time.

Jimmy Barnes

Jimmy Barnes is one of Australia’s best known rock and roll performers. Jimmy made his name with the iconic band Cold Chisel and has also become a major solo artist with his albums of songs from the soul music catalogue. Jimmy arrived in Australia aged 5 and took off to join the band at the age of 17. During those early years Jimmy witnessed first-hand the damage that alcohol and violence can cause in the family. It even got so bad that his mother left home and disappeared from his life for a few years. Jimmy has been with his wife Jane for 41 years and now that he is a father himself and a grandfather he lets us know the lessons learned.

Song selection: Flame Trees by Cold Chisel

Note: This program is an encore presentation of the one aired on 27 October 2016.

Podcast (mp3)