Compulsive Gamblers

The Compulsive Gamblers
Origin	Memphis, Tennessee, United States
Genres	Garage rock, punk blues, rock and roll
Years active	1990—1993, 1998—2003
Labels	Boiler Room, Lemon Peel Records, Sympathy for the Record Industry
Associated acts	Oblivians, Greg Oblivian & The Tip Tops, Reigning Sound, '68 Comeback, Tennessee Tearjerkers
Members	Greg Cartwright Jack Yarber Rod Thomas Jeff Meier Brenden Lee Spengler
Past members	Philip Tubb Greg Easterly Paul Blanda

Compulsive Gamblers were an American garage rock group formed in Memphis, Tennessee, United States, in 1990 by Greg Cartwright and Jack Yarber, both future members of the Oblivians.

Originally known as "The Painkillers", the band was founded in 1990 by future Oblivians frontmen Greg Cartwright and Jack Yarber, both of whom shared vocal and guitar duties. With the addition of bassist Fields Trimble, keyboardist Philip "Flipper" Tubb, drummer Rod "Bushrod" Thomas, and fiddler Greg Easterly, the band soon adopted the name the "Compulsive Gamblers", and set to work recording their first 7-inch, Joker. The album was released a year later, and was followed by two further 7-inch recordings, Church Goin' and Goodtime Gamblers. According to Cartwright, one of the themes of the Church Goin' 7-inch, and of the Compulsive Gamblers in general, was "the self destructive gambler, these people who just can't fix their lives and just fuck up at every turn. They need to do something. So that was the idea for "Church Goin'", but it wasn't fully realized..." [1]

The band struggled through 1990 and 1991 without any major gigs or a set band, but by the following year the band's fortunes had started to turn. By 1992 the band had a concrete lineup and had begun to form a unique sound, however, just as the Gamblers luck seemed to be looking up the band began to drift apart.

In 1993 Cartwright was offered a place to stay and record in New York with singer Casey Scott, which for a time he accepted. Cartwright played guitar on Casey Scott's "Creep City" album that was released on Capitol Records in 1993. Around this time the other members of the band began to venture off on their own as well, leaving only Yarber and Easterly to try to keep the band afloat. Upon Cartwright's return to Memphis in the summer of 1993, he and Yarber decided to split their time between the Gamblers and a side project called the Oblivians. [2] By 1995, Thomas and Easterly had relocated to New Orleans, and Cartwright and Yarber focused their creative efforts solely on the Oblivians, resulting in the ultimate breakup of the first incarnation of the Gamblers.

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