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Our Review

Rev. Horton Heat (aka Jim Heath) is all about hellacious, country-tinged punkabilly rock, the sort of blistering music that makes ordinary Christmas tunes jump and sway. Edgy and fun, the Reverend's We Three Kings is an exciting mélange of extremely cool traditional numbers handled in an untraditional fashion.

Although most of the 13 tracks contain vocals, the glorious title track "We Three Kings" is a smokin' instrumental, mysterious and pulsing. The other two instrumentals ("What Child Is This" and "Winter Wonderland") will also have you dancing on the kitchen table. The album's selections are largely contemporary carols, including Willie Nelson's excellent "Pretty Paper." The Reverend's original "Santa on the Roof" flies high with a memorable melody line and great guitar licks. The album closes very well with a richly textured "Run Rudolph Run" that encourages addictive foot-tapping. The Reverend does not crank up every tune to full speed. "Silver Bells," for example, is down tempo and gently lyrical.

Rev. Horton Heat's We Three Kings is a delightful alternative for those who want to break out of the ho-hum holiday mold. This seasonal offering is tightly-crafted and well executed. Rockers rejoice--the Reverend is in town!

--Carol Swanson
(Reviewed in 2005)

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From the liner notes:

Jim Heath (A.K.A. Rev. Horton Heat): Lead vocals, guitar, upright bass on "Run Rudolph Run"
Jimbo Wallace: upright bass, background vocals, guitar on "Run Rudolph Run"
Scott Churilla: drums, background vocals

Produced by Rev. Horton Heat and Tim Alexander

Tracks 1,3-6,8,10 & 12 were arranged by Tim Alexander & Reverend Horton Heat

From the Web site:

Undeniably, The Reverend Horton Heat, aka Jim Heath, is the biggest, baddest, grittiest, greasiest, greatest rocker that ever piled his hair up and pounded the drinks down. Without question, for all of his outlandish antics, blistering stage performances and legendary musical prowess, the one thing The Rev always gets asked about is the story behind his unusual and rather clerical moniker. -- "Well, there used to be this guy who ran this place in Deep Ellum, Texas who used to call me Horton- my last name is Heath", says The Rev. Anyway, this guy hired me and right before the show he goes, 'Your stage name should be Reverend Horton Heat! Your music is like gospel'"and I thought it was pretty ridiculous. So I'm up there playing and after the first few songs, people are saying, 'Yeah, Reverend!' What's really funny is that this guy gave up the bar business, and actually became a preacher! Now he comes to our shows and says, 'Jim, you really should drop this whole Reverend thing.'" It's been an almost 20-year journey for Heath, whose country-flavored punkabilly and onstage antics have brought him and his band a strikingly diverse fan base and a devoted cult following, not to mention the respect of fellow musicians worldwide.

Rev. Horton Heat

We Three Kings: Christmas Favorites

Artist site

Track List