# The Cowsills **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [September 15, 2021, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cowsills/950701 "2021-09-15T14:46:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2021, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cowsills/950701/1 "2021-09-15T14:46:12Z")
Has anyone watched the 2011 documentary _Family Band: The Cowsills Story_? I happened to come across it on Amazon Prime last week. I remember the Cowsills from when I was a kid and still like some of their songs - _The Rain, the Park & Other Things_, _Hair_, and _I Love the Flower Girl_. What a sad story it was. Their dad was a monster. I see that they (3 of them) have a podcast now. I think I’ll check it out. ---
**Author:** ![Keith1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6de8d8/32.png) [@Keith1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keith1)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2021, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cowsills/950701/2 "2021-09-15T15:00:45Z")
I used to live in Vancouver before it became the big city congested rat-race it is now. Early 80’s there was a Saturday jam at The American Hotel and Billy Cowsill would sometimes play. The American was pretty much a dive bar but the Saturday jams gave it some credence of sorts. Those were the days. Had some good times! Thanks for the memory 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2021, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cowsills/950701/3 "2021-09-15T15:51:38Z")
I saw them live at the Steel Pier in Atlantic City in the late 1960s. Liked some of their stuff, including _Indian Lake_. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2021, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cowsills/950701/4 "2021-09-15T18:31:36Z")
> [@TRC4941](#): > > _The Rain, the Park & Other Things_ … and _I Love the Flower Girl_ . Aren’t they one and the same song? 🤨 ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2021, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cowsills/950701/5 "2021-09-15T18:50:43Z")
Forget it, he’s rolling. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2021, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cowsills/950701/6 "2021-09-15T22:00:59Z")
> [@TRC4941](#): > > Has anyone watched the 2011 documentary _Family Band: The Cowsills Story_ ? Yep. Stumbled across it like you. I didn’t know the father molested (or tried?) the little girl. I wondered how one family had so much talent. To think at that age they could perform like that! [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Qt_yKPNORLM/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCOADEOgC8quKqQMa8AEB-AHoA4AC6AKKAgwIABABGHIgWig2MA8=&rs=AOn4CLDtSMDUYZ424WohZmz95jPeiY9TjQ "The Cowsills Hair 1969 IN COLOR !!") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qt_yKPNORLM) Lots of good docs on prime. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2021, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cowsills/950701/7 "2021-09-16T14:11:32Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > > [@TRC4941](#): > > > > _The Rain, the Park & Other Things_ … and _I Love the Flower Girl_ . > > Aren’t they one and the same song? 🤨 It is! I saw both song titles and after listening to I Love the Flower Girl it kept nagging at me that it seemed to sound the same as The Rain, the Park. I had to go back and listen again. Sure enough… ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2021, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cowsills/950701/8 "2021-09-16T23:52:11Z")
The Cowsills were my first musical love. I saw them when I was 15 or so. Bought all the Teen Beat and 16 magazines and hung their pictures on my walls. After the internet came around, I would check up on them occasionally to see how they are fared. Most of them kept making music, some more successfully than others. John has played drums with the Beach Boys for years. Barry did local shows and put out an album in the early 2000s. Susan has worked with several big names, most notably the Continental Drifters, and has put out a few solo albums. Bob worked in software development and performs regularly at a local bar on weekends. Bill had a pretty successful career in Canada. They have reunited on several occasions and put out an album in 1993. Unfortunately, Barry was in New Orleans during Katrina and couldn’t get out of the city. He disappeared and his body was found four months later. Bill also died around this time. It looks like the surviving members are going on tour with a bunch of 60s acts in 2022.