Dr. Hook

When "Sylvia's Mother" went to number five in 1972, Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show sold over three and a half million copies of this, their debut album. The bulk of the songs were written by children's author and Playboy cartoonist Shel Silverstein, who moved between shady comedy and serious heart songs with ease. Many album purchasers were perplexed to hear "Makin' It Natural" and "Marie Lavaux" on the same record with the lump-in-the-throat tune "Sylvia's Mother." Complicating things further, the public, for the most part, was taken aback once again when Dr. Hook began showing up as an unkempt, high-as-a-kite rock & roll troupe on television shows like American Bandstand and The Midnight Special. Still, their first album serves as very good documentation of a band that would one day produce a handful of Top Ten dance songs. ~ Michael B. Smith, All Music Guide