Family Band: The Cowsills Story (B. Filipiak, I. Boyles, L. Palanker, 2011): USA

Reviewed by Kathleen Amboy.  Viewed at the Santa Barbara Film Festival.

 Ever heard of The Partridge Family?  It was a popular sitcom which ran from 1970-1974, which starred Shirley Jones, and earned several Golden Globe Nominations.  The Cowsills are the real life family band, of which the Partridge family is loosely based upon.

Family Band:  The Cowsills Story paints a much different picture, than the wholesome, milk imbibing, bubble gum pop band image that was portrayed.  The band originated with the two older sons Bill and Bob, but eventually morphed into a group of seven, which included three more brothers, a little sister and also their mom Barbara, while dad Bud was the band’s manager.

Although the group began playing in college towns, they grew in popularity, and eventually made T.V. appearances on notable shows such as The Ed Sullivan, and Johnny Carson.  Their upbeat hits appealed to teeny boppers and they recorded their first album, The Cowsills, in 1967, and went on to earn a gold record for The Rain, The Park and Other Things, that sold over one million copies.  They also recorded the first year’s theme song for Love American Style, which was an immensely popular television series that ran from 1969-1974.

Why don’t we hear about the Cowsills today, in reference to musical history, like we do other family bands such as The Jackson 5, or The Osmond Brothers?  Well, supposedly the family went haywire when Bud began drinking heavily, made poor business decisions – and consequently burned the band’s bridges – he also butted heads with his sons as they began to grow and wise up, and he was abusive and misused their income.

Their short-lived career is examined through talking head interviews with family and friends, stock footage of T.V. appearances, and photos edited with the Ken Burns Effect.  The musically inclined Cowsills, clearly had enormous talent.

Although, some editing choices are questionable – lingering too long in a non-sensical scene with one brother (Richard), who was not in the band, or the impromptu one-on-one with the prolific actress Shirley Jones, that should have been given a little more time and explanation – it is a gripping and fragile story.