Wooly Bully

Infobox Single
Name = Wooly Bully


Artist = Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs
from Album = Wooly Bully
B-side =
Released = 1965
Format =
Recorded =
Genre = 12-bar blues
Length =
Label =
Writer = W. Thomas/L. Smith
Producer =
Certification =
Last single =
This single =
Next single =

"Wooly Bully" is a song based on the 12 bar blues progression, made famous by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs, first recorded as "Hully Gully Now" by Big Bo and the Arrows in 1962. It was the first American record to sell a million copies during the British Invasion, and was nominated for a Grammy Award.

After paying to record and press their own records to sell at their gigs, Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs wound up with the Pen label in Memphis. There, they recorded what would prove to be their first and biggest hit ever, "Wooly Bully". It was a worldwide sensation, selling 3 million copies, and reaching No. 2 on the Billboard charts on June 5, 1965.

Although the "Wooly Bully" single never reached #1 on the national charts, it lingered in the U.S. Top 40 for a then-impressive 18 weeks. It was the only recording named "Billboard" 'Number One Record of the Year' not to have topped the Hot 100 chart, and remained so for 35 years, until Faith Hill's "Breathe" and Lifehouse's "Hanging by a Moment" repeated the feat in 2000 and 2001, respectively.

Lyrics

The lyrics of "Wooly Bully" were hard to understand, and some radio stations banned it. The lyrics describe a conversation between "Hattie" and "Matty" concerning the American bison and the desirability of developing dance skills.Fact|date=December 2007 The warning, "Let's not be L-7's"", means "Let's not be squares", from the shape formed by the fingers making an "L" on one hand and a "7" on the other. Sam the Sham underscores the Tex-Mex nature of the song by counting out the rhythm in Spanish, and the characteristic simple organ riffing. This song is referenced by Joe Strummer in the live version of The Clash hit "Capital Radio". The song is also heard a number of films: "Fast Times at Ridgemont High", "Full Metal Jacket", "Scrooged", "Happy Gilmore", and "The Chipmunk Adventure", in which it is performed by the Chipmunks.

Related song

This song was used in an Alvin and the Chipmunks movie, "The Chipmunk Adventure" (1987). “Wooly Bully Again” was written and recorded in 1966 by Jimmie Vestal. He was the bass guitar player of the Winston-Salem, North Carolina band, The Soul Brothers. The song was pressed on 7” 33 1/3 RPM vinyl records, along with five other tracks, and titled as "Sweet Soul For Soul Sisters".

A new version of the song was recorded in November 2007 and sent to KLUC Radio in Las Vegas, Nevada. The song was used in a promotional video created by Swamp Water Films.

Covers

The song was covered by Khmer singer Ros Sereysothea and was given Khmer lyrics under the title "Rom Jonvak", also called "Wooly Polly".

Punk band The White Kaps covered the song for the Wooly Bully 7" on Fearless Records in 1995 and even had Ray Stennet of Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs to play guitar on the track.

The 1981 2 Tone film "Dance Craze" includes a performance of "Wooly Bully" by the ska revival group Bad Manners.

Joan Jett has also covered the song.

In the early 1990's, Little Caesar's parodied the song in a commercial.

The song was recorded by the Los Angeles band Love during the sessions for the album "Forever Changes" (1967). The cover of "Wooly Bully" was eventually released in 2008, appearing on the second disc of the album's 40th anniversary re-release.

References

* [http://www.classicbands.com/samsham.html classicbands.com - Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs]