Top 10 Songs By The Cowsils

Feature Photo: Louise Palanker, CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Family harmony was not a marketing idea for The Cowsills; it was the whole foundation of the act from the start. The group began in early 1965 with brothers Bill, Bob, and Barry Cowsill, soon joined by their brother John, and later expanded to include siblings Susan and Paul, along with their mother Barbara. The family was from Newport, Rhode Island, although the children’s earliest musical development began while their father, Bud Cowsill, was stationed in Canton, Ohio, as a Navy recruiter.

Bill and Bob taught themselves guitar, and the boys started performing at church school dances in Stark County, Ohio. Those appearances led to an early television spot on Cleveland’s Gene Carroll Show. After Bud retired from the Navy, he and Barbara managed the children’s career until 1967, and the group became a regular act at Bannisters Wharf in Newport, building a local following before moving into the national pop market.

Their first recordings came through Joda Records and Philips in 1965 and 1966, but those early singles made only a modest impression. A major turn came when Leonard Stogel took over management and landed the group a deal with MGM in 1967. Barbara joined the act in time for the first album, The Cowsills, and that record delivered the breakthrough single “The Rain, the Park & Other Things,” with Bill on lead vocals. The song reached Number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, sold more than one million copies, and earned a gold record. That success pushed the family into heavy radio rotation in the United States and into strong airplay in Britain and other parts of Europe.

The wholesome family image, combined with strong harmonies and bright pop production, made them one of the most recognizable acts of the late 1960s.

More hits followed quickly. “We Can Fly,” the title track from their second MGM album, reached Number 21 in the spring of 1968, and later that same year “Indian Lake” became another top ten hit, reaching Number 10 in the United States. In 1969, they turned the title song from the musical “Hair” into one of their biggest records, again reaching Number 2 in the United States while also becoming a million seller. That version of “Hair” was recorded over two days in early October 1968 at TTG Studios in Hollywood, after Carl Reiner asked the group to perform it for the television special Wonderful World of Pizzazz. Bob and Bill arranged and produced the recording, and the complex vocal layering gave every member of the group a featured role.

Their biggest hit singles, “The Rain, the Park & Other Things,” “Indian Lake,” and “Hair,” remain the songs most closely tied to their peak years. From 1968 through 1972, the band played an average of 200 dates a year, a remarkable workload for a family act that still included very young children.

The group released five albums for MGM between 1967 and 1970, then moved into a more unstable period after Bill was fired by his father during a Las Vegas engagement in February 1970. II x II followed only weeks later and still featured Bill prominently, as he had already taken part in the sessions, although his name did not appear on the sleeve, except for songwriting credits under a pseudonym. The group left MGM in 1970, released On My Side on London Records in 1971, and by 1972, the core family lineup had effectively broken apart.

Life after the original breakup moved in several directions, but the band never disappeared for good. Different combinations of family members continued to record and perform, and the group reunited in 1989 with Bob, Paul, John, and Susan. That reunion led to more touring, positive reviews, television appearances, and, eventually, the 1998 album Global.

The band also returned for notable family events, including “A Taste of Rhode Island” in 2000 and the 2004 benefit concert “A Family Thing 2” at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles, held to support Bill during a period of medical and financial difficulty. In October 2004, Bob, Paul, Barry, Susan, and Richard sang the national anthem at Fenway Park before Game 3 of the American League Championship Series between the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees. In 2013, The Cowsills were inducted into the Rhode Island Music Hall of Fame, and in 2022, they issued Rhythm of the World, their first studio album of new material since 1998.

What they did outside of straight record-making helped keep the band visible in American culture. They had their own comic book from Harvey Comics in 1968, worked as spokespeople for the American Dairy Association, starred in their own NBC television special, A Family Thing, and sang themes for The Impossible Years and the first season of Love American Style. Their story also carried over into television history, as the family inspired The Partridge Family after Screen Gems approached them about a sitcom based on them.

# 10 – All I Really Want to Be Is Me

We felt it would make sense to open this Cowsils songs list with the band’s first release. The song “All I Really Want to Be Is Me” was released in 1965 as a non-album single. Unknown at the time, the band’s debut single failed to chart. The band sounds a little bit like The Beatles on this one, underscoring how influential the Fab Four were at the time, inspiring every musical act to give it a shot. The bands playing and singing on this one are a little shaky, but it makes for an interesting listen.

# 9 – Is It Any Wonder

Even though this song is over 35 years old, from a historic standpoint, I think it’s important to add this one to the next because it was basically a comeback by the band in 1990. After not having released any music for over 20 years, they sounded pretty good. This was the Cowsils all grown up. What a fantastic song!

# 8 – Poor Baby

The Cowsills’ “Poor Baby” has always been one of my favorite songs from the band. It came close to being a top 40 hit in the US, as it peaked at number 44 on the charts. However, in Canada, it was a top 30 hit, reaching the number 22 spot.

# 7 – Most of All

This was the song that started it all for the band. While it was not the band’s first single release, it was the first single issued from their debut album, The Cowsills Plus the Lincoln Park Zoo. The album was released in 1968. “Most of All” would be the band’s first charting hit, peaking at number 118 on the Billboard Hot 100.

# 6 – Silver Threads and Golden Needles

The Cowsills took on “Silver Threads and Golden Needles” during the IIxII period, cutting a song that already had a long history before the family group brought it into its own late 1960s pop setting. Written by Dick Reynolds and Jack Rhodes and first recorded by Wanda Jackson in 1956, the song had already been covered by notable artists, including the Springfields and Jody Miller, before The Cowsills recorded it for IIxII. Their version was released as a single in 1969 and reached Number 77 on the US Billboard chart in September of that year, giving the group another charting entry during its most active recording period. Linda Ronstadt also cut two killer versions of this legendary song.

# 5 – Love American Style

I remember my parents not allowing me to watch this television show. That, of course, made me want to see it even more. Still, this song brings back memories just hearing it play on the television while I was sleeping in the next room, bummed out that I couldn’t watch TV anymore for the night. At least they let me watch Lost In Space.

# 4 – We Can Fly

We Can Fly was the band’s lead single released from their third major label studio album, also entitled We Can Fly. This is one of those uplifting songs that has a Fifth Dimension “Up Up and Away” type of feel. It also served as the follow-up single to “The Rain, the Park & Other Things.” Though it was not as successful as that big hit, it still did pretty well on the US Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 21.

# 3 – Indian Lake

“Indian Lake” was one of The Cowsills’ most radio-ready singles. Written by Tony Romeo and released by MGM in May 1968 with “Newspaper Blanket” on the B side, the song was featured on the album Captain Sad and His Ship of Fools. It reached Number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100, Number 6 on the Cash Box Top 100, Number 3 on Canada’s RPM 100, Number 1 in New Zealand, Number 3 in Australia, and Number 4 in South Africa, while also finishing as the Number 51 single of 1968 in Cash Box. The record eventually sold more than one million copies, and its commercial reach later extended into advertising when it was licensed for Dodge Charger commercials.

# 2 – Hair

A bright, commercial arrangement helped turn The Cowsills’ version of “Hair” into one of the biggest records of their career when MGM released it in March 1969 with “What Is Happy?” on the B side. Recorded in October 1968 in Cleveland, Ohio, the 3:32 single was written by Galt MacDermot, with lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni, and produced by Bob Cowsill and Bill Cowsill. The group’s version streamlined the original stage song by removing most of its religion-themed lyrics and changing “long as God can grow it” to “long as I can grow it,” giving the record a cleaner pop focus while preserving the song’s rebellious spirit. The single tied with “The Rain, the Park & Other Things” as the group’s most successful release, spending two weeks at Number 1 on the Cash Box Top 100, reaching Number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, and climbing to Number 1 in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. It was also featured on the album The Cowsills in Concert.

# 1 – The Rain, The Park, and Other Things

We close out our list with “The Rain, the Park & Other Things,” one of the defining pop records of The Cowsills’ career. Written by Artie Kornfeld and Steve Duboff, and produced by Bill Cowsill, Bob Cowsill, and Artie Kornfeld, the song was recorded in 1967 at A&R Recording in New York City and released in October of that year as the lead single from the album The Cowsills. Bill Cowsill sang lead, Bob Cowsill handled the guitar solo, and John Cowsill played the drums on a track built around a teenage vision of a flower girl caught in the rain, a concept that gave the record its dreamy innocence.

The single became the group’s breakthrough hit, reaching Number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, Number 28 on the UK Singles Chart, and Number 7 in Canada, while also selling more than one million copies and earning a gold record. Its impact remained strong enough to bring the band a major television showcase on The Ed Sullivan Show in January 1968, helping turn the song into the record most closely tied to their arrival as national pop stars. Check out that appearance below.