Two Innovative Rock Bands

Paul Revere and the Raiders consist of the founding member Paul Revere, Doug Health the lead guitarist, Ron Foos the bass player, Danny Krause the keyboardist, Darren Dowler the lead vocalist and inductee in the Vocal Group Hall of Fame and Tommy Scheckel the drummer. Dressed in American Revolutionary War uniforms they continue to entertain in Las Vegas, Nevada.

They got recognition and became popular with their hits ”Kicks”, and ”Louie, Louie”, among many others. It all began in Boise, Idaho for Paul Revere and the Raiders. At this time Paul Revere owned several restaurants and he met up with former member Mark Lindsay while he was working at a bakery. They formed a friendship and in 1958 both Revere and Lindsay were part of The Downbeats until 1960 when they changed the name of the band to Paul Revere and the Raiders. They released their first record and ”Like, Long Hair” was their first hit to chart.

In 1965 Paul Revere and the Raiders were playing garage rock classics. Their sound was said to be similar to British rock bands like The Animals, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Dave Clark Five. Their second greatest hit was” Just Like Me”. The band became regular players on the TV show "Where the Action Is" hosted by Dick Clark.

In 1970 they recorded two popular songs ”Indian Reservation” and” Birds of a Feather.”.

The band came out with more songs like "All Over You," "Song Seller," "Country Wine." "Love Music," and "Powder Blue Mercedes Queen" between the years 1972 and 1975 unfortunately none of these songs were successful and they joined the oldies circuit. Paul Revere and the Raiders went on the road and continued to perform for their many fans who loved them and their music.

The man behind Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs is Domingo “Sam” Zamudio who took the stage name of Sam the Sham. He had a style all his own and wore a camp robe and turban transporting his musical equipment in a 1952 Packard hearse that had maroon velvet curtains. Two of their most popular hits in the mid-1960s were “Wooly Bully” and “Li’l Red Riding Hood”.

It was in 1961 in Dallas, Texas that Sam brought together his “Pharaohs.” The band's idea for their costumes was inspired by actor Yul Brynner who played a pharaoh in the 1956 movie The Ten Commandments. Sam's Pharaohs were Carl Miedke, Russel Fowler, Omar “Big Man” Lopez and Vincent Lopez. Their very first hit was “Wooly Bully” which was written about Sam’s cat. The song made it on the Billboard chart and rose to the second spot, sold three million copies and was awarded a Gold disc in 1962.

The next songs Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs recorded were “Ju Ju Hand” and “Ring Dang Doo”. Then they did a song inspired by the children's story "Little Red Riding Hood" and also named the same. “Li’l Red Riding Hood” climbed up to number 2 on the charts followed by “The Pied Piper” which sold more than a million copies and the band got their second Gold disc.

Having found a successful formula Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs continued to come out with novelty tunes such as “The Hair on My Chinny Chin Chin”, “How Do You Catch a Girl”, “I Couldn’t Spell”, and “Oh, That’s Good, No That’s Bad”.

Then along came The Shamettes three girls named Fran Curcio, Lorraine Gennaro and Jane Anderson joined Sam. Sam changed the name of the show to Sam the Sham Revue. In 1970 Sam performed solo and released the album Sam, Hard and Heavy which won the Grammy Award for Best Album Notes in 1972. Sam went on to become a motivational speaker and poet and on rare occasions, he still makes concert appearances. A most interesting song from the album is“Let’s Burn Down the Cornfield”.