Painting the Day: The Angelic Psychedelia of the Cowsills

A group consisting of six siblings from Rhode Island and their mom is never likely to get big points for hipness (and signing a million-dollar endorsement deal for milk didn't help matters), but while the Cowsills were regarded as a lightweight pop outfit by most "serious" music fans during their 1967-1970 heyday, their body of work has stood the test of time better than most of their more prestigious contemporaries. The Cowsills were brilliant harmony singers, they could play their instruments and write songs quite well (unlike most similar groups), and they created some glorious pop records that were clever, ambitious, and marvelously crafted. At their best, the Cowsills made singles at least as good (if not better) than what the Beach Boys or the Monkees were doing at the time, and without the presence of an acknowledged genius like Brian Wilson or the backing of a major television network. Painting the Day: The Angelic Psychedelia of the Cowsills is a compilation that draws together some of the group's best-known and most ambitious work. The first half of the disc includes a handful of the Cowsills' biggest hits, including "The Rain, the Park and Other Things," "Indian Lake," "We Can Fly," and "Hair" (the latter a superb example of a great performance redeeming a truly foolish song), as well as some lesser-known album cuts such as "Dreams of Linda," "The Fantasy World of Harry Faversham," and "Painting the Day," which are all first-rate sunshine pop. The second half of this compilation includes all 11 songs from II x II, an adventurous folk-rock album that was released as the Cowsills' popularity was waning in 1970. The album's tone is moodier and more pastoral than the Cowsills' hit singles, but the harmonies are strikingly beautiful, the songs (most of which were written by members of the group) are great, and the set's adventurous reach (embracing country-rock, spiritual themes, familial crises, emotionally mature love songs, and some of their most potent rock & roll ever) proved they were capable of much more than AM radio fodder. By all rights, II x II should have earned the the Cowsills a new audience, but it was ignored by both critics and record-buyers, and the album's inclusion here is more than welcome. While it doesn't shy away from the Cowsills' hits, Painting the Day: The Angelic Psychedelia of the Cowsills aims to give a broader picture of the group's talents than the "best-of" packages on the market, and on that score it succeeds admirably.