This will be the fourth book by Australian rock star, Jimmy Barnes, that I have reviewed. For those who don’t know who Jimmy Barnes is, he is the lead singer of an Australian band, Cold Chisel, which formed in the 1970’s and has been popular since. Although the band had breaks in their career and some changes in line up, to this day Jimmy Barnes remains the constant: he is the lead singer, taking the band to its 50th Anniversary shows and still wowing huge crowds in Australia. If you haven’t looked at my previous reviews of his books, you can check them out using the following links in the following summations (I haven’t reviewed Working Class Boy which I read prior to the creation of this website):

This fourth book, Highways and Byways, is a book of short stories that are autobiographical. Some of the stories flesh out parts of Barnes’ life touched on in Working Class Boy and Working Class Man. Others are completely new.

But I see Highways and byways as a sequel to Killing time, his first book of short stories, and these also cover facets of Barnes’ whole life. In his introduction, Barnes says, “Generally speaking, the highways in these stories are the parts of my life that played out in public, the moments where things went right or wrong in ways that taught me something or made me laugh.” The road metaphor also expresses the vagaries of Barnes’ life: “These routes are the highways and byways of life, the main roads and the detours – the times you knew exactly where you were going, and the moments when you felt completely lost …”

For instance, his story, ‘The Texas Tornado Jam’, looks at Cold Chisel’s attempt to break into the American music scene about eight years after starting out in Australia. Barnes talks about how different the two audiences were, the other being Texas in this case, and that neither the band nor the US were ready for one another. Chisel were wild but Texas was wilder.

‘Last Man standing’, is a look at the years in the late 1980’s where Barnes had taken a solo break from the band. He was having a hard time. Music, touring and drinking to excess were all taking their toll on him and his wife Jane, so he visited a Thai monastery for some divine intervention. The story recounts some funny moments during an eventful trip.

Barnes road metaphor sometimes appears quite literally in his stories. For instance, in ‘Trouble in the Rearview Mirror’ Barnes talks of being on the road in his early career, and the number of encounters he had with police as he was driving backwards and forwards to rehearsals and gigs with music blaring along the way. He even gives a list of driving songs that he liked to listen to. Among these are a few of my own favourites: ‘Highway to Hell’ by AC/DC and ‘Shipping Steel’, one of Barnes’ own band’s creations. I can sort of relate to this experience, as even now, whenever I drive anywhere, I often have a Cold Chisel album playing in the car. I have managed to avoid the police, though.

Another story, ‘The Future Calling’ recounts a period in Barnes’ youth when he was trying to avoid the tumultuous life he had at home. One day he goes for a walk and he meets an old local man in his front garden whom he befriends. The story describes how this old man connected with Barnes over their love of music, and influenced his whole life by encouraging Barnes in his love of the guitar. The story imbues Barnes’ life story with a sense of fate.

‘Strip the Willow’ is a story about a trip Barnes, his wife Jane and her parents took to Scotland. While Jane was keen to get involved in the culture of the country, Barnes could see the potential pitfalls of attending “a cultural show”. When things turn interesting, they mostly all agree it’s time to leave, and it’s not without its funny moments.

‘Our Precious Time’, the last story in the book, relates back to the earliest days of Cold Chisel, to the loss of Steve Prestwich, Cold Chisel’s drummer and one of the band’s original members, who died from a brain tumour in 2011. Barnes, having been through many health issues himself, especially of late, reflects on his time with his mate:

‘We are not here for long, the clock is ticking, and one day our time will run out. We must do everything we can to hold on to our precious time and not let it slip through our fingers, to love and laugh with people we hold most dear before it’s all gone. Every second is priceless. Every moment should be cherished.’

Certainly, these are sentiments to hold onto.

I really enjoyed this book as much as I have loved Barnes’ previous three. Barnes is an Australian singing icon, whose career, both as a solo artist and with his band, Cold Chisel, have spanned decades. I thoroughly recommend reading his stories. You won’t be disappointed.