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I saw her sitting in the rain,
Raindrops falling on her.
She didn’t seem to care,
She sat there and smiled at me,
Then I knew she would make me happy
. . .
-“The Rain, The Park & Other Things”
It was midway in the 1960s and the seven members of the Cowsill family were living an unnoticed life in Newport, R.I.
But could they sing! Their crisp, slick vocal harmonies were seemingly effortless; their musicianship was strong, upbeat.
In the beginning they played local hotel bookings; a vacationing VIP would occasionally be impressed. Mother Barbara Cowsill and father Bud, a retired Navy man, acted as managers, he of the music and money, she of the family.
Suddenly a song cut for a record. Then a hit.
By November, 1967, their first million-seller, “The Rain, The Park & Other Things,” had cometed to the top of the national charts and, within two years, five other MGM albums, containing such favorites as “Hair,” “Indian Lake,” “Love American Style,” “We Can Fly” and “The Candy Kid,” had been released.
The Cowsills parried one-liners with Johnny Carson, starred in a televisions special, and Ed Sullivan’s Christmas show of 1968 featured 9-year-old Susan Cowsill singing “All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth.”
By the end of ’69 the Cowsills – Bill, 21; Bob, 20; Paul, 18; Barry, 15; John, 13, Susan and their mother – were wealthy and still counting.
By the end of 1970, their popularity – and fortunes – had begun an incredible nosedive.
On June 27, 1975 Bud, Barbara and their offspring filed bankruptcy papers listing an indebtedness of $455,399. Foreclosures wiped out their 23-room Newport mansion, other properties and all the family cars, except one.
Bud Cowsill eventually went back to sea and his wife retreated to West Warwick, R.I., where she resides in a garden apartment and works the night shift in a nursing home.
The golden dream was punctured long ago and Barbara, now returned to the real world, is a reluctant interview.
She attributes the fall for the Cowsills to “bad business management” and stoically acknowledges that it was great while it lasted. She has written herself out of the act.
But, wait, there may yet be a sequel to the saga of the singing Cowsills.
A reunion of a majority of the children has already taken place on the West Coast, according to long-time friend and newly acquired personal manager Jon Myer of North Hollywood, Calif.
“We are currently doing work on a free-lance basis with somebody at Elektra-Asylym records,” said Myer this week. “It’s strange how the reunion happened.
“Susan, now 18, had cut a couple of singles for Warner Brothers, ‘It Might As Well Rain Until September’ and ‘The Next Time That I See You’ but the label failed to get behind them, so nothing happened. Meanwhile, Paul, 25,and John, 21, had recorded two years ago for Capitol under the name Bridie Murphy a song ‘The Time Has Come.’ Unfortunately, for them, it hadn’t.
Bill had opted for a career as a singer in clubs in Canada’s northwest territory; Barry’s whereabouts were not known. That left brother Bob. Now, Bob Cowsill had thought he had retired from singing and wanted to spend his time composing songs.
He needed voices on a demo tape of one of his songs and since family talent fees were obviously ideal, Susan, Paul, John and Bob made the demo.
The rediscovery of themselves as performers convinced the foursome to take another fling.
“And that’s what happened,” said Myer. “It started last Christmas and since June the new Cowsills have been getting songs together and rehearsing. People have come to us but we’re not ready yet to accept bookings or record contracts.
“This Cowsill group will be totally contemporary, which means some of the songs will delve into the personal experiences of the group members.”
Myer, 36, previously managed singer-songwriter Becky Hobbs, a pop-rock band called Sonoma and the better-known Iggy & The Stooges and has served as road manager for Butterfield Blues Band and John Sebastian
In what could be construed as a lapse into flackmanship, Myer added: “I personally think we are extremely close to signing with a record label. I expect them to cut a record for fall release.”
In an understandably optimistic tone, Barbara Cowsill recently said: “You’re going to see some big things happening.”
Success the second time around in rock and roll is hardly rooted in precedent. Neil Sedaka has enjoyed a fantastic resurgence as a performer while Paul Anka switched from rock to middle-of-the-road pop. Chuck Berry has neither come back nor gone away.
Where does that leave the Cowsills?
“They are musical geniuses,” said Myer. “I was told their chances for success are 10 to 1 in their favor. Of course, there is also the luck factor.”
There was a sobering lesson to be learned from the meteoric early career of the Cowsills, added their new manager.
“They’ve learned patience,” he said.
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