This one takes the cake. Can’t say how excited I was when I came across this one at Friends of Sound Records some months back (thanks to my man Hobo D for pointing me in the right direction). I was familiar with James “Big Sambo” Young’s funkier cuts on Houston’s Jetstream Records, but had heard that his earlier R&B material was something to behold. Before listening to it, I gathered my purchases and headed to the household and plopped this whopper on the turntable and adjusted the volume to 11. I was floored. Seeing that I have a weakness for wild-eyed R&B stompers to begin with, and not to mention the sheer novelty of the lyrics (and band name) with mention of the fun-loving attendees of the party, including a “big fat chick” (about 400 lbs to be precise), I instantly fell in love with Big Sambo’s heavy hitting Texas-soaked rhythm and blues. It’s such a fun song, but it’s interesting to note that it’s the b-side to the radio plug side, “The Rains Came”. And when better to celebrate “At The Party” than this year, the 50th anniversary since its initial release.
Today’s record has a unique history, and as mentioned before, “The Rains Came” sold well as a radio friendly R&B ballad. It was legendary Texas music producer Huey P. Meaux’s intention to sell this ballad as Big Sambo’s big hitter, and it sold moderately well in its day, with a distribution of nearly 500,000 copies before the NAACP stepped in and asked James to renege on his controversial stage name. I had first heard The Rains Came by another of Meaux’s prodigies, San Antonians The Sir Douglas Quintet with their mid-tempo mod version of the track released on their Best Of album from 1966 (which is their first album, mind you). It is estimated that Huey and his universe of talent under his production name, The Crazy Cajun, recorded some 50 covers of this song throughout the span of a decade. Unfortunately, with limited information, I can only account for a handful, which leaves us much more to unearth. It seems Big Sambo never fully recovered from the NAACP’s meddling in his affairs, and he died at the young age of 45 in Port Arthur, TX with little recognition to the outside world. I’ll include both sides so you can get the full Sambo experience, and I’ll most likely post up his latter release on Huey Meaux’s Houston-based Jetstream Records on a later post. Before I go, check out Red Kelly’s (aka Soul Detective) phone interview with Huey on his storied production experiences and tribulations (good luck deciphering his heavy cajun drawl, it’s as thick as it gets), you can check it out here.
LISTEN: Big Sambo and The House Wreckers-At The Party
LISTEN: Big Sambo and The House Wreckers-The Rains Came
