Was Dr. Hook Country? Most Said No. Was Dr. Hook Rock? Most Said No. So What Was Dr. Hook?

Who were these guys??

They were Dr. Hook. Or, originally, Dr. Hook and The Medicine Show.

And quick frankly, they couldn't be pinned down. You would hear Dr. Hook on rock stations throughout the 1970's. You would hear Dr. Hook on country stations in the 1970's and 1980's. You might switch to an easy listening station and, yep, there they were!

The song they were best known for, their 'signature' hit was 'Cover Of The Rolling Stone', written (as were many, many of their songs) by Shel Silverstein, a guy I've written about before, a man who I think is one of the two or three most creative songwriter's of the past half century.

Shel also wrote many Bobby Bare classics, including Bobby's only number one hit, 'The Winner'. 'A Boy Named Sue', the Johnny Cash classic? Yep, Shel wrote that too, along with so many more.

Meanwhile, Dr. Hook made a big imprint on country music, even though they wouldn't be considered 'pure country'.  One of my favorites is 'Sharing The Night Together', a song that was a country chart hit in 1978, and of course was also a big pop and easy listening hit as well.

The members of Dr. Hook have gone on to separate careers and separate ways now, but all these years later, I still like to sit down, put on some classic Dr. Hook and crank it on up! It might not exactly be rock, it might not exactly be country, but for me, it is exactly good music!