Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs

Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs were a garage band from Dallas, Texas, extant from 1965 to 1967. Their lead singer, Domingo Samudio, took his name from a joke about his inability as a vocalist: despite this, the band had a massive hit with Wooly Bully (a song about Samudio's cat) which is credited with introducing Tex-Mex rhythms to rock. The Pharaohs consisted of guitarist Ray Stinnet, bassist David Martin, saxophonist Butch Gibson, and drummer Jerry Patterson. Before their biggest hit, they recorded the independent single "Haunted House," which helped the band get a deal with MGM. Following "Wooly Bully," the group recorded a series of largely novelty singles, but only "Li'l Red Riding Hood" approached the success of its predecessor. Frustrated at being perceived as a talentless novelty act, Samudio broke up the Pharaohs in 1967 and recorded as the Sam the Sham Revue, and adopted the name Sam Domingo in 1970. His lone solo LP, Sam, Hard & Heavy, featured slide guitarist Duane Allman, but failed to establish him as a major talent. Samudio contributed two songs to the 1982 film The Border and later moved to Memphis and became a street preacher.

Links to Peel
In the entire history of Peel's show, there is only one listed play for the band and that not even by John himself: Viv Stanshall took the opportunity to spin Wooly Bully on one of his Radio Flashes while Peel was on holiday in 1971. Nevertheless, in 1994 two tracks from a various artists tribute album, Turban Renewal (Norton), appeared in his playlists: these are enumerated below. Although Peel was living in Dallas prior to the band's recording debut, it is not known whether he saw them live.

Festive Fifty Entries

 * NoneSam the Sham the Pharaos - Wooly Bully

Sessions

 * None

Other Shows Played

 * 28 August 1971: 'Wooly Bully'
 * Turban Renewal plays
 * 12 August 1994: Homer Henderson, 'I Wish You Were Me'
 * 13 August 1994 (BFBS): Homer Henderson, 'I Wish You Were Me'
 * 30 September 1994: Phantom Surfers, 'Ring Them Bells'
 * 15 October 1994 (BFBS): Phantom Surfers, 'Ring Them Bells'