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On this day, March 18, 1969, the Cowsills performed "Hair" on the "Wonderful World of Pizzazz" TV special.
What an underrated group.
The Cowsills
{snip}
Origins and early successes
{snip}
In September 1968, after the group's summer tour, the family relocated to Santa Monica, California. Shortly after arriving, they received a copy of the "Hair" soundtrack album in the mail from the famed writer-producer-actor Carl Reiner, who was putting together a special for television called "Wonderful World of Pizzazz". The special was to be a celebration of the hippie fashion and music of that time. Reiner wanted the group to appear on the show performing "Hair", the title track from the current hit musical, and indicated that their performance would also have a satirical edge thanks to the juxtaposition of the squeaky-clean family group performing a song about long-haired hippies. At that time, the group had not heard of the musical and considered the request from Reiner as more of an assignment.
Following rehearsals at their home, and demo sessions at SIR Studios on Santa Monica Boulevard, The Cowsills' version of "Hair" was recorded over two days in early October 1968 at TTG Studios in Hollywood, where the TV company producing the special were regular clients. A key attraction of TTG was its custom-built 16-track recorder, the only such machine available in Los Angeles at the time, which attracted leading rock acts like Jimi Hendrix and Frank Zappa. Working with house engineer Angel Balestier, the track was arranged and produced by Bob and Bill, who made sure that each member of the group got to contribute an individual vocal part to the recording, both in lead and background vocals, ensuring that each of the group's members would feature on screen when they performed it for the TV special.
Interviewed in 2018, Bob Cowsill recalled the intensive recording process, which was complicated by the fact that the group had not been in a recording studio for several months. The basic rhythm track was laid down first by Bill, Bob, John and Barry, but John (who was only 12 at the time) had difficulty mastering the time changes in the song, especially during the bridge ( "Oh say can you see" ) section, and it reportedly required over 100 takes to achieve a satisfactory version. The group then proceeded to record the elaborate backing and lead vocal tracks, which were intricately arranged and engineered. The backing vocals were all double-tracked, and Balestier added additional "sparkle" to each vocal pass by sending the signal from the vocal microphone first through a Leslie speaker, then to the TTG echo chamber. The clean vocal signal, the "Leslie-ed" vocal signal and the Leslie-plus-echo signal were then all separately fed back to the console and mixed onto one track of the master. Each section of backing vocal was then double-tracked onto a second track, using the same setup of Leslie and echo, creating a very dense and lush sound. Another notable feature of the arrangement was dictated by the purpose of the recording - the network was concerned that some lyrics in the song might be problematic for viewers in the more socially conservative areas of the United States, so the group omitted the original final verse (which mentions God, Jesus and the Bible) and replaced it with a repeat of the first verse.
Balestier mixed the mono track for the group to use during the filming of the special at the end of the final day of recording, but MGM records had no interest in releasing the song at that time. Bill had an acetate of the song cut at DCT Recorders which ended up being played for a DJ at WLS (AM) in Chicago where it generated significant attention. The TV special was taped on January 5, 1969, in San Francisco. As the air date of March 18 approached, MGM changed their minds and released the single. At this same time Bill and Bob were working on a live album, "The Cowsills in Concert" (released May 3), which included a stereo mix of "Hair" and became the group's best selling album. The band had a No.2 US hit and million seller with this version of the title song from the musical Hair.
From 1968 through 1972, the band played an average of 200 performance dates per year. They had their own comic book published by Harvey Comics in 1968.
{snip}
{snip}
Origins and early successes
{snip}
In September 1968, after the group's summer tour, the family relocated to Santa Monica, California. Shortly after arriving, they received a copy of the "Hair" soundtrack album in the mail from the famed writer-producer-actor Carl Reiner, who was putting together a special for television called "Wonderful World of Pizzazz". The special was to be a celebration of the hippie fashion and music of that time. Reiner wanted the group to appear on the show performing "Hair", the title track from the current hit musical, and indicated that their performance would also have a satirical edge thanks to the juxtaposition of the squeaky-clean family group performing a song about long-haired hippies. At that time, the group had not heard of the musical and considered the request from Reiner as more of an assignment.
Following rehearsals at their home, and demo sessions at SIR Studios on Santa Monica Boulevard, The Cowsills' version of "Hair" was recorded over two days in early October 1968 at TTG Studios in Hollywood, where the TV company producing the special were regular clients. A key attraction of TTG was its custom-built 16-track recorder, the only such machine available in Los Angeles at the time, which attracted leading rock acts like Jimi Hendrix and Frank Zappa. Working with house engineer Angel Balestier, the track was arranged and produced by Bob and Bill, who made sure that each member of the group got to contribute an individual vocal part to the recording, both in lead and background vocals, ensuring that each of the group's members would feature on screen when they performed it for the TV special.
Interviewed in 2018, Bob Cowsill recalled the intensive recording process, which was complicated by the fact that the group had not been in a recording studio for several months. The basic rhythm track was laid down first by Bill, Bob, John and Barry, but John (who was only 12 at the time) had difficulty mastering the time changes in the song, especially during the bridge ( "Oh say can you see" ) section, and it reportedly required over 100 takes to achieve a satisfactory version. The group then proceeded to record the elaborate backing and lead vocal tracks, which were intricately arranged and engineered. The backing vocals were all double-tracked, and Balestier added additional "sparkle" to each vocal pass by sending the signal from the vocal microphone first through a Leslie speaker, then to the TTG echo chamber. The clean vocal signal, the "Leslie-ed" vocal signal and the Leslie-plus-echo signal were then all separately fed back to the console and mixed onto one track of the master. Each section of backing vocal was then double-tracked onto a second track, using the same setup of Leslie and echo, creating a very dense and lush sound. Another notable feature of the arrangement was dictated by the purpose of the recording - the network was concerned that some lyrics in the song might be problematic for viewers in the more socially conservative areas of the United States, so the group omitted the original final verse (which mentions God, Jesus and the Bible) and replaced it with a repeat of the first verse.
Balestier mixed the mono track for the group to use during the filming of the special at the end of the final day of recording, but MGM records had no interest in releasing the song at that time. Bill had an acetate of the song cut at DCT Recorders which ended up being played for a DJ at WLS (AM) in Chicago where it generated significant attention. The TV special was taped on January 5, 1969, in San Francisco. As the air date of March 18 approached, MGM changed their minds and released the single. At this same time Bill and Bob were working on a live album, "The Cowsills in Concert" (released May 3), which included a stereo mix of "Hair" and became the group's best selling album. The band had a No.2 US hit and million seller with this version of the title song from the musical Hair.
From 1968 through 1972, the band played an average of 200 performance dates per year. They had their own comic book published by Harvey Comics in 1968.
{snip}
The Cowsills Hair 1969 IN COLOR !!
3,039,660 views Aug 18, 2016
looker1208
2.74K subscribers
A video made for the Wonderful World of Pizzazz TV special, aired on March 18, 1969. Sorry for the logo but it arrived to me that way. As a side note, they also filmed a video as well for the song What is Happy for this special. It can be found elsewhere on YouTube.
3,039,660 views Aug 18, 2016
looker1208
2.74K subscribers
A video made for the Wonderful World of Pizzazz TV special, aired on March 18, 1969. Sorry for the logo but it arrived to me that way. As a side note, they also filmed a video as well for the song What is Happy for this special. It can be found elsewhere on YouTube.
I don't know if this is from the same show. It's a great song, so here it is anyway.
Groovy Movies: The Cowsills "Good Vibrations" LIVE on U.S. TV 1969
RockShorts
16K subscribers
RockShorts
16K subscribers
Tue Mar 5, 2024: On March 2, 1956, John Cowsill was born.
Tue Jan 9, 2024: On this day, January 9, 1948, Bill Cowsill was born.
Thu Sep 14, 2023: On this day, September 14, 1954, Barry Cowsill was born.
Sat Aug 26, 2023: On this day, August 26, 1949, Bob and Dick Cowsill were born.
Sat Mar 18, 2023: On March 18, 1969, the Cowsills performed "Hair" on the "Wonderful World of Pizzazz" TV special.
Thu Mar 2, 2023: On this day, March 2, 1956, John Cowsill was born.
Sat Feb 18, 2023: On this day, February 18, 2006, Bill Cowsill died.
Fri Aug 26, 2022: On this day, August 26, 1949, Bob and Dick Cowsill were born.
Fri Mar 18, 2022: On March 18, 1969, the Cowsills performed "Hair" on the Wonderful World of Pizzazz TV special.
Thu Feb 18, 2021: On this day, February 18, 2006, Bill Cowsill died.
Mon Mar 2, 2020: Born on this day, March 2, 1956, John Cowsill.
Hat tip, This Day in Rock. The site is now defunct.
1956 – BORN ON THIS DAY, JOHN COWSILL, THE COWSILLS, (1967)
Posted on 12:49 AM by STU SWEATMAN
1956 – Born on this day, John Cowsill, The Cowsills, (1967 US No.2 single ‘The Rain, The Park & Other Things’, 1969 US No.2 single the theme from ‘Hair’). TV’s Partridge Family was based on the family.
Posted on 12:49 AM by STU SWEATMAN
1956 – Born on this day, John Cowsill, The Cowsills, (1967 US No.2 single ‘The Rain, The Park & Other Things’, 1969 US No.2 single the theme from ‘Hair’). TV’s Partridge Family was based on the family.
