Song of the Day 6/26: The Cowsills, “Indian Lake”

Guest post by Nathan Arizona

The Cowsills knew you could beat the summer heat down at “Indian Lake,” where “you can swim in the cove, have a snack in the grove/Or you can rent a canoe.”

But when they recorded “Indian Lake” in 1968 they had no idea they would become the model for a made-for-TV band called the Partridge Family. They didn’t know any more about a musical style called sunshine pop than they did about the Partridge Family.

TV executives, on the other hand, knew a show about a “family band” like the Cowsills — pretty Mom and her kids – could be a hit. And music critics eventually decided “sunshine pop” was a good name for the melodic, harmony-happy, simple-but-well-produced pop-rock from summery California that the Cowsills were associated with. In its time, sunshine pop was dismissed by many critics and “serious” rock fans. But as with so much popular music, opinions have changed.

Sunshine pop owed something to folk-rock, British Invasion pop-rock and grittier psychedelic bands like the Jefferson Airplane. But mostly it owed a debt to Brian Wilson. Wilson’s mid-period music could be called sunshine pop, but it transcends that or any other category the way Steely Dan’s “yacht rock” transcends that genre.

The Cowsills overcame their connection with an arguably cheesy television show to be considered one of the best sunshine pop bands. Others on that list would include Sagittarius, the Millennium, the Sunshine Company, Peppermint Rainbow, Strawberry Alarm Clock, the Yellow Balloon and Eternity’s Children. Relative obscurity seems built into the genre. Some better-known bands that show up on lists like this should probably be considered, um, sunshine pop-adjacent.

The Cowsills continued as a popular act for several years after “Indian Lake” and other hits, including “The Rain, the Park and Other Things” and a cover version of “Hair.” One member was later killed in Hurricane Katrina; another died from poor health after longtime drug abuse. Little sister Susan co-founded the successful country-rock group the Continental Drifters and married indie rocker Peter Holsapple. The Cowsill kids never quite got over mistreatment by their tyrannical father.

There was a real Indian Lake in upstate New York, but the memories come from professional songwriter Tony Romeo. Here are the enthusiastic Cowsills.

The Love Generation was another sunshine pop band with a Partridge Family connection. Two of their songs were featured in the show’s pilot episode and band members sang back-up on the Partridge Family albums. Not as well-known as the Cowsills, the band nonetheless nailed the hippie-light zeitgeist. And we continue with the summer theme.

And now a summer song by the actual Partridge Family as seen on TV, also written by Tony Romeo. Like the Cowsills, the Partridges have gained some critical respect over time. And it’s an opportunity to reflect that the great musical-theater star Shirley Jones was much more than Mama Partridge.