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ONE BIG, HAPPY family - that's The Cowsills. They always seem to be having lots of fun together whether they're at home or on-stage. But if you look closer, you'll discover all is not completely peaceful with two of your Cowsill favs - John and Barry! In a way, you could say they're in the middle of a feud - and they're both trying hard to win all the time.
Part of their trouble comes from just being a member of a big family. Any family with that many children is going to have its share of fights, and The Cowsills are no exception. Every member of the family usually has his own opinion about such things as what kind of sandwiches to take on a picnic, where and when to go on vacation and what kind of new house or car to buy. And usually everyone's opinion is different. So naturally, they have quite a few friendly arguments.
Clothes are another cause of friction at the Cowsill home. For instance. Barry sometimes has to look all over the house for his favorite yellow shirt when he wants to wear it - only to discover that brother John has it on. And the same is true the other way around. It results, of course, in loud voices. But they both agree that having a brother whose clothes you can wear also has its good points - it's like having a whole second wardrobe.
John and Barry feud about a lot of other things, too. Barry's a real television fan, and he especially likes cartoons. John doesn't like TV quite so much. He only watches it on Saturday and he says, "cartoons drive me crazy."
"You should see John and me fight it out in the hall when John turns off the TV!" Barry confides.
Summertime is when Barry "bugs" John the most. "Barry burns incense every night in the room because of the mosquitoes," says John. "I'd rather have the mosquitoes."
But the real feud between John and Barry isn't about food or clothes or incense or television or anything superficial like that. It's about music. And, believe it or not, their feud
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is one of the things that helps The Cowsills become an even better and better group.
It all started about six years ago.
Bill, Bob and Barry had formed a trio with Bill and Bob on guitar and Barry on drums. They played everywhere they could — at local parties, church benefits and teen clubs — and they were having a terrific time. Of course, John, who was only eight years old, wanted
to be part of it, too.
He kept pestering his older brothers
for a chance to play the drums with them. And finally they gave in. But they weren't very enthusiastic about it at first. They were pretty sure he'd mess things up. Barry, especially, wasn't too happy about the idea of adding John to the group. After all,
the drums were his territory!
But John really wanted to play
with his brothers. And with Barry's help, he practiced hard to become good enough. Finally the big day came for John's audition . And even Barry had to admit little John was a terrific drummer. So Barry agreed to take over the bass .. . and the trio became a
quartet.
Just three years later. The Cowsills
had gone from a small local group to one with a national hit and thousands of fans all over the country. And since then, they've grown even more successful, and their sound gets even
better with each new record.
What's their secret? Well, part of it
is John and Barry's "feud" over who's the best musician. Sure, it's mainly in fun. The Cowsills work as a team, which means they all work together constantly to improve their music. But
since Barry and John started out on
the same instrument... and since they're close in age and brothers . . .
there is a little friendly rivalry between
them. You can be sure of one thing -
when one makes a mistake, the other is bound to notice it. And when one needs some help or suggestion, the
other is right there to give it.
What does it all mean? Simply that
the more the feud grows, the more Barry and John win it-and the more their fans win, too.
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