Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs

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Sam the Sham & The Pharaohs (1965)
Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Albums
Wooly Bully
  DE 37 09/15/1965 (12 weeks)
  US 26th 06/12/1965 (18 weeks)
Lil 'Red Riding Hood
  US 82 09/24/1966 (7 weeks)
The Best of Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs
  US 98 03/11/1967 (17 weeks)
Singles
Wooly Bully
  DE 2 07/15/1965 (20 weeks)
  AT 3 08/15/1965 (12 weeks)
  UK 11 06/30/1965 (15 weeks)
  US 2 
gold
gold
04/03/1965 (18 weeks)
Ju Ju hand
  DE 14th October 15, 1965 (8 weeks)
  US 26th 07/31/1965 (7 weeks)
Ring Dang Doo
  DE 37 December 01, 1965 (4 weeks)
  US 33 10/09/1965 (9 weeks)
Red hot
  US 82 02/05/1966 (5 weeks)
Lil 'Red Riding Hood
  DE 37 10/01/1966 (2 weeks)
  UK 46 08/10/1966 (3 weeks)
  US 2 
gold
gold
06/11/1966 (14 weeks)
The Hair on My Chinny Chin Chin
  US 22nd 10/01/1966 (8 weeks)
How Do You Catch a Girl
  US 27 December 24, 1966 (8 weeks)
Oh that's good, no that's bad
  US 54 03/18/1967 (6 weeks)
Black Sheep
  US 68 06/17/1967 (6 weeks)

Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs was an American Tex-Mex band from the 1960s .

Sam and the Pharaohs

"Sam the Sham" is the stage name of the Texan Domingo Samudio (born March 6, 1939 in Dallas , Texas). During his school days he sang and represented his school on a live radio show. He later learned to play the guitar and formed a high school band with some friends, including Trini Lopez .

The first "Pharaohs" were created in Dallas in 1961 after his military service. Hardly attended performances and an unsuccessful single meant that the group disbanded at the end of 1962. Samudio followed ex-Pharaoh Vincent Lopez in May 1963 to Andy And The Nightriders , the house band of the Congo Club in Louisiana . Although he was employed as an organ player, which he was not very good at, he was becoming increasingly important as a singer for the band.

The band went to Memphis , but broke up a few months later when head Andy Anderson and Lopez went back to Louisiana and Texas, respectively. The remaining Nightriders Samudio and David A. Martin then founded together with Jerry Patterson and Ray Stinnett Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs , which Butch Gibson joined shortly afterwards.

First they had records pressed to sell themselves in stores and radio stations while touring the clubs. In May 1964 they recorded Haunted House for Dingo Records (D-001). Then they got a record deal from Stan Kesler's XL Records, which had a distribution deal with MGM Records with its sister label Pen Records. Here another single Juimonos (Let's Went) / The Signifying Monkey (XL # 905) was created without any hit parade resonance . The next single was then an original composition by Samudio with the title Hully Gully . The text, already a nonsense text, was changed to the nickname of Sam's cat and as Wooly Bully (something like: tyrannical ball of wool) the song became so successful that the MGM label took over the Pharaohs and brought them out worldwide. The song became a worldwide hit after its release in March 1965. In the USA the single reached number 2 as a million seller, as well as in Germany.

Two more Top 40 hits with similar titles followed, namely Ju Ju Hand and Ring Dang Doo , before they achieved a second big hit in 1966 with a nonsense song about Little Red Riding Hood and the big bad wolf. Lil 'Red Riding Hood was again a million seller in the USA and also reached number 2. Internationally, however, they could not continue the first success.

In their stage shows, Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs also built on the image that is expressed in their songs. In keeping with their name, they often wore Arab robes and Sam's trademark was a turban with feather headdresses and a robe or glitter jacket and a foreign-trimmed beard.

The second success was followed by two more top 40 hits, before the success also waned in the USA. The band changed and finally broke up completely and Samudio aimed for a solo career.

Sam's solo career

Shortly after the separation, Sam the Sham released a solo album , which continued the band's time and consisted of many cover versions . However, he was not granted any great success.

In the next few years a complete change of image followed. The “Sham” became Sam Samudio, the turban disappeared, the Arabian beard became a full beard and on his 1970s album he poses on the motorcycle in easy-rider fashion. The rock album was called Hard and Heavy and he worked on it with Duane Allman , among others . At the Grammy Awards 1972 Samudio even got a Grammy for it, but for the album accompanying text.

From 1974 he was back with a band. In 1982 he was featured as a film composer in the Jack Nicholson film Grenzpatrouille alongside Ry Cooder . He contributed two songs to the soundtrack . After that it became quieter around him and there were rumors about his activities; Since the mid- 1990s he's been back as a musician and has made one or two records.

Wooly Bully

Band members

Original line-up of Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs:

  • Domingo 'Sam' Samudio (born March 6, 1939 in Dallas, Texas), singer and keyboardist
  • David A. Martin (born March 20, 1937 in Memphis, Tennessee, † August 2, 1987), bassist
  • Ray Stinnett (born February 18, 1944 in Memphis, Tennessee), guitarist
  • Jerry Patterson (born November 30, 1941 in Memphis, Tennessee), drums
  • Butch Gibson (born October 2, 1940 in Corinth), saxophone

Discography

Albums

  • Wooly Bully (1965)
  • Their Second Album (1965)
  • On Tour (1966)
  • Lil 'Red Riding Hood (1966)
  • Nefertiti (The Sam the Sham Revue) (1966)

Solo albums by Sam the Sham

  • Ten of Pentacles (1967)
  • Hard and Heavy (1970, as Sam Samudio)
  • Won't Be Long (1995)
  • Ballads & Troubadours (2000, as Sam the Sham Zamudio)
  • Rambler (The Country Album) (2003)

Singles

  • Haunted House / How Does a Cheating Woman Feel (XL # 505), May 1964
  • Juimonos (Let's Went) / The Signifying Monkey (XL # 905), July 1964
  • Wooly Bully / Ain't Gonna Move (MGM K 13322), February 1965
  • Ju Ju Hand / Big City Lights (MGM K 13364), July 1965
  • Ring Dang Doo / Don't Try It Again (MGM K 13397), September 1965
  • Red Hot / A Long, Long Way (MGM K 13452), January 1966
  • Lil 'Red Riding Hood / Love Me Like Before (MGM K 13506), April 1966
  • The Hair on My Chinny Chin Chin / (I'm in with The) Out Crowd (MGM K 13581), September 1966
  • How Do You Catch a Girl? / The Love You Left Behind (MGM K 13649), December 1966
  • Oh That's Good, No That's Bad / Take What You Can Get (MGM K 13713), February 1967
  • Black Sheep / My Day's Gonna Come (MGM K 13747), May 1967
  • Banned In Boston / Money's My Problem (MGM K 13803), August 1967
  • Yakety Yak / Let Our Love Light Shine (MGM K 13863), November 1967
  • Old MacDonald Had A Boogaloo Farm / I Never Had No One (MGM K 13920), March 1968
  • I couldn't spell !! #! / The Down Home Spirit (MGM K 13972), August 1968

Web links

  • Fanpage (with discography and song samples)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Chart sources: DE AT UK US .
  2. ↑ Chart source US albums: The Billboard Albums by Joel Whitburn , 6th Edition, Record Research 2006, ISBN 0-89820-166-7 .
  3. ↑ a b https://www.allmusic.com/artist/mn0000289177
  4. ↑ http://www.samthesham.com/home/ ( Memento from February 27, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  5. ↑ riaa.com .