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naturally, writes his own lyrics.
There is quite a bit to Bill which will probably never be uncovered; he is a mysterious person. His life is very disciplined, and he has an extraordinary ability to make people enjoy each other.
Bob, a year-and-a-half younger than Bill, is the next oldest and the opposite of his older brother in personality. Bob is a truly "fun-to-be-with" type of guy. He is the kind of person who walk into the coldest room of people and warm every corner. He is natural, not in the corny sense of the word, but in an unbelievable sense.
Bob has the reputation of being on hand when all the crazy things happen in the Cowsill household. But he still disappears occasionally; hours may elapse before anyone sees or hears Bob. He is probably reading — and his A's and B's in school show it.
He has the knack of "selling" someone on an idea. He could pick out an atrocious bright red shirt for someone in a clothing store and convince him that he looks like the greatest thing going.
The really natural entertainer in the family is 14-year-old Barry. He is truly at home when he is with people — in front of a camera, or just plain talking. "Hi! How are you!" he'll greet you with a lot of enthusiasm. "When he laughs," one of his friends observed, "his freckles laugh, too!" Barry was the drummer for the Cowsills, until his younger brother John took over when he became old enough to handle the job. Now Barry plays the bass guitar and sings.
Barry is an honor student at St. Augustine's School in Newport, which he attends with brother John. Being the "brain" in the family, and an "actor," Barry has the charming ability of being able to tease his brothers and get away with it — all he needs is one of those smiles.
John, the drummer, is only 12, but he is as good as the best of them when it comes to drums. John likes motion and maybe that's why he took to the drums. If he could have anything in the world he'd choose a motorcycle and an airplane pilot's license.
Bill and Bob Cowsill produced the family's second album which was released last spring. For a week, they
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spent 12 hours or more a day in the small control room of their studio on the seventh floor of the Seventh Avenue building in New York City.
They used 24 professional musicians for the background because the Cowsills do not read music, and so that the younger members could go to school without interruption. On weekends, they recorded the voices.
The studio is a curious place. The control board, about a foot high, makes a rim around a curved desk. The outside is covered with bright blue metal. Against the wall is a machine on which eight tapes can be played at once; the control panel for this machine can be programmed to play segments of each tape, or play only three of the tapes, or even record on one of the tapes.
The Cowsills started the recording session for this album with Beautiful Beige. Bill's voice was recorded first while Bob directed him with hand signals. Then Bob sang and Bill directed. Mr. Cowsill listened, watched and talked with them about the sound. He suggested: "Make it 'vi-o-let in the field is growing.'" His suggestion was taken, and the finished product shows Bob singing "violet" in three syllables.
For Beautiful Beige Barbara and Barry sang the same harmony, and John and Susan each had a different harmony.
Bill and Bob create their sounds as they go along. They listen, they sing, they decide, and then they go to the studio and record. They go home thinking about the music and wake up in the morning thinking and improvising. They have written or helped to write all the songs in this album. Barry wrote his first song —Mr. Flynn — with his brothers. Bill and Bob wrote I Need a Friend, and they collaborated on Grey Sunny Day with Neil Shephard and Tony Powers.
They compose words and music, whichever comes first. It is then sung for arrangers who write it out for them.
A typical recording session is a hit-or-miss affair. For instance, while putting the last harmonies on Grey Sunny Day, Bill, Bob and Barry realized that someone was flat. They stepped into
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control room to listen to the tapes. They heard a blank spot where one tape had been erased by accident and quickly forgot about the flat singer. Their faces glowed with excitement. "Did you hear that; that's great — listen." From one set of speakers the voices sang "What a ..." and then came the blank space; from the other speakers came clear and strong, "Grey sunny da—ay"; and over all this the lead voice sang "Ooooohh must be foolin'." It was a fine sound.
They all listened while Bill and Bob sang Grey Sunny Day over and over as the tapes played again. They were trying to figure out an end to the song. "That's it," Bill announced, and they all rushed into the studio to put the final harmony on the tapes. All that was left was the last minute editing and a great Grey Sunny Day was born!
Bill Cowsill describes their music as "popular. It's a little of everything — the interesting sound of the Beatles, even Schubert. We are influenced by everything. If you take the techniques and modify them, it becomes yours; it becomes a sound."
The Cowsills recorded the theme for the movie The Impossible "fears, and have given or will give a concert at the Philharmonic Hall in New York, appear at the Chicago Opera House, and perform at a music festival in San Remo, Italy, singing in Italian one of the 22 songs to be presented.
The Cowsills may be great performers on the stage, but once you get to know them you realize that they are great people as individuals and as a family.
In many ways they are like any large family. They have their share of problems and difficulties. But the father, Bud, believes that love is a key word in raising a family, especially his. "When kids do the right thing, they know it. And when they do the wrong thing, they know it." Mr. Cowsill admits that "it is hard to actually define right and wrong in some situations; so the only constant is love." On many occasions he has said, "Whenever any member of the family has a problem, we do like all families — sweat, and all the while help it work itself out."
The Cowsills truly are a great family, a great group of individuals, and
an entirely new dimension in entertainment today.
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