Cowsill, Billy

• Cowsill Jr., William Joseph

William Joseph "Billy" Cowsill Jr. (January 9, 1948 – February 18, 2006) was an American singer, musician, songwriter, and record producer who played at the Boot Pub in Whistler. He is notable as the lead singer and guitarist of The Cowsills, who had three top 10 singles in the late-1960s. From the mid-1970s until his death, he developed a career in Canada as an alt-country artist, as well as being the producer of a diverse number of Canadian artists.

He was born on January 9, 1948 in Middletown, RI, the eldest child of the seven Cowsill children — six boys and one girl — and was named after his father, William "Bud" Joseph Cowsill Sr.. At a young age, Billy began singing with his younger brother, Bob, playing guitars provided for them by their father, who at the time was serving in the U.S. Navy. The brothers had originally wanted to form a rock band. At their father's insistence, Billy and Bob Cowsill formed The Cowsills in 1965 with their brothers Barry on bass and John on drums. Their father became their full-time manager, following his retirement from the Navy.

The group recorded their first single "All I Really Wanna Be is Me" in 1967 on the independent label, Joda. While the first single failed to chart, an appearance on the NBC Today Show led to Mercury Records offering them a contract. However, three singles on that label failed to spark interest, and they were dropped. Artie Kornfeld, their producer at that time, remained convinced of the band's potential and persuaded the children's mother Barbara to contribute to backing vocals behind Billy's lead on "The Rain, The Park & Other Things", a song co-written by Kornfeld. It was their first single released on MGM Records, and was also included in their first eponymously titled MGM album. After the success of that single, their younger sister Susan and brother Paul joined the band. "The Rain, The Park & Other Things" single sold over a million copies in late 1967 and reached number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. Their second MGM album, We Can Fly, released in 1968 and produced by Billy Cowsill at the age of twenty, spawned a second Top 40 hit with the title track, which was co-written by Billy. In 1968, "Indian Lake" (from their third MGM album Captain Sad and his Ship of Fools) became another top 10 hit, while in 1969 their version of the title track from Hair, with Billy Cowsill singing lead vocals, peaked at No. 2. The Cowsills made regular television appearances, which led to Columbia Pictures considering a sitcom based on their story and starring most of the members of the band; the deal was abandoned when the producers of the show wanted to replace Barbara in the cast. The show would later become The Partridge Family.

It was commonly thought that Billy's involvement with the family band came to an abrupt end in 1969 when his father, Bud, caught him smoking marijuana, and he was immediately expelled by his father from the group. In fact, Billy's dismissal occurred one day after he and his father were in a drunken physical altercation in the lounge of the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas. The dispute was over Bud Cowsill's insults in relation Billy's circle of friends, guitarist Waddy Wachtel in particular. State troopers had to be called to break up the fight between father and son. Billy was dismissed from the group the next day. According to his brother Bob, Billy Cowsill's dismissal was the beginning of the end of the Cowsills as a group, since no other sibling could effectively assume their eldest brother's group leadership role. Following the breakup of the group in 1970, it was discovered that most of the group's wealth had been dissipated through poor investments made or authorized by Bud Cowsill. In the early 1970s, Billy moved to Tulsa. Billy Cowsill was briefly considered as a replacement for Brian Wilson in The Beach Boys' live performances, but he was dissuaded by Wilson, who reportedly cautioned Cowsill that "They'll drive you crazy." He was also in demand for his production talents, developed during his time as a producer of recordings by The Cowsills. In 1971, Billy released a solo album, Nervous Breakthrough, on MGM Records. The album, on which Cowsill had also acted as producer, failed to chart. As his own recording contract was ending, Billy recommended that MGM record The Osmonds, whom Cowsill had encountered at Disneyland singing barbershop music. During this period, he befriended Joe Ely and also explored starting a country music band with Gary Lewis, of Gary Lewis and The Playboys. Around this time, Cowsill also purchased a bar in Austin, Texas, which ended up failing because, as Cowsill admitted, he "drank it dry".

Billy moved to Canada in the mid-1970s. He first went to Yellowknife, NT where he played at the Yellowknife Inn, following which he worked for a moving company as a general laborer. He then settled in Calgary, AB where he started to sing locally. He later joined the band of Edmonton-based Alberta country singer Bryan Fustukian as guitarist and second lead vocalist. Cowsill moved from Calgary to Vancouver as of 1977, and became a fan of the local band Blue Northern. He began sitting in with the band on a regular basis, and not long after, he became a member. In 1979, the group released Blue, a four-song, 12" EP. Two of the songs were written by Billy, who also produced the record. The band's self-titled album was released on Polydor Records in early 1981, and was co-produced by Billy. The band broke up in 1982, notwithstanding continuing public interest, as well as Juno Award and Canadian Country Music Award nominations. Following the breakup of Blue Northern, Billy continued in music, both as a performer and a producer, alternating his residence between Vancouver and Calgary. In 1985, he opened for k.d. lang at the Crystal Ballroom in Calgary. During this period, Billy was managed by Larry Wanagas, who was also k.d. lang's manager and record producer at the time. In 1988, Billy produced a cassette release for The Burners, a rock band based in Calgary whose members would form Billy's last band, the Co-Dependents, a decade later. During the 1983-1991 period, Billy performed as a solo artist and with the band Billy Mitchell's Trainwreck, a Vancouver-based alt-country band presumably named after Billy and Lindsay Mitchell. As a solo artist, Billy was typically accompanied by upright bass player Elmar Spanier and other side musicians, becoming popular in Western Canada through performing what Billy described as his "Dead Guys Set"; country and pop songs by artists no longer living. In 1990, Billy produced Year of the Rooster, the first album for rockabilly act, The Rattled Roosters, based at the time in Vancouver. In 1992, Billy became the co-lead singer, with Jeffrey Hatcher, of The Blue Shadows in Vancouver. Cowsill and Hatcher became known for their Everly Brothers-like harmonies. In 1993, The Blue Shadows were signed to Sony and released their debut album, On The Floor of Heaven receiving positive reviews. The group found itself at the forefront of a Canadian alt-country movement. In 1994, the group received a Juno Award nomination for best country group or duo, while their debut album earned gold status in Canada. In 1995, the Blue Shadows released their second and last album, Lucky to Me, breaking up one year later. Both Blue Shadows albums were co-produced by Cowsill and Hatcher.

Billy's father died of leukemia in 1992, the year the Blue Shadows first formed. Billy had taken care of and reconciled with his father at the time of his death, and also took to wearing his father's Navy dog tags, after his death. Billy's drug addictions, which had commenced in the 1970s, also became worse following his father's death. Billy blamed his addictions for the breakup of the Blue Shadows. Following the breakup of The Blue Shadows, Billy returned to Calgary, where he was assisted in overcoming his addictions by members of Calgary's music scene, including Jann Arden, as well as entering a formal recovery program in Calgary. It took Billy approximately two years to completely overcome his addictions, from which he remained free for the balance of his life. Newly sober, Billy started to play engagements in Calgary with Tim Leacock, whom Billy had first met and taught to play bass in the 1980s. They were later joined by Steve Pineo, on guitar and vocals and Ross Watson on drums, forming the Co-Dependents, in 1998. All had been members of The Burners, whose cassette release, Low Tech/High Torque, Billy had produced in 1988. Billy also enrolled, as a full-time student, at Mount Royal College in Calgary, where he studied towards a degree in psychology, with the objective of becoming a counselor for troubled youth. The band became quite popular in Calgary and in parts of Western Canada and the United States, playing a mix of country, bluegrass, blues, rock, and rockabilly music. The band obtained a regular weekend engagement at The Mecca Café in Calgary. Despite Billy's serious health challenges, the Co-Dependents continued to perform until late 2004, as his health permitted. During this period, Billy assisted other Calgary-based artists. In 2000, he produced and arranged the vocals for Sun Sittin', the debut album of Calgary hard rock band Optimal Impact. Billy also coined the term "Surf Metal" in relation to the album's title track. In 2002, Billy co-produced Dyin' to Go, the debut album from Calgary country and blues singer, Ralph Boyd Johnson, and also appeared as a guest vocalist on various recordings, such as on recordings by roots rock group The Shackshakers and on Gary Pig Gold's 2002 Gene Pitney tribute He's A Rebel (The Gene Pitney Story Retold).

Billy married Karen Locke in 1968, with whom he had a son, Travis, in 1971. He later was in a fifteen-year relationship with Vancouver-based Mitzi Gibbs, with whom he had a second son, Delaney, in 1980. In the last few years of his life, Billy suffered from emphysema, Cushing syndrome, and osteoporosis. By 2004, he required a cane to assist in walking, and underwent total hip replacement surgery and three major back surgeries, a complication from which resulted in a permanently collapsed lung. That year, a benefit concert for Billy was held in Los Angeles, featuring the Cowsills, Peter Tork, Susanna Hoffs and Shirley Jones, among others. Despite his profound health challenges, he retrained himself to sing, to accommodate losing the use of one lung. Six months before his death, he accepted an invitation to perform two songs onstage with Calgary honky-tonk singer-songwriter Tom Phillips. Billy died on February 18, 2006, aged 58, at his Calgary home. On April 20, 2006, a tribute concert in memory of Billy Cowsill was held at The Railway Club in Vancouver. On May 18, 2006, a memorial service for and musical tribute to Billy Cowsill was held at Knox United Church in Calgary. At the time of Billy Cowsill's death, his last album with the Co-Dependents, Live at the Mecca Café, Volume 2, was the top-selling independent album in Alberta. Billy's last residence, located at 1723 9th Street SW, Calgary, is regarded as of heritage significance, and has been officially so designated.

Middletown, RI
Tulsa, OK
Austin, TX
Yellowknife, NT
Calgary, AB
Vancouver

Alt-country singer
Music producer
Musician

RAD, July 2008 version. Canadian Council of Archives.

Catalogued December 2021.

1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Cowsill
2) https://www.bapresley.com/silverthreads/cowsills/billybits.html
3) Archival material