''The Magic Garden'' is the second

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records c ...

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' ( ...

group

the 5th Dimension The 5th Dimension is an American popular music vocal group, whose repertoire includes pop, R&B, soul, jazz, light opera, and Broadway. Formed as the Versatiles in late 1965, the group changed its name to "the 5th Dimension" by 1966. Betwe ...

, released in 1967 (see 1967 in music). A

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Some ...

, it tells the story of a couple's love and the end of their relationship. In more recent discussions of the album, that love affair is said to be about

Jimmy Webb Jimmy Layne Webb (born August 15, 1946) is an American songwriter, composer, and singer. He has written numerous platinum-selling songs, including " Up, Up and Away", " By the Time I Get to Phoenix", " MacArthur Park", " Wichita Lineman", " Wo ...

— who composed all but one of the album's songs — and his time with singer and then-girlfriend Susan Horton (the song "Dreams/Pax/Nepenthe" refers to a Susan). The album's one track not credited to Jimmy Webb, a cover of

Lennon–McCartney Lennon–McCartney was the songwriting partnership between English musicians John Lennon (1940–1980) and Paul McCartney (born 1942) of the Beatles. It is the best-known and most successful musical collaboration ever by records sold, with the ...

's " Ticket to Ride", was originally intended for the group's debut album, '' Up, Up and Away''. Following the success of ''Up, Up and Away'', which spawned two Top-20 singles on the Billboard Pop Chart, expectations were high for ''The Magic Garden''. However, the album just missed the Billboard Hot 100, and no Top 20 singles emerged from it in the US. The first single, "Paper Cup", rose only to #34. "Carpet Man", the album's second single, landed at #29 in the US but found great success in Canada, charting at #3 on Toronto's CHUM chart and #11 on the RPM chart, in March 1968. The group performed the song on ''

Kraft Music Hall ''The Kraft Music Hall'' was a popular old-time radio variety program, featuring top show business entertainers, which aired first on NBC radio from 1933 to 1949. Radio ''The Kraft Program'' debuted June 26, 1933, as a musical-variety program ...

'' (on an episode hosted by John Davidson) and ''

The Ed Sullivan Show ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television program, television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York City, New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in Septembe ...

''.

The Worst That Could Happen

One of the album's cuts, "

The Worst That Could Happen "Worst That Could Happen" is a song with lyrics and music written by singer-songwriter Jimmy Webb. Originally recorded by The 5th Dimension on their 1967 album of nearly all-Jimmy Webb songs, ''The Magic Garden'', "Worst That Could Happen" was la ...

", was released as a single by the Brooklyn Bridge in December 1968, charting top 40 on Billboard in January and becoming a top 3 hit in the US. The 5th Dimension would have to wait for their next album, '' Stoned Soul Picnic'', to achieve the same chart placement. To capitalize on the success of "The Worst That Could Happen", Soul City Records re-released ''The Magic Garden'' as ''The Worst That Could Happen''. The re-release reverses the front and back covers of the original LP. The vinyl label still carried ''The Magic Garden'' as its title. The original ''Magic Garden'' album was released in both mono (SCM-91001) and stereo (SCS-92001). It is unknown whether its reissue as ''The Worst That Could Happen'' was also reissued in mono, as Soul City's parent company, Liberty Records (and most other record labels), began phasing out monaural releases in the US in 1968: stereo copies keep its original matrix number on Soul City / Liberty, SCS-92001.

Track listing

All songs were written by

, except where noted. ;Side one #"Prologue" – 1:24 #"The Magic Garden" – 2:48 #"Summer's Daughter" – 3:03 #"Dreams/Pax/Nepenthe" – 3:24 #"Carpet Man" – 3:16 #" Ticket to Ride" (

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

) – 4:00 ;Side two #

"Requiem: 820 Latham" – 4:26 #" The Girls' Song" – 4:09 #"

" – 2:37 #"Orange Air" – 2:38 #"Paper Cup" – 2:48 #"Epilogue" – :56

Personnel

;Performers * Billy Davis, Jr. – lead vocals (track 9), background vocals * Florence LaRue – lead vocals (tracks 5, 8), background vocals * Marilyn McCoo – lead vocals (track 8), background vocals * Lamonte McLemore – background vocals * Ron Townson – background vocals *

– orchestra conductor The credited musicians (roles not specified) are

Hal Blaine Hal Blaine (born Harold Simon Belsky; February 5, 1929 – March 11, 2019) was an American drummer and session musician, thought to be among the most recorded studio drummers in the music industry, claiming over 35,000 sessions and 6,000 singles. ...

Joe Osborn Joseph Osborn (August 28, 1937 – December 14, 2018Larry Knechtel Lawrence William Knechtel (August 4, 1940 – August 20, 2009) was an American keyboard player and bassist who was a member of the Wrecking Crew, a collection of Los Angeles-based session musicians who worked with such renowned artists as Simon & ...

, Mike Deasy, Tommy Tedesco, Dennis Budimir and Johnny Rivers. ;Production * Jimmy Webb – music arranger * Bones Howe – producer, engineer * Armin Steiner – engineer * Elliot Federman – audio mastering * Mandana Eidgah – product manager * Rob Santos – reissue producer * Mike Hartry – digital transfers * Joanne Feltman – archives coordinator * Glenn Korman – archives coordinator * Woody Woodward – art director * Mathieu Bitton – reissue art director * Ron Wolin – design * Wayne Kimbell – illustrations * Ed Osborne – photography * George Rodriguez – photography * Mike Ragogna – liner notes

Charts

Album

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...

'' (North America)

Singles

''Billboard'' (North America)

Cultural impact

"Carpet Man" has been covered by the Nocturnes, the Charade, the Parking Lot, and by the founder of the 5th Dimension's Soul City record label, Johnny Rivers.

Dusty Springfield Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien (16 April 1939 – 2 March 1999), known professionally as Dusty Springfield, was an English singer. With her distinctive mezzo-soprano sound, she was a popular singer of blue-eyed soul, pop and dram ...

recorded a cover of "The Magic Garden", which surfaced on a Springfield anthology in the 1990s.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Magic Garden, The The 5th Dimension albums 1967 albums Albums conducted by Jimmy Webb Albums produced by Bones Howe Albums produced by Jimmy Webb Soul City Records (American label) albums Albums recorded at United Western Recorders