An old Santa Barbara friend's bones were recovered recently in a New Orleans morgue. After months of searching and wondering, Barry Cowsill's remains were identified.
I met Barry in SB in the 80's. I sat in with him a few times (on Harmonica) at a couple of gigs in Montecito and Santa Barbara before he picked up and moved on. A great singer and a seasoned guitar player, but most of all a kind soul and kindred spirit. He will be missed by many.
peace, mc
Missing Teen Idol Found DeadFri Jan 6, 7:00 AMBarry Cowsill, as one grieving family member put it, is "safe."The months-long search for the missing musician, who achieved teen idol status in the late 1960s as a member of the Partridge Family-inspiring pop act the Cowsills, ended Wednesday with a call from morgue officials in New Orleans. Cowsill's skeletal remains were found in a face down position under a wharf in storm-ravaged New Orleans on Dec. 28, another brother, Bob Cowsill, said Friday. A total of 1,100 bodies have been recovered in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina swamped the city on Aug. 29, the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals announced Wednesday. It was not known how or when Cowsill died, Bob Cowsill said, adding that the skeletal remains suggest to the family that he perished in the immediate aftermath of Katrina. Cowsill, who'd moved to New Orleans only months before Katrina, was last definitively heard from in a voice message left on his sister Susan's cell phone, and retrieved shortly after the hurricane hit. In it, he said he'd seen looting, and asked for help. "I don't know how he reacted to the situation he got himself in," Bob Cowsill said. "Of all of us, he was probably the least mentally equipped to handle [it]." Cowsill, who would have turned 51 on Sept. 14, was due to fly to Los Angeles on Aug. 29 to check himself into rehab for alcohol abuse. Bob Cowsill said he'd worked hard to convince his younger brother to agree to the flight--and the treatment plan. "He was so close to getting it together, and, gee whiz, this dumb hurricane just got in the way," Bob Cowsill said. "It's just amazing to me." Barry and Bob Cowsill weren't just brothers; they were bandmates, too. At the height of their career, the Cowsills consisted of siblings Barry, Bob, Billy, John, Paul, Susan and their mother Barbara. Barry Cowsill was the bassist. The group's harmonizing hits included "Hair" and "The Rain, the Park and Other Things." The Cowsills served as fodder for the 1970-74 sitcom The Partridge Family, about a six-member family band--three brothers, two sisters, one mom. Barbara Cowsill died in 1985. With Barry Cowsill's death confirmed, and the four-month-long mystery surrounding his whereabouts solved, Bob Cowsill said the coping process begins anew. "It's awful again because you're dealing with fact," Bob Cowsill said. "As long as you didn't hear, you could create other scenarios that were possible also."FROM THE LATIMES.COMBarry Cowsill, 51; Pop Group Member an Apparent Katrina Victim
By Dennis McLellan, Times Staff Writer
Barry Cowsill, part of the famous 1960s pop singing family the Cowsills who had been missing since Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, was found dead on a city wharf. He was 51.Cowsill's body was discovered Dec. 28 on the Chartres Street Wharf but was not identified with dental records until Tuesday, according to Dr. Louis Cataldie, head of the state hurricane morgue in Carville. The cause of death has not been determined, but it is believed to have been related to Katrina.
Cowsill, a New Orleans resident, had left a message on his sister Susan's answering machine after the hurricane hit Aug. 29: "I don't know how to get out of town except wait for a bus … I've been so … lonely … I hope I get in touch with you."He had not been heard from since."They tell us he'd been dead for quite some time," brother Richard Cowsill told the Associated Press on Thursday. "We love him and we're going to miss him, but he's in a much better place, in my mother's arms." (Barbara Cowsill died in 1985 at age 56.) Inspired by the Beatles, Barry and three of his brothers — Bill, Bob and John — formed the Cowsills band in 1965. With Bill on guitar, Bob on guitar and organ, Barry on bass and John on drums, they played at school dances and churches in their hometown, Newport, R.I.While they were performing at a local hotel, someone from the "Today" show saw them. Their TV appearance, in turn, led to a recording contract.The four brothers were later joined by their mother and younger siblings Susan and Paul.Billed as "America's First Family of Music," the photogenic group was frequent fodder for the pages of 16 and Tiger Beat magazines, and they inspired the TV series "The Partridge Family." They reportedly turned down the opportunity to do the show themselves when producers rejected their mother in favor of actress Shirley Jones.Known for their sweet harmonies and bouncy rhythms, the Cowsills recorded a number of hit songs from 1967 to 1970, including "We Can Fly," "Indian Lake" and their biggest hit, "The Rain, the Park and Other Things," which reached No. 2 on the pop charts in 1967 and sold more than a million copies. They also had a No. 2 hit in 1969 with their version of the title song from the rock musical "Hair."The Cowsills made frequent guest appearances on television variety shows and sang the theme song for the TV show "Love American Style." They also served as spokespersons for the American Dairy Assn. and appeared in milk ads and commercials.The family group broke up in the early 1970s. Since then, Barry Cowsill had reportedly battled substance abuse problems. In 1998, he released the solo album "As Is."In addition to his siblings, he is survived by two daughters and a son.Richard Cowsill told the AP that no memorial service was planned and that his brother would be cremated."He always said: 'When I leave this place, you better party.' And that's what we're planning to do," he said.
