Song:Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In
Album:The Ultimate 5th Dimension
With their mix of soul, pop and flower power, The 5th Dimension were one of the most popular groups of the late 60s. Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In was one of their two number one hits. One of the reasons their music holds up well today is they recorded great songs especially by legendary songwriters Jimmy Webb and Laura Nyro. Of the 21 songs on this CD, nine were were written by one of those two. It's hard to mess up when the songs are that good. The three male members of The 5th Dimension were all from St. Louis. Lamonte McLemore moved to Los Angeles first and formed The Hi-Fis in 1963 with beauty pageant winner Marilyn McCoo. She was born in New Jersey and grew up in Los Angeles. Other members were Harry Elston and Floyd Butler. The group toured with Ray Charles and after one single, they split up. Elston and Butler would go on to form Friends Of Distinction. McLemore looked to form a new group. He met Florence LaRue who like McCoo was a beauty pageant winner originally from New Jersey. Then he looked up an old pal from St. Louis. Ron Townson was an opera singer mentored by Dorothy Dandridge. He also toured with Nat King Cole. Then he brought in his cousin Billy Davis Jr. They called themselves The Versatiles. They auditioned for Motown's LA office head Marc Gordon. He liked them but Motown rejected them. Gordon agreed to manage them and took them to Johnny Rivers who was starting Soul City Records. He signed them but wanted a name change and an updated image. He assigned them to producer Bones Howe who had success with The Association. Their first top ten hit in 1967 was Jimmy Webb's Up, Up and Away which won five Grammys. And they also had top five hits with Laura Nyro's Stoned Soul Picnic and the Ashford & Simpson song California Soul. The group went to see the Broadway show Hair and decided to record a song from the show. Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In was their first number one hit in 1969. It was perfect. The 5th Dimension's other number one hit was Laura Nyro's Wedding Bell Blues. Johnny Rivers sold Soul City to Bell Records in 1970. And though The 5th Dimension continued to have some success, they faded especially after they split with Bones Howe in 1973. McCoo and Davis were already married and left in 1976 and had success. The 5th Dimension continued mostly as a nostalgia act. Ron Townson died in 2001 but Florence LaRue leads them today. You can get all their hits on this budget comp. Here's the 5th Dimension performing Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In on The Ed Sullivan Show 1969.
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