The Cowsills were a band made up of brothers, one sister and their mom, ho had a few major hit records in the ate 60s. They were the inspiration for the show The Partidge Family. While this documentary chronicles the fairly short time they were fairly big stars, it more goes into the psychology of the family itself, especially about their abusive father Bud. There are interviews with all of them, and the insight they give to themselves and what they meant to both the world and each other is kind of fascinating. Although they look back in some regret you also see the love that still exists between them. This film is recommended for anyone who is interested in music documentaries that delve beyond the music to what all of their time in the sun and beyond meant. You see immense talent, but you also see the struggle. By the way, the music is good. If you remember them or are curious, this is just about a must see.
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JoannaFolino3 April 2013Wonderful documentary by Louise Palanker that chronicles the oft posed but rarely answered question: What happened to The Cowsills? The music cleverly used throughout the film tells us a lot without trying to but what is especially refreshing is that the film allows the story to unfold naturally (and this is so important to this kind of story) in the family's own words. I never get the feeling that the filmmaker intrudes upon the story in any way. The music is a large asset to the film because it was truly refreshing and creative. Interesting insert by Shirley Jones who played the mother in the televised version aka The Partridge Family. I often wondered why TV executives did not just let The Cowsills play themselves on a televised version. This would have been a successful reality TV show had the Cowsills happened today. Brought to mind another greatly talented family group, The Jackson Five with a similar issue of paternal bullying and worse. At times shockingly revealing, the film shows what being a family is truly about, dysfunction, tragedy and all. Don't miss it.
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lawrence-950-10218330 December 2018I loved this, but part of the reason I love the strange, weird and dysfunctional story of the Cowsills is that I had the chance to get to know one of the brothers by having the chance to teach two of his children, who I count as two of the sweetest kids I've ever taught. Bob Cowsill was one of the most approachable, warm and giving parents I've ever known at our school. He and his family would play for our school fundraisers at the drop of a hat and his own family was the definition of family. I sat with him during a few varsity baseball games--(his son Ryan was a wonderful pitcher at our school) and the thing that touched me about him was that I could see that this was a guy who had ridden a rollercoaster for awhile and didn't feel that anyone owed him anything because of that. He just loved making music. This is one of those films that reveals a lot. With all of the angst going on in this young, talented groups home life, their love of the music is what bonded the kids and helped them survive troubling times. They never felt as if they had conquered the world musically, they just knew that they loved it and needed it. And each other.
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angel53944-923-10020531 March 2013For those of you who are over 50 and remember the Cowsills or even if you haven't, this movie is sure to interest you. The family band, popular in the late 60's was composed of five brothers, one little sister and their mother. All of them were talented musicians who perfected harmonizing. There were many hits, including "The Rain, the Park and Other Things", and "Hair".
This story is about their journey from the time the original four brothers started the band, to the breakup of the band, and what happened to them many years later. They open up about very personal family issues, including a brother who wasn't allowed to join them even though he yearned to. They talk about family secrets, revealing a family who was far from the perfect, happy family the public saw.
This is an entertaining movie, featuring the music of these very talented family members, many of whom became solo musicians and talented songwriters. At the same time, it is a story about a very real family with very real problems and tells each of its members individual stories. Throughout the movie you'll learn about how they coped and how most of them survived.
This is a family who despite rejection, failure, tragedy and some other harsh realities, still love each other. -
Lucia19 January 2015It had to be tough pulling all 7 of the surviving (at the start) Cowsills together and having it weave a coherent narrative, but in part, this documentary does that. For those of us who remember their meteoric rise, perfect harmonies and sudden dramatic disappearance, this documentary answered a lot of questions. Contrary to Cousin Brucie's theory that the music industry changed - they still had a huge number of fans who were left wondering what had happened to them. As musically talented as they were and still are, they could have easily gone with any changes the musical landscape had to throw at them and not only survived but thrived.
I wish it had gone a little deeper in parts - their mother's part in all this was glossed over and she got off way too lightly, but maybe it was a time issue. I mean, she kicks her only daughter out of the house for surviving an attempted rape by her father? Stood around smoking while the father beat all of his sons bloody? Who does that? The woman had the best escape route in history (the marketable talent of her kids, which was impressive), and she didn't take it to protect them from the brutality? We never understand why.
So, for what it did cover, I found this to be a well produced and very interesting documentary. Answered a lot of questions. Just not all. -
Way back in the day, for my friends and me, it was all about rebellion against the mainstream, and the Cowsills seemed about as mainstream as you could get. You could just look at them and be pretty sure that while we were dropping acid and blowing our minds with Abbey Road, they were downing Hostess Twinkies and hanging out with their mom and little sister.
Well, it turns out that they were a bunch of very talented and fun people who accomplished a whole lot more than my wasted friends and I ever did. You get to know them and like them in this movie, and hear all about the extreme ups and downs of their lives. It's great, I'm glad they seem to have hung together as a family, although a number of them have died. I think Susan is my favorite. How could you not cheer for a precocious little girl with seven big brothers.
One thing that's kind of interesting to me is that they all appear to be very self-confident and outgoing people, both now and as kids, despite their tumultuous upbringing. It makes me ponder the "nature vs nurture" thing, especially since nurture was lacking in that household.
Anyway, a really good movie, I enjoyed it and have done a complete 180 regarding my opinion of the Cowsills... they are fantastic! -
twhiteson17 September 2013"Family Band: The Cowsills Story" is a low budget and rather slap-dash documentary charting the rise and fall of the 1960's Rhode Island family pop group. Clearly compiled from years of haphazardly conducted interviews with various band members, relatives, and entertainment industry business associates and acquaintances, the documentary is rather uneven. It has numerous interviews where the interviewee(s) neither say anything of substance nor provide any particular insight into the topic being discussed. Plus, the documentary assumes that the only people who will watch are former Cowsill fans who would already be familiar as to who is who and thus it doesn't identify who these gray-haired people are in relation to the wholesome-looking, apple-cheeked, toothy kids they were over 40 years ago.
The documentary just feels unfocused. It can't make-up its mind to be a history of a band or cautionary tale of abuse or a therapeutic story of healing among a broken family. Apparently, the filmmakers struggled financially for years to complete this film and it shows.
Still as disjointed and unfocused as the documentary is, the story of The Cowsills is fascinating. It's the oft-told pop music tale of rags to riches then back to rags except it destroyed a family and not just a band. The documentary charts the rise of four young Rhode Island brothers who in the mid-1960's dreamed of being the next Beatles. They and a million other teenage boys who shared the exact same dream. However, the Cowsill brothers had some serious talent especially the eldest, Billy, and they had their unbelievably driven father, Bud, an ex-Navy lifer who truly believed in his children's talent and was determined to bust down doors to see them succeed.
Along the way Bud's vision of success clashed with that of his sons', and, as typical with all things Cowsill, Bud's vision won-out. With "The Sound of Music" then currently smashing box-office records, Bud either came-up with or listened to the idea of turning his sons' rock band into an American pop version of the Von Trapps complete with a singing mother. So, mom, Barbara, was forced rather unwillingly into the band. Naturally, her sons were horrified by this decision, but then the band scored their first hit, "The Rain, the Park and Other Things," with mom singing on the harmonies and they were stuck with her. The brothers' dream of rock stardom then completely evaporated when their father decided that their cute-as-a-button baby-sister, Susan, should join the band for no other reason than she was cute-as-a-button.
With the final inclusion of a fifth brother, The Cowsills managed to score four Top 40 hits including three in the Top 10. They appeared in numerous TV shows, performed hundreds of concerts, and even had an endorsement deal with the American Dairy Association. With their well-scrubbed good looks and non-controversial music, they were marketed as family-friendly and wholesome during the tumultuous late 1960's.
And then it all fell apart. The documentary does discuss some of the immediate after effects of The Cowsills' amazingly quick fall from the pop scene and the loss of everything they had earned due to their father's gross mismanagement, but it doesn't provide too much detail as if it's still too painful to recall. The long term effects are given a lot more attention especially relating to the premature demise of two of the founding brothers, Billy and Barry.
The Cowsill story is both so fascinating and tragic that even a substandard documentary can make it interesting. Their father, Bud, rivals and maybe even surpasses other infamous stage-dads, Murray Wilson and Joe Jackson, for abuse and mismanagement. On the other hand, their mother doesn't really resonate and the image one gets is of a mouse of a woman afraid to stand-up to an abusive husband and thus failing her children. Their entire wholesome image was a façade created to sell milk and records. And when Bud had burned their last bridge within the entertainment industry and with their trust funds empty, where does that leave six kids who had spent their formative years as entertainers? The younger ones were expected to just go back to school and carry on as if nothing had happened. A sort of nightmare reverse version of "Hannah Montana." It would make a good Hollywood tragedy. -
I was born in 1967, but since my dad had his own DJ business since I can remember, I grew up listening to music of the '60s. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie/documentary about the group. I'm fairly partial to music from the decade I was born😎. It's very sad that their dad really was sick at a time nobody talked about that stuff. But even with the tragedies, I love that the remaining siblings are still out playing music. I have much respect for people that learn to grow.
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joannaconnell10 March 2019I am a fan of the Cowsills' music and am fascinated by their story -- but this disappointing and disjointed documentary is hard to follow and leaves many basic questions unanswered.
The film makes it very difficult to tell the brothers apart, in either the vintage clips and photos or in the later interviews. More biographical information early on (with each kid's birth year, birth order and role in the band) would have been helpful.
The filmmakers don't give us enough material about the band's heyday but instead devote about half the running time -- too much, in my opinion -- to the later lives of the siblings. By the end, the viewer knows a great deal about the personal drama within the family but doesn't have clear answers to these obvious questions:
-Why were mother Barbara and sister Susan added to the band? Was it the dad's idea -- and if so, where did the inspiration come from? Was it the idea of a record company executive? Was it a combination of the two? -Did the boys try to resist? -Did Barbara have any previous experience singing? -What's the real story of the Cowsills and "The Partridge Family"? In the doc, Shirley Jones gives a very simple answer why the Cowsills didn't star in the series. But there's another account: that the producers thought the boys were too old and only wanted Susan. Yet another version has it that ABC was ready to do a sitcom starring the Cowsills but wanted Jones to play Barbara -- and the family said no. -What did the Cowsill kids think of "The Partridge Family" TV show? What did they think of the Partridge Family recording of "I Really Want to Know You" -- the only song recorded by both bands? -Barbara Cowsill died in 1985 at the relatively young age of 56. Had she been ill? Did her death bring the family together? Was there an outpouring from the entertainment community?
I hope someday we'll get a more complete look at this very intriguing music act! -
marthacfe2 September 2017We Rhode Islanders love to claim The Cowsills as our own, and I was as big a fan as any other 10-year-old in RI in 1968. This documentary reveals the truth behind the all- American, happy family image put forth in such hits as "Indian Lake" and "The Rain, The Park."
At times heartbreaking to watch, The Cowsills still gave me goosebumps when they sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" a cappella at Fenway in 2004. Those harmonies!
A must-watch for anyone who remembers this very talented group. -
The Cowsills were the mid-to-late 60's family band that the 'Partridge Family' TV show - that launched David Cassidy - was based on. They had four hits and did a lot of teen press and endorsements. The Cowsill family was ruled with an iron fist by Bud Cowsill, an alcoholic, embezzling, bipolar, sexually abusive tyrant, according to his close family. Which says it all. It's a film about damaged people doing their best to move on, not a prurient look at a pop monster, which might have been more fun.
There were at one point six of the kids and their mother in the band - the seventh kid, an identical twin, was sent to the military (and Viet Nam) because Bud and he got along even worse than the rest of them.
Musically, they're a bit like The Carpenters meeting the TV Osmonds and trying to do relentlessly cheerful, complicated non-rock pop. No wonder the Monkees cleaned up. Their version of 'Hair' is actually quite good, mind.
I had a real problem trying to work out which grizzled muzo was which toothy, tousle-haired, pastel-polyester clad kid in the old footage; it doesn't help that their names - Bob, Billy, John, Paul, Richard, Susan, Barry, Barbara - don't give much clue either. Except that that's a clue to what a dysfunctional family they really were. All of them, including Mom Barbara, subordinated their own wishes and desires to Bud's will, which affects their personalities and lives to this day. Barry and Billy even died during the production, within a day of one another.
And so we see these brothers and their sister, who grew up in fear, now scattered across the USA, happily mostly doing music and with kids of their own, still suffering confusion and shock about their Devil Dad. Except that isn't terribly interesting, unless like me you also have several brothers and a sister whose names all begin with J (not B), and whose father was a controlling, depressive tyrant who broke his wife and children's spirit, and now you all live far apart too.
The late Bud is missing from the film - it would have been far more entertaining to have had him trying to defend himself against the accusations of his victims, instead of various very old aunties dropping bombshell hints. What would also have helped is more captions with the names during the interviews. I'm still not sure who played what.
For a better 'dysfunctional family docu-bio', get Terry Zwigoff's 'Crumb'. -
srooks17 July 2021The Cowsills were a talented band and a troubled family. The documentary shows the highs and lows of the family through sometimes difficult interviews. Finally, the film shows the high price the family paid for fame. Not an uplifting story, but still compelling.
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planktonrules6 June 2014The story of the Cowsills easily could have been summed up in 60 minutes--or much less. This is because so much of the thrust is how much the family patriarch was an abusive and hateful jerk. But after a while, it all became a bit numbing. It's a lot more like listening to family members gripe about a mutually hated family member in therapy instead of a documentary.
The Cowsills, if you remember them, were a family singing group that went on to inspire the creation of the television show "The Partridge Family". However, unlike the TV show, the real family was NOT happy nor did they particularly enjoy their success. It seems that the father, Bud, was incredibly destructive, violent, abusive and evil. And, when the group was past their glory days, they realized that there was no money! They'd sold millions of records but the money was gone! All that I just told you was told in the first half hour...and there was still an hour more to go!
Much of the rest of the film consists of talking about family dysfunction, early deaths and depression. And, eventually, the surviving members of the group began to talk about their awful father...and this pretty much makes up the rest of the movie.
The bottom line is that the film was numbing. Yes, Bud Cowsill was a horrendous person...but after a while it all sounded repetitive and overly long. This all left little time for the post-we hate Bud Cowsill segment where the family learned to finally care about each other. All in all, fascinating and depressing at the same time. -
redchowdog21 February 2016All families have a negative past. No one is perfect. The thing about the Cowsills is that they have musical genius, and made it into our pop culture. They are so cool. I liken them to the Beach Boys in many ways. genius is always subject to abuse. It is, of course, strange to defend their dads beating them, but in some ways it is familiar. Their dads loved them and tried to make them excel. Weird, but true. They did try and produce for the rest of their lives. Tough to watch. The brothers and sister held together like glue. All I know is that is loved the story.
Susan is underrated in every way. A gem.
Note that the brother that played the drums is playing for Brian Wilson today. Some kind of wild karma thing, or maybe just more Brian Wilson genius. Who knows. Totally cool in any case. -
smiledaydream15 November 2020Excellent movie about music and family. This movie covers a lot of material. The story is very well told. It's very realistic. It doesn't dwell on one point or another. I found it interesting from beginning to end. And I like the balance. But I won't tell you what I mean because that could get into spoilers. Another thing that works out well is the music is pleasant to listen to from beginning to end of the movie. A lot of people will recognize their family or someone they know. And you will definitely recognize the Partridge Family.
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moonspinner5514 June 2014Hailing from Newport, Rhode Island, the Cowsills, harmonious teen and pre-teen siblings in the 1960s, are driven into show business by sheer talent and a love of music--but also by their domineering father, who pushed open doors. Bud Cowsill, an ex-Navy recruiter with no love in his heart (though with an apparent ear for commercial pop music, for which he isn't really given his due here), is the mysterious question-mark roaming through this documentary. An alcoholic, and perhaps bipolar and sexually abusive towards relatives and his own daughter, Bud pulled the strings and got his kids (and his wife, Barbara, who joined the group in time for their first album) on television and on the charts. He is painted as a walking powder keg, explosive and reckless and irrational...but what would have happened to the group without his input? The aging kids, now embittered, splintered and scattered, have nothing good to say about their sonuvabitch father, whom they blame for destroying the band. It's an extremely one-sided film, with the surviving principals leaving no room for discussion, though the well-researched clips and music snippets are enjoyable, as is the reunion concert at the finale. **1/2 from ****
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"Growing up in the bay area with "Live" acid rock from the likes of Jefferson Airplane and Big Brother and The Holding Company and never listening to AM Radio, I suppose I missed all the hoopla on The Cowsills Story." But thanks to these wonderful Filmmakers, I got to see just how bad they were! There is no way you are going to convince this real flower child that the Cowsills made anything close to good music. The flaw in the doc is that they only talk to folks close to the band and the remaining band-members themselves. They forgot to talk to all of us that hated bands like this. The Cowsills, The Monkees.. my god, you can't get any worse! So now on with the review: The doc is great even though it hugs their awful music. Extremely candid and unobtrusive. America's Family gone to all hell for sure is told in a way that you hate the abusive Father that made the whole thing up. Punching out his own boys, abusing his daughter and wrecking recording contracts is the perfect fit when it comes to the "stage father" out for the cash and not caring who gets in the way. The Films paints a vivid picture of how easily kids can be swayed into anything a parent in this case makes them all do. Be a band, be sweet to everyone, lie about your life at home and ask for top dollar. When Shirley Jones testifies to herself asking why the Producers of The Partridge Family didn't use the real Cowsills? She got "Their not actors" as a bad answer. Actually I disagree, the mature Cowsills could have their own Reality Show with all the fighting, the healing and the mess their Father made of their lives still happening after all these years.
This Doc is in your face, hard hitting and provocative. But then its splattered with that pastel pop music that makes one physically sick.. well at least in my case. Talented, no way Jose.. a 2 hit wonder.. yes! Another story of Babylon but at least its not a Hollywood disaster this time. If you can get around the music, this one as a lesson of bad management and abuse in the music biz should not be missed. -
irishm3 July 2017I'm over 50 but I must have just missed this group's span of popularity. I do remember seeing them mentioned in "Tiger Beat" and other fan magazines back in the day when I was looking for All Things Cassidy, and wondering who they were. The last name certainly sticks with you; it's very unusual.
Interesting documentary, and also very disturbing in places. I agree with the other reviewers who would have liked to see more identifying of the various brothers each time their interview clips were shown, since I wasn't familiar with which one was which, and I had trouble telling them apart.
Obviously I wasn't there when any of this was going on, but I'm always a little disturbed when families "pile on" to a deceased member and accuse him/her of various transgressions. Whether or not it's true (and I'm not saying it's not), it would have been better to have had this come out after they were all adults but when their father was still alive, so he could at least have had an opportunity to offer his side of the story. That goes for the abuse allegations (many of which were apparently witnessed) as well as what happened to all the money the group earned over their brief but successful career.
Worth a look to anyone who remembers them (and isn't afraid of getting their childhood memories messed with) or anyone who's into retro pop. -
leannatindoll4 November 2021At around 1:02 in to the program while she's talking with her husband , what is going on with Susan Cownsill? She's holding what seems to be a big rock or a chunk of concrete and she starts moving very weird. At one point she looks like she's checked out for a few seconds and is having a spasm or something, because her right arm starts turning in a odd way. It's very strange.