A Christmas Offering From The Cowsills Released

10-27-2023

A Christmas Offering From The Cowsills cover art

(mfh) The Cowsills, the hit family singing group of the '60s, have released A Christmas Offering From The Cowsills, a new digital-only Christmas EP featuring two originals, "Christmastime (Song For Marissa)" and "Some Good Years," plus a new acapella version of the holiday favorite "Winter Wonderland." The EP follows a very busy year for The Cowsills, who released their first album in 30 years, Rhythm Of The World (2022), and have been touring extensively the past 9 summers on the Turtles' annual Happy Together Tour.

Formed in 1965, The Cowsills would become a worldwide phenomenon when "The Rain, The Park And Other Things" spent two weeks at #2 in 1967 (blocked from the top of the charts by The Monkees' "Daydream Believer"). The Top 10 "Indian Lake" followed in 1968, and "Hair" matched their two weeks at #2 benchmark in 1969. The family band became the inspiration for The Partridge Family, and even recorded the theme to Love, American Style.

In the early '90s, the family regrouped to record a Christmas single "Christmastime (Song for Marissa)." The melody for "Christmastime (Song for Marissa)" was written in the late '70s and sat for years without lyrics as an instrumental. Once it was recognized as Christmas music, the lyrics were added in 1986 and a brand new Christmas carol was born. Joined by friends and admirers including The Bangles' Vicki Peterson and Michael Steele, as well as Peter Holsapple of The dB's, "Christmastime (Song For Marissa)" was finally recorded in the summer of 1992. Along with "Some Good Years," these two songs were actually released as a collector's 45 RPM single edition on Rockville Records in 1993.

These tracks return three decades later on A Christmas Offering From The Cowsills, joined by an all-new, acapella version of the holiday classic "Winter Wonderland." Available digitally, these tracks help illuminate why The Cowsills stay in our collective ears.