Page 65-66:
Barry and Billy Cowsill - The Cowsills are fondly remembered as the First Family of Sunshine Pop. but, in reality, the sun hasn't been shining on their doorstep in a long time. In the devastating wake of Hurricane Katrina, the list of missing music legends was surprisingly small, but, too damned big. While Fats Domino, Alex Chilton, and almost everybody else on the list eventually turned up alive and well, Barry Cowsill would still be listed as missing, three months later. His body was finally found near the Chartres Street Wharf. A Jazz funeral was held in New Orleans, and the family was just completing memorial services in their hometown of Newport, Rhode Island, when they got the word that their tragedy was now twofold. Billy Cowsill had suddenly passed away, after a long, crushing, bout with Emphysema, Osteoporosis, and Cushing Syndrome, though the actual cause of death had not been revealed The Cowsills were unique in that they were a real family group. Their mother, the late Barbara Cowsill, performed and recorded with her six children, while their Father, Bud Cowsill, acted as manager, and, reportedly, made off with most of their earnings. Not surprisingly, after hits like "The Rain, The Park and Other Things," "We Can Fly ," and "Indian Lake," commercial spots for The American Dairy Association, and being immortalized with their own Harvey comic book (as well as having the great Jack Davis illustrate their "Best of" LP), the Cowsills were considered for their own TV show, a live action comedy-drama about, what else? A traveling, family based, Pop-Rock group. The only hitch was that the producers wanted established actress and singer, Shirley Jones, to play the mom. Legend has it the group stood firm, no Barbara, show. The studio came up with the big, bright idea of recruiting singer, David Cassidy (Jones' stepson, with whom she was barely speaking at the time), and four other kids who all looked like they had different fathers, to be the makeshift TV singing family. The show could have been the shot in the arm that the Cowsills, who were falling out of favor, needed to get back on track, though, obviously, Hollywood played their hunch, and won. Bill, by this time, had befriended Brian Wilson, and was rallying for the group to do more "Rock" oriented material. He had taken a notion that the band could score a hit with the theme song to the new Rock musical, "Hair," which ruffled MGM's feathers considerably, not deeming it a fit single (it's not like they'd recorded a version of "Sodomy" or something). Bill proved them wrong by handing D.J.s self-made demos of the song, and MGM had to concede. The Cowsills had a huge hit on their hands (I had a copy, which I dearly loved, and I was only 5 years old!). The single would also have the distinction of being the only song to be banned in Vietnam during the war, a fact not lost on proud brother, Richard Cowsill, who'd served two tours of duty while this was going on. The hits would stop coming after Bill was kicked out of the group, by their Father, for smoking pot. Of course, The Cowsills made other attempts to break the Rock market, most notably with their swansong LP,"II x II," a proto God-Rock epic. The group, amazingly enough, performed the title track on "Playboy After Dark." The Cowsills disbanded in the early 70s, though Barry would go on to perform in Canada with Blue Northern and The Blue Shadows, and Billy would turn up, most recently, on a Hank Williams tribute CD. Bob Cowsill has been holding down a residency at Pickwick's Pub in Woodland Hills, California, where it was announced that the surviving Cowsills would be performing a memorial show for their fallen Brothers. Susan Cowsill has been the most visible member of the family, recently, working with Peter Holsapple of The DB's and Vickie Peterson of The Bangles in The Continental Drifters. She's recently released a strong solo album.
"Young kids want to conform to what their mothers like, so they like The Cowsills - family approved Pop music." -Pete Townshend.
"Susan Cowsill smiled at me once. It was pretty cool."-John Battles.
|
