The Cowsills In Books





Dangerously Funny: The Uncensored Story of "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour"
David Bianculli
Touchstone
December 1, 2009

American Records

There were some concessions made for the performance of these three songs on network TV - no nudity being the obvious one. Other parts, though, demonstrated remarkable fidelity to the original stage version. They lyrics to the title song included a couplet cut from the subsequent Cowsills rendition yet presented on Comedy Hour intact, despite the show's history with offending many religious viewers: "My hair like Jesus wore it. Hallelujah, I adore it." And elsewhere in the same song, a cast member sits in a yoga lotus position, draped in an American flag and pretending to sew Betsy Ross-style, as his fellow "tribe members" sing, to the tune of "The Star-Spangled Banner," a brief, irreverent anthem: "O say, can you see my eyes? If you can, then my hair's too short!"




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