Feb

22

Billy Cowsill

February 22, 2006 |

Billy Cowsill is dead. There was a certain pub going period in my life where, largely by accident, I kept seeing Billy every couple of weeks. Blues, covers: lots of pretty tame bar band music. But Cowsill, in often horrible conditions, made a point of knowingly selling every song he sung.

It was not musicianship exactly. Rather it was a wonderfully dour take on bars in general. Somewhat on the lines of, “I know why I’m here but why are you?”


Comments

2 Comments so far

  1. Andrew Burton on February 23, 2006 9:12 am

    Funny you should mention Billy. His brother Barry’s memorial was here in Newport the day Billy died. Barry was my assistant’s occasional roomate so I’d see him around town or he’d stop into my work and visit. He was a mixed up fellow; run-ins with drugs and booze and a sort of listlessness from his residual fame had taken a toll. But he was a thoroughly nice guy. What a coincidence that as you saw Billy often for a while I saw Barry in a similar way.

  2. Miss Lesley on March 20, 2007 9:29 am

    I knew Billy in his Blue Northern days in Vancouver. I used to go & stay with a boyfriend who shared a house with Bill’s then partner Mitzi (mother of son Del). Woke me up one morning belting out a great version of `Misery’. Really saddened to hear of his death. Had a lot of wild & fun times in his company in both Victoria & Vancouver.

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