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Artist
Compulsive Gamblers
12+ albums
Garage RockGarage Punkgaragerockpunk blues
about
Folding together equal portions of greasy '50s pop, Memphis-style rhythm & blues, and a punk rocker's sense of casual experimentation and musical cross breeding, the Compulsive Gamblers were at the forefront of the Memphis roots punk scene, alongside such bands as the Gibson Bros. and '68 Comeback, creating a sound that was at once sinister, comical, and full of potent groove. The Compulsive Gamblers were formed in Memphis, TN, in 1990 by Greg Cartwright and Jack Yarber, two friends who had played in a number of rough and ready punk bands in the deep south. Originally calling themselves the Painkillers, by 1991 guitar maulers Cartwright and Yarber were joined by Philip "Flipper" Tubb on keyboards, drummer Rod "Bushrod" Thomas, and fiddler Greg Easterly, and the new handle the Compulsive Gamblers was adopted. Hitting the Memphis club circuit, the band recorded a four-song EP, Joker, in someone's kitchen in late 1991; released a year later, the record helped to win them a local following, and two more discs, Church Goin' and Goodtime, followed in 1994. However, while the singles did reasonably well and the band began developing a powerful reputation on the road as a first-class live act, after Thomas and Easterly relocated to New Orleans, it became difficult for the band to hold together, and in 1995 the band broke up, with their recordings compiled on a CD released by Sympathy for the Record Industry, Gamblin' Days Are Over. Cartwright and Yarber almost immediately re-emer
