From:  "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Tue Jun 22, 2004  1:37 am 
Subject:  This Is My Story : Sam the Sham

Sam The Sham (By Tony Wilkinson)

Born Domingo Samudio, 1940, near Dallas, Texas

'Uno, dos.one, two, tres, quatro..' was the now legendary opening to 'Wooly
Bully', a top ten international hit that made the world aware of the music of
Sam The Sham in 1965. The record with its pulsating Memphis beat was like a
breath of fresh air to the then current sounds that assailed the ears of those
bought up on a rock 'n' roll diet. (Similar was to happen a couple of years
later with 'My Girl Josephine' by Jerry Jaye.) It is now rightly regarded as a
classic and is often still performed on stage, for example it is a staple
inclusion in the act of Sonny Burgess and The Pacers, and is frequently played
on the radio.

Born Domingo Samudio in 1940 to Spanish speaking parents of Mexican descent in a
town near Dallas, Texas, he made his singing debut whilst in the second grade of
high school and went on to form a band, a member of which was Trini Lopez.
After graduating, he joined the US navy and was based in Panama. Upon his
discharge, Sam enrolled at the University of Texas in Arlington and took a
course in music history, mainly classical, but took up playing rock 'n' roll at
nights. This first line up of The Pharaohs was formed in 1961 and they
developed into a must see act in the local clubs. This first line up included
sixteen years old Vincent Lopez. Sam dropped out of this band and Vincent
subsequently went on to join Andy & The Nighthawks, a band based in Louisiana
led by Andy Anderson.

Three days after Sam had purchased an organ, he got a call to join Andy & The
Nighthawks to replace a musician who had just left. He accepted and the band
started to gig regularly and headed towards Memphis. Andy left a short while
later and Sam took over the leadership of the band and thus Sam The Sham and The
Pharaohs officially came into existence. There is a rumour that Andy & The
Nighthawks cut a record but clear proof of this has yet to be confirmed. What
is for sure is, that in 1963, the band pooled their earnings and entered the
Fernwood studio to record 'Betty and Dupree' c/w 'Man Child' which was released
on the small Memphis based Tupelo label (#2982). Almost around the same time, a
version of 'Betty And Dupree' was recorded by drummer/vocalist Billy Adams (not
the 'Rock Pretty Mama' guy) and released on Sun 389. Billy had been
occasionally sitting in at Pharaohs gigs.

The next recording was to be Sam's rockin' update in 1964 of the Johnny Fuller
song 'Haunted House' that, along with 'How Does A Cheating Woman Feel', was
issued on Dingo 001, another small Memphis record company. History repeated
itself as Jumpin' Gene Simmons recorded a similar version for Hi Records and
this went on to become a national hit in the USA. I can recall Stan Kesler
telling me that Sam was more than a little miffed at this turn of events. But
all was to change. The group met up with Memphis music man Stan Kesler and was
signed to his own XL Records in 1964. The first release was 'Juimonos (Let's
Went)/The Signifying Monkey' (#905) but this was commercially still born.
However all was to change with the next recordings when the group went in to
lay down a hully gully type song. Goofing around in the studio, Sam came up
with the legendary Tex Mex chant to kick off the opening to 'Wooly Bully', which
just happened to be the name of his cat. Three versions, all different, were
recorded but the first take, along with 'Ain't Gonna Move', was the one
released as XL 906 and soon the disc started to make waves.

The master was acquired by MGM Records and in 1965 went top ten, becoming
Billboard's Record Of The Year and apparently eventually selling over three
million copies world wide. It made position #11 on the UK charts in June of
that year. The Pharaohs at this time were Ray Stinnet on guitar, Butch Gibson
on saxophone, Dave Martin on bass and Jerry Patterson on drums. They, along with
Sam and the efforts of producer Stan Kesler, made an easy identifiable brand of
quality happy rock 'n' roll music. Stan is a guy whom I have met on several
occasions, a real gentleman and who is steeped in the music of Memphis. He was
also responsible for the hits by Bobby Wood and whilst I believe has now
retired, he could be found working in the nineties at the Sam Phillips Studio on
Madison Avenue, that is when he was not touring as the bass player for the Sun
Rhythm Section along with the likes of Sonny Burgess, D J Fontana, Jerry Lee
Smoochy Smith and the late Paul Burlison.

Sam The Sham and The Pharaohs were on a roll and there was to be no shortage of
released discs such as a searing version of 'Red Hot' along with 'Ju Ju Hand'
and 'Ring Dang Doo'. These all made the lower reached of the charts but Sam
came back to the USA top ten for the second, and last time, with 'Li'l Red
Riding Hood'. This disc also made the UK hit parade. There was an answer
version to the last mentioned titled '(Hey There) Big Bad Wolf' by the
Sham-Ettes on MGM K13618 who were a femme trio and part of the Sam The Sham
Revue. This hit sparked more top thirty placings with 'The Hair On My Chinny
Chin Chin' and 'How Do You Catch a Girl'. I suppose that, for many, much of
the recorded output of Sam and The Pharaohs can be regarded as novelty pieces
but more often than not, there were solid rockin' performances contained in the
wax. They were and remain fun music.

All in all, there were seventeen singles and six albums (actually seven if one
includes a greatest hits compilation) from Sam The Sham on MGM, a substantial
output. However the appeal to the record buying public gradually died away the
days of the outfit turning up to show dates in their hearse Black Beauty became
more infrequent. In 1970, Sam signed with Atlantic Records and issued the album
'Sam, Hard And Heavy' which featured Duane Allman on lead slide guitar.
Seemingly there may have been a similar follow up album the next year issued
under the name of Sam Samudio but it does not appear on Sam The Sham's web site.

Sam kept on working and in 1978 released two singles on the small Memphis based
Fretone Records, 'Wookie Parts 1 & 11' (#FR 048) and 'Ain't No Lie/Baby, You
Got It' (#FR049). In 1982, he participated with Ry Cooder on the soundtrack of
the film 'The Border' which starred Jack Nicholson.

Eventually Sam became a non-denominational bible preacher and for a time this
became his sole forte and, in 1993, he released his 'Wired, Fired and Inspired'
album. Another memory that Stan Kesler told myself was that Sam was a man of
high principles and refused a big money offer to re-record 'Wooly Bully' for a
TV advertisement. Gradually Sam began to mix secular recordings with gospel
inspired music and between 1995 and 2001 released a further four albums.

Today he plays selective dates and, for example in 2003, gave a red hot
performance at the Ponderosa Stomp in New Orleans. Hopefully a promoter will
sign him for some European dates, the man has got a rockin' soul.

Suggested Listening:

- (UK) Spectrum 554 701 2 'The Best Of Samm The Sham And The Pharaohs' - 17
tracks (1998)

- (US) Rhino R2 75329 'Pharaohization - Thhe Best Of Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs'
- 24 tracks (1998)

- (German) Golden Lion SAM 1001/2/3 'The WWooly Bully Years' - 93 tracks (states
1993 on liner but in actuality is 2004). This is a 3XCD set containing all six
of the MGM albums plus the Tupelo, Dingo and two XL singles.

- Norton ED-234 'Turban Renewal'. A 28 traack various artists compilation
tribute to Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs (1994)

Websites: http://www.nostradamus.net/samhome.htm

http://www.samthesham.com/indes.htm