Pharaohization! The Best Of Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs

Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 6, 1998)
• Original Release Date: October 6, 1998
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Rhino / Wea
• ASIN: B00000C41H
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #277,109 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Wooly Bully

2. Ju Ju Hand

3. Medicine Man

4. Don't Try It

5. Pharaoh-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. Li'l 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 Your Love Light Shine

19. I Never Had No One

20. Big Blue Diamonds

See all 24 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars All of the songs have great quality, but... there's one problem, March 15, 2004

By 

Ryan Madden "A music lover" (Troy, MI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pharaohization! The Best Of Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs (Audio CD)

As anybody can tell, this CD has a problem despite the good sound quality. I have this CD, and am not happy with the fact that all but two of the tracks are mis-titled. For example: The track that is said to be "Medicine Man" happens to be "Ju Ju Hand".

From what I found out by listening to the CD and looking at the back of the case, this is the true order of the tracks:

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

I don't think anybody who is purchasing this CD would want to find out that most of the tracks on the back of the case are listed in the wrong order. The only two that are correctly listed are "Wooly Bully" and "Li'l Red Riding Hood".

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Put On Your Turban And Get Ready To Party!, May 27, 2000

By 

Steve Vrana (Aurora, NE) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pharaohization! The Best Of Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs (Audio CD)

Okay, so they weren't Egyptian, or even Arab for that matter. But "Wooly Bully" was one of the defining songs of 1965. And follow-up hits like "Ju Ju Hand" and "Ring Dang Doo" continued the band's Tex-Mex brand of rock 'n' roll with its pumping organ and rollicking sax.

Their last big hit was 1966's semi-novelty number "Lil' Red Riding Hood," which sold a million copies on its way to No. 2. A similar style was used on the next single, "The Hair on My Chinny Chin Chin," but it would do no better than No. 22. By 1967, the band broke up and Sam began a solo career under his given name, Domingo Samudio. [He would have no chart success as a solo act, but he would receive a Grammy for his liner notes to his 1971 album "Sam, Hard and Heavy." He also has two songs on the 1982 soundtrack to "The Border."]

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

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars They Did Something The Beatles Couldn't Do, July 31, 2007

By 

AvidOldiesCollector (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pharaohization! The Best Of Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs (Audio CD)

Not only were they not the greatest R&R band ever, as one reviewer boldly suggests, but I doubt that they'd make the Top 25 in any poll. However, they were loads of fun and they did accomplish something that not even The Beatles could with their long string of hits: they had one of their top songs cross over to the R&B charts [Wooly Bully which reached # 2 Billboard Hot 100 and # 31 R&B in summer 1965 for the MGM label].

With its opening UNO, DOS, TRES, QUATRO it is one of the most identifiable sounds of the 1960s and was written by the group's leader, Domingo "Sam" Samudio of Dallas, Texas and actually released the year before on the small XL label before being picked up by MGM.

Following that auspicious beginning their next three offerings dipped considerably on the charts, with Ju Ju Hand reaching # 26 in August, Ring Dang Doo topping out at # 33 in November b/w Don't Try It, and Red Hot, the legendary rockabilly tune first recorded in 1955 for Sun by Billy "The Kid" Emerson, peaking at # 82 in February 1966 b/w A Long Long Way.

But they returned to the # 2 position with Lil' Red Riding Hood in the summer of 1966, and in November the sequel The Hair On My Chinny Chin Chin climbed to # 22 b/w their comical take on The In Crowd, (I'm In With) The Out Crowd. Early in 1967 they were back with How Do You Catch A Girl? [# 27], and in April of that year came the funny Oh That's Good, No That's Bad [# 54] b/w Take What You Can Get.

Their final Top 100 came in summer 1967 when Black Sheep struggled to reach # 68, although you have to wonder why the funny Banned In Boston could not climb higher than # 117 Hot 100 "bubble under" in 1967 b/w Money's My Problem, and the equally-hilarious I Couldn't Spell Pthhht did not fare better than # 120 "bubble under" in 1968.

The B-sides omitted are Ain't Gonna Move [b/o their first hit], Love Me Like Before [b/o Lil' Red Riding Hood], The Love You Left Behind [b/o How Do You Catch A Girl?], and My Day's Gonna Come [b/o Black Sheep]. Track 19 was a failed 1968 single, while tracks 3, 5, 7, 14, 17, and 20 are from their several albums.

The sound quality is excellent, and with the insert you get the original vinyl-version notes written by Peter Zaremba of New York in 1985, six more pages by Bob Kruse of Boston written for this edition in 1997, a complete discography of the contents, and several more photos of the group, which also included Ray Stinnet, Jerry Patterson, Butch Gibson, and David Martin, who passed away in 1987 at age 50.

Just a fun album to have.