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It was three hours before showtime, but the backstage area at Colonie Coliseum was crowded with giggling girls bouncing signs and straining for “a glimpse (sigh) of just any one of them” – the Cowsills, well known family recording group.
The Cowsills . . . Barbara, mother; Susan, 11; John, 14; Barry, 15; Paul, 18; and Bob, 20 . . . relaxed plucking guitars, nibbling on fudge cake, and chasing Subar (the family dog – a little fuzzy miniature poodle) before their 8:30 p.m. performance.
“Just picture this,” laughed Paul, “a regular family but with each other 24 hours a day, working together, eating together, sleeping together. Wow, of course, we have hassels, but when we aren’t touring, recording or practicing, we all split. Everyone goes in his own direction. The whole scene is great. We love it.”
THE COWSILLS (their last name began in 1963 as the family group they are today, but before that Mom, Bob and Bill (now a production supervisor for RCA) were folksingers, then when the Beatles came out everyone had their own group. We all got together and just got too big for the living room,” Paul explained.
“I guess you could say Dad discovered us. Seven was the magic age when we all learned to play an instrument – piano, bass, drums, guitar. Now we can interchange and play them all,” he continued.
There were eight “flops,” and finally in 1967, the group recorded “The Rain, The Park, and Other Things,” their first big hit.
“ONE GOOD THING about being a family group is we all get a chance to do our own thing with lead work. If we were to break up next year, we sure wouldn’t want to all be jobless. You know if you just do back up work, you could really be washed up. So we take turns,” he explained.
“Bob is the boss on stage. Mom just cools it until she gets off stage,” Paul laughed.
Paul admits he is not “such a hot soloist.” He wants to act and feels somebody might hire him because “producers like big names.”
Since 1967the family has toured frequently, mostly in summer and late winter. This type schedule gives Susan, Barry, and John time to attend Hollywood Professional School.
“Bob and I don’t go to school. We’re sitting out the draft right now. Bob is married plus his number is 283, mine is 123 so I’m on. I’ll go. I’m not a draft dodger. The war has meaning. They’re doing it wrong, but I’ll go,” he continued.
“We used to fly a lot, but with so many of us 10 all together, we missed flights, connections, got stormed in, you know. Now it’s wild we have a truck and a wagon. Dad sets the departure time and we’ve got to be there. It’s real family stuff,” he laughed.
The Cowsill will be back home (Santa Monica) is late October. In February they plan to tour the Orient and in March it’s off to South Africa.
“We’re really big there. The kids love us and buy millions of our records,” Paul said.
The Cowsills do not always like all the songs they record. Like any family, each his own favorite, but each one seems to be happy with “On My Side,” a new song to be released at the beginning of 1971.
Most of the time Paul and Bob write their own songs, but last summer’s hit “Indian Lake” came from a Watervliet man, Tony Romero.
“The entire family has always loved music and we will play until there isn’t a market for our sound,” Paul concluded.
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