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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Cowsills In Concert and On My Side CD,
By Quentin Kolchak (Buffalo, NY USA) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: THE COWSILLS IN CONCERT/ON MY SIDE (Audio CD)
The studio recording Hair, The Cowsills' biggest hit, which could be called the Hippy National Anthem, is the feature song on the Cowsills best selling album In Concert. Also included on the album is 11 live songs that are covers from other bands. Each cowsill gets a solo (Bob - Walk Away Renee, Barbara - The Cruel War, Barry - Please Mr. Postman, John - Act Naturally, Paul - Sunshine of Your Love, and Susan - Hello, Hello), while Bill introduces the songs. Monday, Monday, Good Vibrations, Reach Out - I'll Be There, and Good Golly Miss Molly/Devil With a Blue Dress On showcase songs from 2 concerts in Cleveland, Ohio. This was Bill's - the lead singer and driving force behind the group - "swan song" album. He was fired from the group by his manager (who was his father) who caught him smoking marijuana during the remixing of the album. My favorite part of the album is just before the song Please, Mr. Postman where a female voice is heard screaming "BARRRRRY, BARRRRRRY!!!" I wondered if it was Barbara their mother trying to get Barry's attention or a crazed fan in the audiance. The video for the song Hair is my favorite music video. It was filmed for a Carl Reiner t.v. show called The Wonderful World of Pizzazz and features the group dressed as hippies with wild hairdos. I've read that Hair was a project done by the kids in the group; they arranged the song that was from the broadway musical and played their own instruments. They crafted the song the way they wanted to as opposed to being told what to do by music industry people. A disc jockey played the song, which the music industry people didn't want released because it wasn't "Cowsill style" and it went to the top of the charts and became their biggest hit. I like it when "experts" are proven wrong. On My Side was the group's last effort from the 60's/70's pop music era. The song On My Side, sung by John, was the only single released and had only moderate success on the charts. During this time the group seemed to be putting their focus on television appearances. Most of the songs have a more downbeat mood to them. Once There Was a Time, sung by Paul and John, is very good (I would say the album's best song). Susan sings lead vocals on Heather says, Paul sings Can You Love?, and Barry has two country music influenced songs of his own; Down on the Farm and Dover Mines. The lyrics to Dover Mines may give the listener an eerie feeling seeing that Barry passed away during Hurricane Katrina years later. Barbara sings lead vocal on There is a Child, which was said to be for banished son Bill. Two bonus tracks from the Dairy Association contract - All My Days and The Fun Song - go back to the optimistic, happy songs of the 1960's.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The last and best...,
By r. andrew exile "drew" (Hartford, CT) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: THE COWSILLS IN CONCERT/ON MY SIDE (Audio CD)
"On My Side" was recorded during a tumultuous time in the career of the Cowsills. MGM was in the process of dissolving the record company as it was no longer turning a decent profit and it's attempts to branch outside soundtracks was met with spotty successes from time to time [Roy Orbison's stint on the label wasn't his most productive and all of their pop triumphs were behind them; Connie Francis, Herman's Hermits, the Animals, even Art Lund]. Bill, the band's eldest member/brother had been summarily thrown out of the band by father Bud for reasons speculative; One story said it was a disagreement about the Viet Nam conflict while others state it was marijuana related. In any case the band released the hastily but still well-prepared 'live' album hot on the heels of the success of the 45 single "Hair" which I believe showcased their talent and abilities as singers and performers. The vocals on "Paperback Writer" alone prove this. Bill is still present on these performances.
Skip forward past the last MGM LP "II x II" over to "On My Side"-originally released on the "London" label- and you find a family still ready to make and write great music. This one has gems on it beyond anything I can say or write. The idea that this LP was the poorest selling of their catalog at the time of release to me coincides with LP's like "Pet Sounds" [Beach Boys/Brian Wilson] which was considered a flop at the time of release but has gone on to be considered a classic. This CD was taken from master tapes and not transcribed from vinyl as many are when master tapes are missing or destroyed. If you are a fan of this band, or pop music in general, do yourself a favor and get this; I guarantee there's a handful of tunes on here that will more than surprise you!
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
This is a lousy sounding bootleg. Save your money.,
By
This review is from: THE COWSILLS IN CONCERT/ON MY SIDE (Audio CD)
This is a lousy sounding bootleg. I would strongly suggest you save your money.
On My Side is now available legitimately, mastered from the original tapes. This bootleg is for suckers--don't be one!
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