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THE FLAMINGO - LAS VEGAS - In this, their first starring engagement in Las Vegas, the Cowsill family demostrates some of the reasons why They are among the most durable acts on records. The MGM contingent is attractive, harmonious and, on occasion, even memorable. But the group had several things working against them on opening night.
Firstly, Kay Stevens' opening act lingered too long at the fair. Miss Stevens, who usually offers sharp comedic lines along with bright standards, is accentuating the contemporary. But her Laura Nyro titles ("Eli's Coming" and "Goodbye Joe") and Blood Sweat and Tears tune ("You've Made Me So Very Happy") hardly compare to the original versions. She did manage a few clever lines before a cloying down closer that rivals the most sugar mapled Danny Thomas routines, leaving the Cowsills to pick up the momentum.
The Cowsills' lengthy opener (which we hear, has since been dropped) does not. But thanks to a rousing version of "Hair," Barry Cowsill's devastating mimery of Mick Jagger, and several other tunes ("Indian Lake," "The Rain, the Park and Other Thinks," and their most recent MGM seinge, "Two by Two"), the act succeeds.
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