Shuffled off this mortal coil on this day in 1987: musician David A. Martin, of Sam the Sham

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Hat tip, This Day in Rock: 1987 – DAVID MARTIN, BASS PLAYER WITH SAM THE SHAM & THE PHARAOHS

1987 – David Martin, bass player with Sam The Sham & the Pharaohs died of a heart attack aged 50. Martin co-wrote the group’s 1965 US No.2 & UK No.11 single ‘Wooly Bully’.

David A. Martin (musician)

David A. Martin (1937 – August 2, 1987) was a founding member and original bass player for the rock group Sam the Sham, and recorded all their early hits on MGM Records. Martin also co-wrote the group's #1 hit "Wooly Bully" which sold over three million records. After leaving the group in late 1965, he returned to Garland, Texas, a Dallas suburb, where he operated a television and video repair shop, located on Lavon Drive (Highway 78), until his death.

A native of Dallas, Texas, Martin started his musical career in 1959 with a band called Tommy & the Tom Toms, which became The Bill Smith Combo in 1960, and recorded several singles for Chess Records. He also worked with Gene Summers, Freddy Fender and Scotty McKay.

Martin died in August 1987 from a heart attack, at the age of 50.

Sam the Sham



Sam the Sham and The Pharaohs, 1965.

Domingo "Sam" Samudio (born February 28, 1937[1] Dallas, Texas), better known by his stage name Sam the Sham, is a retired American rock and roll singer. Sam the Sham was known for his camp robe and turban and hauling his equipment in a 1952 Packard hearse with maroon velvet curtains. As the front man for the Pharaohs, he sang on several Top 40 hits in the mid-1960s, notably the Billboard Hot 100 runners up "Wooly Bully" and "Li'l Red Riding Hood".

There's just one tune to play. This song is best heard late at night, about 2:00 a.m., on a five-tube AM radio from a station hundreds of miles away. The weather -- unbearably hot, even at that hour, because we didn't have air conditioning. Even at 2:00 a.m., the temperature could be in the 80s.

Hit it, Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs (thanks, spell check):

[lunasun]

1. Thanks ...n your right about the appropriate listening atmosphere