George Cummings (July 28, 1938 in

Meridian, Mississippi Meridian is the List of municipalities in Mississippi, seventh largest city in the U.S. state of Mississippi, with a population of 41,148 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census and an estimated population in 2018 of 36,347. It is the count ...

) is a guitarist and songwriter based in

Bayonne, New Jersey Bayonne ( ) is a city in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. Located in the Gateway Region, Bayonne is situated on a peninsula located between Newark Bay to the west, the Kill Van Kull to the south, and New York Bay to the east. As of ...

and in recent years,

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

The Chocolate Papers

Darryl Vincent and the Flares was formed in Meridian, Mississippi in 1956, and Cummings joined the group in 1959. In the 1960s, Cummings was a member of the Chocolate Papers, along with

Ray Sawyer Ray Sawyer (February 1, 1937 – December 31, 2018) was an American percussionist and vocalist with the 1970s rock band Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show. Though primarily a backing vocalist and occasional percussionist on congas or maracas, he sang ...

, Bill Francis, Bobby Dominguez, Popeye Phillips, and Jimmy "Wolf Cub" Allen. The Chocolate Papers toured clubs in Mississippi, Alabama, and South Carolina, before settling in Biloxi as the house band at the popular 800-seat Gus Stevens Restaurant, the first Gulf Coast supper club to offer upscale entertainment with such headliners as

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

Andy Griffith Andy Samuel Griffith (June 1, 1926 – July 3, 2012) was an American actor, comedian, television producer, southern gospel singer and writer whose career spanned seven decades in music and television. Known for his Southern drawl, his characte ...

Mel Tormé Melvin Howard Tormé (September 13, 1925 – June 5, 1999), nicknamed "The Velvet Fog", was an American musician, singer, composer, arranger, drummer, actor, and author. He composed the music for "The Christmas Song" ("Chestnuts Roasting on an Op ...

Jayne Mansfield Jayne Mansfield (born Vera Jayne Palmer; April 19, 1933 – June 29, 1967) was an American actress, singer, nightclub entertainer, and ''Playboy'' Playmate. A sex symbol of the 1950s and early 1960s while under contract at 20th Century Fox, Man ...

, and

Mamie Van Doren Mamie Van Doren (born Joan Lucille Olander; February 6, 1931) is an American actress, singer, and sex symbol. She is perhaps best known for the rock 'n' roll, juvenile delinquency exploitation film ''Untamed Youth'' (1957). Early life Van Do ...

. The Chocolate Papers moved to Chicago, but Cummings soon decided to form his own band in the New York area.

Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show

Cummings found fame with Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show, the group he named and founded in

Union City, New Jersey Union City is a city in the northern part of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. According to the 2020 United States Census the city had a total population of 68,589,The Flying Burrito Brothers The Flying Burrito Brothers are an American country rock band, best known for their influential 1969 debut album, ''The Gilded Palace of Sin''. Although the group is perhaps best known for its connection to band founders Gram Parsons and Chris ...

before the band achieved success, and Francis rejoined Cummings shortly after Locorriere joined.) Cummings brought the nineteen-year-old Dennis Locorriere into the band as a bass player. While playing the Bandbox club in Union City, the owner asked George what the name of his band was, and on the spur of the moment, he wrote down "Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show, Straight from the South, serving up Soul Music". They recorded their debut album for CBS/Columbia in 1970, and sold a million copies of their single, "Sylvia's Mother," when it was re-released in July, 1972. The group was caricatured on the cover of ''Rolling Stone''. Cummings sang the bass-register lead vocal on the second verse of " The Cover of the Rolling Stone", as well as playing the comical lead guitar on the instrumental break in concerts (Locorriere actually played it on the recording). He also sang "Makin' It Natural", "Penicillin Penny" (both written by

Shel Silverstein Sheldon Allan Silverstein (; September 25, 1930 – May 10, 1999) was an American writer, poet, cartoonist, singer / songwriter, musician, and playwright. Born and raised in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, Silverstein briefly attended universit ...

), and "I Got Stoned and I Missed It" (co-written by Cummings with Silverstein).

Collaborations

In 1978, at the

Muscle Shoals Sound Studio Muscle Shoals Sound Studio is an American recording studio in Sheffield, Alabama, formed in 1969 by four session musicians known as The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section. They had left nearby FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals to create their own recor ...

, he collaborated with the legendary Delta bluesman

Big Joe Williams Joseph Lee "Big Joe" Williams (October 16, 1903 – December 17, 1982) was an American Delta blues guitarist, singer and songwriter, notable for the distinctive sound of his nine-string guitar. Performing over five decades, he recorded the s ...

on one of the singer's last albums, ''The Final Years: Big Joe Williams''. Co-produced by Cummings, Joe B. Stewart, and Ken Hatley, this album was released in 1993 by Gitanes Jazz/Verve. In 2003, Cummings worked with Ken Hatley on the soundtrack for ''Florida City'', a film drama about advance knowledge of the Pearl Harbor attack. In the spring of 2004, the Flares were reborn in

Lebanon, Tennessee Lebanon is the county seat of Wilson County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 38,431 at the 2020 census. Lebanon is located in Middle Tennessee, approximately east of downtown Nashville. Lebanon is part of the Nashville Metropolit ...

when Cummings joined original members Jim Pasquale (guitar) and Norman "Knobby" Lowell (drums), along with Nashville singer-songwriters Scotty Cothran, Harold Hutchcraft, Jack Bond, and Forest Borders, to cut the comeback album, ''It Is What It Is''. In September 2005, Cummings began recording a solo CD, working with Pasquale and Hutchcraft.

References

External links

Online chat with George Cummings (28 July 2001)Reverbnation.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cummings, George 1938 births American rock guitarists American male guitarists American rock songwriters American rock singers American male singer-songwriters Musicians from Meridian, Mississippi Living people Singer-songwriters from Mississippi Blues musicians from Mississippi Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show members People from Nashville, Tennessee Musicians from Bayonne, New Jersey Singer-songwriters from New Jersey Singer-songwriters from Tennessee Guitarists from Mississippi Guitarists from Tennessee Guitarists from New Jersey 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians Singer-songwriters from New York (state)