Compulsive Gamblers were an American garage rock group formed in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1990 by Greg Cartwright and Jack Yarber, both future members of the Oblivians.
[1] 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.
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.