Pharaohization: The Best of Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs

pharaohization: the best of sam the sham & the pharaohs

Track Listings
1. Wooly Bully
2. Ju Ju Hand
3. Medicine Man
4. Don't Try It
5. Pharaoh-A-Go Go
6. Long Long Way
7. Green'ich Grendel
8. Ring Dang Doo
9. I Couldn't Spell !!*@!
10. Oh That's Good, No That's Bad
11. Li'l Red Riding Hood
12. 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 Your Love Light Shine
19. I Never Had No One
20. Big Blue Diamonds
See all 24 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
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

Pharaohization: The Best of Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs,Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs,Rhino / Wea,Frat Rock,Garage Rock,Popular Music,Rock & Roll,V/a Compilations

Pharaohization: The Best of Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs
Pharaohization! The Best Of Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • "Watch it honey, it'll getcha!"
  • How you listen to this matters a great deal
  • It's the same song 2 dozen times!
  • A Little Too Complete
  • This is a good CD, but...
 Pharaohization! The Best Of Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs
Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs
Manufacturer: Rhino / Wea
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

GeneralGeneral | Rock | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Oldies & Retro | Rock | Styles | Music
Pop RockPop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Oldies | Pop | Styles | Music
Garage RockGarage Rock | Rock | Alternative Styles | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
Rhino RecordsRhino Records | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music
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ASIN: B00000C41H
Release Date: 1998-10-06

Tracks:

  1. Wooly Bully
  2. Ju Ju Hand
  3. Medicine Man
  4. Don't Try It
  5. Pharoah-A-Go-Go
  6. A Long Long Way
  7. Green'ich Grendel
  8. Ring Dang Doo
  9. 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

Amazon.com

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

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars "Watch it honey, it'll getcha!".......2007-04-02

I'll bet you know "Wooly Bully." If you don't, you have my utmost sympathies. See, it's one of the most gloriously idiotic frat-punk songs ever recorded, a greasy hirlwind of thrumming carnival organs, pounding drum fills, a classic burger-joint sax solo, and Domingo "Sam the Sham" Samudio's nonsensical lyrics. If you don't have ready access to the song, that's reason enough to pick up this fantastic greatest hits collection- that single track can probably keep you busy on the dance floor for a solid two months- you'll even be having too much fun to notice that people are staring!

But there's something about this set that makes it even better than a vehicle for "Wooly Bully:" the fact that it has 23 other songs that are every bit as good! That's right. Pharohization is 24 tracks of pure, uncut, joy-splattered garage rockin' genius! It's full of classics like "Juju Hand," "Ring Dang Do," and "Medicine Man," which sound like the same song with different lyrics- which is a very, very good thing. Meanwhile, "Red Hot" is a storming 50s style rocker, "Oh That's Good, No That's Bad" is one of the most ludicrously catchy and gut-bustingly funny singalongs ever waxed, and "Pharoah A-Go-Go" is a shudderingly awesome juke-joint instrumental. And of course, there's "Little Red Riding Hood," the Pharoahs' only other major hit, a masterful classic which boasts a neat little ascending melody and some genuinly ominous instrumentation. "Black Sheep" is a bonafide folk-rocker, and it's just as awesome as everything else on this set.

Bascally, the Pharoahs ruled. Therefore, so does this set. If you gave half a hoot about garage rock, frat rock, 60s rock, or just plain rock, pick this baby up right now!

3 out of 5 stars How you listen to this matters a great deal.......2006-07-01

Rhino as usual has compiled a generous dollop of the works of Domingo "Sam the Sham" Samudio and his band the Pharoahs and it's difficult to argue with very many of the cuts as being outright "bad". The problem (as with much of this vintage) is there's not enough distinction cut to cut.

Add just about anything here to a mix CD of oldies and someone will ask you "What's that song? I like it!"

But play this front to back and the same person will say "Didn't you just play that one?!?" (i.e. Most of these really DO sound like "Wooly Bully")

HIGHLIGHTS:
The biggest singles are the best: party perrennial "Wooly Bully", a hipster 'goosing' of children's fables in "L'il Red Riding Hood", and ahead-of-my-time lament "(I'm in with) The Out Crowd". Outside of those, "Sorry 'bout that" berates an ex-lover hoping to reconnect, anti-fad "Monkey See,Monkey Do", and the age old question for pubescent boys everywhere: "How Do you Catch a Girl?" "Black Sheep" hides some clever social commentary within it and also is one of the few here that doesn't cop too much musically from "Wooly..". "Banned in Boston" reprises the outsider sentiment. ("I'm weird and bearded,baby/Wild and wooly/Can't you see?")

LOWS:
"Pharoah-a-Go-Go" is a pretty undistinguished instrumental. "Oh That's Bad, No That's Good" is somewhat amusing but its hard luck tale doesn't wear well with repeat listenings once you know the punchline is coming.

BOTTOM LINE:
Out of all the single disc comps available, this is the best bet despite some of the filler found here because the better tracks include stuff that's just not found elsewhere. (MILLENNIUM's not bad but you miss out on "Black Sheep","Banned",and "How Do you Catch..". If you know more than "Wooly Bully", this is the one to get.

Burn your own CD-R minus the mush and add the best of the Rhino Mitch Ryder comp (which suffers the same 50-50 fate), sprinkle a few other tunes in (perhaps "Double Shot of my Baby's Love" and "Quarter to Three"?) and you'll have a killer oldies party soundtrack.

5 out of 5 stars It's the same song 2 dozen times!.......2006-01-21

But it's a damn great song! Yep, "Wooly Bully' and 23 variations of that theme.
The surprising thing is the social commentary of some of these songs: "Black Sheep", "Monkey See, Monkey Do", "Green'ich Grendel", "The Out Crowd". Unlike Bob Dylan's stuff, you can actually dance to these songs (always a plus).
This disc is a great example of garage rock, but... buyer beware! You really have to love this type of music to get through this disc. I've played it for people who have begged me to shut it off because... it IS the same song over and over. I can't stress that enough. If two dozen songs sound like too much I recommend MCA's 20th Century Collection... 12 songs and it goes down in 28 minutes. I bought that one first but 12 songs was not enough... so I picked up 'Phaorahization'. I'm very glad I did!

4 out of 5 stars A Little Too Complete.......2004-10-03

This CD has everything your looking for in a Sam the Sham and the Pharaos CD. If you've only heard Wooly Bully you are missing out. The problem is there are so many songs that you can't just listen to the whole thing right through. Indiviually they may all be great but together they start sounding the same. I have this CD and am happy with it. But I'd recomend just getting the 20th Century - Millenium collection Sam the Sham and the Pharaos CD. I has all of the good songs.

3 out of 5 stars This is a good CD, but..........2004-03-16

This is a great CD, but there is one problem. Several tracks are given the wrong name. Well, they were on my CD. That is true, except for the tracks Wooly Bully and Li'l Red Riding Hood. Even Ju Ju Hand has it's name wrong. In the CD, it is titled Medicine Man. This CD should be re-issued with the names attributing to the proper songs.

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