''For the Working Class Man'' is the second studio album by former

Cold Chisel Cold Chisel are an Australian Pub rock (Australia), pub rock band, which formed in Adelaide in 1973 by mainstay members Ian Moss on guitar and vocals, Steve Prestwich on drums, Les Kaczmarek on bass and Don Walker (musician), Don Walker on pia ...

frontman

Jimmy Barnes James Dixon Barnes ( Swan; born 28 April 1956) is an Australian rock singer. His career, both as a solo performer and as the lead vocalist with the rock band Cold Chisel, has made him one of the most popular and best-selling Australian music a ...

, released in December 1985. The album consists of five original tracks and seven remixed tracks that had previously been released on Barnes' 1984 debut album '' Bodyswerve''.

Details

''For the Working Class Man'' (re-titled ''Jimmy Barnes'' for the international market—after the original title of ''A Week Away from Paradise'' was scrapped—with a slightly altered track listing and different cover artwork) was specifically geared toward securing Barnes a break into the American music market by Geffen. The new material found on the album was recorded in

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and

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

with a variety of high-profile American producers, session musicians, and outside songwriters. Journey's

Jonathan Cain Jonathan Leonard Friga (born February 26, 1950), known professionally as Jonathan Cain, is an American musician, singer and songwriter. He is best known as the keyboardist and rhythm guitarist for Journey. He has also worked with the Babys an ...

contributed, produced and performed on two tracks, " Working Class Man" (which has since become Barnes'

signature song A signature (; from , "to sign") is a depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and intent. Signatures are often, but not always, handwritten or styliz ...

as a solo artist after being featured in the

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film '' Gung Ho'') and "American Heartbeat",

Steven Van Zandt Steven Van Zandt (né Lento; born November 22, 1950), also known as Little Steven or Miami Steve, is an American musician and actor. He is a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, in which he plays guitar and mandolin. He has appeared i ...

of Bruce Springsteen's

E Street Band The E Street Band is an American rock band that has been the primary backing band for rock musician Bruce Springsteen since 1972. In 2014, the E Street Band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. For the bulk of Springsteen's recordin ...

co-wrote "Ride the Night Away", Chas Sandford penned "

I'd Die to Be with You Tonight "I'd Die to Be with You Tonight" is a song by Australian Rock music, rock musician, Jimmy Barnes. Released in August 1985 as the lead single from his second studio album, ''For the Working Class Man''. The song peaked at number seven on the Austra ...

" and "Without Your Love" was co-written with former

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keyboardist Tony Carey. In 2010 the album was remastered and reissued under the title "''For the Working Class Man 25''" under license to Liberation Music for Australia and New Zealand. This reissue has the same songs in the same order as the original release, however, four of the tracks ("I'd Die to Be with You Tonight", "Ride the Night Away", "Working Class Man" and "No Second Prize") were extensively reworked in 2009 by David Nicholas (for DNA Productions) resulting in significantly different track lengths. The album cover of the reissue is derived from the original Australian version; the most significant differences being the addition of an outer black square framing border, a bold black number "25" in the lower left hand corner while the main photograph has an (apparently) deeper red saturation. In October 2010, ''For the Working Class Man'', was listed in the book, ''

100 Best Australian Albums ''The 100 Best Australian Albums'' (a.k.a. ''One Hundred Best Australian Albums'') is a compendium of rock and pop albums of the past 50 years as compiled by music journalists Toby Creswell, Craig Mathieson and John O'Donnell. The book was ...

''. As of 2012, ''For the Working Class Man'' has sold more than 500,000 copies (7 x Platinum) in Barnes' native Australia. In October 2017, a two disc "Commemorative Edition" of the album was released; the first disc contains the original album remastered by Don Bartley, the second disc (a DVD) contains a live performance from 1984. This release coincided with the release of Barnes' memoir ' Working Class Man', as well as his spoken word tour of the same name, starting in 2018.Jimmy Barnes announces Working Class Man: An Evening of Stories & Songs national tour
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Track listing

''For the Working Class Man''

''Jimmy Barnes / A Week Away from Paradise''

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Personnel

*Jimmy Barnes - lead vocals *

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, Chas Sandford, Mal Eastick,

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, Dave Amato, Charlie Sexton, Billy Burnette, Chris Stockley, Johnny Lee - guitar *

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, Bruce Howe - bass *

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, Tony Brock, Ray Arnott - drums *

, William Smith,

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- keyboards *Arno Lewis - percussion *

Kim Carnes Kim Carnes (; born July 20, 1945) is an American singer and songwriter born and raised in Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles. A veteran writer of many of her own hits, as well as those for numerous other artists, she began her career in 1966 as ...

, Maxine Willard, Julia Tillman, Dave Amato, Jonathan Cain, Renée Geyer,

Venetta Fields Venetta Lee Fields (born 1941) is an American-born Australian singer and musical theater actress, and vocal coach. Fields was a backing vocalist for touring American and British rock and pop acts of the 1960s and 1970s, as well as working as a ...

, Shauna Jenson - backing vocals *Chris Stockley - mandolin *Barry Gray & Viv Riley - bagpipes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:For The Working Class Man 1985 albums Jimmy Barnes albums Albums produced by Mark Opitz Geffen Records albums Mushroom Records albums Working-class culture