Wooly Bully Grammy

My friend, Domingo "Sam the Sham" Samudio is in LA for the Grammys which will air live this Sunday on CBS. Now living in Memphis, with artist wife, Ann, Sam literally wears many hats these days.
Never loosing his dry Texan sense of humor, Sam is long beyond the song that brought him to the induction into the NARAS Hall of Fame this weekend, “Wooly Bully.” A rock ‘n’ roll legend he is, but he’s also a preacher, sage, philanthropist, comedian, poet, philosopher, teacher, and special friend who believes in helping others.
This isn’t his first Grammy but the one which will ensure his musical immortality. After all this is a rather exclusive club. From a life in the barrio of Dallas after loosing his mother at an early age and facing violence first hand, Sam escaped by joining the Navy. Then in the late ‘50s he took to the stage and never looked back, touring with his band, the Pharaohs. While in Memphis, at Sun Studios, Sam Phillips heard the signature “Uno, dos . . . one, two, tres, quarto. . .” and the rest is history.
When the music fell from the charts, Sam fell too. Nightmares from his childhood were replayed, brushes with the law, drugs, unhappiness followed. But Sam escaped again and became an unassuming river boat captain. It was while he was on the water that he turned his life over to the Lord.
Once again he made his way back to Memphis, working as a street evangelist and performing gospel favorites to inmates. The more he gave, the more he got back. Slowly Sam regained it all– family, home, respect, another chance, and now a Grammy Hall of Fame induction.
Sam and I serve on the Blues Ball Committee together in Memphis and he came to Jackson along with Isaac Hayes for a gala I chaired for healthcare and everyone wanted to hear “Wooly Bully,” from the master and we did.


WOLFGANG Caters the Grammys
Wolfgang Puck has designed a menu for the 5,000 guests expected to attend the gala. The menu will include an All-American Bistro (carved prime rib eye with Armagnac peppercorn sauce, roasted chicken with truffle au jus, butter lettuce with avocado, and crab & lobster Louie with horseradish panna cotta); Asian flavors (shanghai lobster with jasmine rice and curry sauce, Chinese chicken salad with crispy wontons and sesame honey dressing, miso-glazed salmon with orange sesame aioli, and Mongolian lamb chops with cilantro mint vinaigrette and wasabi potatoes); and Latin flare (slow-braised Latin-spiced short ribs, chili lime shrimp with garlic, white wine and cilantro, crispy red snapper tacos with saffron rice, and asparagus salad with shaved manchego, almonds, sherry and oregano). And to top it off – chocolate truffle cakes, strawberry buttermilk, red velvet cupcakes, espresso pot de crème, raspberry cheesecake mousse tarts, passion fruit panna cotta, and banana crème pie. Now that’s a major twirl.