The Cowsills

THE STORY OF THE COWSILLS OF NEWPORT
by Mike Edwards

From Banister’s Wharf in Newport, the Cowsills carried their glorious pop harmonies to the world. Along the way, they garnered three Top-10 hits and another nine Billboard chart entries, making them the most successful Rhode Island act of all time. And, as we have noted with Anders & Poncia and Freddie Scott, the Cowsills were talented songwriters as well as first class recording artists.

Bud and Barbara Cowsill were living In Middletown, RI, while Bud was serving in the US Navy. Of their seven children, three, Bill, Barry and John were born in Rhode Island. As with many teenagers, the appearance of The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show early in 1964 was enough to spur them into forming a band. Bud encouraged this, even supplying a couple of guitars to add some grist to the mill, an event described by the band in the song, “Father” on their 1970 LP, “II x II”. The earliest line-up, which is featured on the group’s “Most Of All” picture sleeve was Bill, Bob, Barry and John. They made appearances around the State, playing frat parties at Brown and gigs at Bannister’s Wharf. (The website, http://bapresley.com/silverthreads/, features some cool posters for the Cowsills’ appearances at a club named Dorian’s, on the wharf).

Their first recording contract was with Johnny Nash’s Joda label. Looking back, it appears to have been a strange choice. Johnny Nash – who in 1965, still had not had his breakthrough hit with the reggae tinged, “Hold Me Tight” – was more r&b. Indeed the label’s biggest hits, “For Your Love” and “Fly Me To The Moon” both by Sam & Bill bordered on deep soul. Of the label’s ten or so releases, Joda 104 featured the Cowsills with “All I Really Want To Be Is Me” / “And The Next Day Too”. Currently only available in scratchy 45 format, “All I Want” has a nice ’65 punk attitude, whereas “And The Next Day Too” could have been sung by the Beatles on the train the from Liverpool to London in the film, “A Hard Day’s Night”.

They caught a break when a one-off 1965 appearance on the “Today” show got the interest of Mercury Records label exec, Shelby Singleton. He signed them to Mercury’s Philips subsidiary, home of the hit making 4 Seasons, Brian Hyland and the Changin” Times, whose significance will be seen later. Three 45s were issued and if you like beat-group generated harmony pop, this part of the Cowsills’ history is totally worthwhile. The recordings feature songs from some of the best writers of the day as well as one self-written gem. Gary Geld and Peter Udell who wrote Brian Hyland’s “Sealed With A Kiss” and the Carpenters’ “Hurtin’ Each Other” provided the opener, “Most Of All”. Issued with the above noted picture sleeve, the 45 climbed to # 118 in July 1966 and bubbled under for 4 weeks. Former “Hawaiian Eye” star, Connie Stevens also recorded a version. “Party Girl”, the follow-up, had been a hit (#85) in 1964 for Tommy Roe (a #1 hit maker with “Shiela”) but it is the flip that deserves the interest. Anyone pouring over the Cowsills’ MGM LPs, looking for their best compositions should not overlook, “What’s It Gonna Be Like” from their Philips’ days. Written by Bill and Bob, the song is now highly prized by sunshine pop collectors – and rightly so, as it ranks up there with anything in their songwriting catalog. It did not chart, however, and neither did their final Philips’ 45, a very credible version of Simon & Garfunkel’s “A Most Peculiar Man” from the duo’s chart topping “Sounds Of Silence” LP. This 45 saw the entry of a very key player into the group’s life, 24 year old Artie Kornfield, who was the song’s producer. An accomplished songwriter, with titles such as Jan & Dean’s “Deadman’s Curve”, the Tokens’ “Don’t Cry Sing Along With The Music” and the Shirelles’ “Tonight You’re Gonna Fall In Love With Me” to his credit, Artie along with Steve Duboff had formed the Changin’ Times and scored with the infectious, “Pied Piper”, which became a world wide smash when covered by the UK’s Crispian St. Peters. Kornfeld-Duboff’s “Could It Be Let Me Know” appeared on the other side of “A Most Peculiar Man”; it is a very strong song with a fuller backing track than on the first two 45s. Things were beginning to take shape.

Fortunately, all of these Philips sides are now available on a very well packaged CD from the UK reissue label, Cherry Red/Now Sounds, where they have added the tracks as bonus items to a reissue of the group’s first MGM album, “The Cowsills”. Back in the day, Mercury rounded the tracks up, added two additional tracks from a group named Lincoln Park Zoo and issued them on an LP titled “The Cowsills Plus The Lincoln Park Zoo” in an attempt to mop up any dollars the fans may have had left over, after shelling out for the MGM sides. As to why this excellent clutch of singles did not make the Hot-100, well let’s just say that if we had to choose a year in which to launch a new band, it would not have been 1966! The competition was fierce. The Beatles and the Beach Boys each had 4 singles out, with the Rascals, Paul Revere & The Raiders, the Mamas & The Papas, the Kinks, the Monkees, the Turtles etc etc all in pursuit. Not to mention a couple of Rhody bands, The Tradewinds and The Innocence! There was, however, some solid local reaction to these 45s, as is evidenced by “Party Girl” appearing at # 37on the WICE All Star Survey for November 18, 1966, shown under our section on the Ascots, who were at # 35 on the same chart with “You Can’t Do That”.

And so, Philips dropped the band. Undeterred, Artie Kornfeld paid for a recording himself, which yielded a second Kornfeld-Duboff song, “The Rain The Park And Other Things”. Lyric wise it was right in there. Recorded in August during 1967’s Summer Of Love, the girl with “flowers in her hair” was a neat segue from Papa John Philips/Scott MacKenzie’s anthem, “San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Some Flowers In Your Hair)”. From the opening chords everything seemed bigger; particularly the harmonies (augmented by Mom, Barbara) and the backing track. Kornfeld placed it with MGM, who put some money behind it and this time the Cowsills outdid the competition, as they took it to # 2. Well, most of the competition; the above mentioned Monkees denied them the #1 slot with their “Daydream Believer”. An LP simply entitled “The Cowsills” followed in October 1967. The tracks, which were composed by Bill, Bob and Kornfeld-Duboff were mostly in the sunny, uplifting vein of the hit and two stand out: a very competent version of Smokey Robinson & The Miracles’ hit from the prior year, “(Come ‘Round Here) I’m The One You Need” and the tasteful ballad, “(Stop, Look) Is Anyone There?”. The album was arranged by the multi talented Jimmy Wisner and produced by Artie Kornfeld. But that’s where it ended for Artie, as he left after a business dispute with father, Bud. Bill and Bob took over the production duties. Artie went on to help organize the famed Woodstock Festival in 1969.

They began making their second MGM LP, “We Can Fly” towards the end of 1967 with Susan and Paul now in the band. The LP featured arrangements by Artie Schroeck, Herb Bernstein and Charlie Calello; all of whom, as arrangers, had made a big impact with the 4 Seasons. The title track, another Cowsill-Cowsill-Kornfeld-Duboff song is probably one of the most uplifting songs ever made. To this day, everyone should play this before they leave home in the morning! Released as a 45, it narrowly missed the Top-20, peaking at # 21. The slower paced, “In Need Of A Friend” was pulled from the LP for the third single but charted lower at # 54. Another stand out track on the LP was “Gray, Sunny Day”, co-written with Tony Powers, one time collaborator with Ellie Greenwich and, at the time, hot with “98.6” for Keith and “Lazy Day” for Spanky & Our Gang. It would have made a perfect 45.

The LP stalled on the album charts at #89 and together with the declining chart positions of the singles caused MGM to make some changes. 28 year old Wes Farrell, whose many songwriting credits included, “Boys” by the Shirelles/Beatles and “Hang On Sloopy” by the McCoys, was enlisted to produce the 45s. He was having some success at MGM with another group, Every Mother’s Son, who reached # 3 in 1967 with “Come On Down To My Boat”. Songwriter/arranger, Tony Romeo (Lou Christie’s # 10 hit, “I’m Gonna Make You Mine” was one of his) was also brought on board. Bill and Bob produced most of the third MGM album, “Captain Sad And His Ship Of Fools” with Herb Bernstein arranging.

The album contained songs written by Bill and Bob and outside writers such as Graham Nash (formerly with the Hollies but then with Crosby Stiils & Nash) and David Gates (later leader of the 70s’ hit group, Bread). Another fine and balanced set of ballads and uptempo songs with the whimsical “Meet Me At The Wishing Well” well worth checking out. John was now in the group and so we saw a lot of faces in the gatefold LP pictures. The outside picture shows everyone in theatrical masks and a very sad looking Captain. Inside, there is virtually the same picture but now, everyone is smiling. Unfortunately the LP missed the Hot-100 album charts, settling at # 105 in October 1968. It had been the group’s third long-player in a year!

The Wes Farrell produced singles fared much better. “Indian Lake” went into the Top-10 but the second Tony Romeo song, “Poor Baby” was the more outstanding (even though it peaked at # 44). With its organ intro, layered harmonies and strong melody, it is a clinic; “a one-way ticket to happy”. MGM tried their luck with a third Tony Romeo song, “The Path Of Love” (from the “Captain Sad” LP) which was issued as a 45 by John Cowsill but this stalled at # 132. As 1968 came to a close, the Cowsills were recruited to sing the theme song from a long forgotten film starring David Niven and Ozzie Nelson, “The Impossible Years”. “The battle of the ages! The undergraduates vs. the over-thirties!” read the tag line. Not a bad song, though; written by the Tokens and arranged by Charlie Calello. The flip, “The Candy Kid” was another Tony Romeo song and that side charted, reaching #118 . MGM packaged the above hits into a “Best Of” album. Released in January, 1969, it got as high as #127.

The American Dairy Association, realizing that the Cowsills were highly marketable, hired them for a campaign to promote milk. A 4 track disc was issued on a mail-in basis. The songs were made available in the early 90s by Razor & Tie when they added the tracks to a reissue of the group’s “In Concert” album. Two of the four tracks, “The Milk Song” and “The Fun Song” were strong enough to have made a great double-sided single.

The “tribal” rock musical, “Hair” opened on Broadway in April, 1968. It ran for 1,750 performances and was brought back in 2008, when a Time magazine theater critic said, “Today Hair seems, if anything, more daring than ever.” It certainly had everything; “sexual experimentation, an openness to drugs” – you get the idea – and for record men, looking for hits, the show was a treasure trove. The 5th Dimension catapulted to #1 with “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In”, while Oliver, Three Dog Night and the Happenings charted with, “Good Morning Starshine” (#3), “Easy To Be Hard” (#4) and “Where Do I Go/Be In” (# 66) respectively. The Cowsills opted for “Hair” and it became another #2 hit for them in May, 1969. The disc preventing them from reaching #1 was the aforementioned, “Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In” from the 5th Dimension. It was definitely a good hair day! For the tie-in LP, the Cowsills went with a live album recorded in Cleveland and tidied up in the studio. This was their first album without original material but it gave them an opportunity to show us how well they could handle songs originally recorded by others. The Beatles’ “Paperback Writer”, the Beach Boys’ “Good Vibrations” and The Mamas & The Papas’ “Monday Monday” were all there, as was a version of Peter Paul & Mary’s “The Cruel War” (from 1962), ably sung by Mom, Barbara. It was easily the group’s highest charting album, landing at #16.

With a #2 single, a #16 LP, TV appearances and concert dates, the Cowsills would appear to have been riding high but their chart success rate began to decline and rapidly. The next 45, “The Prophecy Of Daniel And John The Devine” may have been an attempt at a more progressive sound but the fans were not buying, as the disc stalled at #75. The group reverted to more cheerful sounding material for their next 45 which was the theme for the TV show, “Love American Style”. Written by Charles Fox (the intro to “Happy Days’ was his also) their theme was used for the first series but then was replaced by a version by the The Ron Hicklin Singers, a group of Los Angeles studio singers, experienced in providing background songs for films, TV shows and jingles. Two key members were John and Tom Bahler, who were in a group named “The Love Generation” – a group that sounded much like the Cowsills, with three LPs issued on Imperial in the late 60s. For the flip side, the Cowsills went back to 1962 by reviving a US hit for the UK group the Springfields (home at the time to Dusty Springfield), “Silver Threads And Golden Needles”, which charted at # 74 and was their last entry on the Hot-100.

Such a reversal seems ironic at a time when family groups were starting to make a big impression. The Jackson 5, the Osmonds and The Carpenters all stressed their family ties and each had a Top 10 record in 1970. Then there was the Partridge Family, a fictional family group assembled for a TV show that was based on the Cowsills. It appears that there was some discussion as to whether or not the Cowsills were going to be recruited to play TV versions of themselves. In any event, the producers had already lined up Shirley Jones to play Mom and filled out the cast with trained actors including Shirley’s step-son, David Cassidy. Former Cowsills’ producer, Wes Farrell became the show’s music producer and he recruited The Ron Hicklin Singers to provide the music, backed by the finest of the West Coast session players, sometimes referred to as the Wrecking Crew. The first show aired in September 1970 and was an immediate success, eventually being shown in over 70 countries. Tony Romeo had also joined the fold and his “I Think I Love You” became the Partridge Family’s first 45 and a # 1 hit. Within a period of 18 months, the Partridge Family had four Top-20 albums and five Top-20 singles.

By contrast, the Cowsills two 1970 LPs, “II x II” and “All Time Hits” failed to make even the Top 200. “II x II”’s title track was issued as a 45 but that did not chart either. The album featured “Silver Threads And Golden Needles” and “I Really Want To Know You”, a song by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, that was also on the first Partridge Family LP.

At this time Bill left the group, supposedly as a result of his father objecting to his marijuana use. MGM let Bill cut a solo LP, “Nervous Breakthrough”, which contained excellent revivals of Betty Everett’s “It’s In His Kiss” and Dusty Springfield’s “I Only Want To Be With You”. However it did not fare any better than the Cowsills’ last two LPs and MGM dropped the group.

Meanwhile Bud Cowsill had identified a band named Twice Nicely, whom he thought had potential and offered to manage them. Two of their members, Waddy Wachtel and Judi Pulver began to play an increasingly important part in the musical life of the Cowsills. Waddy disbanded his group and became a guitar player for the Cowsills. By 1970 he was the producer and arranger of their hit 45, “Silver Threads And Golden Needles”. He also contributed greatly to Bill’s solo album. Judi Pulver collaborated with Bob Cowsill for two of the cuts on the “II x II” LP.

After MGM, the Cowsills were signed by UK Decca’s US subsidiary, London Records. “On My Side” was the title of the first crucial 45 and album, released in 1971. The song, written by Waddy Wechtell and Judi Pulver was a driving pop item deserving of a higher place than # 108 on Billboard’s singles chart. It was the strongest cut on an album which was a mix of pop, C&W and one sax driven rocker, “Good Ole Rock & Roll Song” (written by former Brian Wilson collaborator, Gary Usher). Although the whole family sang on the album, Mom Barbara was absent from the group photo on the album cover, as the band tried to reposition themselves. But it was not to be, as the album peaked at a lowly #200. Two further 45s were issued (one of which, “You (In My Mind)” was written by Warren Zevron) and then London dropped the band. Within a year, the Cowsills had disbanded.

The 60s was a fast changing decade musically but you have to wonder why the Cowsills’ slide was so swift and deep. Their vocal harmonies were still among the best out there and they could have killed then contemporary Top 10 hits such as “Sugar Sugar”, “Na Na Hey Kiss Him Goodbye”, “I Think I Love You”, “Out In The Country” and “Here Comes That Rainy Day Feeling Again”. Musically they were, surely, the equal of the likes of Three Dog Night, The Partridge Family, the 5th Dimension, the 1st Edition, the Osmonds and the Carpenters. But all these bands had very strong producers such as Bones Howe, Rick Hall, Wes Farrell and Gabriel Mekler, gentlemen who were hip to then current trends and sought out material by writers such as Laura Nyro, Elton John and Roger Nichols. The Cowsills had not worked with an external producer since they dropped Artie Kornfeld five years earlier. In addition all of their hit singles were written by outside writers but the Cowsills – notwithstanding Waddy Wechtel’s late involvement – appeared to turn their back on them, thereby nixing a hit-winning formula of strong external songs (from, say, Artie Kornfeld or Tony Romeo) augmented with their own material.

The group filed for bankruptcy in 1975 but they continued making music. Bill, Barry Paul and Waddy Wachtel formed a band named Bridey Murphy but only issued one 45, “Be Your Mother’s Son”/”The Time Has Come” on Capitol in 1974. Of maybe more interest were two 45s on Warners that Susan issued as a solo singer, “It Might As Well Rain Until September” and “Next Time That I See You” in 1976/7. The former added a contemporary feel to Carole King’s self-penned hit from 1962, which, along with “Next Time” showed that Susan was in there with such 70s’ hit makers as Carole, Olivia Newton John, Linda Ronstadt and Melissa Manchester.

As the Cowsills, they released a 45 (with a picture sleeve), “Christmastime (Song For Marissa)” in 1993 and an album, “Global” with all the tracks written by Bob and his wife, Mary Jo. It received solid reviews form members of the rock media with Goldmine magazine describing one of the tracks, “Is It Any Wonder” as being “one of the best pop songs of the 1990s”.

Sadly, we have lost family members as Mom Barbara passed on in 1985, Bud in 1992 and then in 2005, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Barry was found dead in New Orleans, which had become his new home. Tragically Bill, who was then living in Canada, passed away on the day of Barry’s Newport memorial service in February 2006.

But the music continues. Surviving members have toured with and/or recorded with other bands or as solo artists. With those impressive harmony-pop credentials, John began playing with the Beach Boys and signed on as their full time drummer in 2007. Prior to this, he had played with the Bel Air Bandits (a back-up band for Jan & Dean) in the 1980s, the Surf City All Stars and occasionally with Jan & Dean themselves. Prior to his passing, Bill, who had moved to Canada in the 1970s performed as a solo artist, and as a member of a Vancouver band, Blue Northern, before forming Blue Shadows who recorded two albums for Sony Canada. Their recordings from 1992 to 1996 (including a revival of Arthur Alexander’s “Soldier Of Love” from 1962) were released in 2010 as a double CD, “On The Floor Of Heaven” which sports a description, “the (Blue) Shadows are the world’s premier exponents of Beatlesque country and western; their vocal harmonies are uncannily like early Beatles, while their songs have the deep-fried southern twang of vintage Hank Williams.” There is a strong country bias but an excellent track such as “Think On It’ would have slotted in well with “Peaceful Easy Feelin’” on the first Eagles LP in 1972.

But the lion’s share of activity (certainly in recent years) belongs to Susan, with a diary chock full of recording and tour dates, overseas as well as in the US. Starting with Dwight Twilley’s band in the mid-1980s, she formed the Pyscho Sisters with Vicki Peterson (formerly of the Bangles) in 1992. Both became members of The Continental Drifters, along with Susan’s her first husband Peter Holsapple (of the dBs) and her second husband, Russ Broussard. She currently has a solo career as the leader of her own band, the Susan Cowsill Band. Her first-ever solo album, “Just Believe It”, was released in late 2005 and she followed through with “Lighthouse” in 2009. The songs here are mostly written by Susan and Russ with one interesting exception, “Galveston”, a Jim Webb song that Glen Campbell entered the Hot-100 with, forty years earlier on March 1, 1969. Two weeks later Susan entered the Hot-100, as a member of the Cowsills as they began their 15 week chart run with “Hair”. The Cowsills had moved to California by this time, so we wonder if another entry on this same Hot-100, “To Susan On The West Coast Waiting” was not a tribute by Donovan to a very fine artist who was then a member of Rhode Island’s most famous group, the Cowsills.

To listen to the Cowsills’ music on CD, please try the following, although some may now be out of print:

The Best Of The Cowsills: The Millennium Collection (Polydor)
Best of The Cowsills (Universal)
Best of The Cowsills (Collectables)
The Cowsills (1st MGM LP + Philips’ 45s) (Now Sounds) UK
We Can Fly (Collector’s Choice)
Captain Sad And His Ship Of Fools (LP + bonus tracks) (Now Sounds) UK
Painting The Day: The Angelic Psychedelia Of The Cowsills
(II x II LP + bonus tracks) (El Records) UK
In Concert (LP + tracks from”Milk” EP) (Razor & Tie)
On My Side (LP + bonus tracks) (Now Sounds) UK
The Rain The Park And Other Things (Universal International) UK

For more information on the Cowsills and the various group members, including information on newer recordings, please consult:

http://cowsill.com/home/

http://bapresley.com/silverthreads/history/history.html

http://susancowsill.com

http://www.myspace.com/theblueshadowscowsill

http://www.continentaldrifters.com/

THE COWSILLS DISCOGRAPHY: Original Releases
by Mike Edwards & Rick Bellaire

45s/Singles
THE COWSILLS
1965
All I Really Want To Be Is Me b/w And The Next Day Too (Joda 103)

1966
Most Of All b/w Siamese Cat (Philips 40382)

What’s It Gonna Be Like b/w Party Girl (Philips 40406)
A Most Peculiar Man b/w Could It Be, Let Me Know (Philips 40437)

1967
The Rain, The Park And Other Things b/w River Blue (MGM 13810)

We Can Fly b/w A Time For Remembrance (MGM 13886)

1968
In Need Of A Friend b/w Mister Flynn (MGM 13909)
Indian Lake b/w Newspaper Blanket (MGM 13944)
Poor Baby b/w Meet Me At The Wishing Well (MGM 13981)

The Candy Kid b/w The Impossible Years (MGM 14011)

1969
Hair b/w What Is Happy? (MGM 14026)
Prophecy Of Daniel & John The Divine b/w Gotta Get Away From It All (MGM 14063)
Silver Threads And Golden Needles b/w Love American Style (MGM 14084)

1970
11 x 11 b/w Start To Love (MGM 14106)

1971

On My Side b/w There Is A Child (London 149)

You b/w Crystal Claps (London 153)
Blue Road b/w Covered Wagon (London 170)

1993
Christmastime (Song For Marissa) b/w Some Good Years (Rockville 6139-7)

JOHN COWSILL
1968
The Path Of Love b/w Captain Sad And His Ship Of Fools (MGM 14003)

BILL COWSILL
1970
When Everybody’s here b/w Wish I Could Say The Same Thing About You (MGM 14166)

SUSAN COWSILL
1976
It Might As Well Rain Until September b/w Mohammed’s Radio (Warner Bros. 8232)

1977
The Next Time That I See You b/w I Think Of You (Warner Bros. 8333)

BRIDEY MURPHY
1974
The Time Has come b/w Be Your Mother’s Son (Capitol 3975)

EPs
THE COWSILLS
1969
The Cowsills Collector’s Record presented by
The American Diary Association (MGM PEP-1/Mail Order)

The Milk Song
All My Days
Nothing To do
The Fun Song

Albums/LPs
THE COWSILLS
1967
The Cowsills (MGM 4498)

The Rain, The Park And Other Things
Pennies
La Rue De Soliel
Thinkin’ About The Other Side
Dreams Of Linda
River Blue
Gettin’ Into That Sunny Feelin’ Again
That’s My Time Of Day
Troubled Roses
(Stop, Look) Is Anyone There?
How Can I Make You See
(Come ‘Round Here) I’m The One You Need

The Cowsills Plus The Lincoln Park Zoo (Mercury/Wing 16354)
A Most Peculiar Man
Most Of All
Siamese Cat
What’s I Gonna Be Like
Party Girl
Hold On Tight
I Know, Know, Know I’ll Never Love, Love
Love Theme From Haight Street*
If You Gotta Go (Go Now)*
*performed by The Lincoln Park Zoo

1968
We Can Fly (MGM 4534)
We Can Fly
Gray Sunny Day
Heaven Held
A Time For Remembrance
Gotta Get Away From It All
What Is Happy, Baby?
In Need Of A Friend
Yesterday’s Girl
Beautiful Beige
Mister Flynn
One Man Show

Captain Sad And His Ship Of Fools (MGM 4554)
Captain Sad And His Ship Of Fools
Make The Music Flow
Indian Lake
Ask The Children
Who Can Teach A Bird To Sing
The Bridge
The Path Of Love
Newspaper Blanket
Meet Me At The Wishing Well
The Fantasy World Of Harry Faversham
Painting The Day
Can’t Measure The Cost Of A Woman Lost

The Best Of The Cowsills (MGM 4597)
Captain Sad And His Ship Of Fools
Gotta Get Away From It All
Gray Sunny Day
Indian Lake
In Need Of A Friend
Mister Flynn
The Path Of Love
Newspaper Blanket
Poor Baby
A Time For Remembrance
We Can Fly
The Rain, The Park And Other Things

1969
The Cowsills In Concert (MGM 4619)
Hair
Monday, Monday
Walk Away Renee
Please Mr. Postman
Hello, Hello
The Cruel War
Good Vibrations
Act Naturally
The Sunshine Of Your Love
Paperback Writer
Reach Out, I’ll Be There)
Good Golly Miss Molly/Devil With A Blue Dress On

1970
II x II (MGM 4639)
II x II
I Really Want To Know You
Start To Love
Signs
Goodtime Charlie
Anything Changes
Silver Threads and Golden Needles
Night Shift
The Prophecy of Daniel and John the Divine
Don’t Look Back
Father

All Time Hits (MGM/Golden Archive Series 103)
The Rain, The Park And Other Things
We Can Fly
Indian Lake
Poor Baby
The Candy Kid
Hair
In Need Of A Friend
Love American Style
River Blue
The Path Of Love

1971
On My Side (London 587)
On My Side
Once There Was A Time
If You Can’t Have It – Knock It
Contact Mae
Can You Love
The Mystery Of Life
Heather Says
There Is A Child
Dover Mine
Cheatin’ On Me
Down On The Farm
Good Ole Rock & Roll Song

BILL COWSILL
1970
Nervous Breakthrough (MGM 4706)
When Everybody’s here
Take The Gun
The Same About You
Nobody
Ride
I Only Want To Be With You
End Of The World
The Shoop Shoop Song (In He Kiss)
II x II

Albums/CDs
THE COWSILLS
1999
Global (Robin 81564)
What About Love
Under The Gun
She Said To Me
You’ve Got No Time
Cross That Line
What I Believe
I Be Low
Far Away
Rescue
Is It Any Wonder?
Some Good Years

SUSAN COWSILL
2004
Just Believe It (Blue Corn Music 70505)*
Wawona Morning
Palm of My Hand
Christmas Time
Just Believe It (For Kelly)
I Know You Know
Wawona Afternoon
Nanny’s Song
Who Knows Where the Time Goes (For MC)
Gazebo
Wawona Twilight
Talkin’
Crazy
White Light of Winter
Wawona Night
Mr. Everything*
Crescent City Snow*
previously released independently (Susan Cowsill, 2004)
and in Europe (Blue Rose 338, 2005) without the last two tracks

2010
Lighthouse (Threadhead 12)
Dragon Flys
Avenue of the Indians
Sweet Bitter End
You and Me Baby [for Miranda]
River of Love
Could This Be Home
Lighthouse
The Way That It Goes
Onola
Galveston
Real Life
Crescent City Sneaux