Susan Cowsill
Record review
Reviewed by Margaret Moser, Fri., April 1, 2005
Susan Cowsill
Just Believe It
It says a great deal for Susan Cowsill that only one of 14 tracks on her solo debut wasn't written by her. "Who Knows Where the Time Goes" is a watermark of the folk-rock world, a hauntingly beautiful song of inner strength penned by English folkie Sandy Denny in the late Sixties. In Cowsill's sweet, strong hand, it's a song of liberation as relevant now as 30 years ago when it was recorded by Denny and Judy Collins. That was about the time Cowsill retired from stardom for the first time at age 12. As the adorable little sister of Sixties popsters the Cowsills, she re-emerged with Dwight Twilley in the Eighties, then the Continental Drifters in the Nineties. Just Believe It deftly captures her debutante-at-45 freshness with clean Americana honed by her lifelong pop sensibilities and indie-rock heart. It's an understated debut with grace and bite, which makes it easy to love "Nanny's Song" (with Lucinda Williams), yet smirk with Cowsill lashing out at an ex-lover ("The last thing I need at the end of my day is to hear about you talkin' shit around town") on "Talkin'." "Palm of My Hand" has radio scribbled all over it, but "I Know You Know" is pure exuberant rock & roll. So, Susan, what took you so long?
