The COWSILLS: A Band History |  

John Cowsill is married to Bangle Vicki Peterson. And while the Bangles were broken up in the 90s, Vicki was in a band with Susan Cowsill called the Continental Drifters.

Being born in 1957, I grew up listening to great music including the Cowsills. People that are just now discovering them, will not experience what it was like, being a youngster in the 60s and hearing a brand new Cowsills recording on the radio for the first time. They were an incredible talent, that could have gone decades into success with proper professional management. I still love their music.

One of the most underrated bands ever. I wore out the early vinyl recordings. I still listen to their early music to this day as I have them on my Amazon Music playlist. Takes me back my younger days. Had the chance to meet Bob, Paul and Susan a few years ago before their show. Was actually sitting in for their sound check that evening because the place let some of us in even though we weren't supposed to be there. I was sitting in the seat and their wardrobe was sitting right in front of me. That was how I was able to talk with them when they came down to the seats to get their stuff. What nice, down to Earth people they were. Paul even stood there and talked with me for 5 or 10 minutes like we were old friends.

Such a talented bunch of little kids, no lessons, all self taught, amazing. Their vocal harmonies were brilliant.

Listening to the snippets in your video reminds me just how melodic their original songs were and how they are so tragically underrated.

Thank you. great little video..when ever i hear Hair, it brings me back to the summer of 69 out at my swimming pool with my brothers and sisters, just finished watching dark shadow, and speed racer on the tv..I was 10 years old and truly was in heaven, if there is a heaven on earth, I was blessed to be a part of it

I spoke with Bob and Paul online when Abbey Road By The River reran a concert during Covid and I met and know Susan. They are undoubtedly the nicest and kindest people you would ever met.

The single “Hair” is a pretty impressive self-produced recording for “just” a family band. They were very talented musicians and songwriters who deserved far more success. Although what they achieved wasn’t bad.

Those first two Cowsills albums, "The Cowsills," and "We Can Fly", are among the best albums in my collection. I was stunned by the sophistication of the songwriting. The arrangements, especially of the vocals, were incredible.

Great job! The Cowsills were an important part of my childhood soundtrack, which revolved around all things pop/rock. The Rain, the Park..." is just a classic!

In 1979 I had just moved to LA with my band. One night we went into Hollywood to just hit some clubs and see what was up. At (a now defunct) place called the Starwood we saw John Barry and Susan playing a set of their hits. About halfway thru Bill And Bob joined them on stage. It was vocal magic. The audience didn’t really respond but I thought they were really great. Well … just a memory

"Indian Lake" is one of the greatest bubblegum pop songs of all time. Its outrageously catchy

This family deserve having a film made about them. Great individuals, group, songs and should have being as recognisable as the Beatles, Beach Boys etc, around the world.👌🥇

Thanks! Saw them on the Happy Together tour a few years back. They opened and me and my Dad were blown away! They have the best energy ever! It was a joy to watch. I'll never forget it. And I hadn't listened to them before that moment. Now I'm a fan. Great job I learned so much!

Very well done documentary. The Cowsills are unique to me because when I was starting high school in 1971, you wouldn't be caught dead saying you liked their music, at least in the long haired hard rock crowd I was in. I always knew they had great harmonies, but I kept that to myself. As I got older, I've grown to appreciate them more...probably the same way I felt about the Carpenters.

The first concert I ever attended was...The Cowsills. They performed at Memorial Hall in Dayton, Ohio. It was 1968. I was ten years old. I recall being blown away by their set of songs. Susan came out and sang "Hello Hello". The whole concert was great. I was able to see them again a few years ago. Great talents.

The Rain The park and other...is damn near the greatest 60's sunny day sugary sweet pop confection ever recorded. Instant mood lift ;)

The Cowsills are a very interesting band.

Thank you, Matt! Great job covering this band & family!!

Wait, they played the theme song from "Love American Style?" I didn't know this?! Jesus, I'm old!

I dug the cowsills back in the day and still do today, if you listen to the old music, it will take you right back to the 60’s ☮️

Boy, this took me way back! Their sound can shoot me back to childhood almost faster than anything. Heard about their dad and his abuse of their mom and the kids much later on...sad. But, boy their music made the times. Thanks for this, Matt!

I have their first record, it's such a feel good album for me

I'm going to see them at a small club in NYC Super Bowl Sunday evening. I've seen them twice in the venue and boy did they not disappoint. Great harmony vocals!

This is like a doctoral thesis of the Cowsills. The voice blend of this band plugs right into the Partridge Family vibe for sure. Thanks so much for your magic time machine on pop culture. You totally know your stuff. I don’t think I could cover a show as detailed as this about the Cowsills without busting up laughing (no disrespect implied it’s just me). I want to also thank you for your Beatles research which is excellent!

Thanks for providing background on the group. I never realized the extent of their talent and their achievements.

Danny Bonaduce had said quite loud many times, the reason why they did not use the Cowsills in the Partridge family was “because they were f*** ugly!” Susan Cowsill said that she had heard that, and they always felt that he was a punk, and his subsequent life was par for the course of a guy who did not care about other people

John Cowsill is a good singer. I heard him do an amazing job on Darling with The Beach Boys touring band a few years ago.

Damn - that was the Cowsills deep dive I didn't know I needed! I have the compilation Painting the Day: The Angelic Psychedelia of the Cowsills and I figured I was pretty much set, but you're making me think twice. Now we need deep dives on other "AM pop" groups that were way weirder than people realize, like the Poppy Family, the early Bee Gees, Chad & Jeremy during their Of Cabbages and Kings phase, or the Four Seasons during their Genuine Imitation Life Gazette phase.

When I was a kid a couple of my favorite songs were Hair and Indian Lake, but they had a lot of great songs. Very talented and underrated, IMO.

It’s amazing how musically talented this group was along with all the missteps that doomed them. Susan Cowsill’s recent cover of To Sir with Love us a great performance.

I got to see Bob, Paul and Susan in concert a few years ago and also met them afterward. The show was PHENOMENAL and they are super nice people!!!!!

The Cowsill's newest album Rhythm Of The World is filled with great original songs with great harmonies, performances and melodies. I love their newer stuff!!

I love that song "Hair." It's my favorite song by them. The "Rain, The Park and Other Things" was good too!✌️

These kids were no joke. They exuded talent.

I'm not the Cowsills expert you or many of your viewers are (though I loved their music dearly, discovered them in the late 60s and then again with that wonderful documentary 11-12 years ago and clips on RU-vid) but I just wanted to tell you how very much I loved this. I've now watched this 2 1/2 times, you share so much and so well. Just wanted to say thank you and I'm sorry I haven't heard of you before but I'm excited to watch more of your videos. This really was amazing. ❤❤❤

Great Job...pairs well, filling in details musically, along with Louise's doc give a complete picture.

Awesome documentary. I basically knew very little about the Cowsills. I remember hearing brief bits of their song first hit song but I only got some interest in them about last year or so when it was mentioned that the Partridge Family was somewhat based on them and their was interest of them having a T.V. show. Enjoyed this information. Family bands and singing groups has been an interest to me.

That was excellent. I didn’t know much about the Cowsils until I watched the Cowsils A family band documentary. A great story

Thank you Matt for the wonderful band history you produced here. Despite the handicap of an abusive father and a squeeky clean image, the family continued to push boundaries and managed to somehow bring their obvious talents to the forefront to this very day. Think maybe Susan Cowsill would make a good interview on a future segment of yours?

Fun Fact - The Ramones were huge fans of The Cowsills, and drew inspiration from Gray Sunny Day, their favorite Cowsills track.

Thanks! I have a new appreciation for the group....

I saw The Cowsills last summer as part of a 60s review. Much to my surprise, they were my favorite act. Thanks, Matt, for a great dive into their music!

I saw somewhere in an Interview that the song Rain The Park was originally titled The Flower Girl but Scott McKenzie had just released the song San Francisco Wear Flowers In Your Hair and MGM was afraid DJ’s would mix up the songs so they had Kornfeld change the name and he came up with Rain,The Park And Other Things which doesn’t make sense because the song to this day is referred to The Flower Girl.

Another great episode Matt. You are really, no pun intended, in a groove at the moment. I salute the sheer amount of work you put into researchng and delivering these programs.

I can't tell you how many times I've watched the Cowsills performing the song 'Hair' here on RU-vid but I can tell you it really doesn't come off as a parody at all - even if that's the way Reiner originally meant it. They seem to be taking it VERY seriously (despite the fact that they're obviously having fun doing it), and it really stands up as a great piece of 60's history.

Wow, great presentation of a truly underrated band. I never realized that they wrote so much great material. On their “Cowsills in Concert” album, they actually tackled “Sunshine of Your Love” by Cream, “Paperback Writer” by The Beatles and a few other numbers, a feat that they successfully nailed!

I learned a LOT from this, many thanks for doing the hard work and presenting the story. I always have to wonder where the Cowsills could have gone if they had decent management. They sure had the talent!

Great episode as always, Matt. I think The Cowsill’s Hair was the last song from the musical Hair to hit big on the US Top 40. Age of Aquarius by the 5th Dimension, Easy to be Hard by Three Dog Night, and Good Morning Starshine by Oliver were all from the musical Hair and were Top10 or #1 hits. Hair - The Original Broadway Cast Album was #1 on the album charts for a long time, and the album cover was (is) really iconic from back in the day. An excellent album. Looking forward to your next episode. Thanks for everything (The Beach Boy episodes were terrific, and I appreciate the time and effort you must have invested. You do quality work.)

“The Rain, the Park and Other Things” was released in August 1967 as a “radio exclusive”, not available in stores, until public demand got really strong and then it was released in September of that year.

Great doc, Matt! Informative and enjoyable, as always. I remember the Cowsills from the late sixties, and it's so interesting to learn the behind-the-scenes stuff about bands that you thought were one-hit wonders.

Excellent video, you filled in an enormous amount of great content about the Cowsills i was unaware of. Nice perch as well that you record from.

I was only talking about this band with my brother a week ago. I knew the Park, the Rain (etc) and that they had done Hair (enlighteing to find out why) and that they were the basis for the Partridge Family. I thought that they may have been a 60s "singles only" band, now to find that they released so many albums. Thank you Matt, you have opened another window to music to be listened to :)

Speaking about their single, “a most peculiar man”. Simon and Garfunkel had that song, and “Richard Corey,” on one of their albums, “the sounds of Silence”, two of the biggest downers in pop music history! I couldn’t believe Paul McCartney and wings covered Richard Corey during their 1976 tour

Truly appreciate all your hard work putting together these quality videos. Always informative and adding to one's musical knowledge.✌🏾

This was my childhood. All kinds of good memories, you know as a kid, pretty much no worries in the world. The only information you could get were TV and magazines. Then I turned 13 and the musical tastes changed to hard rock and beyond. Still have a soft part in my heart for all the 60's music. Everything progresses. Thanks Matt.

I remember seeing the Cowsills in concert in the late '60's when they opened for Eddy Arnold. I don't really remember any of their songs and it was only about 10 years ago that I learned they had done the "Love American Style" theme song. I didn't know they did the song "Hair" as well. Nice documentary I enjoy learning new things from the past.

Happy 200th video, Matt! I appreciated this deep dive into the Cowsills. I grew up on the Partridge Family and only learned about the Cowsills after the fact. "The Rain" and "Hair" are classics from that era, but it's so interesting to hear how versatile and talented they were. Their music still sounds fresh and full of energy.

Whatever you thought of their music, they had talent in spades. All of them.

Vauge memmory of Dick Clark interviewing the band in the late 60's doing "HAIR". Dick surprised them by a clip of their years earlier ABS appearence in B&W doing "The Rain...Things."

I still have 2 Cowsill albums and still play them.

"The mother could sing!" LOL. The Rain, the Park & Other Things is an enormously catchy song. After 50 years it's still standing like a cathedral! Great to hear what's on their albums, I had no idea. Mostly covers; I expected. (at 5 seconds, the fragments are a tad too short, though) Aside from the Partrich Family, there was another formation excelling in sunny, uplifting songs with good vocal harmony backing. Spanky & Our Gang. Very underrated.

Billy Cowsill was such a great lead singer. He passed away way too young

Your presentation is fantastic. Quite refreshing.. on a lighter note, met the 2 older in about 1970. I was in highschool and had a beer with em.

Susan had a fantastic voice when she grew up. I saw a documentary on them after the band was long gone. Sad story. Great segment Matt ! Thank you🎼🎸

Terrific band history, Matt! I have to confess that when I was a teenager in the 1960s, I thought I was "too cool for school" to listen to the Cowsills (whom I regarded as a silly bubblegum band). With the passing of the years, I've rediscovered the band and I was shocked at just how good they were. Just now, you inspired me to listen to the 'Captain Sad and His Ship of Fools' LP, and wow! What harmonies! The tracks "Newspaper Blanket", "Make the Music Flow" and "Captain Sad and his Ship of Fools" -- written by the band -- are especially strong. ("Who can Teach the Songbird to Sing", written with Graham Nash, is also very strong.)

Being.a huge 60s music fan, a huge baseball fan, and a huge New York City history buff, I was shocked to learn from you about Soundblast '66 at Yankee Stadium. I never knew about this. By 1966 Yankee Stadium (and the Yankees) were symbolic of the crew cut ,old guard, establishment Eisenhower era. There could be no bigger contrast on earth than The Byrds amd The Cowsills playing at Yankee Stadium in '66

The Cowsills were the Soundtrack of my Youth , Thank you for creating this Video :) QC

Thank you for this !!!!!

A fascinating look at a 60's pop group that was literally "clean cut", The Cowsills. 🎼

Really enjoyed this musically in depth history of the Cowsills. I can't believe you have all those LPs including some that didn't chart at all. // Up here in Vancouver Canada, Bill Cowsill had success with various groups, most notably Blue Northern in the early 80s. Their self-titled album in '81 was nothing short of excellent and had 2 big radio hits up here, "Can't Make No Sense" and "You're Not The Same Girl". I bought the LP and still enjoy it today. These hits are on RU-vid.

Actually, Matt, this is one of your best I've seen so far. I always felt that The Cowsills were deeper than (most of) their hits would have indicated, and you confirmed that here. Wonderful job.

Interesting. My favorite of their songs was Indian Lake because it reminded me of my favorite summer camp location, albeit on a different lake.... I do remember a radio commercial in which part of the lyrics were "Milk makes it, a cow is a cat's best friend."

Thanks for this in-depth piece. I saw/heard them about five of six years ago and they were INCREDIBLE. Also purchased The Family Band dvd - which really gets into the nitty-gritty. Go hear and see them if they come around.

Well, well done. Truly. Thank you!

You showed a segment of them on the Johnny Cash show. By the way, they told me that their favorite TV appearance ever was on the Johnny Cash show because Johnny was very kind to their mother and treated her very well.

Thank You for a great informational video of the Cowsills!

Thanks for this! Very well researched and produced. Born '54 they weren't much on my radar but I caught them after their heyday and developed a high regard for their musicianship. The imagery that little Susan provided was a delightful bit of genius. She worked the hell out of a tambourine and her dance moves were top notch! Thinking dad prevented what should have been a much more dramatic rise and success.

we saw Susan, Bob & Paul at the Happy Together Tour a year ago, growing up i had all their 45"s. i loved the flip side of the Hair 45, What is happy.

Notice the special beauty of sibling harmonies: The Cowsills; The Beach Boys (Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson); The Bee Gees (Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb); Heart (Ann & Nancy Wilson); School of Seven Bells (Alejandra & Claudia Deheza); Echosmith (Sydney, Jamie, Graham, and Noah Sierota); The Haden Triplets (Petra, Tanya, and Rachel Haden).

You always create great historical programs on popular music. I love being a subscriber! Susan and I were born on the same day and I had the biggest crush on her. This family was everywhere, yet I feel they still don’t get the credit they’re due in the pantheon of Pop. Such talent and harmonies. As you mentioned, Bud derailed a lot of their opportunities.

Their 1998 album, Global, is one of the best albums I've ever heard. And I'm not lying.

Thank you for showcasing The Cowsills. I'd heard the reason the song title "The Rain, The Park, and Other Things" was chosen, was because there were a couple of other songs bearing the title "Flower Girl". I think it might have been their producer (?) that just threw that title together. I'm not sure if I recalled that correctly, but it's pretty close. I really enjoyed this!! 💛🌼🐄🌼💛

I've mentioned this before, Matt reminds me of a younger Jon Cowsill

another great episode, thanks POP

Very nice job. I have seen the Cowsills recently and they are incredibly good.

saw the Cowsills a few years ago as part of a larger show with a bunch of bands and artists from my childhood and they were a real highlight. tight, bright, just wonderful :)

First concert I went to!

Matt, I really enjoyed this video. The Cowsills had an interesting but sad life due to their father. I have watched other docs about them and yours was quite interesting because you included and discussed the songs. Yes those songs you mentioned with a Crosby, Stills and Nash influence was spot on. They sounded awesome too.

Matt, CONGRATULATIONS on #200!! And thanks for another great episode. I knew you would get to The Cowsills eventually. It's always been a shame that the image obscured a lot of fine music. Your analysis has done them justice. Anyway, keep up the excellent work.

I saw them perform at the Utah State fair. Very professional family group

Thanks for giving the Cowsills some love! I put them on my short list of favorite bands of all time. :) I love everything they ever did, but if you were to ask I would say that side A of the 'On My Side' album is the best thing they ever did, first to last song. I consider it to be among the best album sides in my entire collection, by ANY artist.

Absolutely fantastic have a good weekend ❤😊

Wow! Thanks for the rush of memories. I loved the Cowsills!

What a wonderful documentary ! Thank you

I am so very happy you did this video for the Cowsills. Sure, like everyone, I remember "The Rain The Park & Other Things, Indian Lake, Hair", but didn't know anything else about the family. Then, about 3 years ago I saw a video or two about them and I became hooked as far as their quick in-and-out musical history. Though after 1970 thru 2000, they were forgotten, they had a very good reunion video I saw on RU-vid, then learned the heartbreaking story of 3 of the members deaths, but uplifting story of three still performing to this day. The 2010 documentary of them you mention here was also a great yet sad story. I just want to thank you very much for doing a piece on them!!! Your vids still convince me that you are truly the best at what you do. Truly, I mean that, so never ever stop doing your thing....for all of us!

Thanks, Matt. This gave me a good vibe…👍🏻🎸

Great great documentary and it shows your love of the material.

Such a great sound, so talented, and brings back sweet memories. Really enjoyed this retrospective

The Cowsill’s style reminds me very much of the Mamas & Papas!