Ray Sawyer and Dennis Locorriere

Siamese rock twins separated at birth

"Hey Ray, hey sugar – tell ‘em who we are..."

Well we’re big rock singers we got golden fingers
And we’re loved everywhere we go
We sing about beauty and we sing about truth
At ten thousand dollars a show

Everyone knows Dr. Hook – they think of the tongue in cheek self-parodies by Shel Silverstein and of a band that didn’t take itself too seriously. They also think of suggestive, dreamy romantic disco ballads.

And oddly enough, many still even think that Dr.Hook is one of the people in the band (sort of like the ‘Jethro Tull syndrome’)! More so, which person? More than likely they are under the mistaken impression that the guy with the eye patch and crushed cowboy hat is Dr. Hook (mind you, not CAPTAIN Hook…). Well, that’s Ray Sawyer. The other guy, the frontman who did the crooning; the one with the sweet voice? That’s Dennis Locorriere.

Well, let’s get this straight – I’m going to claim that there are TWO Dr. Hooks! The true name of the band is ‘Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show’ (therefore, the rest of the band must be the ‘Medicine Show’ - apparently they are aptly named, as you may have guessed).

IN THE BEGINNING...

George Cummings called together several of his ‘southern soul brothers’ together in 1968 to form the band. George is also credited with naming the group on the spot, adding a tagline: ‘straight from the South, serving up soul music’. Their roots were in country music, although they could play nearly any style, including bluegrass, R&B and psychedelic rock.

Their early stage performances, beginning in 1968 are nothing short of surreal. It was like watching a schizophrenic adaptation of Shakespeare. Everything was amplified times ten and everybody (in the band) had a good time. Let’s call it well-rehearsed and reckless self-abandon! Manic playing, silly pranks, true camaraderie and lots of giggling. These were the days, my friend.

Shel Silverstein wrote the words for many of Dr. Hook’s early songs (in fact, he wrote their entire second album), such as ‘Sylvia's Mother’, ‘Everybody's Makin' It Big But Me’, ‘Penicillin Penny’, ‘The Ballad Of Lucy Jordan’, ‘Carry Me Carrie’, ‘The Wonderful Soup Stone’, and at least 24 more, some co-written with Ray Sawyer and/or Dennis Locorriere.

If you’ve never seen the first incarnation of Dr. Hook, and most people haven’t; look no further than YouTube. What a goldmine YouTube is turning out to be for die-hard rock fanatics and hippies. What you are about to see will blow your mind, ‘if our minds can really be blown...’

GET IT WHILE IT'S HOT!

Here’s a quick summary of some very rare, disturbing, and hilariously bawdy Dr.Hook from the early ‘70s currently available on YouTube:

1. Bunky and Lucille is a song that Shel Silverstein wrote for the movie, Who is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me? (1971), starring a very young Dustin Hoffman, who happened to be in the audience (He is introduced as Georgie, his character in the movie).

Shel invites Dustin up on stage with where he is singing with Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show (note: this is even before they signed a recording contract) and they strap a guitar onto him. Priceless!

2. Scum of the Earth – footage from The Old Grey Whistle Test of Dr. Hook singing the saga of a rock group called 'Scum of the Earth', which is presented in a stream-of-consciousness recounting.

Hilarious lyrics and antics by the band... only Dennis plays, and the other members come trouping in carrying a huge safety pin which constantly hangs over Dennis’ head. They sing the chorus, which describes:

And The Scum of the Earth they just keep boogyin' on
Higher and higher until the fire was burned out and gone
And The Scum of the Earth they just keep boogyin' on

This is the verse that did me in (!):

On lead guitar was Static he was a hey health-food fanatic
He lived on berries and nuts and had scurvy and rickets
He did his Yoga excercisin' and he kept on tryin' and tryin'
'til finally he could bend all the way over and lick it

3. Cover of the Rolling Stone – another The Old Grey Whistle Test performance, the likes of which is freaky and disturbing, to say the least! To say the least, this is an EXTENDED VERSION with a very bizarre solo by George between the yell: "Rock and Roll!" and "We’ve got a lot of little teenage blue-eyed groupies".

Guaranteed to make you come away shaking your head in disbelief (or in awe –there’s two ways about everything).

4. The Yodel Song - a showcase for Ray’s vocal talents this time, including onstage banter with his constant sidekick Dennis; who introduces the ‘Triple Yodel’ (one the most difficult yodels in the world to do) , and the ‘Amazing Quadruple Yodel’. Bonus feature: Billy Francis abandons his keyboards and does the most insane (you may not agree) jig I ever saw.

5. Sylvia’s Mother - My favourite and their first big hit from their first album. I had always wanted to see the man who sang this song so passionately. I could never get the tune quite out of my mind.

True to form, Dennis – however unlikely he looked at the time, pours out the passion, perhaps even more so ‘live’. He’s just such a natural! Dennis is ‘the voice of Dr. Hook' (the voice that could get bikers begging to hear ‘Only Sixteen’ at concerts!) However, this is obviously a later version of the song, as Dennis remarks with mock sarcasm:

"We’re gonna play a song you heard on the radio a long time ago, and probably got very very sick of, and uh… we’re sorry"

To add insult to injury, as if the band can’t stand to play it ‘straight’ any longer, at the last refrain they erupt into a screaming raunch n’ roll frenzy. Ray tries to calm Dennis down, to which he remarks off-the-cuff:

"You people have heard this too much..."

WATCH CLASSIC DR.HOOK VIDEOS NOW

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THE SECOND COMING

Eventually, (some will disagree) Dr. Hook 'jumped the shark' and had a disco identity crisis.

But to the surprise of many – Dr. Hook survived and continued to thrive! This is the Dr. Hook that the ‘younger generation’ probably remembers.

This, I may add – is what I refer to as the 'Second Dr. Hook'. The band members now dressed up in suits. Session musicians were brought in for the studio recordings. Dennis was regroomed into a Barry Gibb clone, gone was his trademark beard that reminds me of an Ozark Mountain Daredevil. Even his hair was airbrushed!

Many fine songs emerged, largely from Dennis, who became the sole frontman after Ray left the band in 1983 to pursue a solo career. Perhaps he didn’t like disco... Dennis himself disbanded the group in 1985 with a "One & Only Farewell Tour", a decision which was not popular with the remaining members of the group. However, he remained close to Shel Silverstein until Silverstein's death in 1989.

THE RESURRECTION

The internet has spawned a new generation of Dr. Hook fans who deserve to know the full range of the band, from their humble hillbilly roots to a world-wide fame spanning different musical genres.

Bonus song #1: Storms Never Last from the 1979 UK Tour.

Bonus song #2: Years from Now (stereo)

Founding member, George Cummings, who left the group in 1975 due to illness and personal reasons, "is still a little amazed that the strength and devotion of the following has lasted this long. I think that it was our live shows, our energy and devotion to pleasing our audiences".

DR. HOOKS ON THE ROAD

Ray is using the name 'Dr. Hook featuring Ray Sawyer' and has been on the road playing club dates since 1989 with former band-mate Bill Francis joining him. Ray is putting the finishing touches on the first album of ALL NEW Ray/Dr. Hook material in well over two decades, and penning his autobiography (it may take a few years). Ray has been playing live music for well over 50 years now, and he’s barely 70 years young.

Dennis, age 57, is living in Sussex, England, and playing his role as 'The Voice of Dr Hook'. His latest tour (Spring 2007) is called: 'Dr Hook – Hits and Memories'.

Says Dennis : "For 15 years I toured 300 days a year with Dr Hook but in 1985 we split up and for 15 years I kept my head down, until I decided to pop it up again". He has a 'Dr. Hook Hits and History' CD/DVD set coming out this year (2007) as well as a studio album of original material (full biography).

REUNION TALK?

George Cummings has said that he 'is open' to the possibility of reuniting with his southern soulbrothers, but it won’t happen "unless someone comes up with enough finances and work to compensate me for all the shortcomings."

Dennis says that he’s already had his farewell tour and it seems pointless to do one 15 years later. Besides, the only people who ask him about a reunion are everyone except the other band members… which kind of tells you something!

Ray Sawyer remains silent.

TREASURE THE MEMORIES

There will never be times like those again. Those treasures from the vaults of time are rare and priceless, and luckily recovered from Pandora’s box: the Secret YouTube stashes. That is… IF YOU HAVE THE COURAGE TO LOOK! (you may be killed by the curiousity.) But don’t worry, there are more priceless Dr.Hook videos out there, now that you know where to look.

Thanks for reading!

Another Dr.Hook article

Thanks to:
1. http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=FarbrorFrippe (Bunky & Lucille)
2. http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=skipcarnuba (Cover of the Rolling Stone) (Silvia’s Mother)
3. http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=MadDadDK (The Yodel Song) (Scum of the Earth)
4. http://www.raysawyer.com/
5. http://www.dennislocorriere.com/
6. http://www.georgecummings.net/ (mostly under construction - he's new at this!)
7. http://billyfrancis.homestead.com/index~ns4.html Keyboardist Billy Francis
8. http://www.raypoole.co.uk/
9. http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A14435480 Dr.Hook biography on h2g2
10. http://www.doctorhook.com/ The Albums, Interviews, Articles & Info Archives
11. http://www.drhookpleasureandpain.com/
12. http://www.sylviasmother.com/
13. http://www.flickr.com/photos/m-alo/475088287/in/set-72157600143852967/ m-alo

Technorati Tag(s): Dr.Hook , Dr. Hook , Dr Hook , Ray Sawyer , Dennis Locorriere , George Cummings , Shel Silverstein , Silvia's Mother , Cover of the Rolling Stone .