The three of them sounded a lot alike. Not uncommon for brothers though. Or family members in general. It usually goes without saying that family harmony is better than most. I don't remember Barry being that far off from them either. John's the one who sounds like he was adopted.
This groups story has tragic implications. They remind me of the tragedy of that other child singer lena zavaroni. Only they survived theirs. Rip Lena and Barry cowsill
Most of the he Cowsills covers are as good if not better than the originals.It's probably just a matter of time before Broadway jumps on a major Cowsill production.
+fizzlefrap FYI Bill did rejoin the group in 1971 to record a couple of original songs. While they were among the best songs the Cowsills recorded, they didn't sell.
The Cowsills had a beautiful acoustic sound as well. Not too many groups could change over like that and still be a credible contender in rock. I do wonder if Peter, Paul and Mary were aware of them covering their songs. I’m sure they would have approved as The Cowsills made both songs sound great. As to the missing bow tie? The tie he was wearing might not have matched the others, but it is still considered a piece of formal neckwear. It’s called a Continental tie and was popular for roughly 18 months in the mid-60’s.
Peter Yarrow, Paul Stukey and Mary Travers. This version is plenty graceful enough to honor theirs (and Dylan's, needless to say). The times, they were a changin'. -speaking of,...Had i been one of the Traveling Wilberrys, i think i might have called a Cowsill (or two) before releasing that album. Orbison, Harrison & Lynn are/were singers. (Dylan and Petty, [not so much]).
Great vid, thanks for posting! I have another possible theory for why Susan is missing in the "Blowin'" part, having little to nothing to do with the revenge/retribution/resentment/cracking voice, etc theories offered below: The trio presentation for "Blowin'" didn't require more people to execute, folk music was at its height at the time (Baez, Havens, Collins, Dylan, and the emergence of the lone singer/songwriter e.g. Taylor, Browne, King, et al), and singing two folk tunes not only capitalized on a cultural trend, but provided a bit of a theme for this McNair episode. Also, toward mid-'71, if they weren't already out of their MGM contract, they soon would be, and the "need" to shill product was diminished, and they could more easily showcase their cover talents in another genre. My dos centavos. Not everything has to be about punishment.
I think that is a more likely reason. Puff is more of a sing-along song so it can have however many voices. Blowin' in the Wind sounds better as a solo, duet or trio as it was originally done by Peter Paul and Mary. Susan was not the only one missing here. Barry and John were also. I seem to recall Bob messing up the lyrics to Puff on a Virginia Graham show also in the very same place.
Too bad that family didn't have a $80million dollar life insurance plan on dad all going to them equally. If people knew the truth of bud back then. A few years later on mom too 3 years maybe when the oldest two where 18 plus. Then all got some mental help.as well. The raw physical n mental hell.these young people went through. So sad but happened to.millions oh so wrong. Shower your kids with love, kindness, respect be a positive role model. Home should be a safe zone even if u live in a tent with your folks n family. So sad.
I tend to think that what they chose to do for this show had to do with Susan. If you pay closer attention to the Puff song when they do the harmony, You'll notice high pitch or squeal sounds. I suspect Susan being 12 at that time, had to deal with her voice changing. It looked like she started to laugh about it a couple of times. It had to be hard not to include her voice.
The one who’s probably laughing, or trying not to, is brother Bob (lead vocal). He messed up the lyrics on “Puff”! And I’m pretty sure they all knew it. If you’re at all familiar with the song, it’s plain to hear. He left out almost an entire verse! But hey, it was live tv, right? No retakes I assume. If you look closely you’ll notice Bob and Susan sort of exchange glances at each other when he’s repeating the lyric. Both trying not to laugh. The whole family finished up strong tho. Tight harmonies, beautiful as always. Even if Susan’s voice was indeed changing at the time. The show must go on!
They did a good job on this song but I agree. They need sing more of there songs. I miss Bill Cowsill. That was a loss for the group. Barbara sounds great! Was she ever with another group? Perfect pitch. I have never heard of the Barbara NcNair show?
They did sing most of their hits on TV on one show or another, but they were a very popular act on TV during the late 1960s and early 1970s, so I think they just didn't have big enough of a catalog to match their popularity. There were other popular singers from this period (for example, Issac Hayes) who were in the same boat and so ended up covering some songs on TV vareity shows that were made famous by other acts. Interestingly there doesn't seem to be a really good vintage live TV performance of what I consider the Cowsills' greatest song, "The Rain, The Park and Other Things" in part because of technical problems marred what should have been their definitive performance of the song on the Ed Sullivan Show.
William dixon. The Barbara McNair show was syndicated. Only shown locally in many places but probably not everywhere. Maybe it was not shown in your area.
+Jimmy King Also on UA-cam from this same show ("The Barbara McNair Show") elsewhere on UA-cam is "IIXII" written by Bill Cowsill (under the pseudonym of David Ray) and "Anything Changes (Shine On Me)" written by Bob and Paul Cowsill. Synchronization is off on both of those clips, though, as the original recordings were used by the poster (Bubblerock) under the video from the show. There are also many other great songs that can be found on the Tube performed by the Cowsills that were written by them.
Well all I can say is that this family should have said No Bill no Group . Stood firm then got new management with Bill Minus Parents . They were very talented and would've had a completely different resume . Such a shame ......
the whole family should have begged brother bill to come back to group to make up some original stuff ..... and not constantly sing others works. the cowsills would have lasted much longer and would have had more hits, for sure!
They had no choice but to do exactly what their Dad told them to do. He was a heavy handed dictator that beat all of them bloody and blue on a daily basis if they failed to do what he told them to do. He kicked Bill out of the group because he caught him smoking pot and there was no way Bill could have come back into the group. Bill was sick of his Dad's tyranny and he would not have come back even if they begged him. They wanted to do original stuff but their Dad ran the show until he eventually ran it into the ground. Bud Cowsill's childhood was not a pretty picture and when you add that to both parents being raging alcoholics it all added up to a violent upbringing for all of the kids. Nobody was spared Bud's wrath. Barbara was an abused woman living in houses built on foundations of fear and abuse. There is a documentary on UA-cam by Louise Palanker about their history. It is shocking, sad and inspirational all at the same time. It did make me want to take a barbed wire belt to Bud's backside and I'm a tree hugger! On the bright side, the kids all grew up to be very loving parents that were determined to break the cycle of abuse and violence from their childhood. Sadly though, Bill did fall into drug and alcohol abuse which shortened his life and Barry was also an alcoholic. Barry was scheduled to go to rehab in L.A. the day Katrina hit New Orleans and he refused to leave the city and that would lead to his death. His skeletal remains were found months later under a wharf. Bill and Barry were especially close as brothers and Bill was broken hearted by his disappearance and the family received word that Bill had passed as they were gathered for Barry's memorial to scatter his ashes into the sea. May Abba bless and keep them all...Take care everyone, and be kind to children, animals and others...
Yeah he sure did! I thought I was the only one who caught that! He left out an entire verse almost. But as you see he recovers well. You can see him smiling,,when he repeats himself(probably trying not to laugh). If you look closely at the footage, Susan and Bob kind of exchange looks at each other like, whoops! Both look like maybe they’ll start to laugh a bit. 😂 But hey, it’s live tv, right? The show must go on! The Cowsills were all such pros. As another commenter said, they could mess up, make mistakes and STILL sound better than any of today’s groups.
By 1971, Barry would be 17 years old, John 15 years old. Doubt he was whipping them. I was 16 years old then, my dad may have tried to whip me, but no way it would hurt me.
No other group. Having Bill at age 19 and a total of seven kids from 1948-1959 and a husband in the navy wouldn't allow for much time. She also had stage fright in the beginning.
It happens to the best of them. There’s someone who commented on this thread ( scroll down to read), who said the Cowsills could mess up all over the place and STILL sound better than any of today’s groups. I second that, heartily! The show must go on!
Puff The Magic Dragon is clearly the most important folk song ever written. It's good to find such a nice version.
Nice that Mrs. Cowsill got a couple of solo lines here, as we didn't often get to hear her voice alone. She had a beautiful voice.
Bob’s voice is so pure and beautiful🌹
Actually, He was angry... and Barry was even more angry
What amazes me about this Family ?
Mom has all them boys ,.
Mom decides to have one more.
This time she had a Beautiful Flower Girl .
Susan
RIP Bill, Barry , Richard. Thanks for the fond memories.
gosh - I didn't know until tonight - that Richard had died too ~
Love Cowsills tune❤
The sound on this is incredible!
This song always makes me cry and makes me so sad ! The Cowsills did a great job on this Peter Paul and Mary !
Best group ever!
Very talented
Thank you so much for posting this ... a rare close-up on Paul singing a refrain. Amazing how close his voice is to Bob's.
Paul could also sound a bit like Billy
The three of them sounded a lot alike. Not uncommon for brothers though. Or family members in general. It usually goes without saying that family harmony is better than most. I don't remember Barry being that far off from them either. John's the one who sounds like he was adopted.
Lovely.........Lovely.......just simply Lovely!!!!!
I forgot Barbara McNair had a show. Good stuff.
The Cowsills all look alike and all look like the mother! Love the Cowsills!
I loved Paul’s voice.
Very nice 🥰..thank you for sharing 🥰
This groups story has tragic implications. They remind me of the tragedy of that other child singer lena zavaroni. Only they survived theirs. Rip Lena and Barry cowsill
Grew up with their music
A great time then
I don’t know why; but this song makes me cry.
My thoughts exactly.
There mom can really sing and Bob and Paul pretty amazing.
Their
@@harley092355 Wheir?
Generally she can't sing, _there_ she can.
But she never performs.
Just Great! Thanks!
Most of the he Cowsills covers are as good if not better than the originals.It's probably just a matter of time before Broadway jumps on a major Cowsill production.
+fizzlefrap FYI Bill did rejoin the group in 1971 to record a couple of original songs. While they were among the best songs the Cowsills recorded, they didn't sell.
Ty’s for sharing!
Very nice.
The Cowsills had a beautiful acoustic sound as well. Not too many groups could change over like that and still be a credible contender in rock. I do wonder if Peter, Paul and Mary were aware of them covering their songs. I’m sure they would have approved as The Cowsills made both songs sound great. As to the missing bow tie? The tie he was wearing might not have matched the others, but it is still considered a piece of formal neckwear. It’s called a Continental tie and was popular for roughly 18 months in the mid-60’s.
Peter Yarrow, Paul Stukey and Mary Travers. This version is plenty graceful enough
to honor theirs (and Dylan's, needless to say). The times, they were a changin'.
-speaking of,...Had i been one of the Traveling Wilberrys, i think i might have
called a Cowsill (or two) before releasing that album. Orbison, Harrison & Lynn
are/were singers. (Dylan and Petty, [not so much]).
Great vid, thanks for posting! I have another possible theory for why Susan is missing in the "Blowin'" part, having little to nothing to do with the revenge/retribution/resentment/cracking voice, etc theories offered below: The trio presentation for "Blowin'" didn't require more people to execute, folk music was at its height at the time (Baez, Havens, Collins, Dylan, and the emergence of the lone singer/songwriter e.g. Taylor, Browne, King, et al), and singing two folk tunes not only capitalized on a cultural trend, but provided a bit of a theme for this McNair episode.
Also, toward mid-'71, if they weren't already out of their MGM contract, they soon would be, and the "need" to shill product was diminished, and they could more easily showcase their cover talents in another genre.
My dos centavos. Not everything has to be about punishment.
Seems a very plausible theory.
I think that is a more likely reason. Puff is more of a sing-along song so it can have however many voices. Blowin' in the Wind sounds better as a solo, duet or trio as it was originally done by Peter Paul and Mary. Susan was not the only one missing here. Barry and John were also.
I seem to recall Bob messing up the lyrics to Puff on a Virginia Graham show also in the very same place.
Too bad that family didn't have a $80million dollar life insurance plan on dad all going to them equally. If people knew the truth of bud back then. A few years later on mom too 3 years maybe when the oldest two where 18 plus. Then all got some mental help.as well. The raw physical n mental hell.these young people went through. So sad but happened to.millions oh so wrong. Shower your kids with love, kindness, respect be a positive role model. Home should be a safe zone even if u live in a tent with your folks n family. So sad.
I tend to think that what they chose to do for this show had to do with Susan. If you pay closer attention to the Puff song when they do the harmony, You'll notice high pitch or squeal sounds. I suspect Susan being 12 at that time, had to deal with her voice changing. It looked like she started to laugh about it a couple of times. It had to be hard not to include her voice.
The one who’s probably laughing, or trying not to, is brother Bob (lead vocal). He messed up the lyrics on “Puff”! And I’m pretty sure they all knew it. If you’re at all familiar with the song, it’s plain to hear. He left out almost an entire verse! But hey, it was live tv, right? No retakes I assume. If you look closely you’ll notice Bob and Susan sort of exchange glances at each other when he’s repeating the lyric. Both trying not to laugh. The whole family finished up strong tho. Tight harmonies, beautiful as always. Even if Susan’s voice was indeed changing at the time. The show must go on!
They did a good job on this song but I agree. They need sing more of there songs. I miss Bill Cowsill. That was a loss for the group. Barbara sounds great! Was she ever with another group? Perfect pitch. I have never heard of the Barbara NcNair show?
They did sing most of their hits on TV on one show or another, but they were a very popular act on TV during the late 1960s and early 1970s, so I think they just didn't have big enough of a catalog to match their popularity. There were other popular singers from this period (for example, Issac Hayes) who were in the same boat and so ended up covering some songs on TV vareity shows that were made famous by other acts. Interestingly there doesn't seem to be a really good vintage live TV performance of what I consider the Cowsills' greatest song, "The Rain, The Park and Other Things" in part because of technical problems marred what should have been their definitive performance of the song on the Ed Sullivan Show.
Also it seems like just about everyone in the 1960s covered "Blowin' in the Wind", even Gomer Pyle.
William dixon. The Barbara McNair show was syndicated. Only shown locally in many places but probably not everywhere. Maybe it was not shown in your area.
The Cowsills sound great. Its just a shame they didn't write their own great songs.
+Jimmy King Also on UA-cam from this same show ("The Barbara McNair Show") elsewhere on UA-cam is "IIXII" written by Bill Cowsill (under the pseudonym of David Ray) and "Anything Changes (Shine On Me)" written by Bob and Paul Cowsill. Synchronization is off on both of those clips, though, as the original recordings were used by the poster (Bubblerock) under the video from the show. There are also many other great songs that can be found on the Tube performed by the Cowsills that were written by them.
+Jimmy King The Cowsills wrote a TONNE of great songs, they just don't happen to be represented by this one video
You know they did great impressions of other groups too. Are they ad-libbing PP&M here?! Milli Vanilli eat your hearts out!
Well all I can say is that this family should have said No Bill no Group . Stood firm then got new management with Bill Minus Parents . They were very talented and would've had a completely different resume . Such a shame ......
A lot of syrup on this one but I love it
the whole family should have begged brother bill to come back to group to make up some original stuff ..... and not constantly sing others works. the cowsills would have lasted much longer and would have had more hits, for sure!
They had no choice but to do exactly what their Dad
told them to do. He was a heavy handed dictator that
beat all of them bloody and blue on a daily basis if
they failed to do what he told them to do. He kicked
Bill out of the group because he caught him smoking
pot and there was no way Bill could have come back
into the group. Bill was sick of his Dad's tyranny and
he would not have come back even if they begged him.
They wanted to do original stuff but their Dad ran the
show until he eventually ran it into the ground. Bud
Cowsill's childhood was not a pretty picture and when
you add that to both parents being raging alcoholics it
all added up to a violent upbringing for all of the kids.
Nobody was spared Bud's wrath. Barbara was an abused
woman living in houses built on foundations of fear and
abuse. There is a documentary on UA-cam by Louise
Palanker about their history. It is shocking, sad and
inspirational all at the same time. It did make me want
to take a barbed wire belt to Bud's backside and I'm a tree
hugger! On the bright side, the kids all grew up to be very
loving parents that were determined to break the cycle of
abuse and violence from their childhood. Sadly though, Bill
did fall into drug and alcohol abuse which shortened his
life and Barry was also an alcoholic. Barry was scheduled
to go to rehab in L.A. the day Katrina hit New Orleans and
he refused to leave the city and that would lead to his death.
His skeletal remains were found months later under a wharf.
Bill and Barry were especially close as brothers and Bill was
broken hearted by his disappearance and the family received
word that Bill had passed as they were gathered for Barry's
memorial to scatter his ashes into the sea. May Abba bless
and keep them all...Take care everyone, and be kind to children,
animals and others...
Bill was the man, alright. An exceptional talent whose potential superstardom was obstructed/derailed by a parental idiot.
@@kathykay2010 _"May Abba bless and keep them all."_
Who's Abba?
@@blackmore4 Our Heavenly Father. Abba
is an affectionate term for Papa/Father. =)
@@kathykay2010 Haha, jolly good. For a moment there, I thought that Agnetha, Bjorn, Benny and Anni-Frid had somehow gained some supernatural power! ;)
Completely messed up the last verses of Puff :(
at least we know it was live!
He made a great recovery though! These kids were more professional than a lot of acts three times their age these days.
The Cowsills can mess up and still sound better than groups of today.
Yeah he sure did! I thought I was the only one who caught that! He left out an entire verse almost. But as you see he recovers well. You can see him smiling,,when he repeats himself(probably trying not to laugh). If you look closely at the footage, Susan and Bob kind of exchange looks at each other like, whoops! Both look like maybe they’ll start to laugh a bit. 😂 But hey, it’s live tv, right? The show must go on! The Cowsills were all such pros. As another commenter said, they could mess up, make mistakes and STILL sound better than any of today’s groups.
John, Barry and Susan probably didn't show up for the second song because Bud beat the hell out of them.
Gene Clark ..LOL
By 1971, Barry would be 17 years old, John 15 years old. Doubt he was whipping them. I was 16 years old then, my dad may have tried to whip me, but no way it would hurt me.
No other group. Having Bill at age 19 and a total of seven kids from 1948-1959 and a husband in the navy wouldn't allow for much time. She also had stage fright in the beginning.
They needed more songs like hair.
they have written their own songs on a recent album!!
Susan was starting to get cute. And what's with screwing up the lyrics??
Live TV did you see him smile a bit after
It happens to the best of them. There’s someone who commented on this thread ( scroll down to read), who said the Cowsills could mess up all over the place and STILL sound better than any of today’s groups. I second that, heartily! The show must go on!
Mom just did not belong...
This is just awful.
"How to destroy a rock band" ....by Bud Cowsill
Lame rendition 🥱