Remembering Billy Francis on the anniversary of his Birthday William Billy Allen Francis, Jr. (January 16, 1942 -May 23, 2010) Son of William Francis, Sr. and Reba Strickland Francis, he was born in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. He was one of the original members of Dr. Hook And The Medicine Show, widely known for his keyboard and vocals. Sylvias Mother youtu.be/U-3o7bYMRbA Quote from Ray Sawyers public MySpace blog entry: I first met Billy in 1960, I was 23 years old and Billy was 18. I had just became the leader of the Band at Cottrels. (A local night club) in Mobile. We had Amateur night on Wednesdays and Billy came in . He got on the show and won the contest. He played a boogie woogie in the key of C (the only key he knew) I hired him and we learned Music together ! ! Over the years we played in many Bands together. In 1968 we played in a Band put together by Popeye Phillips called The Chocolate Papers. That Band consisted of Bobby Domingus, Popeye Phillips, Jimmy Allen, George Cummings, Billy Francis and Me ! That Band broke up and people went their own way. George Cummings wound up in New Jersey . Then I went up and joined his Band ! We then called Billy, who was in Chicago at the time , to come on up and join us. We then formed Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show Billy was truly one of the Greatest Souls Ive ever met in my life. I Love him like a Brother and I will miss him Very Much. Ive Lost a Life Time Friend. See Ya Later Pal Ray Quote From DLs Blog Billy Francis was an original member of Dr Hook. In the very early days, the band was Ray Sawyer, George Cummings, myself and a drummer named Teddy. We first played at The BandBox in Union City, New Jersey. Every once in awhile Ray would play the old, half tuned piano that was permanently up on their little stage. There was talk of a friend that played Hammond organ back down in Mississippi and that they might give him a call and see what he was doing. I woke up one morning with someone shaking my foot. That someone was a guy with a long, dark moustache, wearing a wool hat and a Navy peacoat. It was Billy. Hed arrived from Biloxi, driving his little red Mustang convertible, but his organ had not. It had been shipped and was lost somewhere in transit. Wed recently moved clubs and were playing at a place called The Playpen (with a sign outside that read TOO EXCITING TOO EXPLAIN!) in Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey. The clientele were a bunch of old soaks who couldnt care less if there was a band or not. There was a piano in the room with a raggedy little Xmas set up tree on it. We asked if our new keyboard player could play it until his Hammond arrived, but the owner refused, saying the sound would vibrate the tree off on to the floor. So, Billy sat for a few nights and listened. Unsurprisingly, we didnt last very long at The Playpen and wound up in another dive down in Jersey City called Oyster Bay. By that time, Teddy the drummer was long gone, but the organ had been located and Billy was officially a player in the band. Its well documented that Hook had a pretty long and successful run over the next 15 years. Billy was in the group and on the road from the first club and college dates thru the (One and Only) Farewell Tour in 1985. He and I were pretty closely in contact for the next several years, but had lost touch, personally, in the last decade or so. I recvd a few email some weeks ago telling me that Billy had passed away, but I already knew. I had been contacted by his family and a friend of his. A couple of posts were also stuck in the middle of our busy guestbook, but I didnt feel thats where they should stay. There are only a few of us original members of the band still around these days. Tick-tock, tick-tock. I could say that weve all had our differences over the years. Theyre almost as big a part of our legend as the music. The fact remains that anytime you ever saw or will ever see the original Dr Hook (with or without The Medicine Show) Billy was and will be there. Thats what will last. Billy Francis January 16th 1942 - May 23rd 2010 D.L. ~ June 15th 2010 In 2010, he died in Nashville Tennessee at age 68. Billy had stomach surgery earlier in the year for a burst or ruptured ulcer, complications followed including pneumonia, blood poisoning and a fall resulting in a broken hip, he passed away from the complication. Info provided by the following: Obituary Published in the Press-Register on June 9, 2010. Special appreciation to Ray Sawyer and Dennis Locorriere for sharing their experiences. For more info: en.m.wikipedia.org/wi…/Dr._Hook_%26_the_Medicine_Show And sylviasmother/general/bf_obit.htm And WWW.DENNISLOCORRIERE.COM
Posted on: Fri, 16 Jan 2015 18:11:58 +0000