Show: Wrestling Epicenter
Guest: Jimmy Hart
Date: 08/08/2026
Your Host: "Arizona" James Walsh

Jimmy Hart is an icon of pro wrestling. His high voice, high energy performances live in every wrestling fan's memory regardless if you were a fan of CWA Memphis Wrestling, the 80's WWF scene, or the 90's WCW scene. He also was the right hand man and long time manager of the "Immortal" Hulk Hogan. And, has been inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame!

Did we mention he had a music career as well? The Gentry's were a rock and roll band in the 1960's and 1970's and in 1965, they toppled the Beatles on the Billobard Charts with a hit song called "Keep on Dancing." Now, I want you to think about this. The man in the colorful suits that screamed into a megaphone on pro wrestling TV for 30 years was on American Bandstand with Dick Clark singing a song that knocked the Beatles off the top of the charts. Is that amazing to you? If it isn't, it should be!

Well, the Gentry's are back! "It's Been So Long" is the new album by the Gentry's and it features recordings lost to time discovered in the Sun Records Vault! Complete with covers and some original, never before heard material, this is a collection of songs Sun Records found and has opted to release with permission of the "Mouth of the South" Jimmy Hart himself! You can get your copy on CD or vinyl at the link below. Tell 'em the Epicenter sent you!

Get your copy of The Gentry's "It's Been So Long" here: https://store.sunrecords.com/products/the-gentrys-its-been-a-long-time-cd

Check out www.WrestlingEpicenter.com for all of our interviews in the archives including 3 prior Jimmy Hart interviews to this one, Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Steve Austin, Bruno Sammartino, Ric Flair, Bret Hart, and over 900 others! And, check out our store and buy somethin', will you? 

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Vu2M91gjU0c

JIMMY HART: 

On the release of The Gentry's new album "It's Been So Long":
"Can you believe this? All of a sudden, I get a call from Sun Records in Memphis, Tennessee and they say, "Jimmy Hart, a couple of months ago, we were down in Memphis looking for some Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis tapes and all of a sudden we came across a big box of Gentry's songs that have never been released before." My last record on Sun Records was released 56 years ago! Well, guess what? On September 4th, "It's Been So Long" is going to be released! It's going to be great. We've got 8 or 9 new songs on there. Of course, we have our big top 40 hit Cinnamon Girl that will be on there. So, 12 songs and it is great to finally have them get out there!"

On one of the pressers saying it showcases a "softer side" of The Gentry's:
"Well, you know, these songs were recorded 56 years ago. Everything was a little more mellow then. Even the hard rock stuff wasn't that hard back then! But, we had a top 100 album. It was $99 and eventually sold over a million records. As a matter of fact, we had a hit song called "Keep on Dancing" which was a hit with my original group, the original line-up of The Gentry's. As a matter of fact, there was a group out of England called the Bay City Rollers, they had a big hit off of it too. But, we disbanded. Everybody left. I was the last one standing. So, i went over to Sun Records and Sam Phillips. Sam Phillips produced Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis... All the big stars back then. His son Knox Phillips, he produced a Gentry's album with us. So, there were the original Gentry's and then the Jimmy Hart Gentry's. And, we, of course, toured with bands like Chicago, the Dave Clark 5, and the Beach Boys. We were rockin'! Then I left the group and kind of put the name in hiatus when I joined the Wrestling Federation."

On why 60's, 70's, and 80's rock still holds up:
"Well, I think it is what you grew up on. It is like going to a cafeteria. You can get your mashed potatoes or baked potatoes, fried potatoes... For me, when I listen to Sirius XM, I listen to Yacht Rock. I really think a lot of our (The Gentry's) songs could be on Yacht Rock. But, I have a great following from the wrestling business managing Hulk Hogan, the Hart Foundation, the Honky Tonk Man... The list goes on and on! I hope some of those fans that saw me in pro wrestling listen to it (It's Been So Long) and say, "You know, I kind of dig this!""

On if he wishes wrestling fans realized how big The Gentry's were:
"Well, we never played it up too much because it would be difficult to know that Jimmy Hart wrote "Sexy Boy" for Shawn Michaels and then we're fighting him in the ring! But, when I went up to New York, I happened to meet Cyndi Lauper's manager Dave Wolf. And, Dave said, "We're fixing to cut a Wrestling Album. I know you have a background in the music industry. Have you got anything?" I was like, "Well, as a matter of fact, I happen to have a song in my back pocket called "Eat Your Heart Out Rick Springfield!" That made the album. I remember, the song was sent to Rick Springfield and he listened to it and allowed us to use it. What a great rock and roller he is."

On Rick Springfield's show being called the "Working Class DJ" and that reminding people of the song:
"(laughs) Well, hopefully he'll play it on his show one day!"

On how The Wrestling Album resulted in him using his musical expertise in wrestling further:
"hat resulted in me cutting other songs like the Rougeau Brothers' "All American Boys", The Honky Tonk Man, Dusty Rhodes' "American Dream" theme "Common Man", "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase, and then in WCW we did Hulk Hogan's "American Made" and the nWo Wolfpack theme for Kevin Nash and Scott Hall. So, it has been amazing with the music and the wrestling. And, I'm still in the wrestling and now, all of a sudden, I'm back into music!"

On "Arizona" James' favorite Jimmy Hart theme song for the Young Stallions:
""Crank it Up!" Yeah, that was a good one. That made one of the wrestling albums (Piledriver, The Wrestling Album II) The other one (American Males) was down in WCW. we ran the vocals through a synthesizer. When Hulk and I went down to WCW, my writing partner Jim McGuire and I wrote "American Made". That was great."

On CM Punk's reaction to the new Gentry's album:
"I was backstage at Summerslam and CM Punk came over to me and said, "What do you have there?" I said, "It is my new record album, The Gentry's." He said, "Let me take a picture with it!" And, we took a picture together which was amazing. He has such a big following and he's the World Champion now!"

On if being at WWE Summerslam and on RAW makes him miss performing:
"You know, not really. I'm so blessed to get to go out and sign autographs and be part of everything. And, of course, Oba Femi, Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, and Cody Rhodes was there. And Danhausen, who I love! And Fatu, Haku who I managed and now he's managing there now. And, we lost Dory Funk Jr. a few days ago. I was blessed to manage Dory Funk and Terry Funk there, I had Terry in Memphis too, and I was blessed that they chose me to manage Dory Funk and Terry Funk in the WWE. They were living legends! And I got to see Trish Stratus again, Tiffany Stratton, and Chelsea Green - She finally won a championship. I'm so excited for her! I had such a great run. And, there are so many new talents. I love Ricky Saints, Ethan Page, Je"Von Evans, and the list goes on and on. LA Knight! I still feel like I'm 18 years old when I go there. They treat me so well. Triple H and the WWE always have me figured in and they are always so good to the legends, I'm very grateful for that."

On the loyalty wrestling fans have for stars from the golden era of the WWF:
"It is hard to kill a memory, whether it is good or bad. Thankfully, most of the memories are good for our fans. I'm so grateful to still be around. And, you know, they just put out a Funko Pop of me last year. And, another action figure. Like I said, I truly am blessed."

On if Jim Johnston & Jim Cornette belongs in the WWE Hall of Fame:
"Absolutely! I think anybody that contributed, whether it was production, music, wrestling. It all matters!" I think Jimmy Cornette belongs in the Hall of Fame. He started with us down in Memphis... How I got in the Hall of Fame, I'll never know. I remember I got the call I managed 23 people, did some music... But, I got the call from Vince Mcmahon and he said he wanted to induct me into the Hall of Fame and I said, "Are you trying to call Bret Hart or Jimmy Hart?" He goes, "No, it's you!" I was so grateful. That was such a great year. Hulk Hogan, Paul Orndorff, "Cowboy" Bob Orton - Randy Orton's dad, Nokolai Volkoff, The Iron Sheik, and "Rowdy" Roddy Piper. I mean I was so blessed! But, back to Jim Johnston. He did some great music. Vince would come to us and sometimes go to him, he liked to mix it up or else it is all going to sound alike! Our stuff, we tried to make ours more clever, witty, and funny. His (Johnston) was more hard rock and serious, which is great, though! He was versatile! And Jimmy Cornette? I hope he goes into the WWE Hall of Fame whenever he wants to."

On how he's doing with the passing of Hulk Hogan:
"You know what? I finally figured out that I had known him for over 43 years, back when I was still with The Gentry's. And, I think he's in a lot better place right now. No more pain. Of course I miss him. I'll always miss him. I was watching something on ESPN the other night and they were talking to Lane Kiffin, the football coach who used to be the Head Coach of Old Miss before he went to be the Head Coach of the LSU Tigers. And, he said, "I was watching the Hulk Hogan documentary. And, I realized there were two people in my life I thought I would never be without, that I thought would never die. One was my dady.' His daddy was the coach of the Bucks. "And the other is Hulk Hogan." I just about fell out of my chair when he said Hulk. But, that just goes to show you how many lives Hulk touched."

On why he feels Hulk Hogan got booed in his final WWE appearance in Los Angeles:
"Look, nobody is going to be perfect. And, I want to get this off my chest. I tried to say this during the documentary. Hulk and I went to Los Angeles for the first RAW on Netflix. And, we got booed. Everyone tried to say, "It is because of what Hulk said in the past!" No, it wasn't! It was because of red state, blue state! Look, I have never voted in my life. I'm not a Republican. I'm not a Democrat. I'm like The Rock says, "a jabroni!" (laughs) But, Hulk had a Trump Vance T shirt on which is fine. We did interviews and stuff with him wearing that. So, that is what that was. And, I know that is what that was because we were in Texas the next night and we got cheered! So, the other night I was at RAW in Los Angeles. And, I was going to go out... And, I said, "Oh my God!" So, I pointed up at the sky, and I said, "Hulk, we're going to find out if you are the one that got booed or me, baby!" And, i went out, and I got cheered! When i came back, i said, "Hulk! I told you not to wear that shirt, baby!" But, the fans are great. They like who they like. They don't like who they don't like. But, it is like Michael Jordan says, "Republicans buy tennis shoes too!""

On his life now away from the fame:
"I just keep in my own little world now. I try not to get in the spotlight. Whenever WWE calls, I come running. Whatever they want me to do, man! I'll pop the popcorn. I'll park the cars! Whatever they want me to do! It is the greatest company in the world. They've been so great to me my whole life. And, like I said, I was on WrestleMania 1! How many people that are around today can say they were on WrestleMania 1?"

On final thoughts as "It's Been So Long" comes out on September 4th:
"You can check out the album cover now if you go to https://shop.sunrecords.com. Scroll down and you can see the CD and album cover and pre-order. It was 56 years ago that these songs were cut. It was great going to the studio and getting to hear it and I was like, "Oh yeah, we did cut that. Oh my God, I remember that!" I had forgotten all about these songs when I got in the wrestling business. But, I'm so glad and grateful they are putting this out. And, I want to thank you for calling me and doing this. You're the best! I love you!"