I think it was back in 1978 or 79 now I met Billy in Edmonton at a restaurant on Stony plain road. We ended up partying for the whole weekend. I took him to the legislative grounds to see purple city and he really enjoyed that. Later on in life he was playing at a bar downtown Edmonton with the Blue Shadows. I walked up behind him and ask him if he'd been to purple city lately he turn around and he recognized me right away and remembered the time that he had when we were partying and having a good time. He was such a great guy and so talented rest in peace Billy.
Billy Cowsill R.I.P. thanks for the beautiful memories & music!!!! Such a down to earth kinda guy with a pure righteous heart... Rest In Eternal Peace Billy, Your Not Forgotten Man...
Saw Billy perform in a pub in Calgary 1985. He was a born entertainer and and an amazing talent. So sorry his health gave out. I wish he was still around making people happy.
wow, Billy was one very humble, down to earth no bullshit man...The Cowsills are still one of my all time favorite bands, the sadness of losing Billy and Barry is heartbreaking...God bless them and keep their great music crankin......ear candy vocal harmonies !!!
@@budderkupp1282 actually he was on stage with them for Taste of Rhode Island festival in 2000 ... the last time the whole family performed together all seven kids
I remember I used to go see him play at bars around the end of the 80's in Vancouver and he always ended his set with the same line..."good night and fuck off"....too funny.
Watching Bill talk so clearly and eloquently here and it makes you sad how he came across in the interviews he did shortly before his death.. Plus, he's still very much recognizable as "Billy Cowsill' here which was not the case 10 years later. The drugs eventually really took their toll. Talented but hard living guy.
Interesting to hear Billy talk here in comparison to the “Family Band” documentary, which featured a later, 2000’s era interview. I wouldn’t even know this was the same guy. He still had this wonderful storytelling ability, but his poor health had obviously taken a huge toll on him. The Cowsills were an incredibly talented American pop band. They deserve better recognition.
Great interview with Bill Cowsill. Very, very interesting information. Bill really tells it like it is, as he always seemed to do. I admire his knowledge, and honesty. Now that he is gone, this is a very important recording, for the history of music. I wish I could sit down and have a beer with him. He had a great sense of humor. Bill Cowsill, forever......
yes Bill died to young at age 58 and his brother was killed in Katrina. I read about that and it was eerie the way he died. He called his sister for help, saying there were looters everywhere and shootings, never heard from him again, they later found him dead after he went missing for a weeks. He apparently drowned in flood waters.
The Cowsills were right up at the top of the tree as far as a family based band is concerned. Along with the Osmonds, the Jacksons, the Wilson brothers et al. They were supremely talented, and even today, listening to their music, their personalities and musical ability, and particularly their fabulous harmonies make them an ageless band IMO.
He should have been bigger. But there was a lot of darkness in his life. I was lucky enough to have met him several times and he was always friendly. I played bass and one of the guys in his band showed me a few things
That’s a great interview and Bill seemed like great guy. He never mentioned anything negative about his dad which was kinda cool in a way. The guy went thru a lot. Lots to be learned about the industry in the 60’s in that interview. You can see why probably many talented groups just don’t make it, you have to be good and lucky and in the right place at the right time with the right people. You are at the mercy of record companies and producers.
The first time I saw Billy, he was in his trio called: Train Wreck, he introduced the other two members by name, then he said "You can just call me asshole" What an exceptional voice this man had.
We were filming in Vancouver Canada back in the late 1990;s and during our break we went to get a refreshment at a pub called the Fairview on broadway, we had no idea the entertainment was Billy Cowsill ! we sat and could not fathom how such an incredible icon that the three of us grew up with the Cowsills tunes, we were now watching him perform, on their break we introduced ourselves Billy listened as we told him how much his music meant to us,he was humble and a very cool guy handshakes and a hug, an awesome experience , thank you for sharing this wonderful interview, RIP Billy
I saw Bill and the Blue Shadows at the Fairview on Broadway as well one Friday evening after work. I thought the alt-Country rock thing he was doing was good and deserved more attetnion.
Ironically, the Fairview was the only time I saw Billy & the Blue Shadows...a Saturday in '93. Their Everly/early Beatles harmonies were spine-tingling👍 🇨🇦
Billy Cowsill was a great man, and a great musician. I love to watch all of the old Cowsills videos with Billy in them. He was a super cool person. I'm so sorry that he has passed away. But, he will never be forgotten. If there's a rock-n-roll heaven.........
Billy Cowsill and his band Blue Northern played back up for me on an early 80’s CBC Tv pilot show call What’s Cookin’. It was a country & western musical comedy show. Billy was not happy to be there, but his band was nice enough.
Billy was the greatest. I was gigging on fiddle in the late seventies in Vancouver. Billy sat in and sang with us sometimes at an obscure club called the Waterfront Corral on Drake St. It was magic, everything seemed better after Billy sang.
I remember that bar. East of skid road and Japantown on Powell?? [I think]. Dark and off the beaten track. Like a lot of good bars, it did not last long. I worked at Darby's Pub 1987- 1992. Packed house every Tuesday and no cover. I got to know Billy quite well. Great storyteller!
I remember him singing his signature tune "Vagabond" at the Calgary Folk Festival around 20 years ago. It was magical how he held the audience spell-bound with just his singing and his guitar. He is sorely missed.
HE was so talented, he could have been like a Bob Seger, or Tom Petty on his own! Hands down! To me he was so attractive too, even here at 45..although they said he was on heroin....who knows...I know his health did suffer because not even 10 years after this interview he could hardly speak, or walk, and was almost unrecognizable....then he died a day after Barry...very sad...RIP!!!
@@TSquare7741 I always found him and John quite attractive. Both had great voices. Billy seemed to live and breathe music. Someone should have stepped in and helped him keep his health. I dont know if he did heroin but judging by his looks probably so. So damned sad. RIP Billy
What's sad, the family very well could have seen what was going on with Billy. And tried to help , but you can't force help on someone that doesn't want it. Such a waste of one hell of talent and the man himself..
I love the Cowsills. I can tell Bill is using here. Look how thin and drawn his face is and he's sweating, especially above his lip. That H is such a horrible drug and it is si bad now it's become to where everyone knows someone addicted. It's that and prescription. Very sad. I hope he and Barry are resting easy.
@@chainamarie03 if you watch the Cowsill documentary " Family Band " by Louise Palanker Barry says "Billy is dying from too much bad heroin" he did apparently become Mr 12 step and was clean and sober for his last few years. Bill himself said in the same documentary about Barry " he's got to slay his dragons and get sober or he's never going to amount to too much". Those two were close, they loved each other. I think they processed their pain in similar ways.
This video should be entitled 'Humble guy meets arrogant prick'. I knew TDM personally, what an asshole. Probably still is. I talked to Bill about 2 weeks before he passed away, he was so frightened it was heartbreaking. He stood up and put his arms around me and said, "I'm so afraid." When I left, I sat outside in my car and balled for about a half hour.
@@inkyguy Gosh I wish someone was writing ALL these great Billy stories into a book. He was the most talented little kid who led his little brothers and sisters into music despite the dreadful abuse they suffered from that asshole Bud. I admire them all so much 🌹
@@inkyguy From what I have read, he was clean and sober and living in a small basement suite in his house on 9th St SW in Calgary. He had converted it to a boarding house. He was suffering from emphysema, a hormone imbalance called Cushing's Disease and Osteoporosis. He had been in ill health for some time and I'm sure he knew the end was near. He also knew his brother Barry was missing in New Orleans and that I'm sure was a weight on his shoulders.
Could be. There are times in all families when one member does or says something to injure another member. If there was a beef, I would imagine it didn't last long. It's also said that Bill was bipolar. People with that disorder are very difficult to maintain an even-keeled relationship with. I feel sorry for all the Cowsill kids having to endure an abusive alcoholic father and a non-interventionist mother. Bad combo. Susan tells a disturbing story in "the Family Band" documentary about her dad attempting to bed her when she was a blossoming teen. Fortunately he was too drunk to overpower her and she kicked his ass out of her room.
I saw the Cowsills Documentary.........simply amazing to hear their story....little does anyone know what goes on behind this fantastic harmonious group.......the laughs, the tears, the dominance of their father, the abuse etc.......It was well done......... I have a newfound respect for these people who went through so much.........
Another really great video! Appreciate the time and effort you're putting in to posting these. Love the Blue Shadows and it's near impossible to find interview footage of them. Looking forward to anything else you might have with Billy and the band, Thanks!!
I noticed that he said that he left the band because it wasn't going the way he'd hoped it would. The story is that his dad (who was a terrible man) fired him from the band because Bill tried smoking pot. Back then, pot smoking was a serious crime. In my opinion, his being fired destroyed the sound of the band, even though Bob has a phenomenal voice too. It's too bad their father was such a terrible person towards the family--including Mini - Mom, Barbara. : (
@@tazman572 I know right? How could a mother stand by and let that happen to her kids? Paul says something like this in an interview i saw recently. Just so glad they survived it all.
At the time of this interview, the family had not opened up about the abuse and problems. Everything that he says here, outside of why he left, fits with the documentary. The fight between his father and him has never been fully explained. The most common version is that Bud began drunkenly insulting Bill's rock friends (Wachtel, et al) and Bill and he went at it. Dad was arrested, sobered up, then kicked Bill out of the house, group, and family. As any Cowsill fan now knows, Dad took what money the group made and blew it (bad investments according to most, his own excesses according to others). Maybe, in Bill's mind it was "you can't fire me, I quit" memory.
Maybe somebody wanted the female voices, mother and sister, to blend with the 4 male voices. But.....if John was 7 and Barry was 9 they had high voices already
Everyone will have an opinion about Indian Lake. All I can say is a lot of us were grooving to that song and still are. And that's just my opinion, for what it's worth.
It was great I don't think the bitterness helped his health one bit. The heroin and if you seen his last interviews I mean he's great and he sings great but he's all bloated up and everything is failing in his body anyway yes Indian Lake was great
I found it interesting that when Billy was naming off the band by each individual's name, he referred to John only as "the drummer". Maybe something going on there between them??
When Billy talks about the record execs not wanting him because "Cowsill," thats exactly what happened to the Osmonds. No one wanted to touch their album, "The Plan," when Alan was shopping it around. Unbelievable.
I loved Bill he had such a great voice. I loved watching him sing and play guitar on tv with his siblings. The cowsills had shit poor management. If Bud the father would have stayed out of it they could have stayed together. How could Bud tell Billy he was kicked out of the Cowsills and the family. That was a blow way below the belt for Bill. I doubt he ever saw his parents again. But he kept in touch with his siblings. So sad how his and Barry's lives ended. Thanks Bud for pushing 7 children over the edge. That fool should have been arrested and locked up.
Yeah they reunited for a single around 1973 "Covered Wagon" but apparently it went badly and after that a few of the family didn't talk to each other for a few years.
Interesting the contrasting diplomacy on Bill's part, another youtube video with Bill talking about Indian Lake, he ripped it apart, here he just said it was not as good of a record, but later he said "I broke down in tears" and talked about it being a POS material. Here, he also doesn't get too awfully upset talking about his mom and his sister getting put into the band, but then later, he talks very begrudginly about it. Although none of the band seemed too upset about the sister joining up, but they all seemed put out that Mom was put in.I haven't heard every interview about it, but Susan sounded a bit more welcome than their mom.
To be fair, Barbara wasn't easy to work with since she had stage fright. Susan had none of those restraints - great dancer, quick learner. I'm not sure about Billy's conflicting views. Probably his answers are dependent on mood, and year, but if I may offer a theory - Indian Lake was a regressive step for the band's self-autonomy. Bill's thoughts on the actual composition may have changed (Brian Wilson liked the harmonies, "so Bill liked it" according to Bob) but the trauma of having YOUR band stripped from you stays with you. Regardless of what Billy thought about the song later, it is not what he wanted to be playing at the time.
I think that's all pretty accurate, and my guess is Bill didn't always want to air the family's dirty laundry, although yes, he did do that in some interviews. I think Lili S on this thread makes some good pts, too, i.e. it may have depended on how he felt (he suffered from severe back pain, so much so he became addicted to painkillers). Bill & Bob both talked about MGM putting their Mom & sister in the band . . . although Bob joked about Susan, saying, "Darn it! The fans like her!" lol Yeah, I'm pretty sure though, none of them much liked Mom being in their band, Bill once quipping, 'There's a waitress trying to give me her room key & how do I do that with Mom right there' haha
**Good interview! (but all the background 'chatter' was too damned much for me) I could 'counter-argue' that the 'Osmonds' were 'Hits' long before the 'Cowsills' but I get what his intent was..."A rising-tide lifts all boats" observation** **I think what he could not see was that even really great, talented 'singer/song-writer/musicians' have their own 'niche' that they may not 'like', yet 'you are you' no matter what you think differently...it reminds me of the story of Lennon telling Paul "Yeah, we could play some pubs and little places wearing sacks so we could be 'different' but everyone would know 'It's THEM!' after a few bars because when we're together we always sound like us no matter what!"** The 'pitch/timbre/intonation' of your voice always 'gives it away'...just as the same as the way you play any instrument or 'structure' to any tune...and maybe Billy just couldn't 'hear it' himself, or perhaps he just didn't care for the 'softer' pop-tunes the 'Cowsills' were known for..."I want to be another 'Jackson Browne'-type of thing...or maybe Neil" without realizing no one can be 'Neil Young' or 'Browne' or 'Lennon'...it just can't be done.
Cowsills had a small string of hits and then what happened? I think their parents were their Rock and when they passed the Band just gave up. .. Had they just held their energy I think they would have done amazing music. Bill should have never left. Bob couldn't take the lead.
@@ToldAlthea Somewhere I read or heard they earned about $20M from 1967-1971, (~$100M in today's dollars) but Daddie Dearest Bud squandered all of it. Bob once said it took them 10yrs to pay off the IRS on money they earned but never saw. Tragic, indeed + terrible of the IRS to make them do that.
2 by 2 On My Side and Global were all very good. I do believe if Bud didnt screw everything up they could have made a better transition to another phase of their career and if Bill would have been there they would have been a powerhouse.I think Bud should have let Richard be a dual drummer with John,hpw cool would that have been ?
Little known fact. The Justin Trudeau government tried unsuccessfully to insist the Cowsills song, "Indian Lake" in Canada be changed to "Indigenous" Lake. They wanted a dubbing, every time " Indian" was said, a dub would say "Indigenous". Political correctness at Liberal perfection. Very impractical, and copy write and all, but pissed Justin off big time. He caved a bit, and asked for "First Nations Lake", again for the same reasons. In any event isn't Justin cute?
That's really stupid because Indian Lake is a real place, it's a famous resort in upstate NY in the Adirondacks mountains, for tourists and nobody thought about changing the name of the town,
![fellow fellow - PROUD feat. INK WARUNTORN [STRING QUARTET]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/BQrVkMPTdHE/mqdefault.jpg)
I think it was back in 1978 or 79 now I met Billy in Edmonton at a restaurant on Stony plain road. We ended up partying for the whole weekend. I took him to the legislative grounds to see purple city and he really enjoyed that. Later on in life he was playing at a bar downtown Edmonton with the Blue Shadows. I walked up behind him and ask him if he'd been to purple city lately he turn around and he recognized me right away and remembered the time that he had when we were partying and having a good time. He was such a great guy and so talented rest in peace Billy.
How cool! Gee I wish someone would collect all these Billy stories and put them in a book
Billy Cowsill R.I.P. thanks for the beautiful memories & music!!!! Such a down to earth kinda guy with a pure righteous heart... Rest In Eternal Peace Billy, Your Not Forgotten Man...
what a lovely thing to say 🥰
He loved Barry; those 2 were tight. Bill died , just a day after Barry's memorial service. Amazing connection in this family.
2005 new orleans katrina
True .
Barry's remains were found in late Dec 2005. . Barry's jazz memorial was in Feb . '06.
Bill died the next day.🙏
@@BeautifulSpirit-kf5ld Maybe the emotion of the memorial killed him
Then Billy's wife expired soon after he died.
The Cowsills were the bomb
Flew under the radar, amazing talented family
Billy was supremely talented
Saw Billy perform in a pub in Calgary 1985. He was a born entertainer and and an amazing talent. So sorry his health gave out. I wish he was still around making people happy.
wow, Billy was one very humble, down to earth no bullshit man...The Cowsills are still one of my all time favorite bands, the sadness of losing Billy and Barry is heartbreaking...God bless them and keep their great music crankin......ear candy vocal harmonies !!!
And RIP to their brother Dick..poor guy..who never even got to be in the band.
@@budderkupp1282 actually he was on stage with them for Taste of Rhode Island festival in 2000 ... the last time the whole family performed together all seven kids
@@lyndy2026 Yea, I know. I meant during their hey day.
Very cool to hear. Rest in peace Billy.🙏
I remember I used to go see him play at bars around the end of the 80's in Vancouver and he always ended his set with the same line..."good night and fuck off"....too funny.
Watching Bill talk so clearly and eloquently here and it makes you sad how he came across in the interviews he did shortly before his death.. Plus, he's still very much recognizable as "Billy Cowsill' here which was not the case 10 years later. The drugs eventually really took their toll. Talented but hard living guy.
Great interview. I wish Billy wasnt so reclusive. R.I.P. Billy you are missed.
I can't, he's so sweet... he's too real, a real loving, caring and kind human
Fascinating story. I was a boy I use to sing their songs without knowing whom they were.All these years later I"m learning about them via you tube.
Interesting to hear Billy talk here in comparison to the “Family Band” documentary, which featured a later, 2000’s era interview. I wouldn’t even know this was the same guy. He still had this wonderful storytelling ability, but his poor health had obviously taken a huge toll on him.
The Cowsills were an incredibly talented American pop band. They deserve better recognition.
Great interview with Bill Cowsill. Very, very interesting information. Bill really tells it like it is, as he always seemed to do. I admire his knowledge, and honesty. Now that he is gone, this is a very important recording, for the history of music. I wish I could sit down and have a beer with him. He had a great sense of humor. Bill Cowsill, forever......
Love Billy Cowsill RIP and he can sing anything as he’s so talented and should be in rock n roll hall fame with other Cowsills
Always loved the Cowsills, the great thing about them is that they are always in an UP mood and more than willing to talk about their amazing life.
So sad that Billy & Barry Cowsill's deaths. We lost 2 amazing musicians.
Anna- Marie and richard
Didn’t Barry sing ‘the path of love’
yes Bill died to young at age 58 and his brother was killed in Katrina. I read about that and it was eerie the way he died. He called his sister for help, saying there were looters everywhere and shootings, never heard from him again, they later found him dead after he went missing for a weeks. He apparently drowned in flood waters.
@@kystars hi I'mma I'm
@@davidpaul2951 hello.. Merry Christmas. i'm sorry, but I don't understand what you are trying to say to me ?
The Cowsills were right up at the top of the tree as far as a family based band is concerned. Along with the Osmonds, the Jacksons, the Wilson brothers et al. They were supremely talented, and even today, listening to their music, their personalities and musical ability, and particularly their fabulous harmonies make them an ageless band IMO.
Not the j5.sorry
He should have been bigger. But there was a lot of darkness in his life. I was lucky enough to have met him several times and he was always friendly. I played bass and one of the guys in his band showed me a few things
Thank-you so much, Bob. i love feeling like i was there
when they did this 20 years ago.
I think for me, Bill is my favourite of The Cowsills. The one that had in my opinion the best voice.
I am from RI and remember all of them from Newport . Great Interview !!! RIP, Billy
Billy is so beautiful inside and out.
He was the real deal. R.I.P. to an extraordinarily talented man.
That’s a great interview and Bill seemed like great guy. He never mentioned anything negative about his dad which was kinda cool in a way. The guy went thru a lot. Lots to be learned about the industry in the 60’s in that interview. You can see why probably many talented groups just don’t make it, you have to be good and lucky and in the right place at the right time with the right people. You are at the mercy of record companies and producers.
The first time I saw Billy, he was in his trio called: Train Wreck, he introduced the other two members by name, then he said "You can just call me asshole" What an exceptional voice this man had.
Bill had brains. Very impressive.
Easy to Love Billy and the rest of the Cowsills. Thanks for all you shared man !
We were filming in Vancouver Canada back in the late 1990;s and during our break we went to get a refreshment at a pub called the Fairview on broadway, we had no idea the entertainment was Billy Cowsill ! we sat and could not fathom how such an incredible icon that the three of us grew up with the Cowsills tunes, we were now watching him perform, on their break we introduced ourselves Billy listened as we told him how much his music meant to us,he was humble and a very cool guy handshakes and a hug, an awesome experience , thank you for sharing this wonderful interview, RIP Billy
I saw Bill and the Blue Shadows at the Fairview on Broadway as well one Friday evening after work. I thought the alt-Country rock thing he was doing was good and deserved more attetnion.
oh wow that is a great story you are so blessed 🌹
Ironically, the Fairview was the only time I saw Billy & the Blue Shadows...a Saturday in '93. Their Everly/early Beatles harmonies were spine-tingling👍
🇨🇦
@@loilt5091 Cool !
This is awesome interview with Billy.
Billy Cowsill was a great man, and a great musician. I love to watch all of the old Cowsills videos with Billy in them. He was a super cool person. I'm so sorry that he has passed away. But, he will never be forgotten. If there's a rock-n-roll heaven.........
Billy Cowsill and his band Blue Northern played back up for me on an early 80’s CBC Tv pilot show call What’s Cookin’. It was a country & western musical comedy show. Billy was not happy to be there, but his band was nice enough.
I would love to have met him.
Me too
This dude was as talented as a human can get. THE REAL DEAL
great interview! Love and miss you Billy!
Billy was the greatest.
I was gigging on fiddle in the late seventies in Vancouver. Billy sat in and sang with us sometimes at an obscure club called the Waterfront Corral on Drake St. It was magic, everything seemed better after Billy sang.
I remember that bar. East of skid road and Japantown on Powell?? [I think]. Dark and off the beaten track.
Like a lot of good bars, it did not last long. I worked at Darby's Pub 1987- 1992. Packed house every Tuesday and no cover. I got to know Billy quite well. Great storyteller!
Oh wow, Billy! God be with ❤️❤️❤️❤️🌹🌹🌹🌹
Love Love Love
thanks for this...blue shadows were very good..
Great example of a PURE musician. From Billy to Beyonce.. LOL- How did that happen? Tragic times for music lovers. RIP Billy.
beyonce SUCKS
Beyonce barf
Awesome insight!! Love Billy and the Cowsills!!
Seems like a great guy and musician..RIP
Thank You Bob!! These interviews are pure gold!! It's GREAT to see Billy. The Blue Shadows are the best band ever!! Please upload more!!
Haha! You are obsessed! 😊
Hi Baby! This stuff is so good. RIP the great Billy Cowsill. Such a talent.
i have no more....
the greatest voice so sad he left us so young
I remember him singing his signature tune "Vagabond" at the Calgary Folk Festival around 20 years ago. It was magical how he held the audience spell-bound with just his singing and his guitar. He is sorely missed.
I don't think Billy realized how loved he was by his fans!! Such talent to never EVER be duplicated by any musical band!
is that on youtube anywhere? i collect Billy video clips 🌹
Bill.. Great talent and musician. RIP.
Great talent!! All of the Cowsills, especially Billy.
Excellent interview! Thanks for sharing.
Love it. Memories. Thanks, Billy.
Cowsills were the first ever all family pop music group, at least in America.
What a hard life his father created. Very sad. Beautiful voices
Great to see him looking quite happy and healthy. Really talented and cool guy.
what a super cool guy u were billy lov all u records rip !!!!
Billy seemed liked a cool guy.
RIP Dude.
Bill Cowsill was one of the great rockers, in the history of rock-n-roll. And a super cool guy.
Yes, he was!
He didn't live very long but he's all there, hell of a memory.
Poor Billy looks jaundiced. The Cowsills seem to be down to earth.
Such a great interview. Love the band!
Great music and I’m sure they had a lot of joy making it, but it is not a life I would want.
HE was so talented, he could have been like a Bob Seger, or Tom Petty on his own! Hands down! To me he was so attractive too, even here at 45..although they said he was on heroin....who knows...I know his health did suffer because not even 10 years after this interview he could hardly speak, or walk, and was almost unrecognizable....then he died a day after Barry...very sad...RIP!!!
He's pretty skinny here... Sunken cheeks etc. Doesnt look entirely healthy... But then again they were tall skinny ppl to begin with.
@@TSquare7741 I always found him and John quite attractive. Both had great voices. Billy seemed to live and breathe music. Someone should have stepped in and helped him keep his health. I dont know if he did heroin but judging by his looks probably so. So damned sad. RIP Billy
What's sad, the family very well could have seen what was going on with Billy. And tried to help , but you can't force help on someone that doesn't want it. Such a waste of one hell of talent and the man himself..
I love the Cowsills. I can tell Bill is using here. Look how thin and drawn his face is and he's sweating, especially above his lip. That H is such a horrible drug and it is si bad now it's become to where everyone knows someone addicted. It's that and prescription. Very sad. I hope he and Barry are resting easy.
@@chainamarie03 if you watch the Cowsill documentary " Family Band " by Louise Palanker Barry says "Billy is dying from too much bad heroin" he did apparently become Mr 12 step and was clean and sober for his last few years. Bill himself said in the same documentary about Barry " he's got to slay his dragons and get sober or he's never going to amount to too much". Those two were close, they loved each other. I think they processed their pain in similar ways.
Rest in peace ✌️
Man, he was COOL!! ....
He was beautiful.
Billy, totally talented!
Great information!
This video should be entitled 'Humble guy meets arrogant prick'. I knew TDM personally, what an asshole. Probably still is. I talked to Bill about 2 weeks before he passed away, he was so frightened it was heartbreaking. He stood up and put his arms around me and said, "I'm so afraid." When I left, I sat outside in my car and balled for about a half hour.
very sad
Thank God you were there for him.
What was the context for your visit and his fear? Without background information it’s hard to appreciate the complete poignancy of your story.
@@inkyguy Gosh I wish someone was writing ALL these great Billy stories into a book. He was the most talented little kid who led his little brothers and sisters into music despite the dreadful abuse they suffered from that asshole Bud. I admire them all so much 🌹
@@inkyguy From what I have read, he was clean and sober and living in a small basement suite in his house on 9th St SW in Calgary. He had converted it to a boarding house. He was suffering from emphysema, a hormone imbalance called Cushing's Disease and Osteoporosis. He had been in ill health for some time and I'm sure he knew the end was near. He also knew his brother Barry was missing in New Orleans and that I'm sure was a weight on his shoulders.
Billy was a musical GENIUS! And no one could do “and spaghetti” better than Susan. They were total perfection.
To me he was so attractive!!!
He was. And even here, where you can tell he is not healthy. Beautiful, talented guy. RIP 🙏 ❤
The way he refers to John as "the drummer" makes me wonder if they were on the outs at the time of this interview.
Could be. There are times in all families when one member does or says something to injure another member. If there was a beef, I would imagine it didn't last long. It's also said that Bill was bipolar. People with that disorder are very difficult to maintain an even-keeled relationship with. I feel sorry for all the Cowsill kids having to endure an abusive alcoholic father and a non-interventionist mother. Bad combo. Susan tells a disturbing story in "the Family Band" documentary about her dad attempting to bed her when she was a blossoming teen. Fortunately he was too drunk to overpower her and she kicked his ass out of her room.
I saw the Cowsills Documentary.........simply amazing to hear their story....little does anyone know what goes on behind this fantastic harmonious group.......the laughs, the tears, the dominance of their father, the abuse etc.......It was well done......... I have a newfound respect for these people who went through so much.........
RIP Bill Cowsill.
This is so interesting! Poor Billy RIP Billy 😢 I thought he was fired by his Dad. And that his dad threw him out of the family as well.
Another really great video! Appreciate the time and effort you're putting in to posting these. Love the Blue Shadows and it's near impossible to find interview footage of them. Looking forward to anything else you might have with Billy and the band, Thanks!!
i have uploaded another Clip and will have more coming up soon....
I noticed that he said that he left the band because it wasn't going the way he'd hoped it would. The story is that his dad (who was a terrible man) fired him from the band because Bill tried smoking pot. Back then, pot smoking was a serious crime. In my opinion, his being fired destroyed the sound of the band, even though Bob has a phenomenal voice too. It's too bad their father was such a terrible person towards the family--including Mini - Mom, Barbara. : (
Yes, true that Bud Cowsill was a terrible man but Barbara never really tried to protect the children from their father.
@@tazman572 I know right? How could a mother stand by and let that happen to her kids? Paul says something like this in an interview i saw recently. Just so glad they survived it all.
Although marketed as a bubblegum act, they had the ability to rock! Hair is a great example, but being kids, they had to market them to kids.
Thanks so much for posting this!
Some of the info mentioned differs a bit with the Family Band documentary, but I really enjoyed this, especially because Billy seems happy here.
At the time of this interview, the family had not opened up about the abuse and problems. Everything that he says here, outside of why he left, fits with the documentary. The fight between his father and him has never been fully explained. The most common version is that Bud began drunkenly insulting Bill's rock friends (Wachtel, et al) and Bill and he went at it. Dad was arrested, sobered up, then kicked Bill out of the house, group, and family. As any Cowsill fan now knows, Dad took what money the group made and blew it (bad investments according to most, his own excesses according to others). Maybe, in Bill's mind it was "you can't fire me, I quit" memory.
I mean he really just left out some info and that's why it sounds like its different info.
Maybe somebody wanted the female voices, mother and sister, to blend with the 4 male voices. But.....if John was 7 and Barry was 9 they had high voices already
He's wrong about one thing - Indian Lake was a fantastic song.
Everyone will have an opinion about Indian Lake. All I can say is a lot of us were grooving to that song and still are. And that's just my opinion, for what it's worth.
He despised that song to the day he died.
I agree with him - "The Rain, the Park" was a better song. "Indian Lake" was good, but not as good in my opinion, as was his.
Indian Lake is a nostalgic happy summertime song that hearkens back to an innocent time in 60's America.
It was great I don't think the bitterness helped his health one bit. The heroin and if you seen his last interviews I mean he's great and he sings great but he's all bloated up and everything is failing in his body anyway yes Indian Lake was great
Nice.
They had quite a lot of good music besides The rain, the park and other things.
I found it interesting that when Billy was naming off the band by each individual's name, he referred to John only as "the drummer". Maybe something going on there between them??
When Billy talks about the record execs not wanting him because "Cowsill," thats exactly what happened to the Osmonds. No one wanted to touch their album, "The Plan," when Alan was shopping it around. Unbelievable.
Thought it was David Bowie
Great
I loved Bill he had such a great voice. I loved watching him sing and play guitar on tv with his siblings. The cowsills had shit poor management. If Bud the father would have stayed out of it they could have stayed together. How could Bud tell Billy he was kicked out of the Cowsills and the family. That was a blow way below the belt for Bill. I doubt he ever saw his parents again. But he kept in touch with his siblings. So sad how his and Barry's lives ended. Thanks Bud for pushing 7 children over the edge. That fool should have been arrested and locked up.
Life is gain and loss.they.had.a.couple.songs.for.the.67time.though.a.rolling.stone.gathers.no.moss!
RIP Bill, Richard and Barry ❤
Nobody ever mentions his brother, Richard Cowsill, who was forced out of the band by their shitty father and sent off to fight in Vietnam.
He was never in the band. He played a little drums later on but they already had Barry, and then John, on drums
2006.....
Did Billy ever reunite and perform with the family after he was let go by his father?
Yes he did. In 2001. The family performed in Rhode Island. Their brother Richard sang with them too.
He lived the last decade or so in Vancouver, and Calgary.
Yeah they reunited for a single around 1973 "Covered Wagon" but apparently it went badly and after that a few of the family didn't talk to each other for a few years.
1994. Still, in that time, I would never have known who the group was/is. I just didn't have the information. : (
Interesting the contrasting diplomacy on Bill's part, another youtube video with Bill talking about Indian Lake, he ripped it apart, here he just said it was not as good of a record, but later he said "I broke down in tears" and talked about it being a POS material. Here, he also doesn't get too awfully upset talking about his mom and his sister getting put into the band, but then later, he talks very begrudginly about it. Although none of the band seemed too upset about the sister joining up, but they all seemed put out that Mom was put in.I haven't heard every interview about it, but Susan sounded a bit more welcome than their mom.
To be fair, Barbara wasn't easy to work with since she had stage fright. Susan had none of those restraints - great dancer, quick learner. I'm not sure about Billy's conflicting views. Probably his answers are dependent on mood, and year, but if I may offer a theory - Indian Lake was a regressive step for the band's self-autonomy. Bill's thoughts on the actual composition may have changed (Brian Wilson liked the harmonies, "so Bill liked it" according to Bob) but the trauma of having YOUR band stripped from you stays with you. Regardless of what Billy thought about the song later, it is not what he wanted to be playing at the time.
I think that's all pretty accurate, and my guess is Bill didn't always want to air the family's dirty laundry, although yes, he did do that in some interviews. I think Lili S on this thread makes some good pts, too, i.e. it may have depended on how he felt (he suffered from severe back pain, so much so he became addicted to painkillers). Bill & Bob both talked about MGM putting their Mom & sister in the band . . . although Bob joked about Susan, saying, "Darn it! The fans like her!" lol Yeah, I'm pretty sure though, none of them much liked Mom being in their band, Bill once quipping, 'There's a waitress trying to give me her room key & how do I do that with Mom right there' haha
Bill was a true musician. Very talented. He looks unwell here. The father messed him up. I think it was jealousy.
**Good interview! (but all the background 'chatter' was too damned much for me) I could 'counter-argue' that the 'Osmonds' were 'Hits' long before the 'Cowsills' but I get what his intent was..."A rising-tide lifts all boats" observation** **I think what he could not see was that even really great, talented 'singer/song-writer/musicians' have their own 'niche' that they may not 'like', yet 'you are you' no matter what you think differently...it reminds me of the story of Lennon telling Paul "Yeah, we could play some pubs and little places wearing sacks so we could be 'different' but everyone would know 'It's THEM!' after a few bars because when we're together we always sound like us no matter what!"** The 'pitch/timbre/intonation' of your voice always 'gives it away'...just as the same as the way you play any instrument or 'structure' to any tune...and maybe Billy just couldn't 'hear it' himself, or perhaps he just didn't care for the 'softer' pop-tunes the 'Cowsills' were known for..."I want to be another 'Jackson Browne'-type of thing...or maybe Neil" without realizing no one can be 'Neil Young' or 'Browne' or 'Lennon'...it just can't be done.
correct me if I'm not hearing correct .... did he say he was hanging out with LINDSEY BUCKINGHAM????
waddy wachtel was his friend and he went on to produce Stevie Nicks so i guess he would have known Lindsay Buckingham
What year did he pass away ?
2006.
Eating chewing while talking?
WTF is he chewing on?
Beer nuts
If only he had taken the gum out of his mouth.....
Cowsills had a small string of hits and then what happened? I think their parents were their Rock and when they passed the Band just gave up. .. Had they just held their energy I think they would have done amazing music. Bill should have never left. Bob couldn't take the lead.
Dan - you need to see the Cowsills Documentary. The father abused them all, and basically f’d them out of any $$ they earned. Tragic.
@@ToldAlthea Somewhere I read or heard they earned about $20M from 1967-1971, (~$100M in today's dollars) but Daddie Dearest Bud squandered all of it. Bob once said it took them 10yrs to pay off the IRS on money they earned but never saw. Tragic, indeed + terrible of the IRS to make them do that.
2 by 2 On My Side and Global were all very good. I do believe if Bud didnt screw everything up they could have made a better transition to another phase of their career and if Bill would have been there they would have been a powerhouse.I think Bud should have let Richard be a dual drummer with John,hpw cool would that have been ?
Sadly looks unhealthy
Little known fact. The Justin Trudeau government tried unsuccessfully to insist the Cowsills song, "Indian Lake" in Canada be changed to "Indigenous" Lake. They wanted a dubbing, every time " Indian" was said, a dub would say "Indigenous". Political correctness at Liberal perfection. Very impractical, and copy write and all, but pissed Justin off big time. He caved a bit, and asked for "First Nations Lake", again for the same reasons. In any event isn't Justin cute?
As cute as Hitler was.
That's really stupid because Indian Lake is a real place, it's a famous resort in upstate NY in the Adirondacks mountains, for tourists and nobody thought about changing the name of the town,