By Steve Newton
I interviewed legendary Australian rock vocalist Jimmy Barnes in April of 1986, when he was opening for ZZ Top on the Texas blues-rock trio’s Afterburner Tour.
At the time the former Cold Chisel frontman was showcasing tunes from his third solo album, Freight Train Heart, which I remember for its wicked version of “Seven Days”, a song Bob Dylan had written for Ronnie Wood.
Barnes’ touring band at the time included several well-known musicians out of Vancouver, including guitarist Jeff Neill (Streetheart), keyboardist-guitarist Tom Lang (Sharp Edges), bassist Ab Bryant (Headpins), and drummer Pat Steward (the Bryan Adams band).
“It’s happening really good,” he raved. “Like the first month or so we were sort of–we were playing good, but we had to get in the right direction, focus on it, you know.
“But it’s really happenin’ now,” he added. “Particularly the last three weeks we’ve been really hittin’ a good streak where we’ve been doin’ really hot gigs every night. I’ve been really pleased with it.”
To hear the full audio of my 1986 interview with powerhouse vocalist Jimmy Barnes–who I always thought AC/DC should have hired to replace Brian Johnson on tour back in 2016 instead of Axl Rose–subscribe to my Patreon page, where you can eavesdrop on over 400 of my uncut, one-on-one conversations with the legends of rock since 1982.