SAM THE SHAM & THE PHAROAHS - 1965 - "Wooly Bully"

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Domingo "Sam" Zamudio (born 6 March 1937, Dallas, Texas), better known by his stage name Sam the Sham is a retired American rock and roll singer.

Sam the Sham was known for his camp robe and turban and hauling his equipment in a 1952 Packard hearse with maroon velvet curtains. As the front man for The Pharaohs, he sang on several Top 40 hits in the mid-1960s, notably "Wooly Bully" and "Li'l Red Riding Hood".

After paying to record and press records to sell at gigs, Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs wound up with the Pen label in Memphis. There, they recorded their first and biggest hit, "Wooly Bully", a song about Sam's cat. "Wooly Bully" ended up selling 3 million copies and reaching No. 2 on the Billboard charts on 5 June 1965 at a time when American pop music charts were dominated by the British Invasion. It was awarded a gold disc.

Although "Wooly Bully" never reached #1, it lingered on the Billboard Hot 100 for 18 weeks, the most weeks for any single within the calendar year 1965, 14 of which were in the Top 40. It became the first Billboard "Number One Record of the Year" not to have topped a weekly Hot 100 and remained the only one for 35 years until Faith Hill's "Breathe" and Lifehouse's "Hanging by a Moment" in 2000 and 2001, respectively.

The Pharaohs' next releases -- "Ju Ju Hand" (#26 US) (#31 Can.) and "Ring Dang Doo"- were minor successes. In late 1965, 11 months after "Wooly Bully", David A. Martin, Jerry Patterson, Ray Stinnett, and Butch Gibson left over a financial dispute. Sam's manager, Leonard Stogel, discovered Tony Gee & The Gypsys at the Metropole Cafe in Times Square, New York City. The band were Tony "Butch" Gerace (bass guitar and vocals) Frankie Carabetta (keyboards, saxophone and vocals) Billy Bennett (drums and percussion) and Andy Kuha (guitar and vocals). This new set of Pharaohs recorded "Li'l Red Riding Hood". On the Hot 100, "Lil' Red Riding Hood" began its two-week peak at #2 the week of August 6, 1966, just as another fairy tale title, "The Pied Piper" by Crispian St. Peters, was ending its three-week peak at #4. The track did even better by Cash Box Magazine's reckoning, reaching #1 the same week. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. It also reached #2 on the Canadian RPM Magazine charts August 22, 1966.

A series of mostly novelty tunes followed, all on the MGM label, keeping the group on the charts into 1967. Titles included "The Hair On My Chinny Chin Chin" (US #22, Canadian #13), "How Do You Catch A Girl" (US #27, Canadian #12), "I Couldn't Spell !!*@!", and the rather confusing lyrics of "Oh That's Good, No That's Bad" (US #54).