Today’s word of the day, again thanks to Words Coach (https://www.wordscoach.com/dictionary), is ensorcell. Ensorcell is a verb that means “to bewitch” (https://www.dictionary.com/browse/ensorcell).

According to Etymonline.com, the word appears in English first in the “1540s, from French ensorceller, from Old French ensorceler, a dissimilation of ensorcerer from en- (see en- (1)) + verb from sorcier ‘sorcerer, wizard’ (see sorcery)” (https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=ensorcell). The website continues, “A rare word in English until Richard Burton took it for The Tale of the Ensorcelled Prince, a translation of a title of one of the Arabian Nights tales (1885). The word had been used in an earlier (1838) partial translation, ‘The Book of The Thousand Nights and One Night,’ by Henry Torrens, whose book Burton knew and admired. It turns up, once, in George Puttenham’s ‘Arte of English Poesie’ (1589), which was reprinted in the early 19th century. Perhaps Torrens saw it there” (ibid.).

The root word sorcery appears in English “c. 1300, sorcerie, ‘witchcraft, magic, enchantment; act or instance of sorcery; supernatural state of affairs; seemingly magical works,’ from Old French sorcerie, from sorcier ‘sorcerer, wizard,’ from Medieval Latin sortiarius ‘teller of fortunes by lot; sorcerer,’ literally ‘one who influences fate or fortune,’ from Latin sors (genitive sortis) ‘lot, fate, fortune’” (https://www.etymonline.com/word/sorcery). The en- is a word forming element that is “used with native and imported elements to form verbs from nouns and adjectives, with a sense ‘put in or on’ (encircle), also ‘cause to be, make into’ (endear), and used as an intensive (enclose)” (https://www.etymonline.com/word/en-#etymonline_v_8621).

On this date in 60 years ago, according to On This Day, the hit song “Wooly Bully,” by Sam the Sham and the Pharoahs, hit number #2 on the American Billboard Hot 100. It was kept out of the #1 spot by “Help Me, Rhonda” by the Beach Boys (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wooly_Bully). It was “the first American record to sell a million copies during the British Invasion and was influenced by the British rock sound which was mixed with traditional Mexican-American conjunto rhythms” (ibid.).

Sam the Sham was Domingo Samudio (b.1937). Samudio’s family lived and worked in Texas, having fled the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920), and while most sources say that he was of Mexican heritage, “a 1998 article by the Chicago Tribune described Samudio as being of Basque/Apache descent” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_the_Sham). He took up the guitar as a youth and formed his first group with some friends in school, one of whom was Trini Lopez, known as a popular singer himself.

“In Dallas in 1961, Samudio formed the Pharaohs, the name inspired from the costumes in Yul Brynner‘s portrayal as pharaoh in the 1956 film The Ten Commandments” (ibid.). That version of the Pharaohs didn’t last very long, and he next joined a group called Andy and the Nightriders, but that group didn’t last very long either. When the Nightriders split up, Samudio and another member gathered a couple more musicians and changed the name to Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs. In Memphis, they got picked up by a small music label, and they recorded their first hit, “Wooly Bully,” in late 1965. The group was then picked up by MGM, and they promoted the song to get it on the charts. The song “stayed in the Hot 100 for 18 weeks, the longest time for any song in 1965, and was nominated for a Grammy Award. It was named Billboard‘s number-one song of the year despite never reaching No. 1 on a weekly Hot 100,” a feat achieved by very few songs (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wooly_Bully).

According to Genius.com, the song was “Originally based on lyrics from ‘The Hully Gully’ and intended to have the same title, MGM Records told them they couldn’t use the title. Sam changed it to ‘Wooly Bully,’ which was the name of his cat” (https://genius.com/Sam-the-sham-and-the-pharaohs-wooly-bully-lyrics). “The lyrics of ‘Wooly Bully’ were hard to understand, in consequence, some radio stations banned the song” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wooly_Bully). So, in case you are now listening to the song and trying to figure out what in the world is going on, here are the lyrics.

[Intro]

Uno, dos

One, two, tres, cuatro

Yes, Wooly Bully

Watch it now, watch it

Here he come, here he come

Watch it now, he git ya

[Verse 1]

Matty told Hatty about a thing she saw

Had two big horns and a wooly jaw

Wooly Bully, Wooly Bully, yeah, drive

Wooly Bully, Wooly Bully, Wooly Bully

[Verse 2]

Hatty told Matty, “Let’s don’t take no chance

Let’s not be L-seven, come and learn to dance”

Wooly Bully, Wooly Bully

Wooly Bully, Wooly Bully, Wooly Bully

[Bridge]

Watch it now, watch it, watch it, watch it

Yeah

Yeah, drive, drive, drive

[Verse 3]

Matty told Hatty, “That’s the thing to do

Get you someone really pull the wool with you”

Wooly Bully, Wooly Bully

Wooly Bully, Wooly Bully, Wooly Bully

[Outro]

Watch it now, watch it, here he come

You got it, you got it (https://genius.com/Sam-the-sham-and-the-pharaohs-wooly-bully-lyrics)

Of course, reading the lyrics like this doesn’t give you a feeling for the song at all, but you can see Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCoUmMDiEhs.

By the way, “Let’s not be L-seven” is a way of saying “let’s not be square” (L7).

There’s a bit of a personal side to this story as well. My wife and I started graduate school in 1979. My wife was working toward her Ph.D. in Accounting, and I was making an ill-fated effort to get an MBA, so we were both in the business school. The business school secretary, an older woman who told us she didn’t think we would “make it,” was named Mrs. Wooly. Whenever we had to go see her, as soon as we left the building I would launch into “Wooly Bully.” Now, all these years later, my wife thinks it’s funny.

But there is something about the song, besides the nonsensical lyrics. I’m sure it has something to do with the rhythm, but it really ensorcelled my generation.

Today’s image is Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs LP Wooly Bully 1965 CAPITOL RECORD CLUB ISSUE (https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/sam-sham-pharaohs-lp-wooly-bully-1965-4644051165). But you don’t have to buy the album when you can listen to the song for free on YouTube.