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NEWPORT - Before it ended late Saturday night, the send-off for Barry Cowsill included his family and friends playing familiar hit songs, a touching 15-minute video saluting Barry and his siblings, and Barry's godfather and uncle, Bob Brooks of Johnston, crooning "Danny Boy" - not to forget a bunch of middle-agers gyrating to "Hair."
What, you thought Barry Cowsill's farewell was going to be dull?
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Debbie Cowsill, left, Barry Cowsill's first wife, and Tiffany Cowsill, his niece, comfort each other at Saturday night's event. (Megan Rathfon/Daily News staff)
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About 400 people crowded into the downstairs ballroom at the Hotel Viking to bid farewell to the Newport-born-and-bred musician, who drowned in New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Some said they barely knew him and others got to know him in recent years, after his return to Newport.
For Frankie LaFleur Blanchette of Swansea, Mass., the party brought back memories of her wedding day 40 years ago. The Cowsills played for $75.
"We all lived in the Fifth Ward," she said. "I knew them from the hootenannies in King Park and from the MK (Club). They were just on the verge of becoming big when they played our wedding."
Family members had said Barry Cowsill, 51, wanted more of a party than a funeral. While family members scattered his ashes Saturday afternoon in King Park and on Indian Avenue in Middletown (the family scrapped plans to scatter them at their former home, Halidon Hall), the party gave people a chance to sing, dance and see old friends.
Barry Cowsill, who battled alcohol and mental illness as an adult, was a teen star in the late 1960s, as the Cowsills exploded as a national act. He and younger brother John, now the drummer for the Beach Boys, were heartthrobs.
"At one point, Barry and John were among the most popular teenagers in the world," said Richard "Biggy" Korn, the owner of Yesterday's in downtown Newport, who worked as the Cowsills' road manager.
"I don't really think Barry was equipped for it," Korn said. "It was tough for him."
Barry Cowsill loved the music end of the business more than the pop-sensation part. When he moved back to Newport a few years ago, after living in various parts of the country, he began playing at Billy Goode's on Marlborough Street.
"He was a very, very generous cat," said local singer Mark Quinn. "He would sing harmonies with me. A lot of people talk about him as a musician. But as a person, he was the consummate gentleman. He was a nice, nice man who walked the world in peace."
During the night, the Cowsills screened a video, compiled in part by Portsmouth musician John Flanders, a longtime Cowsills friend. The video featured funny and poignant moments with Barry Cowsill, along with a montage of Cowsill clips from appearances with Ed Sullivan, Johnny Cash and Dean Martin.
The local band Abbey Rhode, which specializes in Beatles tunes, performed. One of its singers, Kevin Sullivan, sang a song he'd written for Barry Cowsill last October.
One fan flew up for the day from Fort Myers, Fla., where he works this time of year. Charles Steinberg is executive vice president of public affairs for the Boston Red Sox and booked the Cowsills to sing the national anthem during the American League Championship Series in 2004.
"They are wonderful people," Steinberg said. "I felt I really wanted to be here."
Barry's ex-wife Deborah Cowsill had their children, Brandy, Keira and Collin, with her. "You could go anywhere in the country and people knew Barry," she said. "He lived all over and people remember him. He was that kind of person."
Earlier in the day, the family learned that brother Bill Cowsill, 58, died Friday in Calgary, Alberta, after a series of health problems. It made the day even tougher, but the Cowsills did what comes naturally: They played music.
Before the night ended, they performed hits such as "The Rain, the Park and Other Things" and "Indian Lake," with bassist Robbie Scharf helping out. Bob Cowsill's son Jason sang Barry's "River of Love" before the group belted out "Hair," as an inspired middle-aged dance party broke out.
"I want to thank so many people for coming out tonight," Paul Cowsill told the audience. "I think Barry would be humbled by this."
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