Sam The Sham And The Pharaohs
Discography: Albums, Cassettes & CDs

Each LP, Cassette, or CD title is followed by the year of its release, record label, and catalog number.
Each song title is followed by the name of its composer and timing, if available.

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Wooly Bully makes Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs one of the hottest acts in the country and those wild Middle Eastern costumes they wear for all their in-person performances makes them the most colorful group in the land. The impact of the outfits is more than evident on the full-color cover of this album.

In spite of the Middle Eastern ring to the name of the group, all of the members are from the southern half of the United States.

Sam's real name is Domingo Samudio and he's from Dallas, Texas. He's a Navy veteran who attended Arlington State College in Texas and developed an interest in music and began to work semi-professionally while in school. He sang and played a rented organ with many groups in and around. his native Dallas, and finally purchased an organ of his own and went on the road.

After gigging around some time, he joined a friend's group, then based in Louisiana, and took on the name Sam The Sham. In Memphis, Sam's friend took sick and Sam took over the band. He re-christened the outfit Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs and went out to convert unbelievers to the soul-stirring mysteries of his concept of the Memphis sound.

Dave Martin, the bass-playing Pharaoh, is the only member still working with the Pharaohs from that original group. Besides Dave, the current group is composed of Pharaohs Ray Stinnet, guitar; Jerry Patterson, drums; and saxist Butch Gibson. The boys tour the country in a shiny black hearse. Sam says the vehicle is as practical as it is unconventional. The hearse is perfect for carrying Sam's organ and the instruments of all the Pharaohs.

So, since Wooly Bully is your kind of music, prepare yourself for the first album to give you a great helping of music in the Pharaoh style-the next exciting sound to sweep the land.

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This is the second album Sam The Sham and The Pharaohs have made for MGM Records. The set includes their hit Ju Ju Hand-and the whole idea behind the LP is one of mystery and magic with a beat.

In this LP, Sam and the group make the rhythm pot boil with a wild assortment of tunes that carry the Pharaohs trade mark-that great Memphis beat. This album is a powerful follow-up to Sam's first set on MGM, Wooly Bully (E/SE-4297). The 45 r.p.m. single record of Wooly Bully and the album went skyrocketing around the world-Sam and the Pharaohs went to the very top of record charts in England, Germany, Holland and many more countries around the world.

In the midst of all this newly-won success, Sam is very realistic... "While I'm very happy and pleased with the way things are going for us, I know that they can change overnight. I also know that a lot of hard work made Wooly Bully possible. Hard work from the fellows in the group, our producers and management and a lot of hard work in promotion, on our part and on the part of the record company. There's lots more hard work coming to make this album and succeeding singles popular with the people, but I think we've got the sound that will reach them and stay with them."

THE REPORTS ARE IN! SAM THE SHAM AND THE PHARAOH BEAT ARE SWEEPING THE COUNTRY ... Here are just a few samples of how the rage is spreading:

"The master of the swivel hips, Elvis Presley, has a very shaky hold on the top place as Sam the Sham edges closer."

Charles Schreiber, THE SUNDAY BULLETIN

Philadelphia, Pa.

"One of the hottest of the lot and a chart buster is Sam The Sham and his group who travel around the country in a black hearse. Sam ... is a great seller and the Pharaohs sound is making the cash registers across the country tinkle with happiness..."

Vance Johnson, THE TAMPA TRIBUNE

Tampa, Fla.

Domingo Samudio showed white teeth in one of the slow smiles that come easily to him when he talks. A small gold earring flashed in his right car, above the black beard.

Domingo, better known as rock and roll artist Sam the Sham, was pondering a question: What is your ambition?

"I'd like to be able to do many things in many fields. Life is so short-people going around the world at 17,000 miles an hour. Today they speak of traveling in space in light years, and here on Earth we have a span of only, say 65 years. I guess that's why I never settled down."

Sam, dressed in black T shirt and black slacks, was waiting to go on last night at the Fall Preview of Stars show at the Mid-South Coliseum, which drew about 4,000 persons, most of them young. With him in the dressing room were other members of the Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs, which hit it big in the recording world with "Wooly Bully."

Sam, 24, is originally from Dallas, Texas, where his father, brother, and sister still live. His brother is a surgeon and his sister is a teacher.

How did he get his name? "Well, Samudio was too long, and the Sam came from there. Then when I started I didn't play an instrument (he plays organ now), I just sang, and dance and cut up. And when you do that they call it shamming, so-

Sam, who looks for all the world like a sultan, was frank in his appreciation of his young fans. "The kids are really what's happening. It (success) hasn't been here so long that we don't appreciate it". by Jack Martin

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It has been said that a recording artist's professional life is very short. Success comes fast but so does oblivion. It has also been said that in the recording profession the artist burns out easily because the quick success the business affords also corrupts. It corrupts because success usually moves the artist out of the realm of reality-brings him money, fame, adulation, and builds a wall between him and the world. If his performance is separated from the world, he has nothing to say to it, and there is nothing coming from him it wants to listen to.

It has been said-but it won't, when it comes to Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs. Success came fast for the group and with it money, fame and adulation. But the boys didn't lose touch with their audience. Nor did they lose their ability to communicate with it.

The communication lines between Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs and the world at large were set up last year when they broke through with "Wooly Bully" and it has been flowing continually since. "Wooly Bully" was listed as the top-selling record of 1965 in Billboard's year-end survey which is, in itself, hard to top for openers. It also leaves a so-called hot-shot recording group wide open for cynical comments like "Where do you go from here, boys?"

Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs quickly showed that as hot-shot as they may have been with "Wooly Bully," they weren't one-shot.

Hit records followed and with them came a strengthening of the group's ties with its audience. (A perfect example in this LP is "Red Hot".)Each record has lengthened their career potential. Each record has put them closer in touch with the world and this album shows that these are the ties that bind for a long, long time.

Mike Gross, Editor, Billboard

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"Li'l Red Riding Hood" is Sam The Sham's second million selling record in a year. The first one broke all kinds of sales records and was one of the biggest hits of 1965. It was called "Wooly Bully" and it took all the prizes-the music trade paper, Billboard, picked it as being the record of the year for 1965 and with good reason. The record was on the Billboard charts longer than any other 45 r.p.m. single disk for all of '65.

"Li'l Red Riding Hood" is another monster from Sam and his Pharaohs. By the end of July-a mere eight weeks after its release-"Li'l Red Riding Hood" was number one on the national charts, and a Gold Record had already been issued,-symbolizing more than one million sales. And the record was still going strong.

But "Li'l Red Riding Hood" is only part of the story on this great Sam The Sham album. The LP is filled with that great Memphis Pharaoh sound ... and there are a half dozen or more sides that have "hit" stamped all over them. "El Toro De Goro (The Peace Loving Bull)", "Hanky Panky," "The Phantom" and "Deputy Dog" are just a few of the great tunes. You'll find more on your own as you listen.

Notes by Al Lewis

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Sam The Sham. Best known recently as a spinner of yarns about fair young ladies like Lil' Red Riding Hood. Known first on the national pop music scene for that catchy beat of Wooly Bully. Sam The Sham is known as a man who keeps turning out hit records. Now on this album with its title taken from the books of the occult, Sam The Sham presents to you songs that show off his varied talents. Several of the cuts are originals by Sam or his friends who can write with feeling because they are people who have been around. "The Ten of Pentacles" title itself and the cover photos of Sam with Tarot cards present another side of the man--the side that is interested in the occult, fortune telling, astrology and the mysteries of this world and the next. Sam's interest is no lark, for he has made a study of these age-old mysteries of the universe. He has explored his own life and future with the Tarot, and has found the prophecies to be true. Even if you don't know that the pentacle is a five-sided figure to ward off the spirits of darkness, you'll be able to appreciate this album. Those of you who don't know the many musical facets of Sam The Sham (his basic training came from the blues but his musical tastes encompass everything from fold music to opera) will be pleasantly surprised by this album, which also features The Shamettes in addition to Sam's regular group of guys. Sam himself and Frank Carabetta (his sax man) arranged several of the songs--which range from rock 'n' roll to fold to rhythm 'n' blues--and so have the opportunity to demonstrate some of Sam's musical ideas. I Passed It By--Written by Jerry Patterson, old and close friend of Sam's It tells of an individual totally involved in pursuit of his own mundane and sensual pleasures which are only passing. Immersed in our own thing, we often find out too late that the things we passed by were really the important ones. But, as is always true, we can never return ..."so I lived and let the world go by and I never felt sorry 'cause I was ten miles high". The Down Home Strut--when Sam wrote this he was reminiscing about life in the country and cotton pickin'. "I stayed bent over in the patch so long the sun didn't know what my face looked like. Come Saturday, it's pay day, clean shirt and off to town. Although the people down home don't have the latest fashions, they seem to always have a groove of their own and--though city people may not understand it--to the home folk it's what's happening". Despair--Music by Todd Lovas, lyrics by Sam The Sham. Todd came up with a riff and was playing it one night. Sam began to hum it and made up the lyrics as he went along. This song tells of a person who is the victim of a love affair. And it seems that with the end of the affair, his life has ended. Nothing else really seems to matter. Although an individual might be surrounded by multitudes of people, he can't keep from being lonely. Rationalizing, he'll always believe that the affair will start again ... "but it's a lie". Stand By Me--This standard was originally done by Ben E. King. It's so beautiful it's almost reverent. This song gives the assurance that the one thing we can always be certain of is the eternal endurance of love. In the shadow of complete destruction in this atomic age, if the world should fall around us even physical destruction would not matter if the one who really cares stands by us. What Sam The Sham has done here is given all of us a marvelous assortment of songs both gay and sad, both danceable and listenable. Put the album on your phonograph, and the magic of Sam The Sham will begin. -- Lorraine Alterman, GO Magazine.

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The people who mistreated me as a chiild 'cause they made me strong.
Sister Rose; for having tought Melvin-and me, that there are no NIGGERS and no MESKINS.
A third grade teacher, who treated me like a leper and begrudged me not having lice; for she gave me pride.
Miss McMahon, for being just when no one else was.
The people who refused me service; for they made me save my money.
The people who rejected me because of the color of my skin and the texture of my hair; for they made me realize that I was different.
My Aunt Grace, for teaching me how to eat with silver.
My brother Memo for sitting me out in the sun without water. He tried to teach me discipline. I love him.
Melvin for sneaking me water on the same day.
My sister Esther who was mother, friend, cook, servant, nurse, opponent and guardian angel. I love her.
The Dude who broke my nose the first time: he taught me to dodge faster.
Mrs. Turner for letting me graduate from high school; otherwise I would've flunked for the third time.
The Dude who broke my nose the second time. He taught me that I wasn't dodging fast enough.
My dogs through life for their companionship: Funny, Spot, Mocho, Spotty, Tippy, Poochie, Peerolee, Poopinooga, Kemp, Lucky, Cyrano, Bojo, Sammy, Toro, Dingo and King.
Equal time to cats: Quickie, Morrongo, A Yellow Cat, and Blue.
The Dude who broke my nose the third time. He taught me that only 50% of all fighters are winners. (Poor odds)
My friends the prostitutes for listening to me when no one else would; for I needed to speak.
The towns I was run out of-, for they ran me to better places.
David A. Martin for opening my eyes.
Jackie for one bologna & mayonnaise sandwich, one weeny sandwich and a hot bath.
The Crystal for keepin' my secrets.
The lonely moonlit stretch of road between Memphis & Capeville; for it gave me time to think.
Papa for his kindness & wisdom.
Memphis for whippin'me down twice, which only made me get up.
Avery for goin' my bail.
David, Jerry, Ray & Butch for sharing with me the misery of the road; they too suffered the changes I went through.
I want to bless the people who stole my money for my misery went with it and I am sure it's more than they can bear.
Squeeky, a monkey now deceased, for wrecking the boredom of my depression by wrecking the shack he and I lived in.
Jack Provenzano, Astrologer, friend, roommate, teacher and companion through several Karmic Expressions.
My friend Frank Andrews for tutoring me in and through the Tarot.
Zach Glickman & Steve Frank, two friends who never lost faith in me.
The Dynamic Duo, Pato P. & Garrapata C. for the many laughs when there was little to laugh about.
New York City for 1969 where I reviewed the Blues.
The women who loved me and ask their forgiveness; lovin'the wind would have been easier.
The Mothers of my children for my freedom; for only free can I truly give.
My Father Jim Samudio, a strong Leo who taught me that a man must have the ability to be just as gentle, as he is hard; have the ability to love, and be willing to make whatever sacrifice necessary to preserve what he believes to be right. Who taught me that there are laws far greater than those written by man.
My children for having chosen me as their father in this life; for they alone gave me the will & strength to continue when all other sources of energy were depleated.
And most of all, God for letting me be a musician, in doing so he's given me a taste of Paradise.

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Pop Giants Vol. 23 - Sam the Sham And the Pharaohs

(LP) 197-? Metro Records, Brunswick Silber-Serie, Stereo 2911 534

Liner Notes
Domingo Samudio, 1943 [sic] in Dallas (Texas) geboren, machte als "Sam The Sham" Karriere. Der Sohn eines Montagearbeiters besuchte zunächst das Arlington State College und spielte dort in einer Amateurband. Der Erfolg stellte sich ein, als er mit einer eigenen Gruppe auftrat, die sich als Araber verkleidete. Während seine vier Mitspieler (The Pharaos) wallende, knöchellange Gewänder trugen, fiel Sam The Sham durch einen Turban auf, den er am Ende jeder Show ins Publikum warf. Ihre erste Aufnahme "Wooly Bully", im April 1965 veröffentlicht, wurde weltweit ein Riesenhit. Die Single belegte sowohl in den USA als auch in Deutschland Platz 2 der Hitliste (in England Platz 11) und brachte der Gruppe eine Goldene Schallplatte ein. Auch die zweite Single "Ju Ju Hand" kam in Amerika und in Deutschland in die "Top 30", bzw. "Top 20" Hitliste. Bis zur Mitte des Jahres 1967 brachten Sam the Sham & The Pharaos noch 7 weitere Titel in der Hitparade unter, dazu zählt auch "Little Red Riding Hood", das im November 1966 erschien und sich als Nr. 2 plazieren konnte. Dafür wurde ihnen die zweite Goldene Schallplatte überreicht. Im Herbst 1967 löste Sam The Sham seine Gruppe auf, um sich fortan mit Blues-Aufnahmen zu beschäftigen.

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UNO, DOS...one, two, tres, quatro!": and a wild insistent sound was sprung upon the world of 1965.

Wild? or Innately scientific? I spent months trying to take apart the Pharaohs' brand of "Memphis' Beat. Half a dozen super-lame versions of "Wooly Bully," by artists who it would seem should to the fact that when it comes of machine-groove, single-minded obsessive rhythm THIS WAS NO SHAM. Variously attributing this moniker to: his Inability to play more than five chords on the organ (1); his stage clowning; or the bizarre premise of he and his down-home Pharaohs ("hey, these guys ain't real Arabs!"), Sam was actually Domingo Samudio of Dallas, Texas, which hints a bit closer to the origin of the "Pharaohs' famous "Memphis Beat."

"Wooly Bully" was only the beginning. It was - and is - unstoppable. Snidely rumoured among classmates to be obscene, It sold over three million copies, despite attempts at suppression (you might as well try to suppress dancing or make-out parties). A whirlwind of outrageous telethon appearances and criss-crossing the country in a hearse (one of the boys had been an undertaker) followed. AND in dynamite follow-up hits, a none too-subtle pattern emerged. Sam, relentlessly" organ-izing" on the eighth notes, Ray Stinet's slashing guitar on the "2 and 4," and a bass line, no, not a line- a "system" borrowed by David Martin from a little further south than Memphis or even New Orleans. Jerry Paterson bopping away on drums with the precise restraint of a military madman and then ... THOSE BUTCH GIBSON SAX SOLOS! THEY DRIVE ME WILD ... hadn't we heard that one before? WHO CARES?[ As colleague B. Spate said "Wow- this stuff is great, it all sounds the same!!" Maybe some people were less impressed and we all spent the late '60s and early '70s paying for their pretenses. A lot of guys thought rock 'n' roll wasn't serious enough that it needed to grow up and be progressive, fuse incompetent jazz and classical elements (the now discredited "best of both worlds theory") and generally be an outlet for their boring "creativity." WELL TAKE THAT! ("Ju Ju Hand") AND THAT! ("Pharaoh A Go-Go") SIC 'EM Pharaohs! Sam may not have had lyrics designed for college campus contemplation In mind when he penned "Ring Dang Doo" but he sure pushed the right crazy button In my brain, even tho' he not only didn't know "where Is it?" but even "what Is It?"

What It is might have been "Lil' Red Riding Hood," a more relaxed novelty number that featured Mr. Samudio at his most suggestive Localizing best. It became his biggest hit ever, hitting #2 nationwide in just one 1966 week As good as the "Hood" was, its success seemed to trap Sam into the less exuberant nursery rhyme downward spiral. Admittedly, although "Hair On My Chinny Chin Chin" WAS a notch down, its coolness was much enhanced by its B-side " (I'm In With) The Out Crowd." This novelty come-back to the Dobie Grey smash hit is the Pharaoh's most touching cut, featuring a beautiful sax solo and a heart-rendering fade, even If there was a bit more truth in the title than might have been intended.

The Pharaohs already seemed a thing of the past by the time "Oh That's Good, No That's Bad" managed to reach #54 in 1967. Itwould be the last time I'd hear them in the hit-parade. This stuff just wouldn't sit right in the coming age of "awareness," twenty minute guitar and Mahavishnu Orchestras (but these and other national illnesses of the time have been better indicted I Sam was a rather soulful singer desirous of a more fulfilling direction. By the end of the Summer of Love the After several less successful solo LPs, Sam, like so many people who gave so much happiness, fell on hard times (see his Grammy winning liner notes to the LP, "Sam Hard and Heavy") - even losing the right to his famous stage name. Domingo Samudio went back to the music of his roots and can be heard rocking away in the motion picture "The Border" starring Jack Nicholson (1981). The last I heard he was ferrying oilmen In his boat to the offshore rigs in South Louisiana.

Vaya con Dios, friend. I owe a debt to you - as we all do. You were one of the lingering, flickering lights that led us back out of the wilderness of the '70s. And I still go to bed wishing I had written a song one-tenth as good as "Don't Try It" But wait a minute - this Is a record, not a history lesson. it's not even just a great piece of vinyl - It's a sure-fire PARTY-STARTER and regulation Issue for your next bash. So again, in the words of B. Spaeth "Commence Pharaoh-ization IMMEDIATELY!"

Peter Zaremba, New York 1985

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Gene Nunez, guitar
Frank Wilson, Supro slide guitar
Dave Couzar, guitar
Rick Steff, piano
Danny Jones, percussion
The Blue Beats
Tony Thomas, organ

The Ambassadors For Christ
Linda Knox
James Kirkwood
Mattie Kirkwood
Bradley Nelson
Dianna Madden
Charles Madden
Lajuana Walker

Reid McCoy, trumpet
Jim Spake, saxophone
Jack Hale, trombone
Gordy Reinhardt, clarinet

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One would think at the mention of their name and the waythey (sic) dress that they are an Egyptian or at least an Arab group, which they aren't. Quite the contrary. They are a real American group, from Dallas, Texas.

The front man Samudio (Sam) Domingo (sic) started his music career in Dallas in the early sixties as the lead singer of an amateur group, although he made no resounding success. In 1964 he founded his band Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs which later gained fame. The members of the group were Samudio Domingo (sic)- vocals, Ray Stinnet - guitar, David Martin - bass guitar, Butch Gibson - saxophone, and Jerry Patterson - drums. Pop experts would call their music style 'novelty', which could be described with some exaggeration, as an early, none too complicated version of what is known as rap today, if it were not more tuneful. The same style had been characteristic of a man they looked up on, J.P. Richardson, alias the Big Bopper in the late fifties. The hit song Lil' Red Riding Hood had been made famous by J.P. Richardson, and it became the second hit for Sam the Sam and his group in 1966. Their first record had been issued by Stan Kesler's Pen Records in Memphis. That was the famous Woolly Bully, a song composed by Samudio Domingo, which was later taken over by~MGM, releasing it in the United States under the serial number 13322, and under the number 1269 in England. The same tune went almost to the top of the best selling charts in West Germany.

Not by chance, since the unusually sounding, rhythmic song soon became a hit. The group then cut their first album, also entitling it Woolly (sic) Bully, and embarked on a concert tour. They then donned their characteristic garment, the pieces of which, and the turban most of all, they would throw among the audience at the end of shows to the delight of their fans, who may even keep them to this day.

The group managed to repeat the success of Woolly (sic) Bully a year later with a revived version of Lil' Red Riding Hood, the song made famous by the Big Bopper. The song soared to second place on the US best selling chart and climbed to 48th place on the British chart. Most of their songs were their own compositions, especially those of Domingo, but their cover versions also were hits. Those included Hanky Panky, the hit made famous by Tommy James, Long Tall Sally, once a hit for Little Richard, Mystery Train, covered by quite a few performers in Memphis including Elvis Presley, and Yakety Yak of the Coasters. Another song worth mentioning is Mary is My Little Lamb, until then known as a folk song, until the group performed it in their own style as orchestrated by Blackwell.

Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs had their glory days for three years, during which they issued three albums, of which six songs made it to the US and two others to the British best selling charts. But just as fast as they appeared in late 1964, they also disappeared from the pop world just as sudden in 1967. Their songs are, however, still favourites to the present day.

In 1970 Samudio chose a solo career, but was not I much of a success. In 1974 he established a new group, but it failed to bring back the good old times. In 1982 he complied with a request and helped compose the music score of the film The Border, and attempted to stay in touch with music in Memphis as a street musician - which is just about the last piece of news about him. Nevertheless this CD which is a collection of their most popular songs, can hopefully become favourites with his one time and perhaps new fans, also as the latest surprise from Rockin' Box.