the Reverend Horton Heat

File:Reverend Jim Heath.jpg in Dallas, September 2006]]

Heath was born in Corpus Christi, Texas, where he grew up with an appreciation of rock, electric blues and rockabilly. He was influenced by country music artists including Junior Brown, Willie Nelson, and Merle Travis. He played in local bands until 1985 when he gained notice in Dallas as "Reverend Horton Heat", the moniker bestowed by the owner of the Deep Ellum nightclub where he played.Huey, Steve. "[{{Allmusic|class=artist|id=p85529|pure_url=yes}} Reverend Horton Heat]." AllMusic. Retrieved May 11, 2005.

Adding bassist Jimbo Wallace and drummer Taz Bentley in 1989, Reverend Horton Heat recorded for Sub Pop at Reciprocal Recording in Seattle and Crystal Clear in Dallas, which made up the majority of material on Reverend Horton Heat's debut album, Smoke 'Em If You Got 'Em (1990).{{Cite web |title=Jim Heath Is Reverend Horton Heat |url=https://tapeop.com/interviews/134/jim-heath-reverend-horton-heat/}} For their next album, the band recorded with Gibby Haynes of the Butthole Surfers producing at Ardent Studios in Memphis, Tennessee: The Full-Custom Gospel Sounds of the Reverend Horton Heat (1993).

File:Jimbo Wallace.JPG uses a slap bass technique, performing at the Essigfabrik in Cologne, March 2010]]

Interscope Records joined with Sub Pop to co-release the band's third album Liquor in the Front (1994). Al Jourgensen of Ministry produced the album.

Scott Churilla replaced Bentley as drummer in the mid-1990s, and the band released It's Martini Time in 1996. The album brought the band its first Billboard chart success, reaching number 165 on the Billboard 200. The band covered the boogie standard "Rock the Joint", and the song "It's Martini Time" was a minor hit. Later that year, Heath brought his street preacher style to the television series Homicide: Life on the Street on NBC, and he appeared on The Drew Carey Show on ABC in 1997.

The 2000 album Spend a Night in the Box was released through Time Bomb Recordings, with Paul Leary producing. The style was a return to straight-ahead rockabilly songs.{{Cite web |title=Spend a Night in the Box - the Reverend Horton Heat | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/spend-a-night-in-the-box-mw0000604963 |website=AllMusic}} The album rose through CMJ{{'s}} charts to peak at number 2 in May.{{Cite magazine |date=May 22, 2000 |title=CMJ Radio 200 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EoowCBYogmUC&pg=PA46 |magazine=CMJ |volume=62 |page=46 |issn=0890-0795 |number=667}}{{Cite web |title=Rev. Horton Heat, Hank Williams III Play Hootenanny |url=http://www.mtv.com/news/1429989/rev-horton-heat-hank-williams-iii-play-hootenanny/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211123171620/http://www.mtv.com/news/1429989/rev-horton-heat-hank-williams-iii-play-hootenanny/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 23, 2021 |website=MTV}} The song "Like a Rocket" was the theme for the 2002 Daytona 500 autosports race. The band featured the song on their next album, Lucky 7.{{Cite web |title=Lucky 7 - the Reverend Horton Heat | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/lucky-7-mw0000217777 |website=AllMusic}}

Victory Records signed Reverend Horton Heat in 2012, and Scott Churilla returned to the band as drummer, playing for the next five years.{{Cite web |title=Scott Churilla Leaves Reverend Horton Heat; "We Need a Drummer" |url=https://www.vintagevinylnews.com/2017/07/scott-churilla-leaves-reverend-horton.html}} An album titled Rev was released on January 21, 2014. A YouTube video for a single on the album, "Let Me Teach You How to Eat," preceded the album on November 12, 2013. Rev rose to number 111 on the Billboard 200, becoming the band's highest-charting album. The band toured as the opening act for Motörhead, and recorded rock and roll songs with Motörhead's Lemmy Kilmister, though the tapes are unreleased. Reverend Horton Heat also backed a number of other artists including Unknown Hinson, Jello Biafra, and Deke Dickerson.{{Cite magazine |date=December 17, 2013 |title=Reverend Horton Heat, 'Spooky Boots': Exclusive Song Premiere |url=https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/reverend-horton-heat-spooky-boots-exclusive-song-premiere-5840064/ |magazine=Billboard}}{{Cite web |date=March 7, 2016 |title=The Reverend Horton Heat on Lemmy, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins—and Paul Pigat! |url=https://www.straight.com/music/652941/reverend-horton-heat-lemmy-jerry-lee-lewis-carl-perkins-and-paul-pigat}} In 2017, drummer Churilla was replaced by Arjuna "R.J." Contreras, formerly of the band Eleven Hundred Springs.{{Cite web |date=June 28, 2018 |title=174 - Arjuna "RJ" Contreras: Drumming for the Reverend Horton Heat, Grooving at Fast Tempos, WDP Documenting His First Year in Nashville |url=http://www.workingdrummer.net/2018/06/28/arjunarjcontreras/}} Matt Jordan of West Virginia joined the band playing piano and organ as well as supporting vocals. They released the album Whole New Life in 2018.{{Cite magazine |date=November 28, 2018 |title=Reverend Horton Heat Unleashes Spirited 'Whole New Life': Album Premiere |url=https://www.billboard.com/music/rock/reverend-horton-heat-whole-new-life-album-8486934/ |magazine=Billboard}}

In 2021, Heath and Wallace teamed with drummer Slim Jim Phantom from the Stray Cats to form a side project: The Jimbos.{{Cite web |title=The Jimbos Add a Jimbo - Reverend Horton Heat | Official Website |date=April 26, 2021 |url=http://www.reverendhortonheat.com/the-jimbos-add-a-jimbo/}} The trio was set to release a live album on called Live In Houston on December 22, 2023.{{cite web|url=http://www.cleorecs.com/store/shop/the-reverend-horton-heat-live-in-houston-red-vinyl|title=The Reverend Horton Heat Live In Houston Red Vinyl|website=Cleorecs.com|date=October 20, 2023|accessdate=October 20, 2023}}

"Psychobilly Freakout", and later "Wiggle Stick", were both featured in video segments on the show Beavis and Butt-Head. The song "I Can't Surf" was part of the soundtrack of the video game Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3, published in 2001. “In Your Wildest Dreams” was used in the NBC drama Homicide: Life on the Street, episode “Full Moon” (season 4, episode 17, aired April 5, 1996), in which Reverend Horton Heat appears. "Psychobilly Freakout" was used on a commercial for Buell American Motorcycles and a slightly altered version was featured in the game Guitar Hero II and later on Guitar Hero Smash Hits. Their song "Baddest of the Bad" is featured on the soundtrack to Tony Hawk's Proving Ground. The 1997 video game Redneck Rampage also includes two of their songs, "Wiggle Stick" and "Nurture My Pig!". The song "Big Red Rocket of Love" is featured in the video games The Sims 3, MotorStorm and Need for Speed: The Run, and a slightly altered version of the song was featured in a 1999 television commercial for the Mazda Miata. The song "Pride of San Jacinto" is featured on the video game Hot Wheels Turbo Racing. The song "Let Me Teach You How to Eat" was featured in a 2017 Subway commercial. The song "Mad, Mad Heart" is featured in the video game Far Cry 5.

Heath has a signature guitar from Gretsch, a 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 was the Fender Super Reverb but is now the Gretsch Executive.{{Cite journal |last=Heidt |first=John |date=April 2008 |title=Jim Heath: A Reverend By Any Other Name |journal=Vintage Guitar |volume=22 |issue=6 |page=24}}

• Jim Heath: guitars, vocals (1985–present)
• Jimbo Wallace: upright bass (1989–present)
• Jonathan Jeter: drums (2020–present)

• "Swingin'" Jack Barton: upright bass (1985–1989)
• Bobby Baranowski: drums (1985–1989)
• Kyle Thomas: drums (1989)
• Patrick "Taz" Bentley: drums (1989–1994)
• Tim Alexander: piano/keyboards (1996– Jun. 2017)
• Paul Simmons: drums (2006–2012)
• Scott Churilla: drums (1995–2006, 2012–2017)
• Matt Jordan: piano (Sep. 2017– Feb. 2019)
• Arjuna “RJ” Contreras: drums (2017-2020)

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• Holy Roller: 24 Hits (Sub Pop, 1999)
• 20th Century Masters – The Millennium Collection: The Best of The Reverend Horton Heat (Interscope, 2006)
• 25 To Life [live] (Yep Roc, 2012)

• "Big Little Baby" (1988)
• "Psychobilly Freakout" (1990)
• "400 Bucks / Caliénte" (split with The Supersuckers) (1994)
• "One Time for Me" (1994) No. 40 Alternative songs
• "Lie Detector" (1998)
• "King" (1999)
• "It Was a Very Good Year" (2000)
• "Let Me Teach You How to Eat" (2013)
• "It's a Rave Up!/Beer, Write This Song" (2015)
• "Hardscrabble Woman/Lying to Myself" (2016)

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

;Film

• Love and a .45 – "The Devil's Chasing Me" (1994)
• Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls – "Watusi Rodeo" (1995)
• Bio-Dome – "Psychobilly Freakout" (1996)
• Free Willy 3: The Rescue – "Big Sky" (1997)
• Major League: Back to the Minors – "Baby I'm Drunk" (1998)
• The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas – "Rock the Joint" (2000)
• Auto Focus – "Real Gone Lover" (2002)

;Television

• Homicide: Life on the Street (episode #4.17 "Full Moon") – "In Your Wildest Dreams" (1996)
• Cleveland Rocks! Music from The Drew Carey Show – "Now, Right Now" (1998)
• Dexter: New Blood (episode #8 "Unfair Game") – "Baddest of the Bad" (2021)

;Video games

• Redneck Rampage – "Nurture My Pig" and "Wiggle Stick" (1997)
• Space Bunnies Must Die! – "In Your Wildest Dreams" (1998)
• Hot Wheels Turbo Racing – "Pride of San Jacinto" (1999)
• Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 – "I Can't Surf" (2001)
• Guitar Hero II – "Psychobilly Freakout" (2006)
• MotorStorm – "Big Red Rocket of Love" (2007)
• Tony Hawk's Proving Ground – "Baddest of the Bad" (2007)
• The Sims 3 Fast Lane Stuff – "Big Red Rocket of Love" (2010)
• Need for Speed: The Run – "Big Red Rocket of Love" (2011)
• Steep – "Chasing Rainbows" (2016)

• Love and a .45 (1994) "Loaded Gun" was performed by the Reverend Horton Heat in the film, but does not appear on the soundtrack album.

• RevOrganDrum (Yep Roc, 2007)

• List of psychobilly bands

{{Reflist}}

• Miller, Lewis. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20051201193532/http://www.cmj.com/articles/display_article.php?id=34076 Reverend Horton Heat]." College Music Journal; Retrieved May 11, 2005
• Wenzler, Matt. "[http://www.bigdwarfrodeo.com/ Big Dwarf Rodeo];" Retrieved May 11, 2005

{{Commons category|Reverend Horton Heat}}

• {{Official|http://www.reverendhortonheat.com/}}

{{The Reverend Horton Heat}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reverend Horton Heat, The}}

Category:1985 establishments in Texas

Category:American psychobilly musical groups

Category:Interscope Records artists

Category:Musical groups established in 1985

Category:Musical groups from Dallas

Category:American musical quartets

Category:Rock music groups from Texas

Category:American rockabilly music groups

Category:Sub Pop artists