Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs "Pharaohization" - The Best Of Sam The Sham & The Pharoahs 1998

If you enjoyed the hits of Sam the Sham & The Pharaohs, this album is a treat. Stellar sound, informative liner notes and each song is a glorious reminder of what made pop music fun in the Sixties. Ready? Sing. "Uno, dos, one, two, tres, cuatro..." (Enjoy!) RECOMMENDED - By Steve Vrana

The parade of one-hit wonders who populated large chunks of the pop charts in the 1960s and '70s could usually be categorized two ways: marginal talents overly burnished with slick production and the best studio chops money could buy, or hard-rocking garage gods who finally caught a break. Come to think of it, things haven't changed much! Dallas's Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs fell firmly into the latter category, scoring big in '65 with the novelty song "Wooly Bully" and following it with the lesser hit "Little Red Riding Hood." Like ? and the Mysterians and the Sir Douglas Quintet, Sam (Domingo Samudio; "the Sham" a self-deprecating jab at his vocal talents) and the Pharaohs pioneered fusing the sounds and rhythms of Tex-Mex border music into pop, though it would take critics a decade or two to catch on. To contemporary listeners, they were just a monster party band--one that this generous, well-chosen collection puts in better perspective. Their initial novelty status kept proceedings decidedly on the loopy side, as tracks like "Pharaoh-a-Go-Go" and "Ring Dang Doo" attest. Still, there's a raw, rootsy rock & roll frenzy here that's as infectious as it is unhinged. Hail Sam and the Pharaohs, garage rock royalty! - Jerry McCulley

trax:
01. Wooly Bully 02. Ju Ju Hand 03. Medicine Man 04. Don't Try It 05. Pharaoh-A-Go-Go 06. A Long Long Way 07. Green'ich Grendel 08. Ring Dang Doo 09. I Couldn't Spell !!*@! 10. Oh That's Good, No That's Bad 11. Lil' Red Riding Hood 12. The Hair On My Chinny Chin Chin 13. Black Sheep 14. Monkey See, Monkey Do 15. How Do You Catch A Girl 16. Red Hot 17. Sorry 'Bout That 18. Let Our Love Light Shine 19. I Never Had No One 20. Big Blue Diamonds 21. (I'm In With) The Out Crowd 22. Take What You Can Get 23. Money's My Problem 24. Banned In Boston