The Cowsills: Paul Cowsill remembers family, war, Indian Lake and Hair! INTERVIEW 

Paul has such a pure heart. When he speaks of raising his younger siblings and welcomed his baby sister to live with his wife and family after the father, Bud tried to abuse her , it warms my heart to hear of his compassion.

I like that Paul is not afraid to tell his truth. In spite of everything he seems like a great guy. Blessings to him and his surviving siblings.

The truly unbelievable thing is that despite the cruelty, despite the extreme dysfunction, the kids grew up to be such wonderful, kind-hearted, adults. Paul is clearly a person that we would all like to know. Thank God they had each other! (I agree with Paul on brother John's talents; a better singer/drummer just doesn't exist, and the Beach Boys are lucky to have him).

CRIMINALLY UNDER RATED BAND, THEY WHERE A GREAT BAND SUPER COMPLEX HARMONIES, FANTASTIC PLAYERS, GREAT ARRANGEMENTS SUPER WELL REHERSED

I was 10 in 68. I have to say that from my perspective, it is the Partridge Family that would not taken off without the Cowsills, and that it is the Cowsills' music I still love.

I just saw the Cowsills play the Gold Nugget in Vegas last Friday and it literally completed a 55-year journey for me. Have loved their music as a kid and this was a first concert of them for me. A stellar show! Got to meet Paul, Susan and Bob afterward. Such great people. I feel like I could have spent hours talking with them. THIS interview with Paul is riveting because it's Paul alone. Nothing wrong with having Bob or Susan in an interview too, I love them as well, but this really gave Paul a chance to speak his mind on the way things were and what his world was like during those peak years. Thanks for providing such a great platform and a wonderful interview!

It makes me sad that any of the Cowsills need a "Day Job". They should be headlining in music with the talent they have. Today's music needs that bad.

Whenever I need an emotional boost, I go to the Cowsills. Their real life story is so poignant that it makes the music even more powerful. Thanks, Bob and Paul for this interview.

Very likable guy!

Just listening to Paul breaks my heart!!! His dad ruined them. You can tell by how he talks that his dad really wrecked things up for them. Paul and his family need to be seriously paid back for their music that had been torn from them!

Cowsills.... master class in harmony ... just fabulous!!!

In case anyone is interested, they won their lawsuit against Universal. I hope they've done very well.

I am not surprised that Paul works his ass off. Because he always worked his ass off on stage with his family. He definitely has a lot of energy. And might I add ? I am a big fan of the Cowsills. Thank you Paul for making life a little easier for me. I could have been in a lousy mood. Mad at someone. Who knows? But when I put on the Cowsills music it calmed me down. The music was so mellow. Well.. except for Hair. But for the most part it made me feel good and took me away to a peaceful place in my had. ✌️😎

Same Christmas here: I was about to turn five, my sister was 8. She got Monkees "Headquarters" and "Best of the Cowsills" both of which you mention. Both albums' songs really take me back to a sweet idyllic childhood memory. Despite their pain in its creation; their art meant a lot to their fans' lives by setting moments in time.

When I was 11 I found a 45 with The Cowsill's Flower Girl song on it, as I called it, and I was so taken with this song I envisioned and started to write a story around it. I would listen over and over to it, and I never really knew the group that sang it or saw them on TV. I never finished the story because my sister found my writing and started to tell me how to write it, and I lost the 45 in one of our many moves. So, to find this song on RU-vid and finally learn who the members of this group were, is sooo wonderful. This song was part of me, part of my growing up.

The albums The Cowsills have made such as Cocaine Drain, Global, and Rhythm of The World are so incredible. I honestly cannot comprehend the lack of success these albums should have generated. Everything about them is nothing short of amazing. Without a doubt one of thee most underrated bands in rock and roll history.

Truly a great interview! Paul Cowsill, thank you for your blatant honesty about the uncomfortable memories. You all have my deepest admiration and respect.

What a grwat interview. Paul gets so excited he trails off. It's very endearing. Lots of love to this wonderful family who broke the abuse cycle.

Great interview, I really admire this man.

Totally agree with the other posters who feel the first 5 minutes were incredibly self-serving and inappropriate. I felt bad for Paul having to sit there and listen to the rambling. Nearly ruined the interview, but thankfully Paul saved the day with his wonderful personality.

Paul’s frank honesty and willingness to share the truth is so admirable and appreciated.

Paul is a truly good man! I really respect his protectiveness for Barry, John and Susan!

The five minute intro almost caused me to leave. Paul's story was great, and your questions were good too. Their story ( the front and the back story) is so fascinating, and punctuated by their great musical talent, that has stood the test of time. My hats off to all of them for surviving their abusive parents and finding their way in life. Bravo !

THIS WAS AND STILL IS THE BEST FAMILY BAND THERE EVER WAS...NO BONES ABOUT IT..THE COWSILLS ARE STILL #1.... WHETHER YOUR FROM MASSACHUSETTS LIKE ME OR RHODE ISLAND LIKE PAUL AND THE FAMILY, THEY ARE KNOWN ALL OVER...AGAIN, THE COWSILLS ARE THE BEST!!!!!

Paul and his family could sing to me all day every day and I would never tire of hearing their music. They are all super talented and they don't take a back seat to ANYONE, then or now in mho. I thank God for all of them. May He bless and keep them in His loving care, today, tomorrow and always...

Paul...even if we never met...I love you and the entire band here on Earth and the afterlife. Your music and videos have brought my family and I much joy and still gives me comfort thinking about the concept of better times.🙏🏻 Thank you for this excellent interview.🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

I could listen to Paul all day long. So much information from an interesting era.

What a nice, down to Earth guy. Have loved The Cowsills since the very beginning. Still love them even more now that I know them. Very handsome family. thanks so much for the awesome interview.

What a great open honest interview. Thank you so much for sharing. Such a talented family. There lives kind of mirror the Wilsons story

Not everyone hated you Veterans! I agree you didn't get the respect you deserved. In High School I was put in a locker for sticking up for you Vets. God Bless You... PS, I love your music.

this is turning out to be a truly thoughtful interview. I love Paul so much - a true role model person.

I Love this family. They are up front and honest. I also Love knowing Paul lives in Oregon, as I was born and raised here

RIP Barry Cowsill a victim of Hurricane Katrina.

My childhood crush !! Paul!! :) Love hearing this!

I love Paul’s honesty and his heart.

Richard came forward a few years back saying that it was because he stuttered that his father kept him out of the band. Someone who worked as a maid for the family backed him up on that story.

Fantastic interview, Bob. The Cowsills have been in my life, in my heart, so to speak, me being a being musician / songwriter as a kid (same age as Barry Cowsill) when I got into them in 1967, helping me form a direction in my own music, so that the documentary, for me, is much more than some show about a band and oh well. Paul's amazing honesty and openness here, as revealing as it is, does appear to be just a fraction of what could be told, one rabbit hole at a time. Wow!

This interview as well as others illuminate that the Cowsills kids were badly traumatized by their abusive parents. Bad parents can do some terrible and irreparable damage that just seems to scar and get heavier as people age. Some people are amazed that the Cowsills did as well as they did despite their abusive parents. The saddest reality is that the Cowsills were not more successful despite their enormous talent. They were so damaged by their parents that they melted into obscurity despite talent that could have made them enormously more successful for a full lifetime.

Wow, Just came upon this interview. Its all so very fascinating and I don't get fascinated too often.

Just as The Partridge Family was actually David Cassidy, The Cowsills was actually Bill Cowsill. Once "Bud" dismissed his genius oldest son the band's climb upward turned quickly into a free fall to nowhere. Bill could have been huge and the band could have stayed relevant. "Budiot"

It's amazing how much great music they put out considering so much hardship behind the scenes. I'll have much more respect for them every time I see any old clips of them singing. Great interview.

I really admire Paul. What a great personality he has. He seems so self reliant. He's really his own man. And I like that he gets dreamy and loses focus because I think he travels back in time for a few seconds there and we lose him. I really hope The Cowsills get back the money that was taken from them.

What a genuinely nice man! Thanks for posting this lively interview.

I never heard an interview before where the host went on and on endlessly before we got to hear from the guest!

The music of The Cowsills will not fade.

it was music like this that made life so much better

Bob, Thanks SOOOOOooooo much for this one with Paul. He is the right guy to speak for the others. Wish i were going with them on that cruise.

Great info Paul, I am glad things are good for you!!

Awesome interview, thanks for posting this. MY Dad was in the Navy, there's still a house in San Diego with my bodyprint in the wall. Thanks for overcoming all! And you guys BETTER get those royalties we paid Harry Fox! And the show in Las Vegas was FANTASTIC! - Les

Having seen the documentary in the theater, and then most recently on showtime, as a huge fan of the Cowsills I enjoyed this interview. Thank you Mrmedia, for going in depth into some of the stuff that the documentary left you wanting to know more about. The mom, her relationship with the kids, her relationship with Bud. GREAT INTERVIEW

I was born in 1966 and I had not honestly heard of them though in that documentary there were SEVERAL songs that I knew but never knew who sang them. Dumb and Dumber of course featured one of their best songs. Funny I mistakenly thought that the Partridge Family was based on THEIR own true life experiences as a band, not that they were based on the Cowsills. How interesting, so glad I watched the doc on Amazon Prime these folks led quite an interesting (and unfortunate) life. Best wishes to the family, great episode here as well Bob.....

They were not just for show, they really were/are very talented.

Wow - really interesting - I didn't know any of this - I always liked the Cowsills - thanks for posting it.

Thank you for sharing, and for being raw, and genuine. I followed you a very long time.

HELLO Bob, thank you for doing this interview, I am 54 years old, my favorite Cowsills record is all I want to be is me, I have all of the mg releases , plus a promo copy of Captain Sad

Some secrets are too horrible . The ones they never will tell. My heart aches 4 them. Love and light~

My heart goes out to Richard - totally abused & alienated RIP

it's a shame they were ripped off by their father I really enjoyed this interview

Great interview! I loved the documentary. A very touching, powerful story. I would love to see a movie about them.

Awesome interview! Thank you, Bob Andelman and thank you, Paul Cowsill : )

I love this guy! I loved the Cowsills in the late 60’s! I was 10 in 67 & just getting into music, this was the first group I fell in love with. I had their records & posters on my walls & crushing on the guys! LOL By the way, Paul, you get better looking all the time!!!! Love this interview, it tells the story behind the music & the family. Still love this group; still listening to them. Hey go easy on green eyed people, I have green eyes too! LOL ♥️💙💜

Paul is a very reflective and intelligent guy. He also has a good sense of humor. It's a good sanity check for me to see how your childhood memories still affect you in adulthood. My 2 cents: he had too much responsibility, looking after Susan, John and Barry.

The Cowsills were always very personable and down to Earth.

Awesome, thanks great post

Paul your a great person!

That record-scratch analogy flipped my lid!!

This is such a great family!

I loved this band when I was 10 years old. How lovely to see and hear this interview with Paul. I want to know how the litigation comes out, after which I will download all of the music to replace my LP. People who are complaining about ads, I have to ask: How much did you pay to watch this video? The uploader has every right to advertise as much as he wants. But then, there is this little circular shaped icon you can use to scroll past the ad and straight to the interview. If you gave up because the ad was too long, I feel bad for you. 1)Because you didn't bother to try to fast forward and 2)Because you missed a lively and REAL interview with a man who has a story to tell.

Thank you VERY much for sharing this. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Loved the film and this interview.

i loved these guys...wow...so much trauma suzi suffered...she's a rock...and gathers those guys together...Paul is really something...Bob has done well and John is a hoot...Suzi is Suzi...loved her for a long time that cute kid...

That’s awesome he was involved with Grimm …that was such a great series I hated to see it end.

A shame that a group of people who produced such fantastic music, for whatever reason, aren't still doing so. I wish them all well and hope they live long, happy lives.

Paul you are STILL sooo handsome! I hope the band prevails bigtime in their lawsuit against Universal...they were a super band! Their harmonies were so sweet! Better than the Beach Boys by far! Thank you for this raw, honest interview...

The host was right on one thing, the documentary went too easy on Barbara. She's just as responsible for the mess as much as Bud.

Paul, I was also16 in 1967 except I was in Cranston and you were in Newport. I didn't even know how to get to Newport at that point in time but I sure would have liked to have met you then. Keep up the good work and bring the rest of the group back to Newport, I promise I'll attend because now I know what bridge to take LOL! I'll even treat you to lunch or dinner at the Black Pearl.

PAUL I HOPE YOU GUYS GET THE MONEY YOU DESERVE,,JUST FROM THE SHIT YOU HAD TO DEAL WITH ,WITH YOUR FATHER,,IVE SEEN YOU GUYS MANY TIMES,AND I THINK YOU ARE ONE OF THE BEST BANDS LIVE IVE EVER SEEN,AGAIN THE DOCUMENTARY WAS INFORMATIVE AND SCARY,AND I WISH YOU AND YOUR SIBLINGS,ALL THAT YOU DESERVE

Paul Cowsill is my favourite 😀

My goodness he was so cute back in the day, and still is LOL definitely my crush when I was young

Thankyou for loving

It is a great doc!

Paul, you can come and redo my landscaping. It needs it bad! And, I won't tell you to stop singing. I'll be singing with you!!!!

What cool day job to have!! Paul and Barry were my favorites!

Wow very nice thanks!

Give the remaining Cowsills 4 well written songs....They would kick a lot of Ass even though they are older... There talent was given to them by God himself and nothing was influenced by the dark side in their Music.they play good Rock n' Roll and always with Class. Gotta love Paul!

I remember hearing about the terrible times these poor kids had dealing with their father. Imagine, I suspect for Richard, going into the military and going to Vietnam was probably a better deal than what he got at home. It shouldn't be that way but that's sort of how I ended up in the military. Although in my case I was definitely wrong and my Dad wanting me in the service was definitely due to my actions and nothing he did. He wanted me in the USAF but because of that, I joined the Army Military Police. Go figure. Everyone thought I was crazy. We had just gotten out of Vietnam a couple years prior, so it was still pretty fresh in everyone's mind. Needless to say it definitely straightened me out in a hurry, since training at that time, was still geared towards being in an active war. They hadn't really changed how we were trained yet. Which meant it was not only hell, but it definitely scared the dookie out of us young punks. Anyway, as you can see by my avatar I spent a considerable amount of time in. The Army straightened me out and my Dad and I got pretty close after that. We just lost him last year. But he definitely made a positive difference in my life. Too bad these kids had so much trouble with their Dad. In regard to the public attitude about the military. When the first Gulf War started in 1990, I was on a 3 year recruiting detail. The Army would select the top 10% of each career field, and if you were selected to go on recruiting duty you didn't turn it down if you valued your career. It was an option,, but no one turned it down. In fact it was supposed to be an "honor" to be selected. I had been in for quite some time by the time I was selected.. I will say, people didn't like us very much then either. We were instructed to not go into any establishment in uniform. Which we found out the hard way why we shouldn't. We got approached several times by someone wanting to start something with us. We usually would defuse the situation but after the first time where we couldn't we brought civilian clothes to the office and change before we left. It really surprised us that we had to do that, but it did happen they even bombed some recruiting offices. Around the country. It was definitely a crazy time. It almost felt like a Twilight Zone episode. We didn't understand at first, why there was so much animosity toward us. At that time at least 75% of the people we put in came in on their own free will. It was actually easier to be a recruiter where I lived at that time than the year before. Anyway I was glad when that detail wS over.

Amazing talent. Can’t wait to see live..

Paul probably the most sensitive if that is a thing. I’m glad he sees the truth with his family and able to separate and be better‼️

Be sure to catch one of their shows if you can. They almost always do a meet and greet afterwards. Very friendly and appreciative of their fans. Paul and Susan especially.

Paul has got it on...he/Bud had it shitty so he'll make it shitty for his kids...glad someone finally stopped that cycle

Paul, great to hear more about your story! Wow, I didn't know about the brown eyes. Thanks for signing my albums at the movie premier in LA. I heard the xmas story from Bob ... didn't know that was at Bill's expense!

It's on Amazon Prime now. I watched it. Very good. But there's a lot of unanswered questions.

So Paul broke the chain of abuse? That is wonderful!

I grew up just like the Cowsills but my Mom stopped it. She had no choice. It was 17 years of kill or be killed. Either My Mom or one of us were going to die. My Mom shot my Dad and he died. Back in the 60s and 70s the police did nothing. Mental illness wasn't a thing. Nobody talked about it. You dealt with it and moved on till the next time. I feel for the Cowsills. I know there pain. You can't change it but you just make sure you don't repeat it once your old enough to know better and I thank God every day that neither myself my brother or my sister's ended up like my Dad.

Paul has a very good perception of the reality of fame by way of the 60's Rock; And really, all entertainers!

Some good stuff, but man it took a while to get there. Note to Bob: If we're hearing nothing but your (whiny) voice for the 1st 5 minutes, you're talking too long. And we have to put up with your spoken commercials and new commercials every 8 minutes or so then more at the end? Ai yi yi!

Paul is a great guy....

real shame your family went through that . hopefully you will get your royalties

Loved Paul's expression when the term "He's not here to defend himself" came up. I've never been famous and can't sing, either...but I know a little bit about parents that have no right to defend themselves, whether they're here or not :-/ Rock on, Paul 😎

I fell down one of those rabbit holes that Paul talks about. I found this profile on Bud Cowsill on the TogetherWeServed website. navy.togetherweserved.com/usn/servlet/tws.webapp.WebApp?cmd=ShadowBoxProfile&type=Person&ID=604307 Don't know about its validity, but apparently Bud Cowsill had a rough childhood of his own. Another article stated he was orphaned at age 15, and he joined the Navy at 16.