The Cowsills

The Cowsills is an American singing group from Newport, Rhode Island. They specialized in harmonies and the ability to sing and play music at an early age. The band was formed in the spring of 1965 by brothers Bill, Bob, and Barry Cowsill; they shortly thereafter added their brother John. Originally Bill and Bob played guitar and Barry was on drums. When John learned how to play drums and joined the band, Barry went to bass. After their initial success, the brothers were joined by their siblings Susan and Paul and their mother Barbara. Bob's twin brother Richard was the road manager. When the group expanded to its full family membership by 1967, the six siblings ranged in age from 8 to 19. Joined by their mother, Barbara Cowsill (née Russell), the group was the inspiration for the 1970s television show The Partridge Family.

Origins and early successes

The Cowsills' musical interest started while their father Bud Cowsill was stationed in Canton, Ohio, in the late 1950s as a US Navy recruiter. Billy and Bob taught themselves how to play the guitar. The boys developed their musical talent and harmonized vocals, and they performed at school church dances in Stark County, Ohio. The boys' first television appearance was on the Gene Carroll Show on WEWS in Cleveland.

The Park

The Park may refer to:

Books and comics

Films

Games

Places

See also

The Rain

The Rain were the Manchester band that eventually evolved into Oasis. The band formed in Manchester, England in 1991, taking their name from The Beatles' B-side, "Rain". Founding members were Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs (guitar), Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan (bass), Chris Hutton (vocals). Drummer Tony McCarroll joined shortly after the band formed to replace their drum machine and Hutton was replaced as vocalist by Liam Gallagher, who became the band's songwriter, in partnership with Arthurs. In this partnership, they wrote several songs including "Take Me" and "Life in Vain". The band rehearsed only one day a week and did not perform at shows often.

Shortly after Liam joined, the band was renamed Oasis, at his suggestion. Various explanations of the origins of the name have been offered, however, it came about when Liam’s older brother Noel roadied for the Inspiral Carpets at a venue in Swindon called the Oasis Leisure Centre. Liam reportedly liked the name's "resonance of imagery."

One day in August 1991, Noel, having recently returned from the Inspiral Carpets' tour of the U.S., went to watch his brother's band perform at the Manchester Boardwalk, supporting a band called Sweet Jesus. Noel offered to join, reportedly on condition that he would be the lead guitarist and they would perform only his songs. Noel made an instant impact on the band, he began to introduce new sounds and ways of creating music. After a few small warm up gigs in towns such as Middlesbrough, the band decided to produce Definitely Maybe, under the name of Oasis.

The Rain, The Park & Other Things

"The Rain, the Park & Other Things" is a psychedelic pop song with music and lyrics co-written by Artie Kornfeld and Steve Duboff. The song was recorded by the pop band The Cowsills, and included on their 1967 album The Cowsills (MGM E/SE-4498). Released as a single, the song reached #2 on the Billboard charts. The single cemented the group's international popularity and sold some three million copies over the years. It ties with 1969's "Hair" as the group's biggest hit, as both reached No. 2 in the U.S. It reached No. 1 in Canada's RPM Magazine charts.

The song is unusual being one of the few vocal works whose lyrics do not contain the song's title. It is known by many as "The Flower Girl".

The sound of a rain storm is heard in the introduction as well as in the portions between the Chorus and the verses. In the song, a young man sees a flower girl sitting in the rain, in the park and, where they take a walk together, hand in hand, feeling happy, until when the sun breaks through, the flower girl disappears, however, the young man is still happy because of his love for the flower girl. The young man asks the question: "Was she reality, or just a dream to me?"