Rock of ages: Joe Camilleri lands a hit at 70

At the tender age of 70, Joe Camilleri has just scored his biggest hit in nearly 30 years.

Joe Camilleri in Sydney ahead of the 16-concert APIA Good Times Tour. Picture: Hollie Adams

At the tender age of 70, Joe Camille­ri has just scored his bigges­t hit in nearly 30 years.

He got the news this week while playing four back-to-back gigs in Sydney with his hardworking band The Black Sorrows, who head to Europe later this month for a four-nation tour.

“I’m still clocking 170 gigs a year,” said the singer/songwriter/saxophonist, taking a break from practising sax in his hotel room to contemplate the news that his album Citizen John had debuted at No 11. “Actually, I’m relaxing a bit this year — I’m only doing 160 gigs. I took 10 off.”

Camilleri, who started performing in Melbourne blues bands at roughly the same time the Rolling Stones released their 1964 debut album, is not the only veteran Australian rocker enjoying a late-career renaissance.

The singer-songwriter Brian Cadd, who’ll turn 73 this year, just scored his first Top 10 album in more than four decades with Silver­ City; while another septuagenarian, Russell Morris, is expecte­d to hit the ARIA album charts this weekend with Black And Blue Heart, which is being released half a century since his first chart-topper, The Real Thing.

All three acts will perform on the APIA Good Times Tour, which begins a 16-concert run next month, one of many package tours that are drawing big crowds to see multiple acts from the Countdown era and earlier.

“I’m finding a lot of joy in playing,” said Camilleri, who has releas­ed more than 30 albums with his various bands. “You come to play — all the old-timers will tell you that. It’s about the joy you bring. We’re not punching the clock. You signed up for rock’n’roll, you signed up to be carefree and dangerous, whether you make a million or not.

“If you’ve got a fistful of songs that people like, you’re lucky. I’m luckier than all these Australian Idol boys that sing in tune.”

Performing live has become the principal source of income for many musicians since illegal downloading and streaming slashed the money earned from recordings.

While tours like APIA Good Times are unashamedly nostalgic, songwriters such as Camilleri and Cadd are winning audiences across to their newer material. Morris revived his career in 2012 with a blues album, Sharkmouth, which sold more than 100,000 copies; Citizen John is Camilleri’s highest-charting album since Harley and Rose in 1990.

“It’s a thrill,” he said. “I haven’t been in the charts for more than 20 years and I’ve made something like 16 albums in that time.

“But what’s great about music is the struggle — if you keep writing­ songs, there lies the struggle and the beauty of it. Maybe an opportunity like Citizen John makes people realise: ‘Oh yeah, I forgot what that guy was like.’ It introduces a new enthusiasm.”