The founding core of the band consisted of George Cummings, Ray Sawyer and Billy Francis, who had first worked together circa 1966 in Mobile, Alabama in a band called Chocolate Papers.[1][2] Cummings, Sawyer and Francis started a new band up in Union City, New Jersey in 1968 and included primary vocalist Dennis Locorriere, who initially joined as a bass player.
By 1969, the new band was named Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show: Tonic for the Soul. The name, thought up by Cummings, was inspired by Sawyer's eyepatch and a reference to Captain Hook of the Peter Pan fairy tale. Sawyer lost his right eye in a near-fatal car crash in Oregon in 1967 and, after that, wore an eyepatch, leading some people to believe that he was Dr Hook; when asked by fans which band member was Dr Hook, they would all point to the bus driver.
Career: 1968-1971
Popeye Phillips, who had been the drummer in Chocolate Papers, left the band to become a session musician, contributing to the first album by the Flying Burrito Brothers. Drummer Joseph Olivier was the drummer by the time Cummings, Sawyer and Francis had relocated to New Jersey. Just before Dr. Hook began recording its first demos, Olivier was replaced by session drummer Jay David, who became a band member in 1970.
In 1971 the group met with Clive Davis of CBS Records. David used a wastebasket in the meeting to keep the beat, and Francis danced on the mogul's desk while Sawyer, Locorriere, and Cummings played and sang. With the CBS Records deal, the band experienced international success with Haffkine as the group's manager and producer.
In 1972, after recording their debut album, the band added a full-time bassist, Jance Garfat, and another guitarist, Rik Elswit.
Career: 1972
Haffkine, having a knack for picking songs, quickly became Dr. Hook's No. 1 A&R man and their producer and manager. Shel Silverstein wrote all the songs for their self-titled debut album, released in May 1972. Doctor Hook featured lead vocals, guitar, bass and harmonica by Locorriere, steel guitarist Cummings and singer Sawyer, plus drummer David and keyboard player Billy Francis. The album sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA on August 2, 1972.[3] It has been released 20 times in the US, Canada and Europe. The single "Sylvia's Mother", a subtle parody of teen-heartbreak weepers, flopped on first release, but with some more promotional muscle, became the band's first million-seller and hit the top five in the summer of 1972.
Silverstein continued to write songs for Dr. Hook, including their entire second album, Sloppy Seconds, released in the US, Australia, Europe and Canada in February 1973. It featured some of their most famous songs, including "Freakin' at the Freaker's Ball" and "The Cover of 'Rolling Stone'". The album was listed in the Billboard 200 in 1973.
The band's second single, "The Cover of 'Rolling Stone'" (December 1972), was another million-selling disc in early 1973,[3] poking fun at the idea that a musician had "made it" if they had been pictured on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. Haffkine visited Jann Wenner, one of the founders of Rolling Stone, proclaiming, "I've just given you guys the best commercial for this rag that you'll ever get." Wenner then sent Cameron Crowe (who later wrote and directed Almost Famous about his time as a music journalist), then 16 years old, to interview the band for issue 131 (March 1973). Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show appeared on the cover, albeit in caricature rather than in a photograph. In the United Kingdom, the BBC Radio network refused to play "The Cover of 'Rolling Stone'", because it considered doing so would be advertising a trademark name. CBS Records responded by setting up a phone line to play the song to anyone willing to dial in, which helped build the buzz. The BBC found itself able to play the song only after some of its DJs edited themselves shouting the words "Radio Times" (a BBC-owned magazine) over "Rolling Stone".
Career: 1973-1974
"Belly Up!" redirects here. For the unrelated novel, see Belly Up.
The group had difficulty meeting the high expectations created by Sloppy Seconds and the result was Belly Up! (November 1973), which was unfortunately prophetic. The album was sold in the US, UK, Europe and Canada. Dr. Hook was just as famed for their crazed stage antics, ranging from surreal banter to impersonating their opening acts; the group's disregard for business matters led to bankruptcy. "If we were in the black when we finished a tour, we'd party into the red," says Locorriere. They were forced to file bankruptcy in 1974, although they continued to tour incessantly.
The Medicine Show's lineup changed a few more times over the years. When David left the group in 1973, he was replaced by John Wolters. The next to depart was founding band member Cummings, who left in August 1975 due to illness, plus personal and musical differences. The band did not replace him. When Elswit was diagnosed with cancer in 1976, the band added Bob "Willard" Henke (formerly of Goose Creek Symphony). Elswit recovered and returned to the lineup, but they kept Henke on for a while.
In 1974 Dr. Hook recorded an album that was to be titled Fried Face; It was not released.
Career: 1975-1985
The band shortened its name to Dr. Hook in 1975. They signed with Capitol Records in 1975, releasing the aptly titled Bankrupt. Unlike previous projects, this album included original material written by the group. The hit from the project was a reworked version of Sam Cooke's "Only Sixteen" (US number 6), revitalizing their career and charted in the top ten in 1976.
Haffkine discovered a song titled "A Little Bit More" written and originally performed by Bobby Gosh and released on his 1973 album Sitting in the Quiet, on a record he purchased for 35 cents at a flea market in San Francisco. The band recorded and released the song, which reached number 11 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and spent two weeks at number nine on the Cash Box Top 100. It also reached number two on the UK Singles Chart, matching "Sylvia's Mother".
The band followed Bankrupt with 1976's A Little Bit More (named after the hit), which was certified double gold in Australia in November 1976.[4] It was quickly followed in turn by the 1977 album Making Love And Music which gave them a number 1 hit single in Australia with "Walk Right In", then came Pleasure & Pain (October 1978), which featured "Sharing the Night Together" (US number 6) and "When You're in Love with a Beautiful Woman" (US number 6). Sometimes You Win (October 1979) brought forth "Better Love Next Time" (US number 12) in late 1979 and "Sexy Eyes" (US number 5) in 1980. Save for "A Little Bit More" (US number 11), these singles were certified million-sellers. "When You're in Love with a Beautiful Woman" reached number 1 for several weeks in 1979 in the UK. Though the band toured constantly, they had yet to manage to turn their success with singles into album sales.
Pleasure and Pain was Dr. Hook's first gold album in the US. The band changed labels again to Casablanca Records in 1980, but could not replicate earlier successes. In late 1980, Dr. Hook released "Girls Can Get It" (US number 34) and had their final top 40 hit (which peaked in the US at number 25) with "Baby Makes Her Blue-Jeans Talk" in 1982.
Guitarist Rod Smarr replaced Henke on guitar in 1980, Walter Hartman subbed for Wolters on drums from 1982–1983 and Leonard Wolfe played keyboards alongside Francis in 1983–1985.
Ray Sawyer left in 1983 to pursue a solo career, while the band continued to tour for another couple of years, ending with Dr. Hook's One and Only Farewell Tour in 1985, with Locorriere as the sole frontman.[citation needed]
After Dr. Hook: 1985 to present
After Dr. Hook split up, Dennis Locorriere retained ownership of the band's name. However, from 1988 to 2015, Sawyer was granted a license to tour separately as "Ray Sawyer of Dr. Hook" or "Dr. Hook featuring Ray Sawyer" (joined for a time in 2001 by Billy Francis); Sawyer did not perform publicly after his last tour ended in October 2015 and died on December 31, 2018, at the age of 81.[5][6][7][8]
Billy Francis, after joining Sawyer in 2001 during his Dr. Hook concerts, died on May 23, 2010, at age 68.
After the original band split, Dennis Locorriere released several solo albums and toured under the names Voice of Dr. Hook and Dennis Locorriere Celebrates Dr. Hook Hits and History Tour. Now fronting the band Dr Hook starring Dennis Locorriere,[9][10] he started the Dr Hook 50th Anniversary World Tour in 2019, but this was postponed due to Locorriere undergoing a prostate procedure resulting in kidney problems.[11][12] The band resumed their 50th Anniversary Tour on September 3, 2021, with a show at Manchester's Bridgewater Hall and with performances scheduled for Scandinavia, the UK and Ireland in 2022.[13] Currently Locorriere's version of Dr Hook is made up of John Maher, Michelle Cordelli, Damien Cooper, Tim Bye, Jon Poole and Ryan Farmery.[14]
Former bass player Robert Jance Garfat (born March 3, 1944) died in a motorcycle accident on November 6, 2006 at age 62.
Former guitarist and keyboardist Bob 'Willard' Henke died on February 2, 2023, at the age of 71.[15]
Members
Dennis Locorriere – vocals, guitar, bass, harmonica (1969–1985, 2019–present)
Ray Sawyer – vocals, guitar, percussion, congas, maracas (1969–1983, 1988–2015, died 2018)
Billy Francis – keyboards, vocals (1969–1985, 2001; died 2010)
George Cummings – lead and steel guitars, vocals (1969–1975)
John "Jay" David – drums, vocals (1970–1973)
Rik Elswit – guitar, vocals (1972–1985)
Jance Garfat – bass (1972–1985; died 2006)
John Wolters – drums (1973–1982, 1983–1985; died 1997)
Bob 'Willard' Henke – guitar, keyboards (1976–1980; died 2023)
Rod Smarr – guitar (1980–1985; died 2012)
Walter Hartman – drums (1982–1983)
Leonard Wolfe – keyboards (1983–1985)
Joseph Olivier – drums (1969-1971)
Timeline
Discography
Studio and live albums
(from the 1975 album Bankrupt onwards, the band name was shortened to Dr. Hook)
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory.
Notes
↑ "The Wild Colonial Boy" was included on some Australian copies of Rising.
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