The Cowsills
January, 1968
Tiger Beat Magazine
FUN IS THE ONLY WORD the groovy Cowsills seem to know. No matter what they are doing, even cleaning their 22 room mansion in Rhode Island, they make it fun by singing and joking all the time. Mom and Dad, too!
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If YOU could be part of their family for just one day, it would change your life.
Eight and a half gallons of milk,
three loaves of bread, ten pounds of potatoes, a fifteen-pound roast, two dozen eggs ... what's this? The menu for a U. S. Army platoon ? No, it's just part of the Cowsill grocery list for today!
The Cowsills don't have long hair — they've got big hearts. They don't wear Rajah coats or love beads — they love. They don't depend on electronics for their sound — they just open their mouths and out it flows. They don't rebel against their family — they sing with it! And you know what that means after hearing their hit, "The Rain, The Park, and Other Things."
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WHY SO SPECIAL?
The Cowsills are the most talked-about, outasite bunch of musical people around. Why are they so unique? What other group can claim a mom and an eight-year-old sister among its ranks? What other family can get together and groove with the most up-to-date popular sounds?
All you have to do is hear one song, see one performance, and you're hooked. All you have to do is sit through a rehearsal session while they excitedly knock around new ideas for a song, or talk with them while they splash in and out of the swimming pool having an outasite time with each other. Just do that and you're in love with them forever. And you've made nine friends for life!
The group centers around Bill, Bob, Barry and John — four outasite brothers who get the songs written and keep the sounds flowing. They've been playing professionally for three years now.
BILL'S THE LEADER
Brown-haired Bill, twenty, with the sparkling green eyes, says, "Music is my life." He sings lead and plays organ and guitar. Since he'sthe oldest brother, the rest look to him for the final say. He has a super-fab sense of humor, just like rest of the family and he loves people. In fact, his goal is to help make the world happier.
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Yet he can be moody and he's sensitive. His favorite people are the kind that think about things deeply. He loves to search into a person's mind for new ideas. Bill writes poetry and paints and, when not touring, he attends Rhode Island College.
QUIET BUT HAPPY
Eighteen-year-old Bob, with jet-black hair and brown eyes, is quiet. He often likes to go into a corner and absorb himself in a book hours at a time. But he's the happiest, warmest guy you'd ever want to meet. And he never misses out on what's happening. In fact, you can usually find him right in the middle of all the excitement when it does happen! He's an A-student all the way, but his "always-happy-and-ready-for-fun"-type attitude convinces you he's no egghead!
BARRY'S A NATURAL
Barry digs performing and traveling like the rest of them, but he also misses home because he's got so many friends back there. He misses playing on his class football team, too. His biggest thrill in his thirteen years has been the jet plane flight (continued below)
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THE WHOLE COWSILL FAMILY together makes a great looking bunch! From left, it's PAUL, BILL and DICK in the back row. Paul and Dick take care of all the equipment. Next row is SHERRY, the only non-family member, who's the boys' tutor; and MR. COWSILL. Row three, you'll find BARRY, mother BARB JOHN and BOB and little SUSIE, is right up front. They're a fun, fun family!
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that the group recently took to St. Louis on tour.
Barry, with his brown hair and hazel eyes, is the born entertainer of the Cowsills. He's right at home in front of a camera or a roomful of people. He started out as the drummer, but switched to bass guitar when John took over the drumming. He's a very real person—nothing phony about him! He's just Barry Cowsill, but what more could you want? All he does is turn on his smile and your heart is captured!
FRECKLE-FACED JOHN
What do you see when you look at John Cowsill? Freckles, brown hair and eyes to match, freckles, an enormous grin, and FRECKLES! For his eleven years, he's come a long way and gotten a lot done. John plays the drums like you wouldn't believe! In fact, sometimes he gets so carried away on stage that he knocks the cymbals over, but one of the guys just sets them back up again and off he goes!
As for future goals, John wants to be a singer one day, a baker the next. But, as he says, "I'm happy and I just want to be me." That's his main ambition, besides wanting to learn to fly a plane. His loves include basketball, baseball, motorcycles, drums, and people. John is happiest when he's with people and people are happiest when they're with John!
The four brothers really know how to groove together, whether they're performing, rehearsing, or
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just goofing off. But the rest of the bunch is never left out either. This is the most togetherness-type family ever and each member helps out with the performance.
YOUNG-AT-HEART DAD
Mr. Cowsill coordinates it all. Bill calls him "the genius of the group— the key to the lock." Without his guiding hand, the Cowsills wouldn't be moving right up to the top this minute. He's known to all the guys as "the eternal teenager."
Then there's Dick, eighteen, who works lights and Paul, fifteen, who's the stage manager. There's never a wasted second or a dull minute for them!
MOM AND SUSIE
The group's girls sure can't be left out! Mrs. C. ("call me Barbara") is their super-groovy mother. She lends her voice to many of the numbers as well as all kinds of enthusiasm. She's up-to-date and knows where it's at, but she's a mother most of all! At home, besides rehearsing with the clan every day, she's never too busy to bake a cake (or ten) and to fix dinner— and that's a job!
Eight-year-old Susie, the only girl amongst six brothers, completes the group. She can hold her own with all of them, although she gets teased from all sides. "A sister might be fun" but would she trade any of her brothers? Not on your life! She's got as much zest and energy in her as any of them! When she's on stage singing her heart out, you
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can tell she loves every second of her happening life.
"Home" to the Cowsill crew rambling, unreal-type mansion in Newport, Rhode Island. Woods take up half the grounds, a "child's paradise" says Barbara. The kids all have groovy times together, building treehouses, playing football, sailing boats.
MAGIC FORMULA
Although they belong to world of show business, Mr. and Mrs. C have brought up their kids with the magical formula of discipline plus an ocean of love. They all have mutual respect and understanding for one another. That's why they're so happy. That's why, when they travel on tour, they go by bus — so they can see the country, learn, and have a super-fab time, even though it's part of "work."
And believe it — they work! But "It's all part of one big vacation called life," says Mom. They've always loved what they were doing and they've always been able to groove with people.
Now you've met each Cowsill. Now you know what makes the group so special. Now you'll be looking and listening for them because they want to meet you, too!
Oh yes, there is a tenth member but he couldn't come along. Curley, their dog, had to stay home, eagerly waiting for them to return. But, if they ever need to add a good, solid bark to their act — it'll still be all in the Cowsill family!
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