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JANICE'S BLUES ALLEY PRESENTS



The Fifth Dimension

THE FIFTH DIMENSION


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biography albums video

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One Less Bell to Answer
Wedding Bell Blues
Age of Aquarius/Let the Sunshine in


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biography


The Fifth Dimension's unique sound lay somewhere between smooth, elegant soul and straightforward, adult-oriented pop, often with a distinct flower-power vibe. Although they appealed more to mainstream listeners than to a hip, hardcore R&B audience, they had a definite ear for contemporary trends; their selection of material helped kickstart the notable songwriting careers of Jimmy Webb and Laura Nyro, and their biggest hit was a medley from the hippie musical Hair, "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In." The group's soaring, seamless harmonies were given appropriately sweeping, orchestrated period production by Bones Howe, which often placed their records closer to California-style sunshine pop. That's actually part of the reason why the best singles from the Fifth Dimension's heyday of the late '60s and early '70s still evoke their era with uncanny precision.

The Fifth Dimension began life in Los Angeles in 1965 as the Versatiles. Lamonte McLemore, Ron Townson, and Billy Davis, Jr. all grew up in St. Louis, and moved to Los Angeles independently of one another; each was trained in a different area -- jazz, opera, and gospel/R&B, respectively. Marilyn McCoo was the first female singer to join, and she was soon augmented by Florence LaRue; both were ex-beauty pageant winners who'd attended college in the L.A. area. Their demo tape was rejected by Motown, but after a one-off single for Bronco, they caught the attention of singer Johnny Rivers, who'd just set up his own label, Soul City. Rivers signed the group in 1966 on the condition that they update their name and image, and thus the Fifth Dimension was born. Their first Soul City single, "I'll Be Lovin' You Forever," was a flop, but a cover of the Mamas & the Papas' "Go Where You Wanna Go" climbed into the Top 20.

Budding young songwriter Jimmy Webb ("Macarthur Park," "By the Time I Get to Phoenix," etc.) supplied the Fifth Dimension with their breakthrough hit, 1967's "Up, Up and Away." An ode to the pleasures of flying in a beautiful balloon, the song became the group's first Top Ten hit, peaking at number seven, and went on to sweep the Grammy Awards, taking home five total (including Record of the Year and Song of the Year). Its success pushed the Fifth Dimension's first album, also titled Up, Up and Away, to gold sales status. The group stuck with Webb for its second album, The Magic Garden, which featured only one non-Webb composition; it produced a couple of minor hits in "Paper Cup" and "Carpet Man," but nothing on the level of "Up, Up and Away." Their third LP was thus more diverse, featuring several compositions by another up-and-coming songwriter, Laura Nyro. The title cut, Nyro's "Stoned Soul Picnic," went all the way to number three in the spring of 1968, selling over a million copies and putting Nyro on the map. The Nyro-penned follow-up single, "Sweet Blindness," also reached the Top 20.

The Fifth Dimension's success peaked in 1969 when the group caught a Broadway production of Hair, and immediately decided to cut a medley of two songs from the show. "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In" was a monster hit and grew to become one of the era's defining pop records; it spent six weeks at number one, sold a whopping three million copies, and won the group its second Record of the Year Grammy. Accompanying LP The Age of Aquarius went gold and nearly hit number one, and their Nyro-penned follow-up single, "Wedding Bell Blues," followed its predecessor to number one as well. The song was something of a mirror of real life; Billy Davis and Marilyn McCoo were married that year, and Florence LaRue also married group manager Marc Gordon.

Johnny Rivers sold Soul City to the Bell label in 1970, and the first Fifth Dimension LP on Bell was that year's Portrait, which spawned several minor hits and the Top Five smash "One Less Bell to Answer," a Burt Bacharach composition. 1970 also brought a controversial performance at the White House; although the group sang "The Declaration," a socially conscious critique, the simple act of appearing before President Nixon further alienated the Fifth Dimension from the black wing of their fan base, at a time when their releases had already begun to peak higher on the pop charts than on the R&B side. Indeed, their Bell recordings moved farther into soft pop and away from R&B and the gently trippy vibes of their late-'60s material. Their album sales began to taper off, and their vocal arrangements now tended to spotlight soloists rather than unified harmonies. McCoo emerged as a focal point, singing lead on the 1972 Top Ten hits "(Last Night) I Didn't Get to Sleep at All" and "If I Could Reach You." They proved to be the group's last major successes; another Bacharach tune, 1973's "Living Together, Growing Together," barely made the Top 40, and the following year's Soul & Inspiration LP marked the end of their relationship with producer Bones Howe. 1975's Earthbound was another full-length collaboration with Jimmy Webb, and much like The Magic Garden, its thematic unity failed to produce a significant hit single. It was also the last album by the original lineup; McCoo and Davis left the group to form a duo, and scored a big hit in 1976 with "You Don't Have to Be a Star."

The remaining trio carried on with new members, and nearly had a hit in 1976 with the LaRue-sung "Love Hangover"; unfortunately, Motown issued Diana Ross' own version shortly after the Fifth Dimension's hit the charts, and hers proved far more popular. Strangely enough, the Fifth Dimension signed with Motown not long after, releasing two albums in 1978. Townson briefly left the group to try a solo career, but soon returned, as the group resigned itself to the nostalgia circuit; meanwhile, McCoo served a stint as the host of Solid Gold. Phyllis Battle joined in the mid-'80s, and the original quintet reunited in 1990 for a tour. In 1995, the quintet of LaRue, Townson, McLemore, Battle, and Greg Walker recorded a new album, In the House, for Click Records. In 1998, Willie Williams replaced Townson, who passed away in 2001 due to kidney failure. Battle departed in 2002, to be replaced by Van Jewel.

by Steve Huey, Allmusic.com




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LINKSYEARTITLE
1967Up, Up and Away
1967The Magic Garden
1968Stoned Soul Picnic
1969The Age of Aquarius
1970Portrait
1971Love's Lines, Angles and Rhymes
1971Alive!!
1972Individually & Collectively
1973Living Together, Growing Together
1974Soul & Inspiration
1975Earthbound
1978Star Dancing
1978High on Sunshine
1995In the House


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1967 Up, Up and Away

01. Up, Up And Away
02. Another Day, Another Heartache
03. Which Way To Nowhere
04. California My Way
05. Misty Roses
06. Go Where You Wanna Go
07. Never Gonna Be The Same
08. Pattern People
09. Rosecrans Blvd.
10. Learn How To Fly
11. Poor Side Of Town

1967 The Magic Garden

01. Prologue
02. The Magic Garden
03. Summer's Daughter
04. Dreams/Pax/Nepenthe
05. Carpet Man
06. Ticket To Ride
07. Requiem: 820 Latham
08. The Girls' Song
09. The Worst That Could Happen
10. Orange Air
11. Paper Cup
12. Epilogue

1968 Stoned Soul Picnic

01. Sweet Blindness
02. It'll Never Be The Same Again
03. The Sailboat Song
04. It's A Great Life
05. Stoned Soul Picnic
06. California Soul
07. Lovin' Stew
08. Broken Wing Bird
09. Good News
10. Bobbie's Blues (Who Do You Think Of?)
11. The Eleventh Song (What A Groovy Day!)

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1969 The Age of Aquarius

01. Medley: Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In (The Flesh Failures)
02. Blowing Away
03. Skinny Man 2:49
04. Wedding Bell Blues
05. Don'tcha Hear Me Callin' To Ya
06. The Hideaway
07. Workin' On A Groovy Thing
08. Let It Be Me
09. Sunshine Of Your Love
10. The Winds Of Heaven
11. Those Were The Days
12. Let The Sunshine In (Reprise)

1970 Portrait

01. Puppet Man
02. One Less Bell To Answer
03. Feelin' Alright?
04. This Is Your Life
05. A Love Like Ours
06. Save The Country
07. Medley:
..... a. The Declaration
..... b. A Change Is Gonna Come
..... c. People Gotta Be Free
08. Dimension 5ive

1971 Love's Lines, Angles and Rhymes

01. Time And Love
02. Love's Lines, Angles And Rhymes
03. What Does It Take (To Win Your Love)?
04. Guess Who
05. Viva Tirado
06. Light Sings
07. The Rainmaker
08. He's A Runner
09. The Singer
10. Every Night
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1971 Alive!!

01. Love Medley:
a. What The World Needs Now Is Love
b. All You Need Is Love
c. Have You Tried Love?
02. I Just Wanta Be Your Friend
03. Florence's Greeting
04. Laura Nyro Medley:
..... a. Stoney End
..... b. Stoned Soul Picnic
..... c. Sweet Blindness
..... d. Wedding Bell Blues
..... e. Save The Country
05. Lamonte's Intro
06. I Want To Take You Higher
07. Aquarius / Let The Sunshine In (The Flesh Failures)
08. Never My Love
09. Eli's Coming
10. Together Let's Find Love
11. Shake Your Tambourine
12. Jimmy Webb Medley:
..... a. Up-Up And Away
..... b. Paper Cup
..... c. This Is Your Life
..... d. The Girls' Song
..... e. The Worst That Could Happen
..... f. Mac Arthur Park
13. Ode To Billy Joe
14. Lamonte's Group Introductions

1972 Individually & Collectively

01. Leave A Little Room
02. (Last Night) I Didn't Get To Sleep At All
03. All Kinds Of People
04. Sky & Sea (From The Musical "Joy")
05. Tomorrow Belongs To The Children
06. Turn Around To Me
07. If I Could Reach You
08. Half Moon
09. Band Of Gold
10. Border Song
11. Black Patch

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1973 Living Together, Growing Together

01. Open Your Window
02. Ashes To Ashes
03. Changed
04. The Riverwitch
05. Living Together, Growing Together
06. Day By Day 3
07. There's Nothin' Like Music
08. What Do I Need To Be Me
09. There Never Was A Day
10. Let Me Be Lonely
11. Woyaya

1974 Soul & Inspiration

01. Soul & Inspiration
02. Harlem
03. The Best Of My Love
04. My Song
05. Hard Core Poetry
06. No Love In The Room
07. House For Sale
08. Somebody Warm Like Me
09. Salty Tears
10. I Don't Know How To Look For Love

1975 Earthbound

01. Earthbound / Prologue - Be Here Now
02. Don't Stop For Nothing
03. I've Got A Feeling
04. Magic In My Life
05. Walk Your Feet In The Sunshine
06. When Did I Lose Your Love
07. Lean On Me Always
08. Speaking With My Heart
09. Moonlight Mile
10. Earthbound / Epilogue
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1978 Star Dancing

01. You Are The Reason I Feel Like Dancing
02. Hold Me
03. Going Through The Motions
04. You Are The Most Important Person In Your Life
05. Star Dancing
06. You're My Lifetime Opera
07. Slipping Into Something New
08. We Could Fly
09. A Good Love

1978 High on Sunshine

01. High On Sunshine
02. Turn My Love Away
03. Everybody's Got To Give It Up
04. Magic Man
05. Children Of Tomorrow
06. Sway
07. Skyway
08. Can't Get You Out Of My Mind
09. You're My Star

1995 In the House

01. Puppet Man
02. You Make Me Feel Brand New
03. How Deep Is Your Love
04. Respect Yourself
05. Say (U Love Me)
06. Stoned Soul Picnic
07. All You Do Is Dial
08. All In Love Is Fair
09. Get Ready
10. Shining Star


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