The Reverend Horton Heat

The Reverend Horton Heat is the stage name of Jim Heath, the bandleader of an American psychobilly trio from Dallas, Texas. Heath is a singer and songwriter, born in 1959 in Corpus Christi, Texas).

The group originally formed in 1985, playing its first gigs in Dallas's Deep Ellum neighborhood. Its current members are Jim "Reverend Horton" Heath on guitar and lead vocals, Jimbo Wallace on the upright bass, and Paul Simmons on drums. Through relentless touring and a manic stage show, they have established themselves as one of the most popular underground acts in America.

Their sound is self-described as "country-fed punkabilly." Their music is a mixture of country, punk, big band, swing, and rockabilly, all played loud and energetically with lyrics that are often very humorous, and they have achieved success within the genre and even in mainstream America, many of their songs being featured in video games and commercials.

Jim Heath played in a cover band called Southern Comfort with friends from W.B. Ray High School, his high school, before attending the University of Texas at Austin in the fall of 1977. At UT, he often entertained friends and dormmates and was often found playing in the stairwells at Moore-Hill Dormitory late into the night. Heath left school in the spring to join up with a touring cover band by the name of Sweetbriar. Three years later, former dormmate David Livingston, now in his senior year of school and at home visiting family, saw a familiar face on stage and reunited with Heath. David told Jim stories of the punk music scene in Austin and the acts playing at venues like Raul's and Club Foot. Once, while home on another visit, Livingston took Heath to a Dallas rock and roll venue, The Bijou, to see an act called The Cramps. After the show, a brawl between punks and rockers broke out in the parking lot. While Heath and Livingston escaped any involvement in the scuffle, Heath later claimed to have had an epiphany on that evening. Always a fan of blues and honky tonk, Heath returned the favor by taking Livingston and his wife to see The Blasters in Dallas at a venue known as the Hot Klub, starting his love for roots rock.

Heath had married a former bandmate from Sweetbriar, and together they had a child; they decided that the rock-and-roll lifestyle was over and that it was time to have real jobs. Around 1985, Heath was known as "Jim the Sound Guy" by those who frequented two warehouses that by night became music venues, Theater Gallery and The Prophet Bar. Heath used the old Sweetbriar PA system to earn extra money, running sound for bands such as the New Bohemians, End Over End, Shallow Reign and Three On A Hill. One night during a lull, Russell Hobbs, one of the original Deep Ellum visionaries and proprietors of these venues goaded him into getting up to play. He played alone, tearing through a version of "Folsom Prison Blues"; throughout the song, Hobbs hooted and shouted out, "Go Reverend."

Heath decided then and there to form a band and came up with the name Reverend Horton Heat, as an ode to Johnny Horton, using the shortened version of his last name, Heath. Soon, life on the road took its toll on the marriage, and his wife left with their child and dog. Jim's feelings upon the loss of his family are well documented in the song "Where In The Hell Did You go With My Toothbrush?" The Jimi Hendrix poster mentioned in the song was on the back of a door that Jim used for a practice room in the house he shared with his wife and child. The dog's name really was Smokey.

About this time, Livingston moved back from Oklahoma City, where he had lived since graduation. He began to book gigs for Heath and his new band, and they quickly won over the local music scene. They drew crowds to brand new music venues. Livingston continued to work with Reverend Horton Heat until 1989, when his own new family and day job required all of his attention, and Heath needed a real manager who could get him out on the road and into the studio. Jim and David remain close friends today, and a song that they co-wrote together back in the '80s, "Liquor, Beer and Wine," appeared on 1994's Liquor In The Front.

It was in the spring of 1989 that Jim Heath met and befriended Charles F. Reid Jr.(aka "Charlie Ray"). Initially a roadie for the band full time, his role was expanded to include the job of Booking Agent/Manager in the fall of 1989. Touring constantly throughout the Midwest and the West Coast, RHH quickly became a sellout act practically everywhere they played. In the fall of 1990 a bidding war ensued between Hollywood's XXX Records and Seattle's Sub Pop Records. After moving to Seattle to run The Vogue on 2nd Ave, Charlie Ray and attorney Barry Simons secured a two record deal with an option for three more, with Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman from Sub Pop. While present at the Reciprical Sound Sessions, which made up the majority of the debut album "Smoke'Em If You Got Em" and coordinating the photo shoot for the cover of the "The Full-Custom Gospel Sounds of the Reverend Horton Heat" with James Bland and routing the band to New York City for the "Psychobilly Freakout" video shoot, Reid's role as manager/booking agent came to an abrupt halt in April 1992. Immediately following Charlie Rays' firing from the band Jim hired Scott Weiss as his manager/booking agent, and Scott continues in that capacity.

Artistic and commercial success

While attracting a mostly cult audience, and having released almost a dozen studio albums, The Reverend's music has occasionally found its way into the main stream of American culture. "Big Red Rocket of Love" was used in a commercial for the Mazda Miata, and the instrumental which they often use to open their show, "Big Sky," was the music behind a commercial for Levi's jeans. A cover of the Guadalcanal Diary song "Watusi Rodeo" was in the Jim Carrey movie Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls. "Like a Rocket" (with altered lyrics) was chosen as the official Daytona 500 theme song for 2002. In 2005, the song "Eat Steak" was featured in television commercials for Boston Market, along with the song "Turkey Gotta Gobble" featured for Thanksgiving 2005. They were the theme band, with accompanying video, of the popular cartoon Johnny Bravo. "In Your Wildest Dreams" was also used in a commercial on the cable network, Showtime.

The song I Can't Surf was part of the soundtrack of the video game Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 published in 2001, and a slightly altered version of "Psychobilly Freakout" is featured in the game Guitar Hero II. "Psychobilly Freakout" was used on a commercial for Buell American Motorcycles. Their song "Baddest Of The Bad" is featured on the soundtrack to Tony Hawk's Proving Ground. The 1997 PC video game Redneck Rampage also includes two or their songs: "Wiggle Stick" and "Nurture my Pig!" The song Big Red Rocket of Love is also featured on the video game Motorstorm for the Playstation 3

Jim "Reverend Horton" Heath has a signature guitar from the Gretsch Guitar company, the 6120RHH. One of his favorite vintage guitars is a 1954 Gibson ES-175, which he rarely plays on the road since its wiring buzzes in certain venues. His favorite amplifier is the Fender Super Reverb.

Discography albums

• Smoke 'em if You Got 'em (1990)
• The Full Custom Gospel Sounds (1993)
• Liquor in the Front (1994)
• It's Martini Time (1996)
• Space Heater (1998)
• Spend a Night in the Box (2000)
• Lucky 7 (2002)
• Revival (2004)
• We Three Kings (2005)
• Laughin' and Cryin' with the Reverend Horton Heat (2009)

Discography collections

• Holy Roller (1999)
• 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of The Reverend Horton Heat (2006)

Discography singles

• "Big Little Baby" (1988)
• "Psychobilly Freakout" (1990)
• "400 Bucks / Caliénte" (1994)
• "One Time For Me" (1994)
• "Lie Detector" (1998)
• "King" (1999)
• "It Was a Very Good Year" (2000)

DVD's

• Reverend Horton Heat: Live and in Color (2003)
• Reverend Horton Heat: Revival (2004)

Music Video's

• "Psychobilly Freakout" (Director: Michael Levine)
• "Wiggle Stick" (Director: David Roth)
• "One Time For Me" (Director: L.M. Talkington)
• "Jonny Quest/Stop That Pigeon" (Director: N/A)
• "Slow" (Director: Mike Drumm)
• "Lie Detector" (Director: Martian Nowak)

If you want to know more over the Reverend Horton Heat please visit there own official website.