By Dave Gil de Rubio
When it comes to exploring the 1950s roots of rock ’n’ roll, one can do a lot worse than delve into the catalog of Reverend Horton Heat. Singer/guitarist Jim “the Rev” Heath has preached the gospel of that era of music via a slew of albums of original material released by labels both indie and major, and he’ll appear at the Raven Theater on Saturday, Feb. 22.
His music’s been labeled psychobilly, alt-rock and latter-wave rockabilly, and he’s well versed in not only some of the same ground the Stray Cats trod, but also old-school country and blues. Last year’s Roots of the Rev, his 12th studio outing fronting the Reverend Horton Heat, finds the Dallas native and longtime friend/stand-up bass player Jimbo Wallace doing a creative flex thanks to a dozen covers.
Recorded in a super lo-fi manner on an array of vintage studio equipment that constituted a mic for each player, with Heath occasionally dropping in drums for each song after the fact, this collection drew on the catalogs of everyone from Elvis Presley, Gene Vincent and Carl Perkins to Conway Twitty, Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash.
Aside from being a pandemic project when musicians everywhere had a ton of time on their hands, Heath looked at it as a nod to musicians he admired and knew personally or otherwise.
“Especially during the early days of our group, there weren’t many rockabilly bands out there,” Heath said in a late-October interview. “The older rockabilly artists were constantly looking for guys that could play that style because a lot of the older [sidemen] were gone or didn’t want to do it.
“I backed up a lot of pretty cool people and then Jimbo backed up some cool people on our own, separately and together. And then we have had some run-ins with some notable people, opening for them or getting to meet them and do shows or recordings,” he added. “I thought we should do a cover song from each one of those people and it would be kind of fun to do. Plus, having worked with all those people, I really wanted the stories to get out there.”
The result with Roots of the Rev is a musical travelogue of roots music that finds Heath and Wallace serving as the listener’s tour guides. With the former’s twanging vocal phrasing and the latter providing a rock-solid bottom, listeners are treated to an irresistible reading of Eddie Cochran’s “Twenty Flight Rock” accentuated by some Jordanaires-flavored harmonies; a snappy reading of Willie’s perennial “Three Days,” and “Rockin’ Bones,” a stomping opener originally cut by rockabilly cult-artist Ronnie Dawson.
Elsewhere, Heath tips his cap to fellow Texan Gene Summers with the Jerry Lee Lewis-kissed “School of Rock ’n Roll,” and kicks it into overdrive with some fleet-fingered riffing on Crescent City rocker Jerry Byrne’s “Lights Out.” Expect this frenetic energy to translate on stage when the good Rev and his bandmates plug in.
“While we never had a big hit song, we’ve had some that got a lot of airplay. But never one that was a big enough song that we had to play it,” Heath said. “But at the same time, with our fans, there are certain songs that we almost have to play because that’s what our fans want to hear.”
Among them are “400 Bucks,” “Baddest of the Bad,” “Big Little Baby,” “In Your Wildest Dreams,” “Galaxy 500” and “Bales of Cocaine.” “People get upset when we don’t play one of the Rev’s ‘hits,’” Heath said. “We’re adding in quite a bit more cover songs right now because of the new album.”
With plenty of touring on the books through October of next year, Heath will also squeeze in separate studio dates with fellow revivalists Jason D. Williams and Jimmy Dale Richardson. Having been inspired by what he calls mid-20th century music that runs the gamut from Henry Mancini, Ennio Morricone and movie musicals (The Sound of Music and My Fair Lady were favorites) to surf music and the aforementioned rockabilly, Heath’s passions still run deep and wide.
And it’s a big part of the reason why the 65-year-old rocker is four decades into leading the Reverend Horton Heat. “I found that if you can draw a big crowd playing your own original music in your hometown, then the only thing that’s keeping you from rock stardom is the will to get in a van and drive,” Heath said.
“I tell young musicians to get themselves a really good running van, and if one guy can fix it, that’s even better. You’ve got to get out there. During my whole career, that’s the hardest thing about music of any genre,” he added.
“You’re in a hotel room by yourself. You’re alone and eating truckstop food. You’re getting sick, and you don’t know where to go to the doctor. It’s a hard thing. You want to be a rock star? I guarantee you’ll be a rock star. You’ve just gotta be ready to wash your hair at Burger King and do stuff like that,” he concluded.
Rev. Horton Heat, Black Joe Louis and Piñata Protest perform at the Raven Theater on Saturday, Feb. 22, starting at 7:30pm. Tickets are $45, available from raventheater.org.
