DR. HOOK: Cover to Cover

Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show, shortened from 1975 to Dr. Hook, was an American rock band, formed in Union City, New Jersey. The band had eight years of regular hits, in both the United States and throughout the English-speaking world including in the UK and Canada Their music spanned several genres, mostly novelty songs and acoustic ballads in their early years; their greatest success came with their later material.

Shel Silverstein and Baxter Taylor wrote a song called Marie Lavaux, recorded by Dr. Hook on the band's 1971 debut album, "Doctor Hook".  The song is about a fictitious witch who lives in a Louisiana bayou swamp, having the same name as the famous New Orleans Voodoo Queen. She is approached by a scoundrel, "Handsome Jack". Jack asks Marie to conjure up $1,000,000; in exchange, he will then marry her. Marie conjures up the money, but Jack backs out on his end of the bargain, resulting in Marie casting a spell on him in revenge.

In 1975, over twelve years after it was written, Shel and Baxter received a BMI award for the song.

Here is Dr. Hook's version of Marie Laveau:

Robert Joseph "Bobby" Bare, Sr. (born April 7, 1935) is an American Country and Western singer and songwriter, best known for the songs, Detroit City, and 500 Miles Away From Home. 

Bobby Bare recorded Marie Laveau live in 1974. His thirty-fourth single to hit the country charts, it was his only number one and final top-ten country hit. It went to number one for a single week and spent a total of eighteen weeks on the country charts. Here's his version: 

(The information used in this post is from Wikipedia.)

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