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There's a story about the lives of The Cowsills that belongs on television. But it's not "The Partridge Family."
Filled with inner battles, addiction, a controlling father, a passive mother, and a desire to create their own music, the true story is darker and more heartbreaking than anyone could imagine.
"We are one of the last remaining reality stories that's real in Hollywood," says Bob Cowsill, one of the band's founding members.
And yet, the picture most fans got in the late 1960s and early 1970s was one of harmony - a mother and her children singing pop songs and the title cut from the musical, "Hair."
They landed gigs on "The Ed Sullivan Show," toured the country and seemed like the kind of group that could weather any storm.
Inner turmoil, however, was so intense The Cowsills barely made it out as a family.
The Partridge Connection
Most Americans discovered them when ABC announced it was producing a sitcom loosely based on their life - a mom and her kids touring the country.
"We were flattered in the beginning," Cowsill says. "They came to see if we could be the children in the show." He was 19 at the time, brother Paul was 17, sister Susan was 9. "We did not want to add a TV show to our lives because we had been successful recording artists."
The real deal breaker: Barbara Cowsill, their mother, would not be a part of the show. Oscar winner Shirley Jones had been hired to play the part. Producers just wanted the kids. That didn't sit well with their father, William "Bud" Cowsill, a former Navy recruiter who served as their manager. Convinced he knew more about the music business than anyone else, he created turmoil behind the scenes at television shows, tried to control the music and, when all else failed, was abusive to his children.
"I took the avoidance (route)," Bob Cowsill says. "I realized at a very young age - third grade, second grade - you did not want to touch him off. I had no problem getting good grades . . . and that meant I was going to have a good day. But I have three brothers who took him on and they're dead today. They took him on because when you're trying to coordinate a successful music career, it's very challenging. Not everyone can stand up to that pressure and the business is going to implode.
Dad's interference
"My brother Bill said (dad) was jealous of the whole scene. He felt it was his job to knock you down a few steps and make sure you didn't get too high. It's all going to come crashing down."
Because the idea of a mom and her children singing together seemed ready-made for television, "The Ed Sullivan Show" booked them for 10 shows - a coup in the days when social media didn't exist. "We only got to do two because dad got in a fight with the show's producers," Cowsill says.
Record producers also wearied of the battle and didn't want to get involved - largely because Bud was playing bigshot.
Mom, meanwhile, was "just trying to keep the lid on dad because dad could be explosive," Cowsill says. "We believe she just gave in to him because how many fights can you have in your house? You've got to select what you're going to take on."
Mom's place
Barbara Cowsill, however, was the band's secret weapon. While her sons were able to cut records while they were in high school, they didn't attract attention. "The moment she stepped onto the scene, we became different. We became unlike everybody else, immediately," Bob Cowsill says. "And the record company loved us."
Barbara, however, suffered from stage fright. "She was a trooper, and she had a beautiful voice. When she came on board, it changed the entire direction, sound and movement of the family and it was going to be profound," but she was not a musical creator like her children.
With mom in tow, "The Rain, the Park and Things" sold more than a million copies. Between 1967 and 1970, The Cowsills released five albums. "We Can Fly," "Indian Lake" and their cover of "Hair" made the charts. By the time sister Susan joined the group, they were established hit makers.
And then? It came crashing down. Dad fought with Bill, the eldest.
How things changed
Bill, in essence, was "tossed from the family." The others didn't see him for months. "Bill just took it the hard way and disappeared," Bob Cowsill says. "The rest of the ones who are left, just got very tight."
By 1972, the band dissolved. The members pursued music in other ways. Barbara died in 1985 of emphysema. Bud died in 1992 of leukemia.
Bill Cowsill suffered from emphysema, Cushing syndrome and osteoporosis but continued to write and play music. He lived in Calgary, Alberta, and died Feb. 18, 2006, at his home.
His family members didn't learn about his death until they were holding a memorial service for brother Barry, who was a victim of Hurricane Katrina. Like Bill, Barry was also involved in music, post-Cowsills. He worked a series of jobs and relocated to New Orleans. Before his death, he had made plans to enter a rehab facility to get help for alcoholism.
Richard, Bob's fraternal twin, died July 8, 2014. While he wasn't part of the Cowsills' core band, he did sing with them.
And today . . .
Bob, Paul, John and Susan, the survivors, continue to make music, together and separately.
John had a 23-year career with the Beach Boys. He and his wife, Vicki Peterson of the Bangles, are working on a project, recording songs written by Barry and Bill.
"I've heard some of it," Bob Cowsill says. "It's terrific."
Paul, Bob and Susan frequently perform as The Cowsills and sing those songs that made them famous. "That's only 15 minutes of our show," Bob Cowsill admits. "So we do other songs - 'Monday, Monday' - that recall the times." Often, they'll remember those moments with their mom, things they were doing at the time "and you do get a little melancholy. It's just certain songs . . . not all of them."
Oddly, the remaining Cowsills don't have a lot of memorabilia from the past. "Our parents didn't walk around with a camera. It was a different kind of life. I wish I had amazing stuff from my whole career, but I was not one of those people.
"We left more than a lot of people are aware of . . . but that's our lives. We hope the part people are aware of is that we brought an uplifting, harmonious sound to the music that we were a part of."
Hall of Fame
Earlier this year, The Cowsills were inducted into the New England Music Hall of Fame. Later this year, they plan to join the Happy Together Tour, a showcase that includes the music of The Turtles, The Association, Jay & the Americans, The Vogues and Badfinger.
A miniseries has been discussed and, yes, the survivors would be interested in telling their story.
Through it all, Bob Cowsill says, "I do believe that we are better parents. It's more because we learned what not to do than what to do. In our house, there were no hugs. Mom wasn't huggable or lovable and everyone was a little stiff. We didn't date until we were in our 20s. We were dealing with business. We were dealing with (our label) MGM . . . and we were dealing with dad." He pauses. "It was pretty wild."
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