Howdy Kittens and Kats,     Damn, I love the Internet. It gives me the chance to set at least some things straight, and probably more important, it gives me a forum where I can just blow off steam. Thank you for checking out our website.     OK. That's my setup for this update's bitch session.     I picked up a book about the new swing movement. Not one thing about RHH. We do play a lot of swing beats, even though we may not be considered "swing". To me, swing is Glen Miller, Count Basie, Benny Goodman, Woody Herman or Duke Ellington. Which is a little different from some of the bands that the so-called neo-swing "purists" call "swing". So, why don't we fit in? Snobbery. Not one mention about the Blue Saloon in Hollywood. Not one mention about us. Anyway, I heard that, now, the biggest thing at Bimbo's 365 in SF is a Neil Diamond cover band. Too bad on one hand. Very funny on the other.     Something that really pisses me off is how people, who claim to be "historians", write and say all of this bullshit about rock-a-billy and swing. I'm getting very tired of people who say, "Well, Reverend, you're psycho-billy and we're the biggest rock-a-billy band in America." Bullshit. And, you would not believe how many people say that to me. Just because we have our own sound does not give anyone the right to classify us as "psycho-billy". Check out the Meteors, Guana Bats, Demented R Go and others before you start classifying RHH as something. Just because we have a song called "Psycho-billy Freak-out", some people think they can label us that way. And, just because we do not play cover tunes, and we've got our own sound, does not mean that we are not rock-a-billy. Classifications suck most of the time, so, my advise to bands who are trying to tell people that they're the "biggest rock-a-billy band in America" is this -- be very careful.     Anyway, I'm going to write a few historical things about the history of Reverend Horton Heat. I'm going to try to do it in what I call "shotgun" style. Let's get it on.     Before Reverend Horton Heat, I played in a lot of different bands. My first band was a fifties band back in 19--. Ha Ha. Let's not go there.     Back then, I was just know as Jim Heath. In the early eighties, I teamed up with Ted Roddy to start a rock-a-billy band called "Teddy and the Talltops". The band included Phil Bennison, who is also known as "Homer Henderson", and Jas Stevens, who played with "The Shadows of Night" of "Gloria" fame, as well as many other cool Ft. Worth bands. We were pretty much straight rock-a-billy. We dressed so "fifties", people were shocked even more than if we'd been punk. Ted Roddy is and unsung hero of the rock-a-billy/swing movement. Check out "The Naughty Ones". Oh yeah, sorry, swing is dead now and Neil Diamond is big. I just hope no one ever says to me, "We're the biggest Neil Diamond band in America!" I swear, I could kill someone over that.     I played guitar with Gene Summers (School of Rock And Roll, Straight Skirts) on a gig. I played guitar with Sid King and the Five Strings. Is that rock-a-billy enough for your "biggest in America" ass?     I jammed with Johnny Carroll. It was ceremonious gig where, on stage, he handed his guitar over to me in a gesture that he wanted to show how he was ready to hand over rock-a-billy to the next generation. After the gig, I was flattered. I did not tell Johnny Carroll that I was the "biggest rock-a-billy band in America". Johnny was wild!     In the mid eighties, I started Reverend Horton Heat as an outlet for my original stuff that I'd been working on for years. I'd play long, three and four set nights. I had rock-a-billy songs like "Crazy Ex-Boyfriend", "Rockin' Dog", "Baby From Tennessee", "Little Girl Tears", "Flat On My Back", "Waxahachie Jail", "I'll Make Love" and many more. I also played some cover tunes like "Baby Let's Play House", "Kiss Me" by Al Ferrier, "Folsom Prison Blues", "Make Me Know Your Mine" by Conway Twitty (his rock-a-billy stuff was great), and "Be-Bop-a-Lu-La".     It was then that I was also called upon to play guitar with Screamin' Jay Hawkins. I did a few shows as his guitarist.     I got to meet Ronnie Dawson, who, recorded my song "Rockin' Dog". Ronnie then went on to use his great energy to revitalize his career in America and Europe.     We played many shows where the choice of dance was swing dancing. Especially in Austin at places like The Black Cat Lounge, The Hole In The Wall, and Antone's. The swing historians who try to write us out of "neo-swing history" either don't know about this time, or more likely, are afraid to admit it since they will try to tell you that they were "the first". Ha Ha. I remember when some of those swing "experts" were heavy-metal doormen at popular ecstasy-driven discos back when we were playing to swing dancers at the Blue Saloon in Hollywood.     By the time Jimbo joined the band in 1989 (I think -- I've killed a lot of brain cells), RHH was in demand throughout Texas, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. So, it was our dream to conquer the town that to us was the holy grail -- Memphis. We slid a single of "Big Little Baby" under the door at Sun Studios. Sun Studios was still a working studio by night, though it was a museum by day. Everything in Memphis is a museum. Ha Ha. By this time, we were playing all original songs.     Anyway, it wasn't long before a lot was happening. We toured America. We became the Sun Studios band of choice when they wanted to re-cut original Sun artists. We did sessions there as the band for artists like Barbara Pittman, Malcolm Yelvington, and Johnny Powers. We were on a BBC special there that was hosted by Jules Holland. But, you have to understand, just getting to be at Sun Studios and listen to Barbara Pittman tell stories about Elvis and Sam Phillips and Jerry Lee Lewis was like a dream come true to us. We were flattered to be asked to record with some of our heroes. We didn't tell them that we were the "biggest rock-a-billy band in America".     That reminds me of something. One time I was talking with Brian Setzer about a lot of different old rock-a-billy artists. And, I don't actually remember who I mentioned, but, Brian admitted that he had never heard of the artist that I was talking about. I was kind of shocked. There was actually an old rock-a-billy that I knew all about that Brian didn't know anything about! Of course, Brian's knowledge of rock-a-billy blows my little existence right out of the water, but, he was still a real enough person to admit that he didn't know who I was talking about. My big point here is this -- I am sure that if some people were to mention an original rock-a-billy artist that I was clueless about, they would soon be on their high-horse telling everyone that they know more about rock-a-billy than Reverend Horton Heat! Then, the next thing you know, they'd be telling you, (what else?) that they are the biggest rock-a-billy band in America. But, also remember this, there were so many artists and labels who did "rock-a-billy" back in the fifties and early sixties, it is almost impossible to be totally familiar with all of them. Maybe Billy Poore would know, but, he left us out of his book too. That is one of the beautiful things about this type of music. You're always learning.     This brings me to another point. We owe a lot to Brian Setzer. If they were to write a book about rock-a-billy and swing a hundred years from now, I'd be willing to bet that he'd be the number one attraction of the book. Beating out Elvis, Gene, Louis, Big Joe and everybody. Just because he's not from the fifties, doesn't mean that he won't end up being the best remembered rock-a-billy/swing musician. I know some purists who would shudder at that thought. But, I remember when some of those "purist" guys were blues record collectors without one Gene Vincent or Wynonnie Harris record. Go tell Brian Setzer that you're the "biggest rock-a-billy band in America".     Anyway, back to Reverend Horton History. Out in California, I went to a place called the King King and saw who I believed to be the best newer rock-a-billy band that I'd ever seen -- Big Sandy and the Fly-Rite Trio. They were awesome. But, guess who would come see every Reverend Horton Heat show at the Blue Saloon? Robert, T.K., and Bobby. I was flattered. I did not tell them that I was the biggest rock-a-billy band in America. But, one thing that some of the "neo-swing historians" leave out is this. Reverend Horton Heat was playing shows all over America that had swing dancers when all of the swing/rock-a-billy bands like Big Sandy and The Royal Crown Revue were still only in California and Arizona. Of course, I knew that it was only a matter of time before Big Sandy and The Royal Crown Revue would be playing to big houses in NYC, Chicago and everywhere. We did shows with both of those bands and RHH still owes a lot to them. Also, there were local rock-a-billy and swing groups in every city who were there before we arrived in their towns. The Moondogs in Chicago. Simon and The Bar Sinisters in NYC. The Flapjacks in Portland, OR.     OK. Lets not forget the Paladins. They were playing shows all over America well before Reverend Horton Heat. Some of the only chances that I got to swing dance in Dallas in the mid-eighties was when The Paladins played. They get written out of neo-swing history too. They have been, and will always will be, one of my favorite bands and we owe a lot to Dave Gonzales and the Paladins. Check out "Slippin' In?. Dave sent me the vinyl on that, and it's one of the best things that I've heard this year, or, ever.     OK. Let's not forget the Blasters. They were one of the only rock-a-billy bands in the late seventies/early eighties. That's another band that, though they may not be swing, the swing movement owes a lot to them. But, let's not forget, most of the neo-swing bands that the purists like don't sound like Benny Goodman, so ...     James Harmon is another band that, though they are blues-based, the swing movement owes a lot to them too. There are many musicians that the swing historians will try to write out of history in favor of bands who just decided that they were going nowhere by sounding like Reverend Horton Heat, so, now they're swing.     I'm not a music historian. I don't want anyone to think that my point of all this is to prove who was first. Or, who influenced who. Or, what bands really started the neo-rock-a-billy/swing movement. Or especially to talk about how cool I am. I just have to get some things straight, because if I don't, I'm afraid that me as well as others, are going to get written out of history by silly-assed former punk rocker/heavy metal/Dead heads who are really too embarrassed to admit that they got involved with listening to rock-a-billy and swing because of the popularity of Reverend Horton Heat. I picked up a book about the new swing revival that has pictures of people who were...well we won't get into who was first. Let me just say that there is not one mention of Reverend Horton Heat in the whole damn book! Well, Vice Grip from St. Vitus Dance and the New Morty Show did make a nice comment about my guitar playing. Vice is great. He's the real deal because, first and foremost, he's a real person. But, there are many places in this particular book that I'm talking about where you can just tell that the "swing" people being interviewed are having to try to explain away Reverend Horton Heat without actually having to say the name of the band. Oh well, many of those swing people are now into Neil Diamond or being parents or whatever.     OK. Back to the history -- with the swing "historians" in the back of my mind.     This book, for instance, does not mention that, in the early ninties, one of the only clubs in America that you could guarantee swing dancing was happening on every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night was The Blue Saloon in North Hollywood. Lloyd Martin booked the bands and the people would dress cool without making it costume night. Guess which band held the attendance record for The Blue Saloon? Reverend Ho......I don't have to say it. Thanks for the gig, Lloyd. You know where this is leading. But, there's not one mention of The Blue Saloon in this book either.     Another thing. The RHH song "It's Martini Time" recorded in 1995, was probably the first swing beat to get commercial airplay since The Stray Cats. It could have done better if our record label had been there to help us. Instead, "It's Martini Time" ended up being a song that wet the appetite of commercial radio for other artists like The Cherry Poppin' Daddys and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. If our label had been listening to their artists instead of thinking that they themselves were the ones who knew what the next "cool" thing would be, I know that the neo-swing/rock-a-billy revival would have happened earlier with the release of "It's Martini Time". Oh yeah, "It's Martini Time" wasn't mentioned in that book I was talking about either.     I'm getting a little tired of this now, but, I have a few other things to say about this issue. The reason I was drawn to the music scene that I became a part of is that there was because, back then, there was less snobbery than in other "scenes". Everyone at the Blue Saloon and The Black Cat Lounge was friendly. That was a refreshing change from the metal attitude at the Whiskey. Or the "angry young man" attitude at the "alternative" clubs. Although, we found our niche in those alternative clubs, and, I do remember when the mosh pit took over the swing dancers at our shows, I used to love hanging out in the LA and Bay Area rock-a-billy/swing scene. It was fun and the people were friendly. And, it was diverse. "Purists" were considered to be a little silly. But then, as the swing thing got big, all of the sudden there were people who were trying to make some kind of name for themselves, either in the band racket, or in the "look at me I can swing dance so good that I'm now famous" racket. And, all of the sudden, they wouldn't be caught dead mentioning that they liked Reverend Horton Heat. They were too cool for that. In other words, the snobs moved in and ruined everything. They turned our fun little Blue Saloon swing dancing into a stupid thing where everyone was playing dress-up, claiming that they were first, pretending to be famous, talking like purists and not mentioning that they used to listen to Reverend Horton Heat. And, oh yeah, some are claiming to be the "biggest rock-a-billy band in America".     Be careful what you read friends. If these little publications can leave Reverend Horton Heat out of rock-a-billy/swing/roots history, they will lie to you in other ways too. But, now many of those swing people are probably running out and buying Neil Diamond records, anyway. In the meantime, us die-hard "lifers" will still be here. Big Sandy, Paladins, Royal Crown Revue, Deke Dickerson...and, the list goes on.     Look for us on tour with The Royal Crown Revue and Los Straitjackets this spring. Buy -- Swing dancing. I think that when people started dancing apart from each other is when the divorce rate started it's skyrocket. Sell -- That phony, "I dress me up so good, now I'm the famous one in the swing world" attitude. Buy -- The Brian Setzer Orchestra. I'm not afraid to say it -- The Stray Cats and Brian have been a big influence on me. I owe these guys a lot. Throw out the biggest and best question. These guys are world class. Go tell Brian Setzer that you're the "biggest rock-a-"....all right, all right I won't say it again as long as no one else will. Sell -- Rude people. I have at least one person every night who is rude to me because of their own insecurities. Being rude shows things like that up. I have someone just about every night who says something like, "Rev., if you don't come with us right now to have a drink, then you're going to ruin my image of you and you're a pussy." I usually reply, "Thanks for such a gracious invitation!" I know some people get a little nervous when they talk to me, so, they think they have to try and say something "cool". The coolest thing you can say to me is something that is polite. I also have one person every night who gets the one-of-a-kind idea to ask me to perform their marriage. And, every night, I try to graciously apologize and explain that I don't do that. Some people get mad and say something rude. Sorry. Buy -- Smiling. It's good for your soul. Sell -- Discrimination. There's a lot of talk about racial discrimination in this world, but, there's other types too. When I walk into the venue where we are playing in the afternoon, some person will treat me like I'm just some stupid bus driver who is wearing some silly Ford gimme cap. But, then that night at the gig, when they see me as Reverend Horton Heat, they become the nicest person in the world. My answer to this is, be nice to everyone because you can't make assumptions about people by the way they are dressed, by the color of their skin or what logo is on their gimme cap. Also, the seemingly stupid bus driver may actually be smarter than you. I'm not a music historian. I just want people to know our history. And, I don't want the coattail riders, and fad-followers to steer you in wrong direction. Keep America Free and Keep On Truckin' . All right? All right. Thanks for the gig, Jim "Reverend Horton Heat" Heath