Tag: Wooly Bully

Sam The Sham and the Pharaohs – Wooly Bully

Uno dos, one two tres quatro!

This 1965 song still works…it can light up a party in a heartbeat. This is one of those songs that you can play without rehearsing if you are in a band. A fun rock and roll song that doesn’t take itself seriously.

The exact meaning of Wooly Bully is left ambiguous, fitting the song’s fun nature. Others must agree because according to secondhandsongs.com it has 190 cover versions. Those versions include Dave Edmunds, Lindisfarne, and of course…Billy Bacon and The Forbidden Pigs. I don’t know much about them but with that name…I had to include them.

The song peaked at #2 on the Billboard 100. They were kept out of the top spot by those two upstart bands…The Rolling Stones with Satisfaction and The Beatles with Help!. The song peaked at #2 in Canada as well in 1965 and #11 in the UK.

They were not a one-hit wonder though. They had one other top ten song (#2) with Li’l Red Riding Hood. They had 6 top-40 hits between 1965 and 1970. Look at the variety of the 1960s. Satisfaction, Help!, Like A Rolling Stone, and Wooly Bully all within a couple of years.

sam_the_sham_and_pharaohs_performing

The band’s leader, Domingo “Sam” Samudio, was born in Dallas, Texas. He first started performing in the late 1950s. Sam joined various bands before forming The Pharaohs in 1961 and another version in 1963 and that time it stuck. Samudio wrote this song as well.

In 1970, Sam started a solo career and was awarded a Grammy in 1971 for Best Album Liner Notes to his record Sam, Hard and Heavy. He later started to cover gospel and country as well.

Wooly Bully

Uno dos, one two tres quatro

Ay, wooly bullyWatch it now, watch it

Here he comes, here he comesWatch it now, he get ‘cha

Matty told HattyAbout a thing she sawHad two big hornsAnd a wooly jawWooly bullyWooly bullyYeah driveWooly bullyWooly bullyWooly bullyHatty told MattyLet’s don’t take no chanceLet’s not be L-sevenCome and learn to danceWooly bullyWooly bullyWooly bullyWooly bullyWooly bullyWatch it now, watch it watch it watch itAy…Ay, drive, drive, drive

Matty told HattyThat’s the thing to doGet you someone reallyPull the wool with youWooly bullyWooly bullyWooly bullyWooly bullyWooly bullyWatch it now, watch it, here he comesYou got it, you got it

….