Pharaohization! The Best Of Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs
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 Mysteriansand theSir 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