The Cowsills

The 1960s introduced a lot of great bands to the American music scene. I used to turn on the car radio when my mom was driving, and I would listen to many of the great 60’s bands. My first favorite song that I remember when I was six in 1965, was the song, “Downtown,” by Petula Clark.

However, one of my favorite bands of that era was The Cowsills. They were an American singing group of six siblings and later their mother, from Newport, Rhode Island. They were noted for performing professionally and singing harmonies at an early age.

The band formed in early 1965 by brothers Bill, Bob, and Barry Cowsill. Their brother John joined soon after. After their initial success, the brothers were joined by their other siblings Susan and Paul along with their mother, Barbara. Bob’s fraternal twin brother Richard was never part of the band during its heyday, but he did appear with the band in later years.

When the band expanded to its full family membership by 1967, the six siblings ranged in age from eight to 19. This band inspired the 1970s television show, The Partridge Family.

In late 1965, The Cowsills were hired as a regular act on Bannisters Wharf in Newport. They performed many of the popular songs of the day including music of the Beatles. They released a handful of singles on JODA records, a label owned by Danny Sims and Johnny Nash, who sang, “I Can See Clearly Now.” However, these songs only received modest success.

Leonard Stogel managed the band starting in 1967 and signed them to MGM Records. Their first album included the hit single, “The Rain, The Park & Other Things.” It sold more than one million copies, reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and was awarded a gold record. After this hit, the band quickly became a popular act in the U.S. and achieved significant airplay in Britain and other parts of Europe.

This was my favorite song from The Cowsills, but it must be the craziest title I have ever heard. When you listen to the song, you don’t really hear this title much. You hear more about the flower girl. And there were a lot of people who called this song the flower girl song because they thought this was the title.

However, The Cowsills released five albums for MGM records between 1967 and 1970. In the spring of 1968, the band released “We Can Fly,” off their second album and it peaked at number 21. That same year the band scored another Top 10 hit with their song, “Indian Lake,” off the album, “Captain Sad and his Ship of Fools.” It reached number 10 on U.S. charts.

In September 1968, after the bands summer tour, the family relocated to Santa Monica, California. Following rehearsals at their home, and demo sessions at SIR Studios on Santa Monica Boulevard, The Cowsills recorded their version of the song “Hair,” in two days in October 1968 at TTG Studios in Hollywood. A key attraction of TTG was its custom-built 16-track recorder, the only such machine available in Los Angeles at the time. It also attracted leading rock acts like Jimi Hendrix and Frank Zappa. A part of the bridge to the song Hair was very difficult to record, and the band conducted more than 100 takes of the song before they got a satisfactory version.

In November 1968, The Cowsills starred in their own television special called, A Family Thing, on NBC, and Buddy Ebsen was the guest star.

From 1968 through 1972, the band played an average of 200 performance dates per year. They also had their own comic book published by Harvey Comics in 1968.

The band released their version of the song Hair, in May 1969. It was the opening track on the album, “The Cowsills in Concert,” which was recorded live, and ended up being the band’s best-selling album.

In 1970 the band parted ways with MGM records, and their next release was on London Records in February 1970. The album was titled, “On My Side,” but it only peaked at number 200 on the Billboard 200.

By 1972, the band had disbanded. The Cowsills stopped playing together as a band.

The Cowsills made many television appearances throughout the late 1960s and into the early 1970s. They made their first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show on October 29, 1967, and again on December 24, 1967. They also appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (twice), American Bandstand, Kraft Music Hall, The Johnny Cash Show, and several more.

On August 10, 2010, the documentary film, The Family Band: The Cowsills Story debuted at the Rhode Island International Film Festival. On March 6, 2013, the film made its network television debut on Showtime. The film tells the behind-the-scenes story of the family, their rise to fame, and subsequent fall due to their father’s controlling and abusive nature.

However, three of The Cowsills have gotten the band together again and are travelling the U.S. performing. They have joined several other 1960s bands, and they are called, The Happy Together Tour. This is a tour of about five or six 1960s era bands. This concert will be held at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater, Florida on May 30, 2025.

So, if you like the 1960s era music, check out The Happy Together Tour.
 

Current members:
 

Bob Cowsill – Vocals, guitar and keyboards.

Susan Cowsill – Vocals, guitars, percussion, bass.

Paul Cowsill – vocals, percussion, keyboards.
 

Former members:
 

Barbara Cowsill – vocals. Died in Tempe, Arizona, on January 30, 1985. She was 56.

Barry Cowsill – vocals, bass, drums. He stayed during Hurricane Katrina which hit New Orleans on August 29, 2005. He survived the storm but needed help. He called his sister Susan from a pay phone and left four voice mail messages saying he was surrounded by looters and people shooting. She did not receive the messages until September 2, 2005. He was never heard from again. After an extensive search, his body was found under a wharf on the Mississippi River on December 28, 2005. His body was identified by comparing dental records. His death was attributed to drowning because of flooding. He was 50 years old.

Bill Cowsill – vocals, guitar. He died at Calgary, Alberta, Canada, on February 18, 2006, from emphysema, Cushing syndrome and osteoporosis. He was 58.

Richard Cowsill – vocals. He died of lung cancer in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on July 8, 2014, he was 64.

John Cowsill – vocals, drums. 69.