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Since last September, when I heard that Barry Cowsill was missing in New Orleans, I think I purposely blocked out the bad news. Even when I spoke with his brother, Paul, and traded e-mails with his sister, Susan, I knew in my heart that Barry wasn’t coming back. It wasn’t Hurricane Katrina that had gotten him.
Barry’s various mental illnesses had done him in, and I didn’t want to think about it. The Cowsills are etched in memories of my childhood; they are a very distinct part of the years 1966-69.
They disappear in history after a run of three enormous hit singles: “The Rain, the Park and Other Things,” “Indian Lake” and “Hair,” the latter being the theme song from the Broadway musical.
During that time, the whole family — upon which "The Partridge Family" would be based — was fodder for personality and music magazines much the way the Olsen twins and Britney Spears are today.
The brothers — Barry, Paul, John and Billy— were literally everywhere. And when it was over, they were over. Except for singing the theme song for the TV show “Love American Style,” the Cowsills became a trivia question.
This is too bad, since they were real musicians. Over the years they’d be connected to Waddy Wachtel (of Doobie Brothers fame) and the Bangles . But no one would ever take them seriously again.
I’m sure that wasn’t good for Barry, who disappeared on Sept. 1 in New Orleans and was found dead in December. Over this last weekend, during a memorial for Barry, the family announced that Billy had died, too. He’d been battling drug and alcohol problems for years.
The story about "The Partridge Family" is that Columbia Pictures Television sent writers to observe the Cowsills for a series. I guess that would have been the first reality series. Instead, CPTV opted to make a fictionalized version.
Shirley Jones played Barbara Cowsill, the mom; David Cassidy was Barry; Susan Dey was Susan Cowsill, etc. The manager character, Ruben Kincaid, was the Cowsills’ manager Artie Kornfield, who was also one of the co-creators of the legendary Woodstock music festival.
Kornfield and the late Steve Duboff co-wrote the Cowsills’ first hit, a seminal piece of pop luxe called “The Rain, the Park, and other Things.” The title is never sung, which was very unusual back in 1967. There’s no "rain" and no "park." Just “other things,” like a chorus of “I love the flower girl” and a hook: “Flowers in her hair/Flowers everywhere.”
It remains a classic not just because of the structure, but because of the tremendous harmonies. It’s a joyous three-minute record. The Cowsills’ vocals rivaled anything the Beach Boys or the Mamas and the Papas were doing at the time.
But the group simply did not have the staying power, and because of the novelty of a family act, they were devoured quickly in the press. Their three years as pop icons added up to a longer run than they could have hoped for, frankly.
The stories of Barry and Billy are even more tragic if you listen to “The Rain, The Park.” The song melts with happiness, good cheer and possibilities of love without being saccharine. I wish kids today had a pop memory like the Cowsills to fall back on. Hopefully, the brothers have found peace at last.
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