Scottish-born, Australian-bred vocal powerhouse John ‘Swanee’ Swan has viewed life from more angles than most. From the success of numerous solo hits including If I Were a Carpenter, Lady What’s Your Name, Temporary Heartache to the Number 1 hit He’s Gonna Step On You Again fronting The Party Boys to the lows of addiction and his more recent humanitarian work, singing for palliative care patients and kids in the burns wards, Swanee has gained much life perspective.
With so many of Swanee’s contemporaries shuffling off this mortal coil recently, he thought about what he’d achieved in life and realised that the one thing he still needed to accomplish was to record with his brothers, Jimmy and Alan Barnes. Even better thought John, would be to record an entire album with not only his brothers but other family members and his mates as well. Once that thought bubble became public, Swanee’s mates were queuing up to help out and before he knew it, he’d laid down tracks with his brothers Jimmy and Alan, his niece Mahalia Barnes, his brother in law Diesel, and close friends, Colin Hay, Kevin Borich, Joe Camilleri, Dave Gleeson, Jack Jones, Wendy Matthews, Jon Stevens, Russell Morris, Rick Springfield and Melinda Schneider.
With the assistance of independent music retailer Brian ‘Froggy’ Harris from Songland Records in Canberra, Swanee is now set to release ‘Believe’ an incredible double album of duets on Friday August 1st, 2025.
Australian Musician editor Greg Phillips caught up with Swanee over a zoom call to chat about the remarkable journey of his new album ‘Believe’.
MORE ABOUT ‘BELIEVE’
The double album begins in celebratory style with Swanee trading vocal licks with his younger brother Alan on the feel-good Delaney and Bonnie track, Well, Well and then segues seamlessly into the moody, soulful Ain’t No Love In The Heart Of The City with Jon Stevens. A tasteful solo piano introduces the obscure Neil Sedaka song Should’ve Never Let You Go, an emotion-filled duet between John and the amazing Melinda Schneider. Caledonia was an apt ballad choice for the two Scots, Swanee and Colin Hay. Just four tracks into the album and the range and versatility of Swanee’s voice is already apparent. He can sing it all.
Where Is My Soul is a heartfelt tune written via a dream by brother in law Diesel. The simple but stylish solo guitar work allows both quality voices to shine through. Cry To Me, the Solomon Burke rhythm & blues classic, sung here with Joe Camilleri is pure joy. Again showing his adaptability and vast musical tastes, Swanee delivers an emotive version of Dylan’s Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright with the great songstress Wendy Matthews. With My Maker I’m One is a gritty, slow rockin’ Eric Bibb tune allocated to the legendary Russell Morris in the year of that iconic Australian artist’s farewell tour. The little-known All I Ever Wanted from Santana’s 1979 album Marathon is a perfect vehicle for Screaming Jets’ Dave Gleeson to belt out a rocker with John, featuring some fiery guitar licks from Zoot-era buddy Rick Springfield.
Time for a classic soul tune and Sam Cooke’s Bring It On Home gets the royal treatment from John and Jack Jones’ fabulous voice and guitar. From previous Australian Musician interviews with Ian Moss, we know he’s a massive Stevie Wonder fan so it’s no surprise that Mossy and Swanee offer us a passionate interpretation of Stevie’s Lately.
Brother of Mine brings us to the crux of the whole project, the gathering of the Barnes clan, John, Jimmy and Alan with their three voices coming together in harmony for the first time to sing on the Steve Kipner/ Tommy Emmanuel song. An even more poignant fact, the song has extra significance as it was written for Tommy to perform with his brother Phil, who is no longer with us. As you’d expect the voices combine perfectly on the touching lyric, “Run back, run back to me, run back to family… cos I love you brother of mine.”
The soulful Dark End of The Street is a no brainer for brothers John and Jimmy, who together dispatch a powerful vocal performance. There Is A Road is a song written 45 years ago by Kevin Borich and John Swan and also appears on KB’s duets album. Of course the epic, bluesy track is an ideal addition to this eminent collection of songs.
Curtis Mayfield’s People Get Ready, made famous by Rod Stewart and Jeff Beck is handled with exceptional care by John and his niece Mahalia Barnes with an emotive delivery.
After experiencing 14 remarkable duets and one Barnes’ trio, it’s befitting that the album should close with Swanee solo. As collaborator Brian Harris says, “the idea that when all of his friends and family have moved away from the microphone, the spotlight was on John.” With Brooks & Dunn’s song Believe, John gives us a stirring rendition of the title track of his album. With ‘Believe’ the album, Swanee has not only achieved what he admirably set out to do but also demonstrated that he’s one of the world’s vocal greats and a mighty fine human to boot.