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The 5th Dimension is an American vocal group. Their music encompasses sunshine pop, pop soul, and psychedelic soul. They were an important
crossover music Crossover is a term applied to musical works or performers who appeal to different types of audiences. This can be seen, for example, when a song appears on two or more of the record charts, which track differing musical styles or genres. I ...
act of the 1960s and 1970s, although both praised and derided for their particular musical approach and mass appeal. During the original group's heyday, they were twice invited to perform at the
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...
, and accepting those invitations was controversial during that era of social upheaval. Formed as The Versatiles in late 1965, the group changed its name to "The 5th Dimension" by 1966. Between 1967 and 1973, they charted with 20 "
Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "To ...
" hits on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, two of which – " Up, Up and Away" (No. 7, 1967) and the 1969 No. 1 " Medley: Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In (The Flesh Failures)" — won the
Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...
for
Record of the Year The Grammy Award for Record of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without re ...
. Other big hits include " Stoned Soul Picnic" (No. 3), "
Wedding Bell Blues "Wedding Bell Blues" is a song written and recorded by Laura Nyro in 1966. The best known version was a number one hit for the 5th Dimension in 1969. The lyrics are written from the perspective of a woman whose boyfriend has not yet proposed to ...
" (No. 1), "
One Less Bell to Answer "One Less Bell to Answer" is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. Originally written in 1967 for Keely Smith, the song was rediscovered in late 1969 by Bones Howe, the producer for the 5th Dimension, and the song was included on the g ...
" (No. 2), a cover of "
Never My Love "Never My Love" is a pop standard written by American siblings Don and Dick Addrisi, and best known from a hit 1967 recording by the Association. The Addrisi Brothers had two Top 40 hits as recording artists, but their biggest success as songwri ...
" (Pop chart, No. 12/
Easy Listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to the 1970s. It is related to middle of the road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit s ...
No. 1), " (Last Night) I Didn't Get to Sleep at All" (No. 8), and " If I Could Reach You" (Pop chart No. 10/
Easy Listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to the 1970s. It is related to middle of the road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit s ...
No. 1). Three of their records reached the Top Ten of ''Billboard'''s Rhythm & Blues/Soul chart. 5 of their 19 "Top 20" hits on the
Easy Listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to the 1970s. It is related to middle of the road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit s ...
chart reached the No. 1 position. The five original members were Lamonte McLemore,
Marilyn McCoo Marilyn McCoo (born September 30, 1943) is an American singer, actress, and television presenter, who is best known for being the lead female vocalist in the group the 5th Dimension as well as hosting the 1980s music television show '' Solid Gol ...
, Florence LaRue,
Ronald Townson Ronald Townson (January 29, 1933 – August 2, 2001) was an American vocalist. He was an original member of the 5th Dimension, a popular vocal group of the late 1960s and early 1970s; he is the only original member of the group who is no longer ...
, and Billy Davis Jr. Their earliest recordings were on the Soul City record label, which was started by recording artist Johnny Rivers. The group later recorded for
Bell A bell /ˈbɛl/ () is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be m ...
/
Arista Records Arista Records ( ) is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously a division of Bertelsmann Music G ...
,
ABC Records ABC Records was an American record label founded in New York City in 1955. It originated as the main popular music label operated by the Am-Par Record Corporation. Am-Par also created the Impulse! jazz label in 1960. It acquired many labels bef ...
, and
Motown Records Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...
.


Career


Formation

In 1963, LaMonte McLemore and Marilyn McCoo got together with three fellow vocalists from Los Angeles—Harry Elston, Lawrence Summers, and Fritz Baskett—to form a jazz-oriented vocal group called The Hi-Fi's. Ray Charles signed The Hi-Fi's as his touring opening act in 1963. The vocal group's name was changed to The Vocals, and they recorded a single, "Lonesome Mood" on Tangerine Records in 1963. When The Vocals broke up in 1964, McLemore and McCoo teamed up with two of McLemore's childhood acquaintances from St. Louis (now looking for music opportunities in Los Angeles): aspiring opera singer Ron Townson, and gospel and R&B singer Billy Davis Jr. And a second female singer was recruited: Florence LaRue, who — like McCoo — had won the Grand Talent award in the annual Miss Bronze beauty pageant, and had also been photographed by McLemore for the event. The members began rehearsing as The Versatiles in late 1965. McLemore had been a staff photographer at Motown West in Los Angeles for a short period, so he connected with Marc Gordon, Motown's Senior Vice President in Los Angeles, to arrange for a meeting. Gordon gave The Versatiles permission to record some existing Motown songs as a demo tape, but it was left to McLemore to fly to Detroit and meet with Motown head,
Berry Gordy Berry Gordy III (born November 28, 1929), also known as Berry Gordy Jr., is an American retired record executive, record producer, songwriter, film producer and television producer. He is best known as the founder of the Motown record label and i ...
and play the audition tape for him. According to McLemore, Gordy's response to the tape was non-committal:
"Man, you all sound great, but I don't hear no hit. So just go back and cut some more."
Although Gordy had not immediately offered a recording contract to The Versatiles, Marc Gordon believed they had something special, and offered to manage the group. Gordon brought them to the attention of popular singer Johnny Rivers, who had just started his own label, Soul City Records. Soul City signed the group on the spot, but Rivers insisted on a new name. Townson and his wife came up with "The 5th Dimension," and as Davis recalled later, "We all heard it, we all agreed right away, 'That's got to be it!'" In November 1966, Soul City released their first single as The 5th Dimension, "I'll Be Lovin' You Forever", with a decidedly Motown-flavored arrangement. However, the song failed to chart.


Major hits

In 1967 The 5th Dimension recorded " Go Where You Wanna Go," which became a breakthrough hit for them. The song was a John Phillips tune and reached No. 16 on the US Hot 100 chart. The group followed this with "Up, Up and Away", which reached No. 7 later that same year and went on to win five
Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...
s. The following year, the group scored major hit singles with
Laura Nyro Laura Nyro ( ; born Laura Nigro; October 18, 1947 – April 8, 1997) was an American songwriter and singer. She achieved critical acclaim with her own recordings, particularly the albums ''Eli and the Thirteenth Confession'' (1968) and ''Ne ...
's songs " Stoned Soul Picnic" (U.S. No. 3) and " Sweet Blindness" (U.S. No. 13). The group received a gold record for their album ''Stoned Soul Picnic''. That album included "California Soul", which peaked at No. 25 in February 1969. Weeks later the group's success broke wide open, with "
Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In "Medley: Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In" (commonly called "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In", "The Age of Aquarius" or "Let the Sunshine In") is a medley of two songs written for the 1967 musical ''Hair'' by James Rado and Gerome Ragni (lyrics), and ...
" from the musical ''
Hair Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals. The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and ...
'' topping the Hot 100 for six straight weeks in April and May and another Nyro song, "Wedding Bell Blues", doing the same for the first three full weeks in November. Their cover of
Neil Sedaka Neil Sedaka (; born March 13, 1939) is an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Since his music career began in 1957, he has sold millions of records worldwide and has written or co-written over 500 songs for himself and other artists, collabo ...
's " Workin' On a Groovy Thing" went to No. 20 in between. Those four singles kept the group on the Hot 100 for all but four weeks in 1969. By some reckonings, "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In" was the biggest hit single for 1969. Later top 20 hits included 1970's "One Less Bell to Answer" (U.S. No. 2), 1971's " Love's Lines, Angles and Rhymes" (U.S. No. 19) and "
Never My Love "Never My Love" is a pop standard written by American siblings Don and Dick Addrisi, and best known from a hit 1967 recording by the Association. The Addrisi Brothers had two Top 40 hits as recording artists, but their biggest success as songwri ...
" (U.S. No. 12), and 1972's " (Last Night) I Didn't Get to Sleep at All" (U.S. No. 8) and " If I Could Reach You" (U.S. No. 10). The group had seven other top 40 hits, the last being 1973's " Living Together, Growing Together" (U.S. No. 32) from the film '' Lost Horizon''.


TV and film appearances

*The 5th Dimension made numerous appearances on
The Ed Sullivan Show ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American 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 September 1971 by the ''CB ...
, including shows on March 10, 1968; February 23, 1969; May 18, 1969, and in the last season of The Ed Sullivan Show, Sullivan dedicated the entire February 21, 1971, episode to the "5th Anniversary of The 5th Dimension." *The group appeared on the ''Francis Albert Sinatra Does His Thing'' TV Special (1968), performing "It's a Great Life", "Stoned Soul Picnic", and "Sweet Blindness," sharing the stage with Sinatra for the final song. *The 5th Dimension were the featured act of a July 28, 1969, CBS broadcast of highlights from the Harlem Cultural Festival, the "Black Woodstock" gathering in Mount Morris Park that drew 300,000 festival attendees over six shows. The New York Times reported The 5th Dimension show drew 60,000 alone. *The group appeared on four separate episodes of the British ''
Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British record chart television programme, made by the BBC and broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its histo ...
'' TV show from 1969 to 1972. *The 5th Dimension appeared on Robert Wagner's popular adventure TV show, '' It Takes a Thief'' in 1970, performing "The Puppet Man" and "One Less Bell to Answer." *''The 5th Dimension Special: An Odyssey in the Cosmic Universe of Peter Max'' aired on May 21, 1970. *On August 18, 1971, their television special, ''The 5th Dimension Traveling Sunshine Show'', first aired. *The group performed "Living Together, Growing Together" and "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen" in ''Burt Bacharach in Shangri-La,'' a 1973 special promoting '' Lost Horizon.'' *The 5th Dimension made appearances on ''
Soul Train ''Soul Train'' is an American musical variety television show. After airing locally on WCIU-TV in Chicago, Illinois, for a year, it aired in syndication from October 2, 1971, to March 25, 2006. In its 35-year history, the show primarily featu ...
'', ''
American Bandstand ''American Bandstand'' (AB) is an American Music television, music performance and dance television series that aired in various iterations from 1952 to 1989. It was hosted by Dick Clark who also served as the program's Television producer, pr ...
'', '' The Flip Wilson Show'', ''
The Mike Douglas Show ''The Mike Douglas Show'' is an American daytime television talk show that was hosted by Mike Douglas. It began as a local program in Cleveland in 1961 before being carried on other stations owned by Westinghouse Broadcasting. The show went i ...
'', ''
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show was the third installment of ''The Tonight Show''. Hosted by Johnny Carson, it aired from October 1, 1962 to May 22, 1992, replacing ''T ...
'', ''The Bobby Goldsboro Show'', and '' The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour''.


Regrouping

In 1975, McCoo and Davis, who had married on July 26, 1969, left the group to do collective and individual projects. The duo had success with "Your Love" and the chart topper "
You Don't Have to Be a Star (To Be in My Show) "You Don't Have to Be a Star (To Be in My Show)" is a song written by former Motown songwriters James Dean and John Glover and popularized by the husband/wife duo of Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr., former members of the vocal group The 5th ...
", which won them their seventh Grammy award as well as their own television variety program, ''The Marilyn McCoo & Billy Davis Jr. Show.'' Marilyn McCoo served a lengthy 1980s stint as the host of the TV show '' Solid Gold''.


21st century

, the group was actively touring as "The 5th Dimension featuring Florence LaRue," led by LaRue, with Willie Williams, Leonard Tucker, Patrice Morris and Floyd Smith. On June 21, 2016, The 5th Dimension featuring Florence LaRue performed in
The Villages, Florida The Villages is a census-designated place (CDP) in Sumter, Marion, and Lake counties in the U.S. state of Florida. It forms the core of a broader master-planned, age-restricted community of the same name. Located in central Florida, approxi ...
just days after the
Orlando nightclub shooting On , 2016, 29-year-old Omar Mateen shot and killed 49 people and wounded 53 more in a mass shooting at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, United States before Orlando Police officers fatally shot him after a three-hour standoff. I ...
. LaRue took the opportunity to share her thoughts on the shooting: "We will not be terrorized. We know what's happening in the world, but this is a song about good health, love, peace and happiness. We still believe in those things today," she stated before the group performed "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In". In November 2017, The 5th Dimension appeared for 18 performances at the Andy Williams Performing Arts Centre in
Branson, Missouri Branson is a city in the U.S. state of Missouri. Most of the city is situated in Taney County, Missouri, Taney County, with a small portion in the west extending into Stone County, Missouri, Stone County. Branson is in the Ozarks, Ozark Mountain ...
, in the Andy Williams Christmas Extravaganza hosted by
Jimmy Osmond James Arthur Osmond (born April 16, 1963) is an American singer and businessman. He is the youngest member of the sibling musical group the Osmonds. As a solo artist, Osmond has accumulated six RIAA certification, gold records, one RIAA certific ...
.


Legacy and critical reception

David Brown:
For a brief period in the late 1960s, the 5th Dimension fully realized the post-racial crossover success that otown'sGordy had imagined for his stars, while raising the legitimate question of what it means to sound Black in music.

To listen to the 5th Dimension was to hear a mélange of middle-of-the road Pop, show-tunes, folk music, with flourishes of Jazz, Soul, and a tinge of Gospel. If music were to sound like America, it might sound like the 5th Dimension – at least in the 1960s.

Mark Anthony Neal:
But in a scenario that's nearly impossible to imagine for a modern act, the 5th Dimension also became victims of their own success. In an extended ''Summer of Soul'' ilmsegment, Davis and Marilyn McCoo, the group's most prominent female member, rewatch the footage with equal degrees pride and pain. "We were constantly being attacked because we weren't 'black enough,'" McCoo says. "Sometimes we were called the black group with the white sound, and we didn't like that. ... Our voices sound the way they sound. How do you color a sound?" As Davis adds, "Everyone thought we were a white act until they saw pictures." Those poignant moments recall similar put-downs that Whitney Houston endured two decades later, after she began pulling in both black and white audiences with her first two albums.
Caroline Sullivan:
Playing a show at the White House for then U.S. president
Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...
in 1970 only cemented the idea that they were part of the establishment, though LaRue, the only original member who still tours under the 5th Dimension name, has said they were not fans of Nixon. "It was an honor to perform for the president of the United States, ut hewasn't necessarily the president of our choice." No matter; they couldn't undo what we would now call the reputational damage, despite the fact that one of the songs they played at the White House was "The Declaration", a powerful folk-pop appeal for racial unity.

Portrait A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face is always predominant. In arts, a portrait may be represented as half body and even full body. If the subject in full body better r ...
'' album. The United States Declaration of Independence as written by Thomas Jefferson is sung by the group before segueing into Sam Cooke's socially-conscious "A Change Is Gonna Come." The musical treatment of "The Declaration" was first created for the play "Bread, Beans and Things." The recorded version by The 5th Dimension was refused play on Armed Forces radio during the Vietnam era "as they felt it depicted overthrowing the government".]


Contribution of the composers

The 5th Dimension recorded songs by a wide variety of artists, many of whom were well known in the music industry of the era:
Harry Nilsson Harry Edward Nilsson III (June 15, 1941 – January 15, 1994), sometimes credited as Nilsson, was an American singer-songwriter who reached the peak of his success in the early 1970s. His work is characterized by pioneering vocal overdub experi ...
, John Phillips,
Paul Anka Paul Albert Anka (born July 30, 1941) is a Canadian and American singer, songwriter and actor. His songs include " Diana", “ You Are My Destiny", “Lonely Boy", " Put Your Head on My Shoulder", and " (You're) Having My Baby". Anka also wr ...
,
Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...
and
Bernie Taupin Bernard John Taupin (born 22 May 1950) is an English lyricist and visual artist. He is best known for his songwriting partnership with Elton John, recognised as one of the most successful partnerships of its kind in history. Taupin co-wrote th ...
,
Neil Sedaka Neil Sedaka (; born March 13, 1939) is an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Since his music career began in 1957, he has sold millions of records worldwide and has written or co-written over 500 songs for himself and other artists, collabo ...
, Paul Williams (composer) and Roger Nichols, as well as Lennon and McCartney, and
George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician, singer and songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Culture ...
of
The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...
. They recorded a small number of
Burt Bacharach Burt Freeman Bacharach ( ; May 12, 1928 – February 8, 2023) was an American composer, songwriter, record producer, and pianist who is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential figures of 20th-century popular music. Start ...
and
Hal David Harold Lane David (May 25, 1921 – September 1, 2012) was an American lyricist. He was best known for his collaborations with composer Burt Bacharach and his association with Dionne Warwick. Early life David was born and raised in New ...
-penned songs, most notably "One Less Bell to Answer" and "Living Together, Growing Together" (the CD rarity track, "As Long as There's an Apple Tree" was never released on album). LaMonte McLemore of The 5th Dimension contributed lyrics and melody on two recordings, "A Love Like Ours" and "The Singer". The vocal group also recorded multiple songs by lesser known artists such as Motown's Willie Hutch (Hutchison), an American singer, songwriter and producer who supplied them with some of the more funky, soulful songs in their repertoire. Jeffrey Comanor, an American singer-songwriter and actor, provided the group with at least seven of their more memorable album tracks and single B sides. They also recorded a couple of songs by the celebrated British composer Tony Macaulay, one of which, " (Last Night) I Didn't Get to Sleep at All," was a major hit. Some of the songwriters who worked with The 5th Dimension went on to establish successful performance careers of their own, notably
Ashford & Simpson Ashford & Simpson were an American husband-and-wife songwriting, production and recording duo composed of Nickolas Ashford (May 4, 1941 – August 22, 2011) and Valerie Simpson (born August 26, 1946). Ashford was born in Fairfield, South Carol ...
, who wrote the song " California Soul". The group is also notable for having more success with the songs of
Laura Nyro Laura Nyro ( ; born Laura Nigro; October 18, 1947 – April 8, 1997) was an American songwriter and singer. She achieved critical acclaim with her own recordings, particularly the albums ''Eli and the Thirteenth Confession'' (1968) and ''Ne ...
than Nyro did herself, particularly with " Stoned Soul Picnic", " Sweet Blindness", "
Wedding Bell Blues "Wedding Bell Blues" is a song written and recorded by Laura Nyro in 1966. The best known version was a number one hit for the 5th Dimension in 1969. The lyrics are written from the perspective of a woman whose boyfriend has not yet proposed to ...
", " Blowin' Away" and " Save the Country". The same was true for
Jimmy Webb Jimmy Layne Webb (born August 15, 1946) is an American songwriter, composer, and singer. He achieved success at an early age, winning the Grammy Award for Song of the Year at the age of 21. During his career, he established himself as one of Am ...
, an American singer-songwriter and arranger who won far more accolades supplying songs to artists like Johnny Rivers,
Glen Campbell Glen Travis Campbell (April 22, 1936 – August 8, 2017) was an American country musician and actor. He was best known for a series of hit songs in the 1960s and 1970s, and for hosting ''The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour'' on CBS television from ...
,
Judy Collins Judith Marjorie Collins (born May 1, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter and musician with a career spanning nearly seven decades. An Academy Awards, Academy Award-nominated documentary director and a Grammy Awards, Grammy Award-winning rec ...
,
Art Garfunkel Arthur Ira Garfunkel (born November 5, 1941) is an American singer, actor and poet who is best known for his partnership with Paul Simon in the folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel. Born in Forest Hills, Queens, New York, Garfunkel became acquainte ...
,
Nina Simone Nina Simone ( ; born Eunice Kathleen Waymon; February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003) was an American singer, pianist, songwriter, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blues, jazz, R&B, and po ...
,
Thelma Houston Thelma Houston ( Jackson; born May 7, 1943) is an American singer and actress. Beginning her recording career in the late 1960s, Houston scored a number-one hit in 1977 with her recording of " Don't Leave Me This Way", which won the Grammy for ...
, and even
Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...
and the actor
Richard Harris Richard St John Francis Harris (1 October 1930 – 25 October 2002) was an Irish actor and singer. Having studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, he rose to prominence as an icon of the British New Wave. He received numerous a ...
, than he did for his own solo releases. He would become the group's most prolific contributor. Webb wrote the first significant hit for both The 5th Dimension and himself: 1967's " Up, Up and Away". The group's 1967 LP, '' The Magic Garden'', features an 11 track song-cycle composed by Webb. In all, the original lineup of The 5th Dimension recorded 24 different Jimmy Webb compositions by the end of 1975, most with his instrumental arrangements.


Contribution of producer "Bones" Howe and session musicians

All but two of The 5th Dimension's original albums were produced by
Bones Howe Dayton Burr "Bones" Howe (born March 18, 1933) is an American record producer and recording engineer who scored a string of hits in the 1960s and 1970s, often of the sunshine pop genre, starting in 1965 with The Turtles (band), the Turtles cover o ...
, who had been a sound engineer for the likes of
Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...
,
Bobby Darin Bobby Darin (born Walden Robert Cassotto; May 14, 1936 – December 20, 1973) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor who performed Pop music, pop, Swing music, swing, Folk music, folk, rock and roll, and country music. Darin started ...
,
Mel Torme Mel, Mels or MEL may refer to: Biology * Mouse erythroleukemia cell line (MEL) * National Herbarium of Victoria, a herbarium with the Index Herbariorum code MEL People * Mel (given name), the abbreviated version of several given names (including ...
, Johnny Rivers and
Phil Spector Harvey Phillip Spector (December 26, 1939 – January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter who is best known for pioneering recording practices in the 1960s, followed by his trials and conviction for murder in the 2000s. S ...
, before producing and engineering hits for a number of young, contemporary acts, including
The Association The Association is an American sunshine pop band from Los Angeles, California. During the late 1960s, the band had numerous hits at or near the top of the Billboard charts, ''Billboard'' charts (including "Windy (The Association song), Windy" ...
,
The Turtles The Turtles are an America, American Band (rock and pop), rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1965. The band achieved several Top 40 hits throughout the latter half of the 1960s, including "It Ain't Me Babe" (1965), "You Baby (song), ...
and
The Mamas & the Papas The Mamas & the Papas were an American folk rock vocal group that recorded and performed from 1965 to 1968, with a brief reunion in 1971. The group was a defining force in the music scene of the counterculture of the 1960s. Formed in New York C ...
. Howe employed members of the " Wrecking Crew" on all of The 5th Dimension recordings under his direction. (The Wrecking Crew provided backing or replacement instrumentation for many bands recording in Los Angeles whose own musicianship skills were deemed not of a professional level by their record producer - a common practice of the era). In the case of The 5th Dimension, there were no backing musicians for the vocal group so the Wrecking Crew became their de facto accompanists and instrumental arrangers. The contributions of the rhythm section in particular (consisting of
Joe Osborn Joe Osborn (August 28, 1937 – December 14, 2018Hal 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. ...
on drums, and Larry Bunker on percussion) on these recordings are notable: Osborn and Blaine opting to be the rhythm section on most every 5th Dimension album and single recorded up through 1975. And their Wrecking Crew cohort, keyboardist/guitarist
Larry 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 Sim ...
, was a constant presence as well. Being able to rely upon the same producer and group of musicians helped to give The 5th Dimension recordings a distinct and cohesive sound from album to album. Most other purely vocal groups of the time were stuck working with whoever got assigned to individual recording sessions - and didn't have much say in it. Vocal arrangements on The 5th Dimension albums were handled by Bob Alcivar, an American music producer, arranger, composer, conductor and keyboard player.


Honors

The group was inducted into the
Vocal Group Hall of Fame The Vocal Group Hall of Fame & Museum Company Inc. was an American-based hall of fame that honored vocal groups throughout the United States. James E. Winner Jr. was the financial and managing partner of the For-profit corporation. Winner and ...
in 2002. The 5th Dimension was inducted into the
Grammy Hall of Fame The Grammy Hall of Fame is a hall of fame to honor musical recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance. Inductees are selected annually by a special member committee of eminent and knowledgeable professionals from all branches of ...
in 2003 for the 1967 single, "Up, Up and Away." The original lineup of The 5th Dimension performed for the U.S. president, staff and invitees at the
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...
in 1970 and 1972. The Florence LaRue-led group later performed again at the White House in September 1982. The group was invited by the U.S. State Department to represent the country as part of the US Cultural Exchange Program in 1973. This involved a Goodwill Tour of Eastern Europe, giving concerts and talks in Ankara and Istanbul, Turkey, Bucharest and Ploesti, Romania, Warsaw and Katowice, Poland, and Ostrava, Bratislava and Prague in Czechoslovakia. They have a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a landmark which consists of 2,813 five-pointed terrazzo-and-brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in the Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood dist ...
, inducted August 9, 1991, and the St. Louis Walk of Fame, inducted on March 18, 2010.


Membership


Original members

*
Marilyn McCoo Marilyn McCoo (born September 30, 1943) is an American singer, actress, and television presenter, who is best known for being the lead female vocalist in the group the 5th Dimension as well as hosting the 1980s music television show '' Solid Gol ...
(born September 30, 1943,
Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, second-most populous
) * Florence LaRue (born February 4, 1942
Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
,
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
) * Billy Davis Jr. (born June 26, 1938,
St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...
,
Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...
) * LaMonte McLemore (born September 17, 1939, St. Louis, Missouri) * Ronald L. "Ron" Townson, nicknamed "Sweets" (born January 20, 1933, St. Louis, Missouri, died August 2, 2001, of
kidney failure Kidney failure, also known as renal failure or end-stage renal disease (ESRD), is a medical condition in which the kidneys can no longer adequately filter waste products from the blood, functioning at less than 15% of normal levels. Kidney fa ...
,
Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...
,
Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...
)


Current members

* Florence LaRue (1966–present) * Leonard Tucker (2006–present) * Patrice Morris (2008–present) * Floyd Smith (2009–present) * Sidney Jacobs (2018–present)


Former members

* LaMonte McLemore (1966–2006) * Ronald L. "Ron" Townson (1966–1978, 1980–1997) *
Marilyn McCoo Marilyn McCoo (born September 30, 1943) is an American singer, actress, and television presenter, who is best known for being the lead female vocalist in the group the 5th Dimension as well as hosting the 1980s music television show '' Solid Gol ...
(1966–1975) * Billy Davis Jr. (1966–1975) * Eloise Laws (1975) * Danny Beard (1975–1978) * Marjorie Barnes (1976–1977) * Terri Bryant (1978–1979) * Mic Bell (1978–1979)) * Lou Courtney (1978–1979 * Pat Bass (1979) * Tanya Boyd (1979) * Joyce Wright Pierce (1979–1986 and 1987) * Michael Procter (1979–1988) * Ron Townson (1979–1997) * Estrelita (1986) * Phyllis Battle (1988–2001) * Eugene Barry-Hill (1989–1992) * Greg Walker (1993–2006) * Cydney Davis (1996) * Willie Williams (1998–2018) * Van Jewell (2002, 2005) * Julie Delgado (2002–2005) * Jamila Ajibade (2005–2006 and 2007–2008) * Valerie Davis (2006–2007) * Jennifer Leigh Warren (2007) * Gwyn Foxx (December 2007) * Michael Mishaw (2006–2008)


Discography

* '' Up, Up and Away'' (1967) * '' The Magic Garden'' (1968) * '' Stoned Soul Picnic'' (1968) * '' The Age of Aquarius'' (1969) * ''
Portrait A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face is always predominant. In arts, a portrait may be represented as half body and even full body. If the subject in full body better r ...
'' (1970) * '' Love's Lines, Angles and Rhymes'' (1971) * '' Individually & Collectively'' (1972) * '' Living Together, Growing Together'' (1973) * '' Soul & Inspiration'' (1974) * ''
Earthbound ''EarthBound'', originally released in Japan as is a 1994 role-playing video game, role-playing video game developed by Ape, Inc., Ape Inc. and HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System as the second e ...
'' (1975) * ''Star Dancing'' (1978) * ''High on Sunshine'' (1979) * ''In the House'' (1995)


Publications

* ''The Encyclopedia of Pop, Rock & Soul'' (revised edition); Irwin Stambler; © 1989; St. Martin's Press, New York * ''All Music Guide to Soul: The Definitive Guide to R&B and Soul''; Vladimir Bogdanov; © 2003; Rowman & Littlefield Publishers / Backbeat Books, San Francisco * ''From Hobo Flats to the 5th Dimension: A Life Fulfilled in Baseball, Photography and Music''; LaMonte McLemore © 2015; The Soul of the Voice, Ltd. * ''Up, Up, and Away: How We Found Love, Faith, and Lasting Marriage in the Entertainment World''; Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr., with Mike Yorkey; © 2004; Northfield Publishing, New York * ''Hal Blaine & The Wrecking Crew''; Hal Blaine & David Goggin; © 2003; Rebeats Publications, Alma :Chapter: "Jimmy Webb and The 5th Dimension" * ''The Cake and the Rain''; Jimmy Webb; © 2017; St. Martin's Press, New York :See anecdotes starting on pages 156 and 199. Unfortunately, Webb's book ends with 1973 and doesn't cover his reunion album with The 5th Dimension, "
Earthbound ''EarthBound'', originally released in Japan as is a 1994 role-playing video game, role-playing video game developed by Ape, Inc., Ape Inc. and HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System as the second e ...
", recorded in 1975.


References


External links


Current Official Site

Forever 5th Dimension

Album Review of ''The Magic Garden''
*



a
Wenig-LaMonica Associates



The 5th Dimension Traveling Sunshine Show (1971)
{{DEFAULTSORT:5th Dimension, The African-American musical groups American pop music groups Bell Records artists Columbia Records artists Kama Sutra Records artists Motown artists Psychedelic soul music groups Sunshine pop groups Co-ed groups 1966 establishments in California