Sam the Sham and Wooly Bully: A Mexican American Beat That Shook the World

In 1965, a wild, rowdy tune called Wooly Bully crashed onto the airwaves, becoming one of the first rock ’n’ roll songs to storm the Billboard charts without ever reaching number one. Behind it was Domingo “Sam” Samudio, a Mexican American singer from Dallas, Texas, who took on the flamboyant stage persona Sam the Sham, turban, goatee, and all.

For Mexican Americans in the 1960s, representation in mainstream music was rare. Rock ’n’ roll had already been shaped by Chicano pioneers like Ritchie Valens, but Samudio added something different: unapologetic fun, energy, and a Tex-Mex rhythm that carried echoes of barrio dances and border-town culture. His band, The Pharaohs, dressed in campy costumes, but the sound was serious, part rhythm & blues, part garage rock, and unmistakably rooted in the multicultural stew of Texas.

Wooly Bully itself, built on a 12-bar blues groove, was more than just a novelty hit. It was a statement of joy, rebellion, and identity. The song’s nonsensical lyrics masked something deeper: a refusal to conform, a refusal to be neatly categorized. For many Mexican American youth at the time, Sam the Sham’s presence on national TV and radio was proof that their culture, humor, and energy could shape American pop culture.

Nearly 60 years later, Wooly Bully remains an anthem of good times and mischief, but also a reminder that Mexican American musicians have always been at the heart of rock history. Samudio may have called himself “the Sham,” but his role in opening doors for Latinos in rock was no illusion, it was real heritage in motion, loud and proud, driven by the beat of a far-from-wooly dream.