Time Line

September 25th 1930 Shel (Sheldon Allen) Silverstein born in Chicago , Illinois
February 1st 1937 Ray Sawyer born in Chicksaw , Alabama
July 28th 1938 George Cummings born Meridian , Mississippi
Jan 16th 1942 Billy Francis born in Ocean Springs , Mississippi
March 3rd 1944 Jance Garfat born in Califirnia
April 28th 1945 John (Christian) Wolters born in Florida ?
July 6th 1945 Richard (Rik) Elswit born in California
August 8th 1948 John (Jay) David born in Bayonne , New Jersey
June 13th 1949 Dennis Locorriere born in Jersey City , New Jersey
xxx Rod Smarr born in yyy
1950 Billed as “Little John David from Bayonne New Jersey” , Jay began performing at the age of 2 on New York City’s NBC radio. Jay could be heard singing live each Sunday on the Horn and Hardardt Children’s Hour show.
April 29th 1951 Bob "Willard" Henke born xxx , yyy
Sept 1960 SANDY RECORDS (Owned by Johnny Bozeman and Paul Dubois ) , based in Mobile Alabama , release Ray Sawyer's first single , "Rockin' Satellite" b/w "Bells in my heart"
on Sandy Records
Sept 1962 SANDY RECORDS release second Ray Sawyer single , "I'm gonna leave" b/w "You gave me the right"
1964 Aged 16 , Jay won the US National Championship in Drum & Bugle Corps.
1966 - Portland , Oregon Ray Sawyer seriously injured in automobile accident. Injuries include loss of right eye .
1967-68 Ray , Billy & George form band The Chocolate Papers . Other members of this band were Bobby Dimingus (drums), Popeye Phillips (drums) and Jimmy "Wolf Cub" Allen (bass). about The Chocolate Papers
1968 - N.J Popeye Philips leaves and is invited to join Chris Hillman & Gram Parson (ex-Byrds) . They , along with bassist Chris Ethridge & pedal steel guitarist Sneaky Pete Kleinow , name themselves The Flying Burrito Brothers. The band recorded their debut album, The Gilded Palace Of Sin, for A & M Records in 1969.

1968 - 69 Jay David was the drummer for world famous Country Music artist Brenda Lee (famous for the hit “I’m Sorry”).
Feb 1969 - Union City , N.J George had formed a band and the owner asked him to come up with a name so he could put a sign up in front of the club. He borrowed a pencil from him and on a piece of paper wrote "Doctor Hook & The Medicine Show, straight from the South, serving up soul music." That's exactly how the name came about. about this
1970 - New York Ron Haffkine is working as Musical Director on the Dustin Hoffman film "Who is Harry Kellerman and why is he saying these terrible things about me?" Music and Songs by Shel Silverstein . about Harry Kellerman
1970 - New York While working as the staff drummer for Mercury Records in New York City, Jay heard a demo of the Shel Silverstein penned song “The Last Morning” and was subsequently asked to become the drummer for the new act responsible for recording the demo, ”Dr. Hook And The Medicine Show”.
1970 Dr.Hook & The Medicine Show perform music for and appear in "Who is Harry Kellerman..."
1970 Clive Davis sign the band to Columbia Records following an unorthodox and unforgettable audition ! about the audition !
May 15th 1972 Dennis & Jay record the basis if what is to become the classic track "Carry me , Carrie" in a recording Studio in Chicago . about the recording session
November 9th 1972 "Dr Hook's VD and Medicine Shows" article in Rolling Stone Iss 121	Read It !
March 23rd 1973 "Dr Hook ~ This Is Your Life" article in Rolling Stone Issue 131	Read It !
April 1974 Dr Hook & The Medicine Show tour the UK , including : April 3rd ~ Barbarella's , Birmingham April 5th ~ Stone Ground , Manchester April 6th ~ Rainbow Theatre , London April 7th ~ Pavillion , Hemel Hempstead
July 31st 1975 "Goodbye Bunny ~ Hello Dr Hook" article in Rolling Stone Iss 192	Read It !
June 1976 Dr Hook tour the UK , including : June 2nd ~ Wolverhapton Civic Hall June 3rd ~ Leicester - De Montfort Hall June 5th ~ Brsitol - Colston Hall June 6th ~ Croydon - Fairfiled Hall June 7th ~ London - Hammersmith Odeon June 8th ~ Southport - New Theatre June 9th ~ Manchester - Free Trade Hall June 10th ~ Glasgow - Apollo June 11th ~ Newcastle - City Hall June 12th ~ Sheffield - City Hall
Feb 1977 Capitol Records release Ray Sawyer solo album
Sept / Oct 1977 Dr Hook tour the Europe, including : Sept 16th - Oct 3rd ~ Norway , Denmark , Germany Oct 6th ~ Manchester - Belle Vue Oct 8th ~ Liverpool - Empire Oct 9th ~ Glasgow - Apollo Oct 10th ~ Newcastle - City Hall Oct 11th ~ Stafford - Bingley Hall Oct 12th ~ Cardiff - Sophia Gardens Oct 14th ~ London - Rainbow Oct 15th ~ London - Rainbow Oct 19th ~ Brighton Center Oct 21st - 24th ~ Germany
March 22nd 1979 "Dr Hook overtime an identity crisis" article in Rolling Stone Issue 287	Read It !
April / May 1980 Dr Hook tour the Europe, including : April 21st ~ Dublin - National Stadium April 22nd ~ Dublin - National Stadium April 24th ~ Glasgow - Apollo April 25th ~ Glasgow - Apollo April 26th ~ Manchester - Apollo April 27th ~ Liverpool - Empire April 28th ~ Birmingham - Odeon April 30th ~ London - Hammersmith Odeon May 1st ~ London - Hammersmith Odeon May 2nd ~ Brighton Center May 3rd ~ London - Rainbow May 5th - May 24th ~ Norway , Germany , Netherlands , France
Autum (Fall) 1980 Dr Hook sign new contract with Casablanca / Polygram First album on that label - "Rising" - released Oct 1980
Nov 1st - 14th 1980 Dr Hook tour Europe to promote new album and single "Girls can get it"
Feb 21st - March 8th 1981 Dr Hook tour Australia . Numerous TV appearances including The Don Lane Show
Oct / Nov 1981 Dr Hook tour the UK Some shows are recorded to produce "Dr Hook Live In The UK" album
Jan 5th 1982 Dr Hook fly into Canada to record a TV special with Ronnie Hawkins entitled "Ronnie Hawkins & The Hawks with soecial guests Dr Hook"
Jan - March 1982 Dr Hook tour USA , finishing with 3 nights at Lake Tahoe , Nevada
1982 George Cummings collaborates with Anthony Robertson with Happy Gospel Boogie . Happy Gospel Boogie	Photo courtesy of Anthony Robertson , taken at The Dusty Stables 1982
Oct / Nov 1982 Dr Hook tour the UK Due to illness , John Wolters is replaced by Walter Hartman on drums
Jan 1984 Ray Sawyer announces his departure from the band to persue a solo career
Feb 1984 "Dr Hook with Dennis Locorriere" Tour UK
May 19th - June 18th 1985 Dr.Hook perform their "One and Only Farewell Tour" of UK
But Dennis assures us ..... "There is a happy ending !"
September 10th 1987 "Dr Hook - Where are they now ?" article in Rolling Stone Issue 508	Read It !
1989 - New York City Shel phones Dennis to invite him to perform his one man show "The Devil and Billy Markham" at the Lincoln Center . Dennis agrees to do it !
May 1991 Dennis Locorriere visits UK for First Solo Tour
May 1992 EMI Release "Completely Hooked" compilation CD
1992 Dennis Locorriere undertakes 5-week mini-tour of UK and promotes "Completely Hooked"
1994 Dennis Locorriere undertakes mini-tour of UK
June 16th 1997 John Wolters dies of Liver Cancer
May 10th 1999 Shel Silverstein found dead (Heart Attack) at his Key West home
2000 Dennis releases solo cd "Out of the Dark"
2002 Jay David releases solo CD "Didn't It Rain" . All instruments played by Jay Himself !	Jay's solo work
May 2002 "Dr Hook featuring Ray Sawyer" Tour Bus involved in minor accident . Ray is hospitalised with a collapsed lung but is back on the road within a few weeks .
Oct 2002 Ray Sawyer's eldest son Michael sadly passes away following a heart attack
Sept 20th 2003 George Cummings and other guests appear with Baby Blues in Orlando , Florida at a charity concert for the homeless	about Baby Blues
2003??? "Alone with Dennis Locorriere" CD released
December 2003 "Alone with Dennis Locorriere" concert available on DVD
November 6th 2006 Jance Garfat (62) tragically killed in a motorcycle accident in Oakland , Ca .
Feb 26th 2007 EMI Records release "Dr Hook Hits & History" CD & DVD package
March 2nd 2007 Dennis kicks-off a 35 date tour of UK to promote the "Hits & History" package . Dennis is accompanied by 5-piece All-Star band comprising : Clive Gregson Andy Roberts Sev Lewkowicz Martin Hughes Mark Griffiths Please click HERE to see Dennis & his band's itinerary or read Sev's Tour Diary (© Sev Lewkovicz 2007) If you missed the tour , don't PANIC ... 'cos .....	Photo by Judy Totton © 2007
July 16th 2007 "The Dr Hook - Hits & History Tour" show at Dartford's 'The Orchard' was recorded for DVD Release Dates : UK July 16th Europe July 27th USA Sept 18th Australia - TBA - Watch this space Available from all good stores - and a few bad ones - including Amazon & HVM For more infomation including track details , video snippets and On-Line Ordering from Dennis' Web Site , please click on DVD cover !
May 5th 2008 BGO Records release Double CD / Triple Album Package Digitally Re-Mastered Click on CD cover to Pre-Order from Amazon !