Vicki Peterson & John Cowsill Deliver ‘Long After the Fire’: Review
by Jeff Burger
Long After the Fire is a joint project by Vicki Peterson, who is best known as the Bangles’ lead guitarist, and her husband, John Cowsill, who struck gold as a singer and drummer in the siblings band the Cowsills. Here, they serve up a diverse and mostly satisfying program that variously recalls country-rockers like Gram Parsons and the Flying Burrito Brothers and other acts from the same era, such as the Association and the Mamas and the Papas. You can hear the occasional Fleetwood Mac echo as well. John’s brothers, Barry and Bill Cowsill, who died in 2005 and 2006, respectively, wrote or co-wrote all 12 songs.
The Cowsills’ members had more to offer than their bubblegum hits might suggest. John, for example, spent years in the Beach Boys’ touring band. Both Barry and Bill were talented songwriters, meanwhile, and Bill’s post-Cowsills credits included co-founding the Blue Shadows, a Canada-based outfit whose On the Floor of Heaven has been justifiably labeled “a lost Americana classic.”
Related: Our interview with Bob Cowsill
Vicki Peterson John Cowsill (Photo: Pamela Springsteen; used with permission)
Three numbers that appear on that Blue Shadows album—“Fool Is the Last One to Know,” “Is Anybody Here,” and “A Thousand Times”—rank among the highlights on Long After the Fire, which arrived on April 18, 2025.
Others include the infectious, well-hooked “Vagabond” and “You, in My Mind,” which sounds as if it would fit seamlessly into a set by the Bangles.
The album is available in the U.S. here and in the U.K. here.
A top editor at leading consumer and trade magazines for more than 40 years, Jeff has interviewed dozens of musical luminaries, including Bruce Springsteen, Steve Van Zandt, Roger McGuinn, John Sebastian, Wolfman Jack, Tommy James, Tom Waits, the Righteous Brothers, and the members of Steely Dan.
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