The Cowsills
Encyclopedia
The Cowsills are an American singing group from Newport, Rhode Island
. They specialized in harmonies and the ability to sing and play music at an early age. The band was formed in the spring of 1965 by brothers Bill
, Bob
, and Barry
, then shortly thereafter added John
. Originally Bill and Bob played guitar and Barry was on drums, then John learned how to play drums and joined the band, so Barry went to bass. After their initial success, the brothers were later joined by their siblings Susan
and Paul and their mother Barbara. Bob's twin brother Richard was the road manager. When the group expanded to its full family membership by 1967, the six siblings ranged in age from 8 to 19. Joined by their mother Barbara, the Cowsills were the inspiration for the 1970 launch of the television show The Partridge Family
.
in the late 1950s as a US Navy recruiter
. Billy and Bob taught themselves how to play the guitar
. The boys developed their musical talent and harmonized vocals, and they performed at school church dances in Stark County, Ohio
. The boys' first television appearance was on the Gene Carroll Show on WEWS in Cleveland
.
Bud retired from a long career in the US Navy and, along with his wife, managed his children's career.
In late 1965, the Cowsills were hired as a regular act on Bannisters Wharf in Newport, where they would sing Beatles songs hour after hour. A handful of singles were released on JODA Records and Philips Records
in 1965 and 1966, to only modest success. The band was signed by MGM records in 1967, and Barbara, who would become known to their fans affectionately as "Mini-Mom" due to her diminutive stature, joined the group just in time to record the band's first album, including the hit single "The Rain, The Park and Other Things
"
. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc
. Bill sang lead vocal on this hit. 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, The Park and Other Things" reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100
.
Bob Cowsill is quoted as follows on the band's early days:
In 1968, the band scored another million-selling hit with the song "Indian Lake
" which reached #10 on the charts and in 1969, the band had another number two hit and another million seller with their version of the title song
from the musical Hair
.
From 1968 through 1972, the band played an average of 200 performance dates per year, and were among the most popular acts on the American concert circuit. They were particularly noted for their ability to achieve 4- and 5-part harmonies with remarkable accuracy and relative pitch; a phenomenon common among sibling singing groups, e.g. the Boswell Sisters
, the Mills Brothers
, the Jackson 5, the Osmond Brothers, the Andrews Sisters, the Beach Boys (whose songs the Cowsills used to cover
in concert), etc.
appearances throughout the late 1960s and into the early 1970s. Their appearances included:
They starred in their own television special, called A Family Thing, in November 1968 on NBC, which guest-starred Buddy Ebsen
. By 1969 Screen Gems
approached the family to portray themselves in their own TV sitcom, but when they were told that their mother was to be replaced by actress Shirley Jones
the deal fell through. Screen Gems later hired Jones' stepson David Cassidy
to join the cast and the show went on to be called The Partridge Family
, and to have a four-year run on ABC
Television.
The Cowsills were also known as spokespeople for the American Dairy Association
, appearing in advertisements promoting milk
. They performed the theme for the David Niven
film The Impossible Years
(1968), and also sang the theme for Love American Style during the first season (1969).
. Now led by Bob, the Cowsills continued as a group releasing three more albums- two with MGM including a second greatest hits compilation, and then one with London Records
. By 1972, Barbara, Paul and Susan had left the group and Bill returned, reforming the original quartet; they released one more single, "Covered Wagon", which failed to chart. Shortly afterward, The Cowsills stopped playing together as a band amid a series of internal personal squabbles. The individual members went on to various career attempts in and out of the music industry, but they did appear at Madison Jr. High school in Tampa, Florida
as "The Cowsills" for one performance during the mid 1970s. Some produced albums and performed from time to time, albeit not as The Cowsills, during the remainder of the '70s and up into the '80s. One project in particular was a band called Bridey Murphy, which was formed in the mid-'70s and featured Paul, Bill, Barry, and Waddy Wachtel
, and performed to varying degrees of success.
In 1978, several of the Cowsills—including Paul, John, Barry, Bob and Susan—recorded an album rather incongruously entitled Cocaine Drain, with the producer Chuck Plotkin
. The album was never completed, and at some point the master tapes were lost (or stolen). For almost 30 years the album existed only as a scratchy acetate. In March 2008 a version of the album was finally released, remastered from that acetate under Bob Cowsill's direction. Several other previously unreleased tracks were included on the 2008 release. All six of the performing Cowsill siblings appear on the cover art of the album in shots apparently taken on stage around the time of the recording sessions.
After the Cocaine Drain sessions, the Cowsills did some reunion shows in 1979–1980 but returned to their separate careers after that.
The central four members of the group created the power pop
tune "Is It Any Wonder?" in 1993, which was released in the critically appraised multi-artist collection Yellow Pills, Vol. 1: The Best of American Pop.
The most prominent Cowsill in the years since has been Susan
, who was a member of The Continental Drifters
, along with both her first husband Peter Holsapple
(who is the father of her daughter) and her second husband, Russ Broussard. She was also part of Dwight Twilley
's band in the mid-1980s, and currently has a solo career as the leader of her own band, the Susan Cowsill Band. Her first-ever solo album, Just Believe it, was released in late 2005 by Blue Corn Music. In 2011, she was featured in a episode of the HBO series, Tremé
.
John Cowsill has also been prominent as a musician. Since December 2000 John has been a regular member of The Beach Boys
touring band, playing drums and keyboards
and singing lead on some of their tunes. In earlier years, he performed with artists such as Jan & Dean and Dwight Tilley. In the early 1980s, he was briefly a member of the band Tommy Tutone
and his backing vocals and percussion can be heard on their hit "Jenny (867-5309)."
Bill Cowsill moved to Canada
in the 1970s and did well in that country as a solo artist, and as a member of Vancouver, British Columbia's Blue Northern, before forming the nationally acclaimed Blue Shadows
who recorded two albums for Sony
Canada.
After working as a sound engineer for Helen Reddy
, Paul Cowsill left music for a career in the construction
industry. While he still performs with The Cowsills, his primary occupation is that of a farmer
in Oregon
.
Bob Cowsill has had a successful career outside of music in the software industry. He currently trains 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. Bob was also part of the actual development and coding team for the software package. He is also still an active performer.
In 1990, Bob, Paul, John, and Susan again regrouped as The Cowsills. The original plan was to simply hit the "oldies
circuit", but after some deliberation, they decided to showcase new material written by Bob and his wife, Mary Jo. 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 Late Show Starring Joan Rivers, where Susan voiced in mock 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 recording 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 seven surviving Cowsills, and "A Family Thing 2", which was a benefit concert in 2004 for Bill's medical and financial difficulties at the time. This concert took place at the El Rey Theatre
in Los Angeles and included an appearance by Shirley Jones
, who introduced the band. It was the first time they had ever met. As the mother on the TV show inspired by the Cowsills, Shirley made a point of calling them "the real thing". Though she did not sing with them that night, immediately after her announcement, the Cowsills played "I Really Want To Know You", which is the one song that had been recorded by both The Cowsills and The Partridge Family. (Both bands recorded songs called "Hello, Hello" ; they were different songs by different writers.) During this period, Barry also released a solo CD, As I.
In 2004, it was announced that the Cowsills had been asked to sing the National Anthem at Fenway Park
and Susan's first solo release, Just Believe It, was released in 2004 in Europe
and 2005 in the U.S.
Currently, Bob, Paul and Susan perform several shows per month as The Cowsills while still maintaining their separate lives and careers. In 2007 they toured as part of a package called "The Original Idols Live!", hosted by Barry Williams
, who played Greg Brady on The Brady Bunch
.
while living in Scottsdale, Arizona
. The funeral was the first real reunion of all the family members since the band's breakup.
in September 1992, while living in Mexico
.
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.
A badly decomposed body recovered from the Chartres Street Wharf in New Orleans on December 28 was identified on January 4, 2006, as Barry. He had a piece of paper with his name and phone number in his pants pocket. 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 stepdaughter and two step-granddaughters.
Two memorial services were held for Barry. One was held on February 18, 2006 in his native Newport, Rhode Island at the Hotel Viking. The second was held on February 26, 2006 in New Orleans.
died on February 18, 2006 in Calgary, Alberta, on the day of brother Barry's Newport memorial service. He had been in poor health for the last few years of his life, suffering from emphysema
, Cushing syndrome and osteoporosis
.He also struggled with heroin addiction.http://www.boston.com/ae/music/articles/2011/08/09/cowsills_to_perform_after_ri_documentary_screening
Newport, Rhode Island
Newport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about south of Providence. Known as a New England summer resort and for the famous Newport Mansions, it is the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport which houses the United States Naval War...
. They specialized in harmonies and the ability to sing and play music at an early age. The band was formed in the spring of 1965 by brothers Bill
Bill Cowsill
William "Bill" Cowsill, Jr., also known as Billy, was an American singer best known as lead singer and guitarist of The Cowsills who had three top 10 singles in the late 1960s.-The Cowsills:...
, Bob
Bob Cowsill
Robert "Bob" Cowsill is an American musician and member of the musical group The Cowsills. He is the third of the seven Cowsill children and is fraternal twins with Richard, the only Cowsill child who was not a part of the group during its 1960s incarnations...
, and Barry
Barry Cowsill
Barry Cowsill was an American musician and member of the musical group The Cowsills. He was born in Newport, Rhode Island. The fifth of seven children, Barry soon became the drummer of his brothers' band, playing popular tunes at local dance clubs...
, then shortly thereafter added John
John Cowsill
John Cowsill is an American musician, best known for his work as a singer and drummer with his siblings' band, The Cowsills. He is currently a drummer and vocalist for the current The Beach Boys touring band, which features original Beach Boys Mike Love and Bruce Johnston...
. Originally Bill and Bob played guitar and Barry was on drums, then John learned how to play drums and joined the band, so Barry went to bass. After their initial success, the brothers were later joined by their siblings Susan
Susan Cowsill
Susan Claire Cowsill is a musician, vocalist and songwriter. She is the youngest member of The Cowsills and the only daughter of parents Bud and Barbara Cowsill.-The Cowsills:...
and Paul and their mother Barbara. Bob's twin brother Richard was the road manager. When the group expanded to its full family membership by 1967, the six siblings ranged in age from 8 to 19. Joined by their mother Barbara, the Cowsills were the inspiration for the 1970 launch of the television show The Partridge Family
The Partridge Family
The Partridge Family is an American television sitcom about a widowed mother and her five children who embark on a music career. The series originally ran from September 25, 1970 until August 31, 1974, the last new episode airing on March 23, 1974, on the ABC network, as part of a Friday-night lineup...
.
Origins and early successes
The Cowsills' musical interest started while their father Bud Cowsill was stationed in Canton, OhioCanton, Ohio
Canton is the county seat of Stark County in northeastern Ohio, approximately south of Akron and south of Cleveland.The City of Caton is the largest incorporated area within the Canton-Massillon Metropolitan Statistical Area...
in the late 1950s as a US Navy recruiter
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
. Billy and Bob taught themselves how to play the guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
. The boys developed their musical talent and harmonized vocals, and they performed at school church dances in Stark County, Ohio
Stark County, Ohio
Stark County is a county located in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2010 census, the population was 375,586. It is included in the Canton-Massillon, Ohio Metropolitan Statistical Area....
. The boys' first television appearance was on the Gene Carroll Show on WEWS in Cleveland
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
.
Bud retired from a long career in the US Navy and, along with his wife, managed his children's career.
In late 1965, the Cowsills were hired as a regular act on Bannisters Wharf in Newport, where they would sing Beatles songs hour after hour. A handful of singles were released on JODA Records and Philips Records
Mercury Records
Mercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...
in 1965 and 1966, to only modest success. The band was signed by MGM records in 1967, and Barbara, who would become known to their fans affectionately as "Mini-Mom" due to her diminutive stature, joined the group just in time to record the band's first album, including the hit single "The Rain, The Park and Other Things
The Rain, The Park and Other Things
"The Rain, the Park & Other Things" is a 1967 hit single from the American pop group The Cowsills. The score and lyrics were co-written by Artie Kornfield and Steve Duboff and recorded by The Cowsills in 1967....
"
. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
. Bill sang lead vocal on this hit. 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.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and achieved significant airplay in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and other parts of Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. "The Rain, The Park and Other Things" reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
.
Bob Cowsill is quoted as follows on the band's early days:
"Although Bill and I performed at a very young age, and Bill, I, Barry and John did a lot of frat parties at Brown UniversityBrown UniversityBrown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
and clubs in Newport ... the most memorable performance of what I would view as the precursor of what The Cowsills would be was at Kings Park in Newport (right at the foot of Halidon Hall) at some carnivalCarnivalCarnaval is a festive season which occurs immediately before Lent; the main events are usually during February. Carnaval typically involves a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus, mask and public street party...
. 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 RecordsMercury RecordsMercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...
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 1968, the band scored another million-selling hit with the song "Indian Lake
Indian Lake (song)
"Indian Lake" is a song recorded by the pop band, The Cowsills, with music and lyrics by Tony Romeo. The song was included in the Cowsills' album "Best of the Cowsills" in 1968...
" which reached #10 on the charts and in 1969, the band had another number two hit and another million seller with their version of the title song
Hair (song)
"Hair" is the title song to the 1968 musical Hair, as well as the 1979 film version of the musical.The song was a major hit single for The Cowsills in 1969 and their most successful single. Their version spent two weeks at #1 on the Cash Box Top 100 and reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100...
from the musical Hair
Hair (musical)
Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical is a rock musical with a book and lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni and music by Galt MacDermot. A product of the hippie counter-culture and sexual revolution of the 1960s, several of its songs became anthems of the anti-Vietnam War peace movement...
.
From 1968 through 1972, the band played an average of 200 performance dates per year, and were among the most popular acts on the American concert circuit. They were particularly noted for their ability to achieve 4- and 5-part harmonies with remarkable accuracy and relative pitch; a phenomenon common among sibling singing groups, e.g. the Boswell Sisters
Boswell Sisters
The Boswell Sisters were a close harmony singing group, consisting of sisters Martha Boswell , Connee Boswell , and Helvetia "Vet" Boswell , noted for intricate harmonies and rhythmic experimentation...
, the Mills Brothers
Mills Brothers
The Mills Brothers, sometimes billed as The Four Mills Brothers, were an American jazz and pop vocal quartet of the 20th century who made more than 2,000 recordings that combined sold more than 50 million copies, and garnered at least three dozen gold records...
, the Jackson 5, the Osmond Brothers, the Andrews Sisters, the Beach Boys (whose songs the Cowsills used to cover
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
in concert), etc.
Television and The Cowsills
The Cowsills also made many televisionTelevision
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
appearances throughout the late 1960s and into the early 1970s. Their appearances included:
- The Ed Sullivan ShowThe Ed Sullivan ShowThe Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan....
(twice) - The Tonight Show Starring Johnny CarsonThe Tonight Show Starring Johnny CarsonThe Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is a talk show hosted by Johnny Carson under the Tonight Show franchise from 1962 to 1992. It originally aired during late-night....
(twice) - American BandstandAmerican BandstandAmerican Bandstand is an American music-performance show that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989 and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as producer...
- The Mike Douglas ShowThe Mike Douglas ShowThe Mike Douglas Show is an American daytime television talk show hosted by Mike Douglas that aired in syndication from 1961 to 1982, distributed by Westinghouse Broadcasting and for much of its run, originated from studios of two of the company's TV stations.The program featured light banter with...
- The Barbara McNairBarbara McNairBarbara McNair was an African American singer and actress.Born Barbara Jean McNair in Chicago, Illinois and raised in Racine, Wisconsin, McNair studied music at the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago...
Show - Playboy After DarkPlayboy After DarkPlayboy After Dark is an American television show hosted by Hugh Hefner. It ran in syndication through Screen Gems from 1969 to 1970 and was taped at CBS Television City in Los Angeles....
- Kraft Music HallKraft Music HallThe Kraft Music Hall was a popular variety program, featuring top show business entertainers, which aired on NBC radio and television from 1933 to 1971....
- Music Scene
- The Johnny Cash ShowThe Johnny Cash Show (TV series)The Johnny Cash Show was an American television music variety show hosted by Johnny Cash. The Screen Gems 58-episode series ran from June 7, 1969 to March 31, 1971 on ABC; it was taped at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. The show reached No...
They starred in their own television special, called A Family Thing, in November 1968 on NBC, which guest-starred Buddy Ebsen
Buddy Ebsen
Buddy Ebsen was an American character actor and dancer. A performer for seven decades, he had starring roles as Jed Clampett in the long-running television series The Beverly Hillbillies and as the title character in the 1970s detective series Barnaby Jones, and played Barnaby Jones in the movie...
. By 1969 Screen Gems
Screen Gems
Screen Gems is an American movie production company and subsidiary company of Sony Pictures Entertainment's Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group that has served several different purposes for its parent companies over the decades since its incorporation....
approached the family to portray themselves in their own TV sitcom, but when they were told that their mother was to be replaced by actress Shirley Jones
Shirley Jones
Shirley Mae Jones is an American singer and actress of stage, film and television. In her six decades of television, she starred as wholesome characters in a number of well-known musical films, such as Oklahoma! , Carousel , and The Music Man...
the deal fell through. Screen Gems later hired Jones' stepson David Cassidy
David Cassidy
David Bruce Cassidy is an American actor, singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known for his role as the character of Keith Partridge in the 1970s musical/sitcom The Partridge Family. He was one of pop culture's most celebrated teen idols, enjoying a successful pop career in the 1970s, and...
to join the cast and the show went on to be called The Partridge Family
The Partridge Family
The Partridge Family is an American television sitcom about a widowed mother and her five children who embark on a music career. The series originally ran from September 25, 1970 until August 31, 1974, the last new episode airing on March 23, 1974, on the ABC network, as part of a Friday-night lineup...
, and to have a four-year run on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
Television.
The Cowsills were also known as spokespeople for the American Dairy Association
American Dairy Association
The American Dairy Association is a registered name owned by Dairy Management Inc., which also owns the names National Dairy Council and U.S. Dairy Export Council. It should not be confused with various state-level and regional 501 organizations with similar names .-External links:* Home page of...
, appearing in advertisements promoting milk
Milk
Milk is a white liquid produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals before they are able to digest other types of food. Early-lactation milk contains colostrum, which carries the mother's antibodies to the baby and can reduce the risk of many...
. They performed the theme for the David Niven
David Niven
James David Graham Niven , known as David Niven, was a British actor and novelist, best known for his roles as Phileas Fogg in Around the World in 80 Days and Sir Charles Lytton, a.k.a. "the Phantom", in The Pink Panther...
film The Impossible Years
The Impossible Years
The Impossible Years is a 1965 comedy play by Robert Fisher and Arthur Marx, son of famed comedian Groucho Marx.The comedy revolves around Jonathan Kingsley, a teaching psychiatrist at the local university, his wife, and their two teenaged daughters...
(1968), and also sang the theme for Love American Style during the first season (1969).
Breakups and reunions
In 1969, Bill was fired from the group by his father after he was caught smoking marijuanaCannabis (drug)
Cannabis, also known as marijuana among many other names, refers to any number of preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug or for medicinal purposes. The English term marijuana comes from the Mexican Spanish word marihuana...
. Now led by Bob, the Cowsills continued as a group releasing three more albums- two with MGM including a second greatest hits compilation, and then one with London Records
London Records
London Records, referred to as London Recordings in logo, is a record label headquartered in the United Kingdom, originally marketing records in the United States, Canada and Latin America from 1947 to 1979, then becoming a semi-independent label....
. By 1972, Barbara, Paul and Susan had left the group and Bill returned, reforming the original quartet; they released one more single, "Covered Wagon", which failed to chart. Shortly afterward, The Cowsills stopped playing together as a band amid a series of internal personal squabbles. The individual members went on to various career attempts in and out of the music industry, but they did appear at Madison Jr. High school in Tampa, Florida
Tampa, Florida
Tampa is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709....
as "The Cowsills" for one performance during the mid 1970s. Some produced albums and performed from time to time, albeit not as The Cowsills, during the remainder of the '70s and up into the '80s. One project in particular was a band called Bridey Murphy, which was formed in the mid-'70s and featured Paul, Bill, Barry, and Waddy Wachtel
Waddy Wachtel
Robert "Waddy" Wachtel is an American musician, composer and record producer, most notable for his guitar work...
, and performed to varying degrees of success.
In 1978, several of the Cowsills—including Paul, John, Barry, Bob and Susan—recorded an album rather incongruously entitled Cocaine Drain, with the producer Chuck Plotkin
Chuck Plotkin
Chuck Plotkin is a recording engineer and producer, best known for his work with Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan.-Recording engineer:Plotkin has recorded, engineered, mastered and produced albums by Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, and many other artists, starting with The Floating House Band in 1972...
. The album was never completed, and at some point the master tapes were lost (or stolen). For almost 30 years the album existed only as a scratchy acetate. In March 2008 a version of the album was finally released, remastered from that acetate under Bob Cowsill's direction. Several other previously unreleased tracks were included on the 2008 release. All six of the performing Cowsill siblings appear on the cover art of the album in shots apparently taken on stage around the time of the recording sessions.
After the Cocaine Drain sessions, the Cowsills did some reunion shows in 1979–1980 but returned to their separate careers after that.
The central four members of the group created the power pop
Power pop
Power pop is a popular musical genre that draws its inspiration from 1960s British and American pop and rock music. It typically incorporates a combination of musical devices such as strong melodies, crisp vocal harmonies, economical arrangements, and prominent guitar riffs. Instrumental solos are...
tune "Is It Any Wonder?" in 1993, which was released in the critically appraised multi-artist collection Yellow Pills, Vol. 1: The Best of American Pop.
The most prominent Cowsill in the years since has been Susan
Susan Cowsill
Susan Claire Cowsill is a musician, vocalist and songwriter. She is the youngest member of The Cowsills and the only daughter of parents Bud and Barbara Cowsill.-The Cowsills:...
, who was a member of The Continental Drifters
Continental Drifters
The Continental Drifters was an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1991 and dissolved in New Orleans, Louisiana about a decade later...
, along with both her first husband Peter Holsapple
Peter Holsapple
Peter Holsapple formed, along with Chris Stamey, the singing, songwriting, and guitar-playing core of the dB's, a jangle-pop band from Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He became the band's principal songwriter and singer after Stamey's departure. The dB's were at the forefront of the guitar bands...
(who is the father of her daughter) and her second husband, Russ Broussard. She was also part of Dwight Twilley
Dwight Twilley
Dwight Twilley is an American pop/rock singer and songwriter, best known for the Top 20 hit singles "I'm on Fire" and "Girls"...
's band in the mid-1980s, and currently has a solo career as the leader of her own band, the Susan Cowsill Band. Her first-ever solo album, Just Believe it, was released in late 2005 by Blue Corn Music. In 2011, she was featured in a episode of the HBO series, Tremé
Treme
Tremé is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans. A subdistrict of the Mid-City District Area, its boundaries as defined by the City Planning Commission are Esplanade Avenue to the north, North Rampart Street to the east, St. Louis Street to the south and North Broad Street to the west...
.
John Cowsill has also been prominent as a musician. Since December 2000 John has been a regular member of The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...
touring band, playing drums and keyboards
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
and singing lead on some of their tunes. In earlier years, he performed with artists such as Jan & Dean and Dwight Tilley. In the early 1980s, he was briefly a member of the band Tommy Tutone
Tommy Tutone
Tommy Tutone is a New Wave band, best known for its 1982 hit "867-5309/Jenny", which peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100. Although it is usually referred to as a San Francisco band, it was actually based in Willits, California, at the time that "Jenny" was released...
and his backing vocals and percussion can be heard on their hit "Jenny (867-5309)."
Bill Cowsill moved to Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
in the 1970s and did well in that country as a solo artist, and as a member of Vancouver, British Columbia's Blue Northern, before forming the nationally acclaimed Blue Shadows
Blue Shadows
"Blue Shadows" is a 1950 single by Lowell Fulson, featuring Lloyd Glenn at the "88". The single was Lowell Fulson's biggest hit on the R&B chart, hitting number one for one week. The B-side, "Low Society Blues", peaked at number eight....
who recorded two albums for Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
Canada.
After working as a sound engineer for Helen Reddy
Helen Reddy
Helen Reddy , often referred to as "The Queen of 70s Pop", is an Australian-American singer and actress. In the 1970s, she enjoyed international success, especially in the United States, where she placed fifteen singles in the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100. Six of those 15 songs made the Top 10...
, Paul Cowsill left music for a career in the construction
Construction
In the fields of architecture and civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of human multitasking...
industry. While he still performs with The Cowsills, his primary occupation is that of a farmer
Farmer
A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, who raises living organisms for food or raw materials, generally including livestock husbandry and growing crops, such as produce and grain...
in Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
.
Bob Cowsill has had a successful career outside of music in the software industry. He currently trains 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. Bob was also part of the actual development and coding team for the software package. He is also still an active performer.
In 1990, Bob, Paul, John, and Susan again regrouped as The Cowsills. The original plan was to simply hit the "oldies
Oldies
Oldies is a term commonly used to describe a radio format that concentrates on music from a period of about 15 to 55 years before the present day....
circuit", but after some deliberation, they decided to showcase new material written by Bob and his wife, Mary Jo. This incarnation of the band started playing small clubs and showcases in the Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
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 Late Show Starring Joan Rivers, where Susan voiced in mock frustration as to never being able to figure out which of the two girls on The Partridge Family
The Partridge Family
The Partridge Family is an American television sitcom about a widowed mother and her five children who embark on a music career. The series originally ran from September 25, 1970 until August 31, 1974, the last new episode airing on March 23, 1974, on the ABC network, as part of a Friday-night lineup...
was supposed to represent her.
The success of this reunion led The Cowsills back into the recording studio
Recording studio
A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...
, 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 seven surviving Cowsills, and "A Family Thing 2", which was a benefit concert in 2004 for Bill's medical and financial difficulties at the time. This concert took place at the El Rey Theatre
El Rey Theatre
El Rey Theatre is currently a live music venue in the Miracle Mile area of the Mid-Wilshire region in Los Angeles, California. "El Rey" means "The King" in Spanish....
in Los Angeles and included an appearance by Shirley Jones
Shirley Jones
Shirley Mae Jones is an American singer and actress of stage, film and television. In her six decades of television, she starred as wholesome characters in a number of well-known musical films, such as Oklahoma! , Carousel , and The Music Man...
, who introduced the band. It was the first time they had ever met. As the mother on the TV show inspired by the Cowsills, Shirley made a point of calling them "the real thing". Though she did not sing with them that night, immediately after her announcement, the Cowsills played "I Really Want To Know You", which is the one song that had been recorded by both The Cowsills and The Partridge Family. (Both bands recorded songs called "Hello, Hello" ; they were different songs by different writers.) During this period, Barry also released a solo CD, As I.
In 2004, it was announced that the Cowsills had been asked to sing the National Anthem at Fenway Park
Fenway Park
Fenway Park is a baseball park near Kenmore Square in Boston, Massachusetts. Located at 4 Yawkey Way, it has served as the home ballpark of the Boston Red Sox baseball club since it opened in 1912, and is the oldest Major League Baseball stadium currently in use. It is one of two "classic"...
and Susan's first solo release, Just Believe It, was released in 2004 in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and 2005 in the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Currently, Bob, Paul and Susan perform several shows per month as The Cowsills while still maintaining their separate lives and careers. In 2007 they toured as part of a package called "The Original Idols Live!", hosted by Barry Williams
Barry Williams
Barry William Blenkhorn , known professionally as Barry Williams, is an American actor best known for his role as Greg Brady in the ABC television series The Brady Bunch.-Early life and career:...
, who played Greg Brady on The Brady Bunch
The Brady Bunch
The Brady Bunch is an American sitcom created by Sherwood Schwartz and starring Robert Reed, Florence Henderson, and Ann B. Davis. The series revolved around a large blended family...
.
Barbara
In January 1985, Barbara Cowsill (born July 12, 1928), the mother, died of emphysemaEmphysema
Emphysema is a long-term, progressive disease of the lungs that primarily causes shortness of breath. In people with emphysema, the tissues necessary to support the physical shape and function of the lungs are destroyed. It is included in a group of diseases called chronic obstructive pulmonary...
while living in Scottsdale, Arizona
Scottsdale, Arizona
Scottsdale is a city in the eastern part of Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, adjacent to Phoenix. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of 2010 the population of the city was 217,385...
. The funeral was the first real reunion of all the family members since the band's breakup.
Bud
William "Bud" Cowsill (born December 2, 1925), the father of the Cowsill children, died of leukemiaLeukemia
Leukemia or leukaemia is a type of cancer of the blood or bone marrow characterized by an abnormal increase of immature white blood cells called "blasts". Leukemia is a broad term covering a spectrum of diseases...
in September 1992, while living in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
.
Barry
Both Barry CowsillBarry Cowsill
Barry Cowsill was an American musician and member of the musical group The Cowsills. He was born in Newport, Rhode Island. The fifth of seven children, Barry soon became the drummer of his brothers' band, playing popular tunes at local dance clubs...
and his sister Susan were living in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
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.
A badly decomposed body recovered from the Chartres Street Wharf in New Orleans on December 28 was identified on January 4, 2006, as Barry. He had a piece of paper with his name and phone number in his pants pocket. The official cause of death is believed to be drowning; the New Orleans coroner
Coroner
A coroner is a government official who* Investigates human deaths* Determines cause of death* Issues death certificates* Maintains death records* Responds to deaths in mass disasters* Identifies unknown dead* Other functions depending on local laws...
found no signs of foul play.
Barry is survived by his two daughters, one son, and two grandsons, as well as a stepdaughter and two step-granddaughters.
Two memorial services were held for Barry. One was held on February 18, 2006 in his native Newport, Rhode Island at the Hotel Viking. The second was held on February 26, 2006 in New Orleans.
Bill
Bill CowsillBill Cowsill
William "Bill" Cowsill, Jr., also known as Billy, was an American singer best known as lead singer and guitarist of The Cowsills who had three top 10 singles in the late 1960s.-The Cowsills:...
died on February 18, 2006 in Calgary, Alberta, on the day of brother Barry's Newport memorial service. He had been in poor health for the last few years of his life, suffering from emphysema
Emphysema
Emphysema is a long-term, progressive disease of the lungs that primarily causes shortness of breath. In people with emphysema, the tissues necessary to support the physical shape and function of the lungs are destroyed. It is included in a group of diseases called chronic obstructive pulmonary...
, Cushing syndrome and osteoporosis
Osteoporosis
Osteoporosis is a disease of bones that leads to an increased risk of fracture. In osteoporosis the bone mineral density is reduced, bone microarchitecture is deteriorating, and the amount and variety of proteins in bone is altered...
.He also struggled with heroin addiction.http://www.boston.com/ae/music/articles/2011/08/09/cowsills_to_perform_after_ri_documentary_screening
Singles
- "Most Of All"/"Siamese Cat" (Philips 40382, 1966) US #118
- "The Rain, The Park, And Other Things"/"River Blue" (MGM 13810, 1967) US #2
- "We Can Fly"/"A Time for Remembrance" (MGM 13886, 1968) US #21
- "In Need Of A Friend"/"Mister Flynn" (MGM 13909, 1968) US #54
- "Indian Lake"/"Newspaper Blanket" (MGM 13944, 1968) US #10
- "Poor Baby"/"Meet Me At The Wishing Well" (MGM 13981, 1968) US #44
- "Path Of Love"/"Captain Sad And His Ship Of Fools" (MGM 14003, 1968) US #132
- "The Impossible Years"/"The Candy Kid" (MGM 14011, 1969) US #118
- "HairHair (song)"Hair" is the title song to the 1968 musical Hair, as well as the 1979 film version of the musical.The song was a major hit single for The Cowsills in 1969 and their most successful single. Their version spent two weeks at #1 on the Cash Box Top 100 and reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100...
"/"What Is Happy?" (MGM 14026, 1969) US #2 - "The Prophecy of Daniel and John the Divine"/"Gotta Get Away from It All" (MGM 14063, 1969) US #75
- "Silver Threads And Golden Needles"/"Love American Style" (MGM 14084, 1970) US #74
- "On My Side"/"There is a Child" (London 149, 1971) US #108 http://waddywachtelinfo.com/CowsillsOnMySide.html
- "Cherokee Nation" (London 150, 1972) US #169
- "Covered Wagon"/"Blue Road" (London 170, 1972) Did not chart
- "Christmastime" (Song for Marissa)"/"Some Good Years" (Rockville, 1993) - 1990s incarnation
Albums
- The Cowsills (MGM E/SE-4498, 1967) US #31 (released on CD in 1994 by Razor & Tie with two bonus tracks: "The Impossible Years" and "Love American Style")
- The Cowsills plus The Lincoln Park Zoo (Wing/Mercury SRW-16354, 1968)
- We Can Fly (MGM E/SE-4534, 1968) US #89
- Captain Sad and His Ship of Fools (MGM E/SE-4554, 1968) US #105
- The Best of The Cowsills (MGM E/SE-4597, 1968) US #127 (released on CD in 1988 by Polydor with two bonus tracks: "Hair" and "Meet Me at the Wishing Well" - re-released on Rebound in 1994 with a new cover)
- The Cowsills in Concert (MGM SE-4619, 1969) US #16
- IIxII (MGM SE-4639, 1970) http://waddywachtelinfo.com/CowsillsIIXII.html
- On My Side (London PS-587, 1971) US #200 http://waddywachtelinfo.com/CowsillsOnMySide.html
- All-Time Hits (MGM GAS-103, 1971)
- Global (Robin 81564, 1998) — [first all-new album since 1971]
- The Best of The Cowsills: The Millennium Collection (Universal/Polydor 549947, 2001) http://waddywachtelinfo.com/Cowsills4.html
- Painting the Day: The Angelic Psychedelia of The Cowsills (EL 69, 2006) http://waddywachtelinfo.com/Cowsills5.html
- Cocaine Drain (Robin 97974, 2008)
- Captain Sad and His Ship of Fools (CD reissue: Cherry Red/Now Sounds 90607-2, 2009)