Susie Cowsill says: Pour it on.
By Mark Voger, author, “Monster Mash: The Creepy, Kooky Monster Craze in America 1957-1972″
A group of siblings in matching stagewear tour the country with their mom, singing pop hits.
“The Partridge Family,” right?
On TV, yes. But there was a real-life inspiration for the fictional Partridges.
The Cowsills were the real thing — a touring, recording family who put out real hit singles. The toothy clan’s biggest was “Hair,” which went to No. 2 in 1969 and raised more than a few eyebrows — a squeaky-clean family act covering a song from a counter-culture musical.
Three reunited surviving Cowsills — Bob, Paul and Susan — are now performing on the multi-act Happy Together tour, which will touch down in Asbury Park (Aug. 1), New Brunswick (Aug. 2), Morristown (Aug. 4) and Englewood (Aug. 5); see show information below.
Susan — the youngest Cowsill and the only sister in the act — sang the immortal lyric “and spaghetti” in “Hair” (to her chagrin). Susan has had her share of life’s trials: an apparently dictatorial stage father; the untimely deaths of three brothers, Barry, Bill and Richard; and devastating property loss in Hurricane Katrina. But Susan, like the sunny stage persona she honed from age 8, remains upbeat.
“I’m not one to look at things negatively,” she says.
In a telephone interview on Tuesday, Susan talked about “bullying” her way into the band; Carl Reiner’s role in the Cowsills’ biggest hit; her atypical childhood and father; and the Happy Together tour.
Q: Do you remember much about your childhood in Rhode Island prior to joining your brothers’ band?
A: I totally remember my childhood. More than I remember the band, in fact. It was a rural, in-the-woods kind of lifestyle the whole time. Life before the band was lived in places near water and woods, and we were always in and out of them. I missed it greatly when we moved to New York City, until Paul found Central Park. Then there was a place for all of us.
Q: You aren’t on the Cowsills’ first recordings. When the band started having hits and getting attention, were you itching to join?
A: I was. I bullied my way into the band. I would beg, borrow and steal, do laundry, whatever it took. I saw all the fun my brothers were having, and I wanted in. Although, they didn’t want me at first, because I was the creepy little sister (laughs).
Q: You were so young. Did you know what you were getting into?
A: I knew what I was getting into. I think I was born a 30-year-old. I knew exactly what was going on. I made it into the band two months before we did “The Ed Sullivan Show,” so my timing was impeccable. I knew I was a musician, even though I was very young. I was into music.
Q: It seemed almost wrong that the Cowsills recorded “Hair.” But the arrangement and performance is fantastic, and it went to No. 2. How did it come about?
The “Hair” thing came about when we were doing a TV special with Carl Reiner. It was about art and culture of the time. He had us on, and he thought it would be funny if we did the song from “Hair” — the dichotomy of having the Cowsills do “Hair.” The boys did a recording of it, just for that TV show. It came out so well that we wanted to put it out as a single. MGM didn’t want to put it out, so my brothers brought it to a (radio) station in Chicago, and they secretly played it on the air. The switchboards lit up. Today, they would call it “going viral.”
Q: What do you remember about recording “Hair”? Do you remember anything about developing the arrangement?
A: The guys would know. I just remember that I wished I didn’t have to do the “and spaghetti” thing. I do remember not appreciating that part. The others got such cool parts to sing, and I’m singing what? I got the cute part, because I was the little girl. It goes over big at Happy Together.
Q: Well, sure. “And spaghetti” is a part of pop history. And history is history.
A: History is history.
Q: Did you see the musical “Hair” back in the day?
A: We did go to see it. But not me. My mom wouldn’t let me. My brothers all saw it, at the Aquarius Theater in Los Angeles, in fact.
Q: Of course, “Hair” was inspired by the hippie movement. It was the time of “flower power,” psychedelia, Vietnam. Were you too young to be aware of these events?
A: No, I was incredibly aware of that movement. I wished I was older; I would have been in it. Because, I became a hippie at 9. I decided that’s who I would be. I knew I was a little bit young for it. I said, “I’m just gonna kick it back here with these people.”
Q: How did you reinvent yourself as a hippie at age 9?
A: I think I was simply paying attention to the energy and focus of these kinds of people. It was more appealing to me than worrying about corporations and business and the state of the country. Plus, it was easy; I had brothers. My oldest brother (Bill) was bona fide. That’s not something you choose. You don’t just say, “I think I will take on the hippie mentality.” It just fit. It still fits. I’m still a hippie. Don’t tell anyone.
Q: You toured a lot as a child. When you look back, was it a blur?
A: It was not a blur. We toured all the time. We played fairs, auditoriums, colleges, all sorts of places. I barely went to school. In fact, on the Happy Together tour, we’re returning to a lot of the same places the Cowsills played when we were young.
Q: Do any New Jersey venues stick out from that time?
A: I have great memories of playing Atlantic City. We played Steel Pier for two weeks. In fact, yesterday was the anniversary of the moon landing (on July 20, 1969). We watched it backstage at Steel Pier in Atlantic City on that historic day.
Q: When you played Steel Pier, did you see the diving horse?
A: Of course. The diving horse, the diving bell, the diving everything.
Q: Please talk about the stage costumes. The Cowsills wore some groovy threads. Did you enjoy that?
A: It was fun. The clothes were fun. I got to pick out most my own stuff. We had a very nice lady named “Genie the Tailor” (Jeannie Franklyn). “Tiny Dancer” (by Elton John) was written after Jeannie. She did our last look, which was the more psychedelic look — “groovy,” as you would say. The guys had less fun with the clothes, because guys’ clothes are limited. I enjoyed it, because I was a girl.
Q: The Cowsills did a lot of TV. I’m sure you remember doing “Ed Sullivan,” and I’m guessing it meant something to you to do “The Johnny Cash Show.”
A: Doing “Ed Sullivan” was awesome, because it was “Ed Sullivan.” In fact, all of the bands on the Happy Together tour have done “Ed Sullivan.” Johnny Cash, for me, was great, because he was one of my favorites. I always thought he was such a badass guy. I liked his music. We did Johnny Carson. Not a lot of people can say that anymore.
Q: Your father (Bud Cowsill, who died in 1992) managed the Cowsills and he would, to say the least, clash with your brothers over show-business matters. You were younger; did it stress you out?
A: I just needed to know where I was supposed to be, how long I was supposed to play, and where I was gonna play next, to get the most fun out of it. There were plenty of things to stress me out; show business was not it. I was only 8. All I cared about was: Does the motel have a pool?
Q: Would you call your father a Svengali? A taskmaster? How would you categorize him?
A: My father? An ill-equipped parent. An ill-equipped music-business participant. An ill-equipped-to-be-on-this planet kind of guy. He bit off a lot when he was very young. He did not have a lot of education. I think I would categorize him as that person. Not prepared for the life he was living. That’s my view.
Q: It’s a well-known, and tragic, phenomenon that many child stars went on to have difficult lives. A lot of them say they had “interrupted childhoods.” Was this the case for you?
A: I wouldn’t call it an interrupted childhood so much as a different lifestyle. I understand the concept. Was I in the Brownies or the Girl Scouts? Did I go to the dances? No. What do you say about something like this? It’s not your regular thing. But so much of it was truly a blast. It was an alternative childhood lifestyle. Part of me laments not having a lot of the things other people had. But a big part of me says, “How cool for you, that you had this adventure.”
It’s crazy. Everything that would seem unnatural or different from a regular childhood, to me, was normal. You are presenting a life to a child that, as they’re growing up, they’re not going to question. It’s only when you look back as an adult that you see the differences. I’m not one to look at things negatively, anyway.
When people say, “Was it a weird childhood?” I say, “It was my childhood.” I only had one.
Q: “The Partridge Family” was inspired by the Cowsills. Did you watch the show?
A: Sure. I watched it every Friday night. I had a crush on David Cassidy. I knew who I was on the show. I remember thinking the girl (Suzanne Crough) couldn’t play her tambourine, but I could play mine. I was sad when I found out that she died this year (on April 27). So, yeah, I loved the show.
!["It’s not just that I was born into this family. It’s my calling," says Susan Cowsill of continuing as a musician. [Photo courtesy SusanCowsill.com]](https://markvoger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/COWSILLS-8.jpg)
A: I didn’t really pick it; it picked me. When the Cowsills were done, I didn’t know anything else. That’s when I discovered that I’m a musician. It’s not just that I was born into this family. It’s my calling. I wouldn’t have thought to do anything but find a place to sing.
Q: How are the Happy Together shows going so far?
A: The tour is amazing. We’re having the best time of our lives. The fans are coming out. We have new fans, and people who are surprised to find out that the Cowsills are still alive and breathing. We’re still here.
HAPPY TOGETHER 2015
WHO: The Turtles, the Cowsills, Mark Lindsay, the Association,
the Buckinghams and the Grass Roots
AUG. 1: 7 p.m. at the Paramount Theater, 1300 Ocean Ave., Asbury Park.
$45-$145 (a Light of Day Foundation event). apboardwalk.com/venues/view/40
AUG. 2: 7 p.m. at the State Theatre, 15 Livingston Ave., New Brunswick.
$35-$95. StateTheatreNJ.org
AUG. 4: 8 p.m. at Mayo Performing Arts Center, 100 South St., Morristown.
$39-$89. MayoArts.org
AUG. 5: 8 p.m. at Bergen Performing Arts Center, 30 N. Van Brunt St., Englewood.
$39-$125. BergenPAC.org
More about Happy Together: TheTurtles.com/tour/
More about Susan Cowsill: SusanCowsill.com
More about the Light of Day Foundation: LightofDay.org
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