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a result of their appearance they were invited to appear at charity concerts and church functions . . .
Years passed and the family moved from Ohio to Middletown, R.I. Bob and Bill had switched to electric guitars, and Barry had decided that he wanted to be in the group, and had become something of an expert playing bongo drums with kitchen knives as drumsticks! Bud, recognizing Barry's talent, bought him a small set of second-hand drums and from then on bedlam reigned in the Cowsill home. "The noise nearly drove me mad," says Barbara. "Luckily we had very tolerant neighbors, but the boys eventually had to make less noise when a lady two blocks away complained that the music kept her baby awake!"
Bill, Bob and Barry practiced during every spare moment they had, and became a big attraction at local functions. By this time John was beginning to feel a little left out of things, and begged his brothers to let him join the group. So John was given a toy organ to pound away on. "He was full of bounce and rhythm and people who saw him on stage couldn't believe that such a young boy could play the organ so brilliantly. I just hadn't the heart to tell them that the organ wasn't plugged in!"
John, however, was not happy playing the silent organ and wanted to play the drums instead. The fact that Barry was the group's drummer didn't deter him either! "I learned later that John used to practice playing, sneaking down to the drums in the dark after we'd all gone to bed!" Barbara laughs. But John's grim determination paid off. He got to be the drummer and Barry was switched to a bass guitar which he learned to play in three days.
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Dick is Bob's Twin and road manager. Here, left, he's bedmaker! Below at the Cowsills' means a homey kitchen gathering.
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This brings us up to about five years ago when Bud was discharged from the Navy. He realized that he had an unusually gifted family and was determined that they were going to get to the top. "I thought he was crazy— in fact I thought they were all crazy. But when Bud makes up his mind about something nothing will change his mind," Barbara told me. "He was so convinced that the boys could make it that he went to see anyone in the area who had money to try and get them to invest in the group. He made tapes of the boys and took them around, and hauled people along to see the boys perform. The only trouble was that there was no money coming in to the home. Bud wasn't working full-time and I really didn't know where the next penny was coming from. In the end I went to work as a waitress in Newport. Actually I quite enjoyed it. I did all the washing, ironing and cleaning during the (continued below)
Barry's watching TV in deep concentration above, while Sue explores around the house, and Paul - well someone has to wash dishes!
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day,"they went to work from 5 p.m. till one in the morning. Meantime Bud continued to work full time on the group."
The four Cowsills played their first big date at Brown University in R.I., and from then on college dates began to pour in. They usually worked on Friday and Saturday nights and on Sunday the "babies," Barry and John, went to bed early and Bill and Bob sang folk music at a club in Newport.
"Then just over three years ago the four of them were booked to appear for a week at a big hotel in Newport," Barbara recalls. "But when I went down to see them, there was only Bill on stage playing his guitar and tapping a drum at the same time! Then Bob, who was in tears, told me that someone had told the management that they were breaking the child labor laws and only Bill had been allowed to play. It was a Friday night so there was nothing we could do about it 'till Monday, but Bob came up with an idea that partly solved the problem. He booked a room in the hotel on the fourth floor, then got a microphone with a very long lead on it and swung it down to the stage. He then harmonized along with Bill and nobody could work out where the other voice was coming from!" Luckily, the problem was solved on the Monday and the group was allowed to play—on stage!
That problem dealt with, there were more to come, a lot more, as you'll see in next month's TEEN LIFE when we continue the Cowsill's exciting, heartwarming story.
This is a favorite room with all the Cowsills.
They're very proud of their lovable old home.
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Cowsills capture live tree! Barry thumps on the ol' bass while the rest of the family kids around. Housepainting is a gret time for horseplay!
Bud and Barbara Cowsill went through very difficult times to make their dream come true.
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