Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
- Cowbells have a rich history in music, notably in rock and Latin genres.
- Utah band Vision, inspired by cowbells, formed in 1981 and continues performing.
- The band credits cowbells for adding energy and nostalgia to their music.
BOUNTIFUL — It was the early '80s and a young Idaho farm boy was trying to learn the high notes that he heard from rock vocalist Steve Perry.
"Oh, I want to be there in my city, whoa-whoa…" shrieks Ken Shumway, the vocalist and bass player of Utah's "Vision."
Forty-four years later, Shumway sounds a lot like the Journey lead singer.
His friend John Hanson remembers, "I grew up like Ken out in the country. We had cows. Ken had cows."
Naturally, the cowbell had a place for the Idaho kids who loved Journey, The Doobie Brothers, Styx and Kiss. Guitarist Hanson was bowled over by the sound of the cowbell in the opening of many rock classics.
"The cowbell always reminds me of growing up with cows," Hanson said.
The nucleus of Vision took shape in 1981, when at Ricks College they met another Idaho kid drummer Brett Hart.
Hart explains the cowbell this way, "It's like this energy that starts to build from the start of the song. Like something bigger is coming."
One big thing that was coming was Will Ferrell and Christopher Walken in the iconic SNL sketch, "More Cowbell. "
According to Hanson, "When we played '(Don't Fear) The Reaper' back in the day, we never really noticed that there was a cowbell in it until the Will Ferrell skit. We listened to that and we decided, we need more cowbell," Hanson said, referring to the song by Blue Öyster Cult.
Cowbells have been around for thousands of years, so no surprise they appear in music. In 1904, Gustav Mahler used cowbells for his Symphony No. 6.
They are a long-time staple of Latin and Cuban music. But the 1980s were the heyday of classic rock and the cowbell.
For Vision, the song that most epitomizes rock's reliance on the cowbell is Grand Funk Railroad's "We're an American Band."
When the tribute band plays that tune, they get more cowbell by doubling up as keyboardist/vocalist Troy Jolley complements Hart's cowbell intro.
The fifth member of the band is lead guitarist Rich Bischoff, who like the others rotates lead vocals. That's part of the reason they say they avoid the conflicts and clashes that might divide them. Shumway says, "Other bands have egos, personality conflicts, we've never had that problem."
Now they continue to rock on, with a cowbell often front and center. How long can Vision continue?
After 44 years, Hart says, "We still got plenty of gigs in front of us." And bassist Ken Shumway adds, "It's what feeds our souls right now."
Correction: An earlier version incorrectly reported the name of the song used in the sketch as "Fear the Reaper." It's been updated to "(Don't Fear) The Reaper."
