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The famed Cowsill Family performed to a full house here Monday night, and - in a way - it was all possible because of Pueblo City Manager Fred Weisbrod.
The singing family gave a two-hour concert at Pueblo Memorial Hall as part of the Southern Colorado State College homecoming activities.
Their music ranged from "You Were On My Mind," to "Hair" (their last single) and "Silver Threads," their current release.
Weisbrod attended the concert Monday and went backstage to renew his friendhsip with the family. That friendship started several years ago in Newport, R.I., the Cowsills' hometown.
Weisbrod was city manager of Newport at the time, when the family was just getting its musical start. "They were just a hometown group, then," he said.
It seemed there was a local ordinance on child labor stating that no one under 16 could perform after 9 p.m., Weisbrod recalls
The senior Cowsill, Bud, tells it this way: "The kids were on stage when the police broke it up because they were too young. Weisbrod called an emergency meeting of the city council right there and changed the rule, so we went on with the concert."
Although Cowsill says local police thought he and his wife were "wicked parents forcing our children to work," Weisbrod pointed out they were playing the well-known Newport Muechinger-King Hotel.
The Cowsill family - Bob, Paul, John, Barry and Susan, and parents Barbara and Bud - had nothing but praise for Weisbrod's action Monday night. And Weisbrod had nothing but praise for "the hometown group" made good.
The Cowsills were organized after the father retired as a chief petty officer after 20 years in the Navy. In June 1967 they recorded their first album, "The Cowsills," which contained their first million seller, "The Rain, The Park and Other Things." Their later album, "We Can Fly," brought even further success for the family.
Today they have six albums, many single recordings and lots of concert dates. In addition, they have chalked up two television specials and appearances on 10 regular shows.
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