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 Scott Churilla 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.
Jim Heath played in a cover band called Southern Comfort with friends from Corpus Christi Ray, 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 to avoid disturbing the sleep of roommate Harold Shockley, now a Corpus Christi banker. Jim 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 Jim. 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, David took Jim to a Dallas rock and roll venue, The Bijou, to see an act called The Cramps. After the show, there broke out a punks vs. rockers brawl in the parking lot. While Jim and David escaped any involvement in the scuffle, Jim later claimed to have had an epiphany on that evening. Always a fan of blues and honky tonk, Jim returned the favor by taking David and his wife, Ellen, to see The Blasters in Dallas at a venue known as the Hot Klub and Jim's love for roots rock took over from there.
Jim had married a former bandmate from Sweetbriar, and together they had a child. Together they decided that the rock-and-roll lifestyle was over and that it was time to have real jobs. Around 1985, Jim 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. Jim used the old Sweetbriar PA system to earn from $20-$50 per night for 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 Jim into getting up to play. He played alone, tearing through a version of "Folsom Prison Blues" that is now so familiar to millions of Reverend Horton Heat fans around the world. Throughout the song, Hobbs hooted and shouted out, "Go Reverend". Jim 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. The late nights and the fact the Jim was now playing in a band and his wife and former bandmate was not took its toll on the marriage and she soon 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, David and Ellen moved back from Oklahoma City, where they had been since graduating from UT. David began to book gigs for Jim and his new band, and their refeshing sound and raw live performance quickly won over the local music scene. Jim drew crowds to brand new music venues, playing three nights a week at Froggy Bottoms in the then brand new West End and assured a quick start to Club Dada, the first "for profit" bar in Deep Ellum by playing every night for the first two weeks that it was open. David continued to work with Reverend Horton Heat until 1989, when his own new family and day job required all of his attention, and Jim 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".
Check out the [url=http://[officialsite]www.victorymerch.com/store/reverendhortonheat]Reverend Horton Heat merch store.
This artist is also on Last.fm as: 'The Reverend Horton Heat'
Folsom Prison Blues
Reverend Horton Heat Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It's rollin' round the bend,
And I ain't seen the sunshine,
Since I don't know when.
Because I'm stuck in folsom prison,
And time keeps draggin on.
But that train keeps rollin',
When I was just a baby,
My momma told me son,
Always be a good boy,
Don't ever play with guns.
But I shot a man in Reno,
Just to watch him die.
When I hear that whistle blowin',
I hang my head and cry.
Well I bet you all them rich men
Are in fancy dine-in cars.
Probably drinking coffee,
And smokin' big cigars.
Well I know I had it comin'.
I know I can't be free.
But those people keep a movin',
And that's what tortures me.
Well if they freed me from this prison,
And that railrod train was mine,
You bet I'd move it farther,
A little farther down the line.
Far from folsom prison,
That's where I want to stay.
And I'd let that lonesome whistle
Blow my blues away.
The song "Folsom Prison Blues" by Reverend Horton Heat is about a prisoner who is stuck in Folsom Prison and how he longs for his freedom. The first stanza of the song talks about the train that goes by the prison and how he wishes he could be on it, heading towards San Antone. The prisoner then talks about how he hasn't seen the sunshine since he's been in prison and how time keeps dragging on for him.
In the next stanza, he tells the story of how he shot a man in Reno just to watch him die. This is the most famous line of the song and shows the desperation and hopelessness felt by the prisoner. He hangs his head and cries whenever he hears the train whistle blowing. The third stanza talks about how the rich folks are probably enjoying life and having fancy dinners, while he's stuck in prison.
The fourth and last stanza of the song is about how the prisoner knows he'll never be free and how it tortures him to see other people moving on with their lives. He dreams of being freed from the prison and owning his own train, which he would move farther down the line, away from Folsom Prison. He longs to be far away from the prison and to let the whistle of his train blow his blues away.
Line by Line Meaning
Well I hear that train a comin'
I can hear the train approaching.
It's rollin' round the bend,
The train is turning the corner.
And I ain't seen the sunshine,
I haven't seen the sunlight.
Since I don't know when.
I can't remember the last time I saw the sunlight.
Because I'm stuck in folsom prison,
I am imprisoned in Folsom prison.
And time keeps draggin on.
Time seems to be moving slowly.
But that train keeps rollin',
The train continues on its path.
On down to San Antone.
It is heading towards San Antonio.
When I was just a baby,
When I was a child.
My momma told me son,
My mother advised me.
Always be a good boy,
To always be well behaved.
Don't ever play with guns.
To stay away from guns.
But I shot a man in Reno,
But I killed a man in Reno.
Just to watch him die.
Simply to see him die.
When I hear that whistle blowin',
When I hear the train whistle blow.
I hang my head and cry.
I feel ashamed and sorry for what I did.
Well I bet you all them rich men
I'm sure that all the wealthy men.
Are in fancy dine-in cars.
Are in luxurious dining cars.
Probably drinking coffee,
Likely having coffee.
And smokin' big cigars.
And smoking expensive cigars.
Well I know I had it comin'.
I know that I deserved to be punished.
I know I can't be free.
I understand that I cannot be released from prison.
But those people keep a movin',
But the rest of the world keeps moving forward.
And that's what tortures me.
This fact causes me pain.
Well if they freed me from this prison,
If I were to be released from prison.
And that railrod train was mine,
And if the train were mine.
You bet I'd move it farther,
I would definitely move it further.
A little farther down the line.
I would move it down the tracks.
Far from folsom prison,
Far away from Folsom prison.
That's where I want to stay.
That is where I would like to be.
And I'd let that lonesome whistle
And I would allow that lonely train whistle.
Blow my blues away.
To blow my sadness away.
Lyrics Ā© O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Johnny R. Cash
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Dave BĆøb
Speed it up to 1.25 and it's pure Psychobilly insanity!
firas as
Well damb now it sounds too slow on normal
Julian Gavia
@David Hines HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Hmpf
Sure the bass is great at 1.25 but the singing becomes a mess.
Mark-Peter Velink
Thanks fot the brillant advise!
Jose Jura
Lmffaaaoo
p4horror
God bless the Reverend Horton Heat!
Katherine Willis
Amen!
My Name is not Larry
Don't worry. He did.
Dale Bagwell
Amen