We Three Kings: Christmas Favorites is a Christmas album by The Reverend Horton Heat. It was released by Yep Roc Records in October 2005. The album features renditions of twelve popular Christmas songs. It also features one original track. A limited edition Christmas ornament was included with copies of the album that were pre-ordered through the band’s record label.
The Reverend Horton Heat is the stage name of American musician James C. Heath (born 1959) as well as the name of his Dallas, Texas-based psychobilly trio. Heath is a singer, songwriter and guitarist. A Prick magazine reviewer called Heath the “godfather of modern rockabilly and psychobilly”.
The group formed in 1986, playing its first gigs in Dallas’ Deep Ellum neighborhood. The core members are Jim “Reverend Horton” Heath on guitars and lead vocals, and Jimbo Wallace on the upright bass. The band signed to Victory Records in 2012, and released its 12th studio album, Whole New Life, on November 30, 2018. The band plays rock and roll with influences from 1950s country, surf, punk, big band, swing, and rockabilly standards.
Rev. Horton Heat isn’t exactly known for his subtlety, and even though he turns his attention to holiday fare on his latest effort We Three Kings, he thankfully tosses tradition by the wayside, revs up his guitar, and transforms the typically conventional songs into blistering party anthems. Throughout the set, he slathers nearly all of the selections in the raucous, eggnog-drenched rowdiness that is inherent in his customarily frothy blend of punk and rockabilly, and the end result, not surprisingly, is remarkably effective.
Indeed, the only missteps among the 13 tracks on the endeavor occur when Heat relies on his less-than-stellar vocals to carry the load on sluggish crawls through Silver Bells and Pretty Paper. The rest — be it the rambunctious, Ventures-infused romps through Frosty the Snowman and Jingle Bells; the hard-charging fury of Santa Claus Is Coming to Town; the Link Wray-meets-Booker-T, bombast of the title track; or the stampeding country-tinged stomp of the lone original Santa on the Roof — is positively exhilarating, meaning that We Three Kings is guaranteed to put a vibrant, fun-filled jolt of high-spirited electricity into even the dullest holiday celebration.
