Without "Wooly Bully" to give it some wind at its back, Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs' second album was a far lower seller than their debut LP. Even the one hit single it contained, "Ju Ju Hand," was itself close to a "Wooly Bully" rewrite, thus paling alongside the more famous smash. But while a little Sam the Sham goes a long way, the unimaginatively titled
Their Second Album isn't bad more-of-the-same choppy, bluesy Tex-Mex rock, if pretty redundant when heard all at once. Sam gets a lot of mileage out of references to voodoo or magic of sorts throughout the LP, from "Ju Ju Hand" to "Medicine Man," "I've Got a Voo Doo Doll," "That Old Black Magic," "The Gypsy," "Witchcraft," "Love Potion #9," "Magic Man"...actually, most of the album has songs along those themes. But it's pretty benign voodoo or black magic, Sam sounding at times sort of like a jolly uncle to
Dr. John, who took some of the same lyrical themes and musical influences to far swampier, scarier, and more authentic-sounding territory. ~ Richie Unterberger