Our musical selection this morning is from Texas musician Jim Heath, better known to his legion of psycholbilly fans as the Reverend Horton Heat, with his rave-up, “Galaxie 500.” Josh Miller photo  

While the Reverend is a cult hero with yards of indie cred, he’s known the mainstream, too. His stuff has featured in major Hollywood movies and video games, including Guitar Hero, while “Big Red Rocket,” another car song, starred in a commercial for the Mazda Miata. Heat even has his own signature model of the classic f-hole, hollow-body Gretsch 6210 electric guitar.

Usually performing as trio with just a drummer and his long-time collaborator, stand-up bassist Jimbo Wallace, Heat pumps out a big, raucous sound. And an influential one: If you’ve ever been to a rat rod happening, you’ve seen and heard bands emulating the Reverend Heat.

“Galaxie 500” is about a messy break-up: She gets everything else but he manages to hang onto his ’73 Ford (no A/C) and a small portion of his self-esteem. The performance below is from the 2003 DVD, Live and in Color. 

Have you joined Motor City Garage on Facebook yet? It’s big fun with rare photos, car lore, trivia, and great discussions! Click here to go the page and like MCG!