|
The Cowsills, Newport’s most famous musical sons are coming back to the City by the Sea to perform.
This weekend, at the 15th annual Aquafina Tate of Rhode Island Festival at the Newport Yachting Center, the Cowsills will be making a rare appearance and playing on both days. The Cowsills will perform on the main stage Saturday from 6:30-8:30 p.m., and Sunday from 3 to 5 p.m.
“It’s great to be coming back to Newport. We don’t get to do it very often,” said Bobby Cowsill in a recent telephone interview from Los Angeles. “Newport seems to be the only place where our entire family can get on an airplane and get together and play music. We’ve filled every room on Bannister’s Wharf.”
Most Newporters are aware that the Cowsills are a family of musicians that grew up here and achieved national musical fame in the late 1960’s with a series of hits including “The Rain, the Park, and Other Things,” “We Can Fly,” top 10 hits in 1968, “Indian lake,” and their biggest hit, the title song from the rock musical “Hair.”
The band was also the real-life inspiration behind the television hit series “The Partridge Family.”
This weekend’s performances will mark the first time that the band will be playing in Newport after a three-year hiatus. They have played here three times in the last 10 years.
Musical talent in the family genes. Weaned on the Beatles, they are noted for the crystallization of their harmonic voices. Bobby Cowsill said he and his brother Bill first starting making money singing at the Elk’s Club on Bellevue Avenue when they were 10 and 11-years old, respectively. They earned $5 a night. By the time the Cowsills were Middletown High School students, they were performing on Bannister’s Wharf and elsewhere around town, including yearly prom-band duty at Middletown High. Discovered one night by a talent agent while playing in the former Muchinger-King Disco, they found themselves on the Today Show and subsequently they got their first gold record directly after finishing high school. Since then, th Cowsills and their music have been in over 50-television shows and movies.
When the Cowsills perform, you never know exactly which family members will perform. Their mother Barbara was a singer in the band, her seven children all played in the band, people they have married play in the band, and now their children also perform. Paul’s son Ryan will be playing bass during the Taste of Rhode Island performances. Additionally, Bobby’s daughter Courtney, despite growing up in California, is currently a student at Salve Regina University.
John, a drummer, will not be available for the weekend. Instead, he will be playing with another band that first achieved fame in the 1960’s – the Beach Boys.
During a performance, the Cowsills can crank out the music, often playing up to 50 songs throughout a show. For this weekends’ music, Bobby Cowsill said, “We’re going to do some songs that not many people know, but they are part of our history.” He said one song is about Middletown High School.
In addition to hearing the Cowsills perform, the festival will have food – lots of food.
|
