During the early 1960s, three of the original band members had been friends and musical colleagues for a number of years before Dr Hook and The Medicine Show were even created.

Ray Sawyer, Bill Francis and George Cummings were all originally in a group called The Chocolate Papers. The other three band members were Bobby Dimingus, Popeye Phillips and Jimmy Allen.

The Chocolate Papers toured around the Mississippi, Alabama and South Carolina areas, until finally they settled in Biloxi, Mississippi, where they opened up a club 'Chez Joey' and became the house band for a few months. In the mid-1960s George Cummings returned to the New York and New Jersey area to become the guitarist and front man for a new band. In 1967, Ray Sawyer had a horrendous car accident, which was to lose him his right eye¹ and put him into a wheelchair for almost a year.

The Beginning

After his recovery, Ray, along with Bill Francis, was invited to join George in New Jersey. For months they performed in the local bars and clubs without a name for the group, until they had a date to perform at the Bandbox in Union City, New Jersey. The club owner asked George the name of the group, so they could be promoted. George thought of Ray with his eye-patch and then thought of Captain Hook from JM Barrie's Peter Pan. Also, drugs were very much a sign of the times, so the reference to doctor and medicine was topical. A month or two later a 19-year-old local boy began to sit in and listen to them; shortly after, this aspiring singer-songwriter, Dennis Locorriere, became one of the lead vocalists with the group. In 1968, Dr Hook and the Medicine Show was born.

The original line-up was as follows:

• George Cummings from Meridian, Mississippi, on Lead Guitar and lap steel.
• Ray Sawyer from Chickasaw, Alabama. Lead vocalist and percussions.
• Bill Francis from Ocean Springs, Mississippi, playing keyboard.
• Popeye Philips, the drummer from The Chocolate Papers joined them for a short time, then returned home. He was replaced by Jay David from Bayonne, New Jersey.
• Dennis Locorriere, also from New Jersey, played guitar and became lead vocalist as well as their songwriter.

They recorded on some cheap tapes, sending them to record companies in the hope they might be 'discovered'. At some point one of those tapes landed on the New York desk of Ron Haffkine at CBS/Columbia. On hearing Dennis's voice, Haffkine knew they would be perfect for the music he was directing for the film Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying All Those Things About Me? which starred Dustin Hoffman. The songs for the film were written by Shel Silverstein, who flew from California to New Jersey, after hearing a demo recording of Dr Hook and the Medicine Show singing one of his songs. Silverstein agreed they should sing the tracks for the film which was released in 1971. The soundtrack was also released as an album by Columbia.

Haffkine became their co-manager along with Bobby Heller and so, with the songwriter, Shel Silverstein, they would all have a very close professional and personal connection with the boys, moulding them from the raw edge of country rock into a more commercial band. This relationship would continue for more than 20 years.

Dr Hook and the Medicine Show signed up to CBS/Columbia record label and began to record songs in New York City for their debut album. Part-way through recording, they were invited to Los Angeles to perform at a CBS Records convention.

'Sylvia's Mother'

The band decided to stay in California and made San Francisco their home and base. It was here that Shel Silverstein played them his newly written song 'Sylvia's Mother'. They liked it and decided to include it in their album and use it for the title too. The album was released in 1971. Initial reactions were so good that CBS released 'Sylvia's Mother' as a single; unfortunately it only just about scraped into the bottom of the US pop charts. However, the then boss of CBS Records, Clive Davis, was certain the song was a hit and pulling out all the stops, put the full backing of CBS promotions behind the single. In 1972, 'Sylvia's Mother' climbed to number one in the US charts, selling over a million copies. In Britain the song narrowly missed the number one spot and spent 13 weeks in the Top 50 chart.

An h2g2 Researcher has confirmed that her youngest daughter loved the song 'Sylvia's Mother' so much, she sang/played it all the time. Which is why the Researcher can no longer listen to it!

Later in the year, the band took on another two members; Jance Garfat playing bass guitar and Rik Elswit, on lead and finger-picking guitar. The band then recorded their irreverently-named second album Sloppy Seconds which included the song that was to be their next single 'Carrie Me, Carrie'. This single only managed to scrape into the Top 100 of the US charts; the album remained outside of the Top 40 charts.

Banned by the BBC?

Unperturbed, it was decided to release another single from the album, 'The Cover Of The Rolling Stone'. It was a hit, providing Dr Hook and the Medicine Show with their second million-selling single. However, the record ran into problems in Britain when the BBC refused to play it on either television or radio, as the song's title was deemed to be advertising for the American magazine.

To get around this problem, CBS set up special phone lines so that fans could call up and hear the record. It was quite a new marketing idea for the time.

BBC radio disc jockeys even made an 'alternative' version, in which they sang 'Radio Times' over the offending words of 'Rolling Stone'! The song didn't catch on in Britain, yet it remained a firm favourite in Dr Hook's live stage shows whenever the band toured the UK.

Back in the States, record sales dropped rapidly. Even recording another Shel Silverstein classic 'The Ballad Of Lucy Jordan' (later to be successfully revived by Marianne Faithful), their subsequent releases, 'Roland The Roadie And Gertrude The Groupie' and 'Life Ain't Easy' failed to make any impact in the US Charts, struggling to remain in the lower half of the Billboard Hot 100. Their third album 'Belly Up' literally did just that by peaking at 141 in the Billboard chart.

Bankruptcy to Fortune

When Clive Davis suddenly left CBS Records in 1973, the group became anxious that the man who had been their main champion at the company had gone. Three executives were attempting to run CBS by committee; Heffkine called in his long-time friend and co-manager of the group, Bobby Heller, asking if he could find a way to get Dr Hook released from a contract that was no longer financially viable. Heller was shuffled from one office to another. Because of the band's overseas sales, CBS were reluctant to release them from their contract, yet still the company were unwilling to support the band financially. With the right legal advice, Heller managed to get the band released from their contract by commencing a bankruptcy procedure. This procedure was successful and in 1975 the band decided to shorten their name and signed a twelve-month recording contract with Capitol Records. Dr Hook were to begin one of the most successful and creative periods of their career.

Their first album for Capitol Records was aptly titled Bankrupt, with the single 'The Millionaire' being released. Both made a very slow start in the charts, with neither doing particularly well. At this time Jay David, the drummer, decided to leave and was replaced by John Wolters. Dr Hook finished the year with a successful tour of Britain. In the New Year, Capitol released a second single from the album 'Only Sixteen', which entered the American charts in early February 1976, thus ensuring Dr Hook's record contract was renewed. This single remained in the charts for 14 weeks, reaching a high of number six and giving the group a third single to sell a million copies.

Dr Hook was on a roll! Moving their base to Nashville, Tennessee, they began recording their next album A Little Bit More, the title song was to become another major hit. Yet, all was not well as George Cummings had begun to have health problems. When he developed bronchitis, his doctor had advised a complete rest. George went to his managers and was upset by their attitude. He spoke to the rest of the group; again, he felt no-one was interested in his problems. After taking some time to think things over, George finally left the group without completing the recording of the album.

The single 'A Little Bit More' sailed into the charts, reaching number 11 in the US, remaining in the charts for 14 weeks. In Britain, the single spent four weeks at number two in the charts, only kept from the top slot by the duet of Elton John and Kiki Dee 'Don't Go Breaking My Heart'. The album A Little Bit More was to remain in the British charts for 42 weeks, with a high at number five.

Emphasising their country music influences, Dr Hook were invited to appear at a benefit performance at the famous Grand Ole Oprey in Nashville, the capital of country music. Still on a triumphant note, a single written by Dennis, 'If Not You,' was also released from the album A Little Bit More, which finished 1976 by reaching number five in the UK charts and spending another ten weeks in the Top 50, while reaching number 55 in the US charts.

They were back in the recording studios in 1977. This time, while recording their next album Makin' Love and Music, Ray was in the studio next door, recording his own album of country music. During the summer a new single was released from the album, 'Walk Right In', which had originally been a hit for The Rooftop Singers in 1963. It became another hit in Britain as did the album. In April 1978, the Shel Silverstein song 'More Like the Movies' was released as a single from the Little Bit More album and this too shot up the charts into the top 20 hits.

'Pleasure And Pain'

Dr Hook released the single 'Sharing The Night Together' in October, 1978. This was taken from their forthcoming album Pleasure And Pain. The single went straight to number six in the American charts. Pleasure And Pain was released in early 1979 and was to become their first gold album, with 500,000 copies sold in America.

Everything was looking good for Dr Hook, then tragedy hit. Rik Elswit became seriously ill. He was diagnosed with cancer and his treatment forced him to leave the band for a year. Bob Henke stepped in and remained with group for some time after Rik's gradual return to health.

The first release of 'When You're In Love With A Beautiful Woman' in Britain was very subdued, creating very little response. After the single became popular internationally it was re-issued, with Dennis and Ray flying to London on a promotional tour. It was to become their biggest selling single, finally reaching number one in the UK charts where it remained for three weeks. All told, it remained in the British top 50 chart for 17 weeks. In America it reached number six in the Billboard chart, where it stayed in the top 40 for 16 weeks.

'Sometimes You Win'

In 1980, the New Year began with more hits. Dr Hook released 'Better Love Next Time' which raced up the charts to peak at number 8 in the UK and number 12 in the US charts. In March, they released a single from their next album Sometimes You Win. 'Sexy Eyes' was to become their sixth million-selling single. It soared to number four in the UK and remained in the British charts for nine weeks. In America, 'Sexy Eyes' peaked at number ten and remained in the Billboard chart for 15 weeks. The album 'Sometimes You Win' earned Dr Hook a gold disc after number 14 in the UK album chart and spending 44 weeks in the top 50. The groups contract with Capitol Records was about to expire, it was decided they should look to another label. At this point Henke left Dr Hook and was replaced by Rod Smarr just as Dr Hook signed a new deal using the Casablanca label in the US and the Mercury label in Britain.

During their British tours, it amused the group when people used to take photographs during their favourite songs. Dennis Locorriere would stop singing, and laughing, would ask:

Do I have a balloon on my head? When you see the prints, can you tell which song I'm singing?

The group would then pose to allow photographs to be taken, but it never stopped fans taking snaps of their 'favourite songs'.

Their next album, Rising barely touched the top 50 charts on either side of the Atlantic, with the single 'Girls Can Get It' just hitting the top 40 in both charts. Dr Hook had further minor hits including 'Baby Make Her Blue Jeans Talk' and 'Loveline' taken from their final album 'Players In The Dark'.

The One and Only Farewell Tour

The members of Dr Hook began to have differences on their musical direction, with Ray finally leaving the group in 1982 to pursue a solo career in country music. Dennis and the rest of the group continued, with Dr Hook having two sell-out tours in Australia and Britain, including their final farewell tour in 1985.

Having attended their farewell concert in Liverpool, the h2g2 Researcher was saddened that Ray Sawyer was no longer with Dr Hook, saying:

Somehow a little of their magic had gone away with Ray.

'A Little Bit More'

At the height of their success Dr Hook were top of the charts in 42 countries, they amassed 60 gold and platinum singles and albums.

Once they disbanded, Dennis Loccoriere continued touring with Rod Smarr, using the name 'Dr Hook' as his company owns all the rights to the Dr Hook name. Dennis retired from music for a while, then returned as a backing singer on Randy Travis's album 'Always And Forever'. After that he resumed touring again after deciding on a solo career. Dennis is currently living in England and promotes himself as 'the voice of Dr Hook'.

Ray Sawyer lives near Nashville with his wife, Linda. During the 1980s Ray formed a Rhythm and Blues group and toured with them for a while. When Ray decided to return to touring, he had to ask permission of Dennis and now uses the style 'Dr Hook featuring Ray Sawyer' under license.

Rik Elswit returned to San Francisco, where he still writes songs and teaches guitar to students.

Very little is known about Bill Francis. He opened a website but doesn't appear to have done much with it. It also appears that he had a serious illness in the 1990s. Again, no further information has been released about it.

Rod Smarr continued working with Dennis for a number of years after the break-up of the group.

George Cummings remains in the music business. He became a producer in 2003, and worked alongside Ken Hatley on the soundtrack of the film Florida City, a drama about the advanced knowledge of the attack on Pearl Harbour. After that, in 2004, he joined a group called the Flares which was reforming. They recorded a comeback album 'It Is What It Is'. He was last known to have been working on a solo CD with guitarist Jim Pasquale and singer/songwriter Harold Hutchcraft from the Flares.

John Wolters died of liver cancer in June, 1997.

Managers, Haffkine and Heller were last heard to be heading for the courts with Heller taking a law suit out against his former partner Haffkine.

Shel Silverstein died of a heart attack 10 May, 1999. He will be remembered for his writings, be they adult, poetry or children's books. He was a talented man, who was loved and mourned by every member of the group.

Of Jance Garfat, Jay David and Bob Henke, there isn't any further information after their years with Dr Hook.

'I Call That True Love'

So, the group who had the audacity to get their audiences to stand in the aisles and sing 'I Was Stoned And I Missed It' at the top of their voices, will still be fondly remembered for their live stage tours. With little Rik singing 'Everybody's Making It Big But Me!' and big Bill Francis's deep voice singing 'Penicillin Penny' and stomping across the stage as he sang his verse from 'The Cover Of The Rolling Stone' and then singing 'Makin' It Natural'.

There was Ray's interpretation of 'Freakin' at the Freakers Ball', 'Hey Lady Godiver' and 'Roland The Roadie And Gertrude The Groupie'. The fun he had when singing 'Acapulco Goldie'! These were all songs the group wrote with Shel Silverstein and showed their love of life.

Their country rock and close harmony can be heard in 'Mama I'll Sing One Song' and 'Carry Me Carrie'. Dennis had fun singing 'Sleepin' Late' and tugging at the heart strings with 'Kiss It Away', 'Life Ain't Easy' and 'When She Cries'.

The commercial songs were their greatest hits. Unfortunately they were to become a safety net and boredom and dissatisfaction began to creep in. Songs like 'If I'd Only Come And Gone', 'When Lily Was Queen' and 'Queen of the Silver Dollar' may not have been commercial hits but they were the soul of Dr Hook and the Medicine Show.