The Cowsills
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The Cowsills were a band specializing in what would later be defined as "Pop" or "Bubblegum" Rock. The band was formed in the spring of 1965 by four brothers — Barry, Bill, Bob, and John Cowsill — in Newport, Rhode Island. After their initial success, the brothers were later joined by their siblings Susan and Paul and their mother, Barbara.
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[edit] Origins And Early Successes
Originally inspired by the Beatles, the Cowsills developed their musicianship and harmonized vocals in performances at school dances and churches in their hometown. They were encouraged by their parents, Barbara and Bud Cowsill, who drove them around to shows in the family's station wagon. Bud had retired from a long career in the US Navy to manage his children's career together with his wife.
The band drew increasing attention through the 1960's as their musical proficiency improved. In late 1965, the initial four members were hired as a regular act on Bannisters Wharf in Newport where they would sing Beatles songs hour after hour. They also produced their first recordings, and released them on Mercury Records. Despite their appeal, the company passed on a record contract for reasons never specified. In 1966, the band was signed by MGM records, and shortly after Barbara - who would become known to their fans affectionately as "Mini-Mom" due to her diminutive stature - joined the group to record The Rain, The Park and Other Things. Shortly thereafter the band was expanded yet again to include siblings Susan and Paul.
With the success of "The Rain..." the band quickly became a popular act in the U.S., and achieved significant airplay in England and other parts of Europe. "The Rain..." wound up reaching #2 on the Billboard charts, and sold some three million copies in its first release.
Bob Cowsill is quoted as follows on the band's early days:
"Although Bill and I performed at a very young age, and Bill, myself, Barry and John did a lot of frat parties at Brown University and clubs in Newport ... the most memorable performance of what I would view as the precursor of what The Cowsills would be was at King's Park in Newport (right at the foot of Halidon Hall) at some carnival. The family angle just evolved ... first Bill and me, then Bill me and Barry, then Bill, me, Barry and John, then Bill, me, Barry, John and Mom, then Bill, me, Barry, John, Mom and Paul, then later, me, Paul, John, Barry, Mom and Susan, then back to Bill, me, Barry and John (very briefly in the end) and then to me, Paul, John and Susan. Our first real break came when we were playing the MK Hotel in Newport (in the basement there) and a guy from the Today show saw us and asked if we wanted to be on the Today show. We weren't famous or anything but we were young and we were related and we were quite good. So we went on the Today show (I doubt a tape exists of that but if it did it would be priceless to see) and someone from Mercury Records saw us which ultimately led to our signing with that label and putting out "Most Of All" (a great "school's out" song that should have been our first hit in my opinion) which led to Artie Kornfeld and Steve Duboff. Mercury dropped us, but Artie and Steve had written "The Rain, The Park and Other Things" and we went in and recorded that song at A&R studios in New York and took the whole package to MGM who decided wouldn't it just be terrific if their mother performed with them and, voila, the rest, as they say, is history. "
In 1969 they had another number two hit with their version of the title song from the musical Hair.
[edit] Television and The Cowsills
The Cowsills also made many television appearances throughout the late 1960s and into the early 1970s, including on their own television special. They were approached at one point to play the roles of the children on the television series The Partridge Family, a sitcom inspired by their success. But they were not willing to have actress Shirley Jones play the role of their mother instead of their real mother Barbara. The Cowsills were also known as spokespeople for the American Dairy Association, appearing in advertisements promoting milk.
[edit] Breakups and Reunions
In 1971, following a series of personal problems among the family members, and squabbles and disagreements between each other, the Cowsills stopped playing together as a band. The individual members went on to various career attempts within and outside of the music industry, and some produced albums and performed from time to time, albeit not as the Cowsills in their full membership during the remainder of the 70's and up through the majority of the following decade. One project in particular was the band Bridey Murphy, which was formed in the mid-70's and featured Paul, Bill, Barry and Waddy Wachtel, and performed to varying degrees of success.
One notable project during this period occurred in 1978, when several of the Cowsills - Paul, John and Barry - recorded an album entitled "Cocaine Drain". The album was produced by Chuck Plotkin. However, due to difficulties between some of the family members over the final version of the album, it was shelved and has never been released. To this day the surviving members of the band prefer not to talk about a release date for the album.[citation needed]
Of the separate members, the one with the most notable degree of success is Susan, who gained a significant degree of critical success as a founding member of The Continental Drifters, along with her husband, Russ Broussard. She was also part of Dwight Twilley's band in the mid-80's, and currently has a solo career as the leader of her own band, the Susan Cowsill Band. Her album "Just Believe it" was released in late 2005 by Blue Corn Music.
In 1990, Bob, Paul, John and Susan again regrouped, this time as The Cowsills. The original plan was to simply hit the "oldies circuit", but after some deliberation, they decided to incorporate and showcase new material written by Bob and his wife, Mary Jo, into the act. This incarnation of the band started playing small clubs and showcases in the Los Angeles area and eventually spread out to similar venues across the country and into Canada. Their performances generated positive reviews from critics and fans alike, including a very well-received performance on The Joan Rivers Show where Susan voiced her frustration as to never being able to figure out which of the two girls on The Partridge Family was supposed to represent her.
The success of this reunion led the Cowsills back into the studio, which resulted in the album "Global". This has also led to several reunions over the years in various forms, ranging from a few concerts to special feature performances at major events. Most notable of these events were "A Taste of Rhode Island in 2000" - which featured all 7 surviving Cowsills, and "A Family Thing 2", which was a benefit concert in 2004 for Bill's medical and financial difficulties at the time. During this period, Barry also released a solo CD, "As Is", with the proceeds going towards Bill's relief.
More recently, the Cowsills were asked to sing the National Anthem at Fenway Park in 2004, and Susan's first solo release, "Just Believe It", was released in 2004 in Europe and 2005 in the US.
John expanded his interests to include not only music but acting. During the 1980's he performed with Jan and Dean and was also part of the Dwight Twilley Band along with Susan for a time. He has appeared on the ABC sitcom Full House and the long-running soap opera General Hospital. Currently, John is a member of the Touring Beach Boys Band playing keyboards and singing lead on some of the Beach Boys tunes.
After working as a sound engineer for Helen Reddy, Paul left the music industry for a career in the construction industry. While he still performs with The Cowsills, his primary occupation is that of a farmer in Oregon.
Of the Cowsills, Bob has had his best success outside of the music industry. He currently works in the medical industry helping to train hospital emergency departments to use a software package called EDITS (Emergency Department Information Tracking System) that manages data capture and billing issues associated with emergency room accountancy. In addition to providing training, Bob was part of the actual development and coding team for the software package.
[edit] Deaths
The following members of the Cowsills are deceased:
[edit] Barbara
In January 1985, Barbara Cowsill died of emphysema while living in Arizona. The funeral was the first real reunion of the family members since the band's breakup.
[edit] Bud
Bud, the father of the Cowsill children, died of leukemia in September of 1992 while living in Mexico.
[edit] Barry
Both Barry Cowsill and his sister Susan were living in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina struck on August 29, 2005. According to cowsill.com, Susan and her husband left New Orleans and were accounted for; however, most of her belongings at her New Orleans home were destroyed. It was reported that Barry was spotted at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center on August 29, but was not heard from after leaving phone messages for his sister on September 1. He was believed to have been spotted in some tape footage taken by a TV news crew on or about September 5, although the person seen living on the street in the footage is not clearly resolved. Tragically, a badly decomposed body recovered from the Chartres Street Wharf in New Orleans on December 28 was identified on January 4, 2006 as Barry. [1]. The official cause of death is believed to be drowning; the New Orleans coroner found no signs of foul play.
Barry is survived by his two daughters, one son and two grandsons, as well as a step-daughter and two step-granddaughters.
Two memorial services were held for Barry. One was held February 18, 2006 in his native Newport Rhode Island, at the Viking Hotel. The second was held February 26, 2006, in New Orleans.
[edit] Bill
Bill Cowsill died on February 17, 2006; on the eve of brother Barry's Newport memorial service.. Although the cause of death was not confirmed at the time of the announcement, it has since been officially listed as due to complications from a variety of ailments that Bill had suffered from for years, including emphysema, osteoporosis and Cushing syndrome. In addition, according to Paul Cowsill, Bill's health had been further damaged from the effects stemming from a history of problems with drug and alcohol abuse. Bill had spent the last 35 years in Calgary, Canada. Bill was survived by his wife and two sons.
[edit] Recognition Efforts
Recently some long-time Cowsill fans - most notably Marsha & Martha Jordan, Jo Malone, Lynn Mathis and Becky Presley - have formed the Committee for the Nomination of The Cowsills for Induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which as the name implies is a lobbying effort to have the band inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The original plan was to have the induction occur in 2005 - the 40th anniversary of the first recorded release by The Cowsills - but these efforts were unsuccessful. The Committee, however, is still pressing forward with their efforts, and fans wishing to assist can do so by signing an on-line petition they have set up for this purpose.
During their research, the Committee compiled the following facts about The Cowsills and their careers:
- The Cowsills hold more gold records than 115 of the 147 current Hall of Fame members inducted as performers.
- Billy played guitar on the song “Right On” recorded by Ike Turner.
- Susan is the youngest rock performer to have a Top Ten hit.
- John was part of the first American rock group to play in the Republic of China.
- The Cowsills had the First Live Album to feature a Studio Track when In Concert featured “Hair”.
- Hall of Famer Bob Marley used to cover Cowsill songs.
- The Guestbooks on robinrecords.com and cowsill.com have posts from all 50 states, 19 foreign countries in six of the seven continents.
- The Cowsills were the first of only 5 album covers done for rock bands by famous cartoonist Jack Davis.
- Billy once recorded with a guitar borrowed from John Lennon.
- The band’s true worth is illustrated by the fact that they were initially ‘discovered’ by Johnny Nash’s all black R&B label, JODA and they were asked to headline with future Hall of Famers’ Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, and The Beach Boys before they had their first hit record at Soundblast ’66 in Yankee Stadium.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Singles
![20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of the Cowsills [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED]](../../../upload/thumb/7/74/Cowsills1.jpg/161px-Cowsills1.jpg)
- "Most Of All"/"Siamese Cat" (Phillips, 1966) US #118
- "The Rain, The Park, and Other Things"/"River Blue" (MGM, 1967) US #2
- "We Can Fly"/"A Time for Remembrance" (MGM, 1968) US #21
- "In Need of a Friend"/"Mister Flynn" (MGM, 1968) US #54
- "Indian Lake"/"Newspaper Blanket" (MGM, 1968) US #10
- "Poor Baby"/"Meet Me at the Wishing Well" (MGM, 1968) US #44
- "Path of Love"/"Captain Sad and his Ship of Fools" (MGM, 1968) US #132
- "The Impossible Years"/"The Candy Kid" (MGM, 1969) US #118
- "Hair"/"What is Happy?" (MGM, 1969) US #2
- "The Prophecy of Daniel and John the Divine"/"Gotta Get Away from It All" (MGM, 1970) US #75
- "Silver Threads and Golden Needles"/"Love American Style" (MGM, 1970) US #74
- "On My Side"/"There is a Child" (London, 1971) US #108
- "Christmastime" (Song for Marissa)"/"Some Good Years" (Rockville, 1993) - 1990s incarnation
[edit] Albums
- "The Cowsills" (MGM, 1967) US #31 (released on CD in 1994 with two bonus tracks - "The Impossible Years" and "Love American Style")
- "The Cowsills plus The Lincoln Park Zoo" (Wing/Mercury, 1968)
- "We Can Fly" (MGM, 1968) US #89
- "Captain Sad and His Ship of Fools" (MGM, 1968) US #105
- "The Best of The Cowsills" (MGM, 1969) US #127
- "The Cowsills in Concert" (MGM, 1969) US #16
- "IIxII" (MGM, 1970)
- "The Cowsills Greatest Hits" (MGM, 1970)
- "On My Side" (London, 1970) US #200
- "The Best of the Cowsills" (Polydor, 1988 - re-released on Rebound in 1994 with a new cover)
- "Global" (Robin, 1998 - first all-new album since 1970)
- "The Best of the Cowsills - The Millennium Collection" (Universal/Polydor, 2001)
- "Painting the Day: The Angelic Psychedelia of the Cowsills" (EI, 2006)
