"Wooly Bully" is a song based on the 12 bar blues progression, made famous by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs in 1965. As the Pharaohs prepared to write their debut album, lead singer Sam the Sham wanted to write a tribute to the Hully Gully dance. His record label's legal department feared using that title due to the existence of another song with a similar title. The song was given the green light after Sam rewrote the lyrics and replaced "Hully Gully" with "Wooly Bully". The lyrics of "Wooly Bully" were hard to understand, and some radio stations banned the song. The lyrics describe a conversation between "Hattie" and "Matty" concerning the American bison and the desirability of developing Native American dance skills. 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. It lingered in the Hot 100 for a then-impressive 18 weeks topping the Hot 100 chart to be named Billboard's "Number One Record of the Year", and remained so for 35 years, |