Reverend Horton Heat – Psychobilly Freakout

This one was fun to write about. Sometimes I like to post the offbeat kind of artists, and the Reverend fits that description. This is what happens when you turn frantic Rockabilly up a notch or three. Let’s just rip the band-aid off. This thing doesn’t walk into the room, it tears the hinges off the door, screams in your face, steals your beer, and does donuts in the church parking lot. It is high-octane and has some great guitar. 

He does some Brian Setzer and Duane Eddy style guitar playing at 11. It’s NOT a storytelling song. It’s a vibe, a warning, and a shot of tequila thrown down your throat.  I love Dylan, Prine, and the other great songwriters, but this isn’t it, and it’s not meant to be. Some songs make you want to sing. Some make you want to cry. This one makes you want to smash furniture and swing from the rafters. 

He was on the record label Sub Pop, which also had Nirvana, but he sounds nothing like them. His real name is James C. Heath, and he grew up in Dallas, Texas. His influences were Junior Brown, Willie Nelson, and Merle Travis. He and his band have made 13 studio albums, and many of them charted. In the early 2000s, a friend at work named Lee played this one and a song called Wiggle Stick (live version), which, to be truthful, is more accessible than this one. I loved the sense of humor and sound right away. 

This song came off the album Smoke ‘Em If You Got ‘Em released in 1990. Reverend Horton Heat’s songs have been in movies, and he has a huge following. 

Wiggle Stick

Psychobilly Freakout

It’s a psychobilly freakout!

Well, we’re off, we’re off, we’re off!
It’s, it’s, it’s a psychobilly freakout!

Well, we’re off, we’re off, we’re off!

I’ll tell you what it is! (what is it, God dang it?)
It’s some kinda Texas psychobilly freakout
That’s what it is

Well, we’re off, we’re off, we’re off!
It’s a psychobilly freakout!

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

37 thoughts on “Reverend Horton Heat – Psychobilly Freakout”

  2. Pingback: Reverend Horton Heat – Psychobilly Freakout – MobsterTiger

  4. Psychobilly is the perfect term for the Rev. His Oral Roberts schtick brought back memories. As a kid, if I didn’t go to church, I had to watch Oral Roberts healing people on TV (until I switched to Heckle & Jeckle cartoons).

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    1. We had one also in the 80s…can’t think of his name but don’t want to! In school we would hit each other on the forehead and declare “you are healed”…

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    1. Thanks for reading Glyn…I only knew two of their songs but I started to listen to more…I love rockabilly and this would be a form of it…just louder.

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      1. Yeah, I had no idea who the guy was, we were there to eat supper and happened to make the show, which was pretty rowdy because his following was there from Dallas. He played mostly in Deep Elum when in town, that’s where he got his start.

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      2. Just curious Phi…do you know a guy named Willis Alan Ramsey? I’m starting to get into him…not an official Texas Songwriter, he was born in Alabama…but made his name in Texas…I like his songwriting.

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      3. I saw him in Fort Worth at the White Elephant Saloon in the stockyards, had to be early 2000s. I thought the guy was a Texan since he is always in Austin or DFW playing. Yeah, he’s pretty good at what he does and has a great stage name, like Ray Wylie Hubbard and Townes Van Zandt.

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      4. He only released one album in 1971 or 72…thats it. When asked if he is going to make another he says “why? what is wrong with the other?” Which is a great answer…he is working on that 2nd album now. I loved the album though. Cool that you saw him.

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    1. CB I thought of you when I wrote this up. I was wondering if you were a fan or not. My friend Lee turned me on to him in the early 2000s. He absolutely rocks…in a good way.

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  9. I have heard the name and a couple of things on samplers, I think, but not very much. Anyone who cited Junior Brown as an influence is OK in my book.

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  10. Seems like he was an artist they showcased often in the early-’80s on a show called ‘The NEw Music’ in Canada. I don’t remember the music but do the name. I like his guitar-playing on ‘Freak out’ though the song itself isn’t much. It’d be a good instrumental for a movie scene or high-energy ad I think. Is that a big Gretsch he’s playing?

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    1. Yes it is a Gretsch…I love those guitars but they are just too big for me. They do make smaller ones though. Oh the song is a vibe more than anything…the other song yea…it’s a song song. This one though represents him well though…. he is kinda like a local guy I’ve blogged about named Webb Wilder but with less restraint.

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      1. I remember you posting about Webb Wilder before.
        YEp, those Gretsch’s are big but they look cool and sound pretty nice. I think I toldyou once I asked Greg Keelor of Blue Rodeo about it – this was back 1990 or even ’89, but he did say it was his favorite guitar in his collection and talked for some length about what made it great but it was kind of Greek to me. I just knew it looked cool and the sound he got off it was different and to me, better than when he used a regular Strat (I think?)

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      2. Oh they play great Dave! many of those 50s style rockabilly players play them. They sound great as well…with me…I’ve played a few in a guitar shop…if I had time to get used to it…I would probably love it but man it’s a big adjustment.

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  11. “This thing doesn’t walk into the room, it tears the hinges off the door, screams in your face, steals your beer, and does donuts in the church parking lot” – damn, Max, you weren’t kidding! And, great line, btw!

    “Psychobilly Freakout” really is Brian Setzer and Duane Eddy on steroids. I had never heard of Reverend Horton Heat. He certainly left an impact. It’s hard to believe “Wiggle Stick” is tame, BY COMPARISON.

    That dude is one cool reverend. The only other reverend I can think of, who is somewhat similar, is blues rock guitarist Reverend Peyton. 🙂

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    1. Thank you! I love writing these posts!
      Peyton is who I thought of as well! Brian Setzer and Duane Eddy on steroids….I wish I could have used that line!
      His music is about the moment…the fun factor.

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  12. This is ‘check out any Prog Rock thoughts at the door, sit down at the bar, open your ears, start drinking and soak it all up.’ The lyrics are minimalist on ‘Freakout’ but who cares? And less than subtle on ‘Wiggle Stick’ but who cares?

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    1. It’s so fun to post these kind of songs. Dave mentioned that…this really isn’t a song…no…it’s a vibe or a fun time. No serious music here like you said.

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