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On this day, February 18, 2006, Bill Cowsill died.
Bill Cowsill
Birth name: William Joseph Cowsill Jr.
Born: January 9, 1948; Middletown, Rhode Island, U.S.
Died: February 18, 2006 (aged 58); Calgary, Alberta, Canada
William "Bill" Joseph Cowsill Jr., most commonly known professionally as Billy Cowsill, (January 9, 1948 – February 18, 2006) was an American singer, musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is notable as the lead singer and guitarist of The Cowsills, who had three top 10 singles in the late 1960s. From the mid-1970s until his death, he developed a career in Canada as an alt-country artist, as well as being the producer of a diverse number of Canadian artists.
{snip}
History
The Cowsills
Bill Cowsill was born in Middletown, Rhode Island, the eldest child of the seven Cowsill children—six boys and one girl—and was named after his father, William "Bud" Joseph Cowsill Sr. (1925–1992). At a young age, Bill began singing with his younger brother, Bob (born August 26, 1949), playing guitars provided for them by their father, Bud, then serving in the U.S. Navy. The brothers had originally wanted to form a rock band. At their father's insistence, Bill and Bob Cowsill formed The Cowsills in 1965 with their brothers Barry on bass and John on drums. Their father became their full-time manager, following his retirement from the Navy. He was physically and emotionally abusive towards his family, in both his spousal and parental roles. Such abuse continued during his role as the group's manager.
The group started playing around Newport before they recorded their first single "All I Really Wanna Be is Me" in 1967 on the independent label, Joda. While the first single failed to chart, an appearance on the NBC Today Show to promote it led to Mercury Records offering them a contract. However, three singles on that label failed to spark interest, and they were dropped. Artie Kornfeld, their producer at that time, remained convinced of the band's potential and persuaded Barbara to contribute to backing vocals behind Bill's lead on "The Rain, The Park & Other Things", a song co-written by Kornfeld. It was their first single released on MGM Records, and was also included in their first eponymously titled MGM album. After the success of that single, their younger sister Susan and brother Paul joined the band. This was followed by Bill's attempt to get remaining brother Richard in the group. Bill had been impressed by Richard's drumming and set him up for an audition with father Bud, but after listening for about 30 seconds Bud flatly rejected Richard from joining the group.
"The Rain, The Park & Other Things" single sold over a million copies in late 1967 and reached number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. Their second MGM album, We Can Fly, released in 1968 and produced by Billy Cowsill, at the age of twenty, spawned a second Top 40 hit with the title track, which was co-written by Cowsill. In 1968, "Indian Lake" (from their third MGM album Captain Sad and his Ship of Fools) became another top 10 hit, while in 1969 their version of the title track from Hair, with Billy Cowsill singing lead vocals, peaked at No. 2.
The Cowsills made regular television appearances, which led to Columbia Pictures considering a sitcom based on their story and starring most of the members of the band; the deal was abandoned when the producers of the show wanted to replace Barbara in the cast. The show would later become The Partridge Family, with David Cassidy playing the lead singer and Shirley Jones as the mother.
It was commonly thought that Cowsill's involvement with the family band came to an abrupt end in 1969 when his father, Bud, caught him smoking marijuana, and he was immediately expelled by his father from the group. In fact, Cowsill's dismissal occurred one day after he and his father were in a drunken physical altercation in the lounge of the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas. The dispute was over Bud Cowsill's insults in relation Billy Cowsill's circle of friends, guitarist Waddy Wachtel in particular. State troopers had to be called to break up the fight between father and son. Billy Cowsill was dismissed from the group the next day. According to his brother Bob, Billy Cowsill's dismissal was the beginning of the end of the Cowsills as a group, since no other sibling could effectively assume their eldest brother's group leadership role.
Following the breakup of the group in 1970, it was discovered that most of the group's wealth had been dissipated through poor investments made or authorized by Bud Cowsill.
{snip}
Illness and death
In the last few years of his life, Cowsill was in declining health, suffering from emphysema, Cushing syndrome and osteoporosis. Cowsill's health went into serious decline in 2004. He required a cane to assist in walking, and underwent total hip replacement surgery and three major back surgeries, a complication from which resulted in a permanently collapsed lung. That year, a benefit concert for Cowsill was held in Los Angeles, featuring the Cowsills, Peter Tork, Susanna Hoffs and Shirley Jones, among others.
Despite his profound health challenges, Cowsill continued to write, perform and record. He retrained himself to sing, to accommodate losing the use of one lung. Six months before his death, he accepted an invitation to perform two songs onstage with Calgary honky-tonk singer-songwriter Tom Phillips. His last recording was "The Days I'm With The Horses", recorded in Calgary on July 18, 2005. The song, written and performed by Stewart MacDougall, was produced by Cowsill, who also sings background vocals. It is included on Rivers and Rails: A Tribute to Alberta, a compilation album by various artists, released in 2007. The album had originally been planned as a 2005 release, to coincide with celebrations of Alberta's centennial. Cowsill also co-wrote, with Ralph Boyd Johnson and Suzanne Leacock, the title song to the album, on which he plays guitar.
Cowsill died on February 18, 2006, aged 58, at his Calgary home, survived by his two sons. Family members learned of his death while holding a memorial service the next day, in Newport, Rhode Island, for his brother and bandmate Barry, a victim of the August 2005 Hurricane Katrina. Cowsill's body had not been found and identified until January 2006. He was cremated, and his ashes later scattered in Newport, Rhode Island.
{snip}
Birth name: William Joseph Cowsill Jr.
Born: January 9, 1948; Middletown, Rhode Island, U.S.
Died: February 18, 2006 (aged 58); Calgary, Alberta, Canada
William "Bill" Joseph Cowsill Jr., most commonly known professionally as Billy Cowsill, (January 9, 1948 – February 18, 2006) was an American singer, musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is notable as the lead singer and guitarist of The Cowsills, who had three top 10 singles in the late 1960s. From the mid-1970s until his death, he developed a career in Canada as an alt-country artist, as well as being the producer of a diverse number of Canadian artists.
{snip}
History
The Cowsills
Bill Cowsill was born in Middletown, Rhode Island, the eldest child of the seven Cowsill children—six boys and one girl—and was named after his father, William "Bud" Joseph Cowsill Sr. (1925–1992). At a young age, Bill began singing with his younger brother, Bob (born August 26, 1949), playing guitars provided for them by their father, Bud, then serving in the U.S. Navy. The brothers had originally wanted to form a rock band. At their father's insistence, Bill and Bob Cowsill formed The Cowsills in 1965 with their brothers Barry on bass and John on drums. Their father became their full-time manager, following his retirement from the Navy. He was physically and emotionally abusive towards his family, in both his spousal and parental roles. Such abuse continued during his role as the group's manager.
The group started playing around Newport before they recorded their first single "All I Really Wanna Be is Me" in 1967 on the independent label, Joda. While the first single failed to chart, an appearance on the NBC Today Show to promote it led to Mercury Records offering them a contract. However, three singles on that label failed to spark interest, and they were dropped. Artie Kornfeld, their producer at that time, remained convinced of the band's potential and persuaded Barbara to contribute to backing vocals behind Bill's lead on "The Rain, The Park & Other Things", a song co-written by Kornfeld. It was their first single released on MGM Records, and was also included in their first eponymously titled MGM album. After the success of that single, their younger sister Susan and brother Paul joined the band. This was followed by Bill's attempt to get remaining brother Richard in the group. Bill had been impressed by Richard's drumming and set him up for an audition with father Bud, but after listening for about 30 seconds Bud flatly rejected Richard from joining the group.
"The Rain, The Park & Other Things" single sold over a million copies in late 1967 and reached number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. Their second MGM album, We Can Fly, released in 1968 and produced by Billy Cowsill, at the age of twenty, spawned a second Top 40 hit with the title track, which was co-written by Cowsill. In 1968, "Indian Lake" (from their third MGM album Captain Sad and his Ship of Fools) became another top 10 hit, while in 1969 their version of the title track from Hair, with Billy Cowsill singing lead vocals, peaked at No. 2.
The Cowsills made regular television appearances, which led to Columbia Pictures considering a sitcom based on their story and starring most of the members of the band; the deal was abandoned when the producers of the show wanted to replace Barbara in the cast. The show would later become The Partridge Family, with David Cassidy playing the lead singer and Shirley Jones as the mother.
It was commonly thought that Cowsill's involvement with the family band came to an abrupt end in 1969 when his father, Bud, caught him smoking marijuana, and he was immediately expelled by his father from the group. In fact, Cowsill's dismissal occurred one day after he and his father were in a drunken physical altercation in the lounge of the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas. The dispute was over Bud Cowsill's insults in relation Billy Cowsill's circle of friends, guitarist Waddy Wachtel in particular. State troopers had to be called to break up the fight between father and son. Billy Cowsill was dismissed from the group the next day. According to his brother Bob, Billy Cowsill's dismissal was the beginning of the end of the Cowsills as a group, since no other sibling could effectively assume their eldest brother's group leadership role.
Following the breakup of the group in 1970, it was discovered that most of the group's wealth had been dissipated through poor investments made or authorized by Bud Cowsill.
{snip}
Illness and death
In the last few years of his life, Cowsill was in declining health, suffering from emphysema, Cushing syndrome and osteoporosis. Cowsill's health went into serious decline in 2004. He required a cane to assist in walking, and underwent total hip replacement surgery and three major back surgeries, a complication from which resulted in a permanently collapsed lung. That year, a benefit concert for Cowsill was held in Los Angeles, featuring the Cowsills, Peter Tork, Susanna Hoffs and Shirley Jones, among others.
Despite his profound health challenges, Cowsill continued to write, perform and record. He retrained himself to sing, to accommodate losing the use of one lung. Six months before his death, he accepted an invitation to perform two songs onstage with Calgary honky-tonk singer-songwriter Tom Phillips. His last recording was "The Days I'm With The Horses", recorded in Calgary on July 18, 2005. The song, written and performed by Stewart MacDougall, was produced by Cowsill, who also sings background vocals. It is included on Rivers and Rails: A Tribute to Alberta, a compilation album by various artists, released in 2007. The album had originally been planned as a 2005 release, to coincide with celebrations of Alberta's centennial. Cowsill also co-wrote, with Ralph Boyd Johnson and Suzanne Leacock, the title song to the album, on which he plays guitar.
Cowsill died on February 18, 2006, aged 58, at his Calgary home, survived by his two sons. Family members learned of his death while holding a memorial service the next day, in Newport, Rhode Island, for his brother and bandmate Barry, a victim of the August 2005 Hurricane Katrina. Cowsill's body had not been found and identified until January 2006. He was cremated, and his ashes later scattered in Newport, Rhode Island.
{snip}
Sun Jan 20, 2013: Favorite Cowsills song. Do you have one?
(snerk)
actually it's probably one of my top 50 favorites!
the rain, the park & other things
...sigh...
8 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
