Rev. Horton Heat “Big Little Baby” b/w “Bullet” 1988. Four Dot Records. Red vinyl. An old college friend is passing through town soon – I haven’t seen him in 20 years – and the Rev. is one of our musical bonds; we saw him play in Madison in Spring, ‘93. (There are other musical bonds as well: I think a few hazy Grateful Dead shows and more memorably he and his two brothers doing living room karaoke, complete with dance routine, to The Commodores “Brick House.” Twenty-five years later and I’m still laughing about that one.)

“Big Little Baby” was Rev. Horton Heat’s first single and it appeared on the LP The Full Custom Gospel Sounds (Sub Pop) much later, in 1993. The psychobilly instrumental “Bullet” was included on Smoke ‘Em If You Got ‘Em, the Rev’s first album released in 1990 (also on Sub Pop). By the time Smoke ‘Em was recorded, the original line-up that played on the “Big Little Baby” single had changed: Jimbo Wallace replacing Swingin’ Jack Barton on upright bass and Taz (Patrick Bentley) instead of Bobby Baranowski on drums.