Cowsill Studio Musicians

I thought I'd see how many of the studio musicians who have played on Cowsill recordings we could find. Here's a start. If you know of any of anyone not listed here, please email me.

Newest Musician:

Musician	Performed On	Bio	Reference
Chester, Gary	Drums - "Indian Lake"	Gary was a New York studio drummer for over 20 years logging over 14,000 recording sessions. Gary could be heard on the likes of Van Morrison's "Brown-Eyed Girl," Ben E King's "Stand By Me," and The Monkees "I'm a Believer."	Sympathetic Strings Podcast

Musician	Performed On	Bio	Reference
Adams, Pepper	baritone saxophone - "The Impossible Years"	From Wikipedia: Park Frederick "Pepper" Adams III was an American jazz baritone saxophonist and composer. He composed 42 pieces, was the leader on eighteen albums spanning 28 years, and participated in 600 sessions as a sideman.	Book written by Gary Carner called Pepper Adams' Joy Road: Annotated Discograpy
Averre, Berton	Unknown	Berton was the guitarist for The Knack RingSide wrote:KB: You are an arranger who toured with Robby Krieger, Bette Midler, The Cowsills and Sarah Brightman? What do you do as an arranger? I was never much of a session musician. I played on a Cowsills record, worked very briefly in the studio with Bette, did a jazz fusion tour with Robby, and played on and basically arranged a cover version of Love's "Alone Again Or" for Sarah Brightman, whom I never met.	Ring Side Report Interview
Bell, Vincent "Vinnie"	Guitar - "Hair", "TRTP&OT" and "The Milk Song"	Vincent "Vinnie" Bell invented a number of electric guitar models for Danelectro. He designed perhaps the first electric 12-string guitar, and invented the electric sitar in 1967.	Vinnie Bell and Vinnie and "The Milk Song"
Bianco, Eugene	Harp - "TRTP&OT"	Eugene Bianco - Eugene's obituary give a bio of himself.	Jimmy Wisner Interview mentions this.
Burton, James	Guitar - "Most Of All"	James Burton, known as the Master of Telecaster,has performed with everyone from Ricky Nelson to Johnny Cash, to John Denver to Roy Orbison, Joni Mitchell and Elvis Costello, just to name a few. James has also been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame.	Comment made between songs at ToRI 2003 by Bob. Also James Burton
Chester, Gary	Drums - "Indian Lake"	Gary was a New York studio drummer for over 20 years logging over 14,000 recording sessions. Gary could be heard on the likes of Van Morrison's "Brown-Eyed Girl," Ben E King's "Stand By Me," and The Monkees "I'm a Believer."	Sympathetic Strings Podcast
Dry Dock Country Members(also known as Supra Heat)	Various	According to newspaper articles (including Carlisle, Pennsylvania's The Sentinel), members of this group recorded on Cowsill records. Research on this group yielded few specifics. The group included Rich ___ on acoustic guitar, Vinnie ___ on Electric guitar, Roy ____ on bass, Peter Gormann on drums, and Stephan ___ on keyboards.	The Sentinal article.
Evans, Buzz	Steel Guitar - "Cheatin' on Me" On My Side	Click here for a bio of Buzz.	John mentioned this on a youtube video from Women Who Write, where he and his wife, Vicki, did a guest spot.
Feiton, Buzzy	**Cocaine Drain	From wikipedia: Howard "Buzz" Feiten is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, session musician, and luthier. He is best known as a lead and rhythm guitarist and for having patented a tuning system for guitars and similar instruments. Feiten also manufactures and markets solid-body electric guitars.	John's On The Mic interview
Forman, Steve	**Cocaine Drain	Steve Forman is a studio percussionist. He started out as a Phoenix Arizona Symphony percussionist before moving to LA in the 1970s. He worked with such greats as Linda Ronstadt, Sarah Vaughn, James Taylor, Warren Zevon and even The Beach Boys.	John's On The Mic interview
Frangipane, Ronald George	Unknown	Ronald played piano, accordion and saxophone. He played on many iconic songs including "Sugar, Sugar" "Daydream Believer" and "I'm A Believer." Ronald's obituary states that he played on records for The Cowsills.	Ronald's Obituary
Gorgoni, Al	Guitar - "TRTP&OT"	Al Gorgoni - Al was a guitarist, arranger, composer and producer who worked with groups such as The Four Seasons, The Shangri-Las, The Dixie Cups, Simon & Garfunkel, Van Morrison and The Monkees.	The is referenced on the Wikipedia page of TRTP&OT. Also Al's site.
Hodges, Gary "Hoppy"	Unknown	Hoppy is a drummer, percussionist and vocalist, Buckingham Nicks and Los Angeles studio drummer. Gary now works in Branson, Missouri.	Boyd Williams Website
Larsen, Neil	**Cocaine Drain	From wikipedia: Neil Larsen is an American jazz keyboardist, musical arranger and composer.	John's On The Mic interview
Osborn, Joe	Bass - "TRTP&OT" "Indian Lake"	Joe was a member of the Wrecking Crew and died Dec 14, 2018 at age 81. He was also a member of Ricky Nelson's backing band. He played on such hits as The Monkees Theme, Bridge Over Troubled Water, Monday, Monday, This Diamond Ring, Secret Agent Man and Holly Holy.	Variety article Joe Osborn, Dies at 81
Payne, Billy	**Cocaine Drain	From wikipedia: William H. 'Bill' Payne is an American pianist who, with Lowell George, co-founded the American rock band Little Feat.[1] He is considered by many other rock pianists, including Elton John,[2] to be one of the finest American piano rock and blues musicians.	John's On The Mic interview
Saltzman, Buddy	Drums - album The Cowsills	Buddy Saltzman is best-known as a studio musician for the type of records where many listeners don't even notice the drums (folk-rock). Buddy has also played for the likes of Cyrkle, Peter, Paul & Mary and The Archies.	John Cowsill Interview Also Answers.com
Scharf, Robby	Bass - Global	Robby has been a studio musician, band member (to many including The Cowsills and the Bel Air Bandits), and worked for several companies (including Sennheiser Electronic Corporation).	Framus Instruments Also Sennheiser Electronic Corporation
Watts, Ernie	**Cocaine Drain	From wikipedia: Ernest James Watts is an American jazz and rhythm and blues saxophonist who plays soprano, alto, and tenor saxophone.	John's On The Mic interview

**Cocaine Drain - These musicians were mention in John's On The Mic (Vater) interview which aired 6/22/21. He mentioned these musicians during the Cocaine Drain sessions. It was unclear to me if they actually played on the record or if they were just introduced to them during these years by Chuck Plotkin.