Editing The 5th Dimension

{{short description|American popular music vocal group}}
{{About|the vocal group||Fifth Dimension (disambiguation)}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2024}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2022}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name              = The 5th Dimension
| background        = group_or_band
| image             = 5th Dimension 1969.jpg
| caption           = The 5th Dimension in 1969<br />Back row: [[Ronald Townson|Townson]] and [[Lamonte McLemore|McLemore]].<br />Front row: [[Florence LaRue|LaRue]], [[Billy Davis Jr.|Davis]], and [[Marilyn McCoo|McCoo]].
| image_size        = 
| alias             = The Versatiles (1965–1966)
| origin            = [[Los Angeles]], [[California]], [[United States]]
| genre             = {{hlist|[[Sunshine pop]]<ref name=Huey>{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-5th-dimension-mn0000028772/biography |title=The 5th Dimension Biography |last=Huey |first=Steve |publisher=AllMusic |access-date= |quote=}}</ref>|[[soul music|pop soul]]<ref name=Huey/>|[[psychedelic soul]]<ref name=MeTV>{{cite web |url=https://www.metv.com/lists/the-story-of-the-5th-dimension-in-five-glorious-songs |title=The story of The 5th Dimension in five glorious songs |author=Staff |date=August 11, 2016 |publisher=MeTV|access-date=2023-02-05}}</ref>}}
| years_active      = 1966–present<br>(until 1975 in original incarnation)
| label             = [[Soul City Records (U.S. label)|Soul City]], [[Imperial Records|Imperial]], [[Bell Records|Bell]], [[Arista Records|Arista]], [[ABC Records|ABC]], [[Motown Records|Motown]], [[Columbia Records|Columbia]]
| current_members   = [[Florence LaRue]]<br>Patrice Morris<br/>Leonard Tucker<br/>Floyd Smith<br/>Sidney Jacobs
| past_members      = [[Billy Davis Jr.]]<br>Phyllis Battle<br>[[Lamonte McLemore]]<br>[[Ronald Townson]]<br>Greg Walker<br>[[Marilyn McCoo]]<br />See: [[#Membership|Membership section for detailed listing]]
}}

'''The 5th Dimension''' is an American vocal group. Their music encompasses sunshine pop,<ref name=Huey/> pop soul,<ref name=Huey/> and psychedelic soul.<ref name=MeTV/> They were an important [[crossover music]] act of the 1960s and 1970s, although both praised and derided for their particular musical approach and mass appeal.<ref name=DavidBrown>{{cite web | author1=David Browne |title='Let the Sunshine In': Remembering the 5th Dimension's Quiet Revolution |website=[[Rolling Stone]] |url=https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/5th-dimension-summer-of-soul-27228/ |access-date=25 February 2025 |date=2021-07-05}}</ref><ref name=MarkAnthonyNeal>{{cite web | author1=Mark Anthony Neal |title='How Do You Color a Sound?': The 'Wonder Bread' Soul of the 5th Dimension |website=The New Black Magazine |url=https://thenewblackmagazine.com/2024/12/15/httpwww-thenewblackmagazine-comview-aspxindex4491/ |access-date=25 February 2025 |date=2021-08-07}}</ref> During the original group's heyday, they were twice invited to perform at the [[White House]], and accepting those invitations was controversial during that era of social upheaval.<ref name=CarolineSullivan>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2016/jun/21/cult-heroes-the-5th-dimension-aquarius-let-the-sunshine-in/|author1=Caroline Sullivan |title=Cult heroes: The 5th Dimension - Elegant Pop Crooners Who Wowed the Mainstream|access-date=2025-02-27}}</ref>

Formed as '''The Versatiles''' in late 1965, the group changed its name to "The 5th Dimension" by 1966.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=The 5th Dimension Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-5th-dimension-mn0000028772 |access-date=2023-01-04 |website=AllMusic |language=en}}</ref> Between 1967 and 1973, they charted with 20 "[[Top 40]]" hits on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]], two of which – "[[Up, Up and Away (song)|Up, Up and Away]]" (No. 7, 1967) and the 1969 No. 1 "[[Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In|Medley: Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In (The Flesh Failures)]]" — won the [[Grammy Award]] for [[Grammy Award for Record of the Year|Record of the Year]]. Other big hits include "[[Stoned Soul Picnic (song)|Stoned Soul Picnic]]" (No. 3), "[[Wedding Bell Blues]]" (No. 1), "[[One Less Bell to Answer]]" (No. 2), a cover of "[[Never My Love]]" (Pop chart, No. 12/[[Adult Contemporary (chart)|Easy Listening]] No. 1), "[[(Last Night) I Didn't Get to Sleep at All]]" (No. 8), and "[[If I Could Reach You (song)|If I Could Reach You]]" (Pop chart No. 10/[[Adult Contemporary (chart)|Easy Listening]] No. 1). Three of their records reached the Top Ten of [[Billboard (magazine)|''Billboard'']]'s [[Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs|Rhythm & Blues/Soul]] chart. 5 of their 19 "Top 20" hits on the [[Adult Contemporary (chart)|Easy Listening]] chart reached the No. 1 position.<ref>{{Cite magazine |title=The 5th Dimension |url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/the-5th-dimension/ |access-date=2023-01-04 |magazine=Billboard |language=en-US}}</ref>

The five original members were [[Lamonte McLemore]], [[Marilyn McCoo]], [[Florence LaRue]], [[Ronald Townson]], and [[Billy Davis Jr.]] Their earliest recordings were on the [[Soul City Records (U.S. label)|Soul City]] record label, which was started by recording artist [[Johnny Rivers]]. The group later recorded for [[Bell Records (1950s-70s)|Bell]]/[[Arista Records]], [[ABC Records]], and [[Motown Records]].<ref name=VGHOF>{{cite web|url=http://www.vocalgroup.org/inductees/fifth_dimension.html|title=The 5th Dimension – Inductees – The Vocal Group Hall of Fame Foundation|publisher=Vocal Group Hall of Fame Foundation|access-date=2009-03-31|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090202162751/http://www.vocalgroup.org/inductees/fifth_dimension.html|archive-date=2009-02-02}}</ref><ref name=ArtistWiki5thDimension>{{cite web | author1= |title=The 5th Dimension: Biography |website=ArtistWiki |url=https://artistwiki.com/the-5th-dimension/biography/ |access-date=27 February 2025}}</ref>
==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.<ref name="LarkinSM"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=McLemore |first1=Lamonte |last2=Allan-Arno |first2=Robert |date= |title=From Hobo Flats to the 5th Dimension: A Life Fulfilled in Baseball, Photography and Music |url= |location= |publisher=The Soul of the Voice, Ltd. |page=23 |isbn=0692307362 |access-date=}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite book| page=119| title=Shine Bright: A Very Personal History of Black Women in Pop| first=Danyel| last=Smith| year=2023| publisher=Random House Publishing Group| ISBN=9780593132739}}</ref>

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.<ref name="LarkinSM">{{cite book|title=[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music|The Guinness Who's Who of Soul Music]]|editor=[[Colin Larkin (writer)|Colin Larkin]]|publisher=[[Guinness Publishing]]|date=1993|edition=First|isbn=0-85112-733-9|page=84/5}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=McLemore |first1=Lamonte |last2=Allan-Arno |first2=Robert |date= |title=From Hobo Flats to the 5th Dimension: A Life Fulfilled in Baseball, Photography and Music |url= |location= |publisher=The Soul of the Voice, Ltd. |page=31 |isbn=0692307362 |access-date=}}</ref> 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]] and play the audition tape for him. According to McLemore, Gordy's response to the tape was non-committal:
<blockquote>"Man, you all sound great, but I don't hear no hit. So just go back and cut some more."<ref>{{cite book |last1=McLemore |first1=Lamonte |last2=Allan-Arno |first2=Robert |date= |title=From Hobo Flats to the 5th Dimension: A Life Fulfilled in Baseball, Photography and Music |url= |location= |publisher=The Soul of the Voice, Ltd. |page=32 |isbn=0692307362 |access-date=}}</ref></blockquote>
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 (American 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!'"<ref>{{cite web|url=https://medium.com/spotlight-central/an-interview-with-the-5th-dimensions-marilyn-mccoo-and-billy-davis-jr-f1160419d680|website=Spotlight Central|title=An Interview with The 5th Dimension's Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis, Jr., Starring in ''The Colors of Christmas'' at New Brunswick's State Theatre|date=November 21, 2017|accessdate=November 14, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=McLemore |first1=Lamonte |last2=Allan-Arno |first2=Robert |date= |title=From Hobo Flats to the 5th Dimension: A Life Fulfilled in Baseball, Photography and Music |url= |location= |publisher=The Soul of the Voice, Ltd. |page=32 |isbn=0692307362 |access-date=}}</ref> 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===
[[File:5th Dimension 1970.jpg|thumb|The group performing in 1970]]
In 1967 The 5th Dimension recorded "[[Go Where You Wanna Go]]," which became a breakthrough hit for them. The song was a [[John Phillips (musician)|John Phillips]] tune and reached No. 16 on the US Hot 100 chart.<ref name="LarkinSM"/> The group followed this with "Up, Up and Away",<ref name="LarkinSM"/> which reached No. 7 later that same year and went on to win five [[Grammy Award]]s. The following year, the group scored major hit singles with [[Laura Nyro]]'s songs "[[Stoned Soul Picnic (song)|Stoned Soul Picnic]]" (U.S. No. 3) and "[[Sweet Blindness]]" (U.S. No. 13).<ref name="LarkinSM"/> 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.<ref name="LarkinSM"/> Weeks later the group's success broke wide open, with "[[Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In]]" from the musical ''[[Hair (musical)|Hair]]'' topping the Hot 100 for six straight weeks in April and May<ref name="LarkinSM"/> and another Nyro song, "Wedding Bell Blues", doing the same for the first three full weeks in November. Their cover of [[Neil Sedaka]]'s "[[Workin' On a Groovy Thing (song)|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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.musicradio77.com/Top1969.html|title=The Musicradio Top 100 of 1969|publisher=WABC|access-date=2020-06-11}}</ref>

Later top 20 hits included 1970's "One Less Bell to Answer" (U.S. No. 2),<ref name="LarkinSM"/> 1971's "[[Love's Lines, Angles and Rhymes (song)|Love's Lines, Angles and Rhymes]]" (U.S. No. 19) and "[[Never My Love]]" (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 (song)|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 (1973 film)|Lost Horizon]]''.

===TV and film appearances===

*The 5th Dimension made numerous appearances on [[The Ed Sullivan Show]], 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."<ref>{{cite web |author1=Ed Sullivan Show (Television Variety Show Archive) |title=Artists – The 5th Dimension |website=[[Ed Sullivan]] |url=https://www.edsullivan.com/artists/the-5th-dimension/ |access-date=26 February 2025 |date=2025-02-26}}</ref>

*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.<ref>{{cite web |author1=IMDb (Movie and TV Industry Database Archive) |title=The 5th Dimension |website=[[IMDb]] |url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1502280/?showAllCredits=true |access-date=26 February 2025 |date=2025-02-26}}</ref>

*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 [[Marcus Garvey Park|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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://greenpleasantland.com|title=Parks and Recreation: Harlem at a Crossroads in the Summer of '69|author=Greene, Bryan|publisher=Poverty and Race Research Action Council|date=June 2017}}</ref>

*The group appeared on four separate episodes of the British ''[[Top of the Pops]]'' TV show from 1969 to 1972.<ref>{{cite web |author1=Top of the Pops (TV Archive) |title=The 5th Dimension |website=TOTP Archive |url=https://totparchive.co.uk/artist.php?name=the-fifth-dimension |access-date=26 February 2025}}</ref>

*The 5th Dimension appeared on Robert Wagner's popular adventure TV show, ''[[It Takes a Thief (1968 TV series)|It Takes a Thief]]'' in 1970, performing "The Puppet Man" and "One Less Bell to Answer."<ref>{{cite web |author1=IMDb (Movie and TV Industry Database Archive) |title=The 5th Dimension |website=[[IMDb]] |url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1502280/?showAllCredits=true |access-date=26 February 2025 |date=2025-02-26}}</ref>

*''The 5th Dimension Special: An Odyssey in the Cosmic Universe of Peter Max'' aired on May 21, 1970.<ref>{{cite web |author1=IMDb (Movie and TV Industry Database Archive) |title=The 5th Dimension Special: An Odyssey in the Cosmic Universe of Peter Max |website=[[IMDb]] |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10782536/?showAllCredits=true |access-date=26 February 2025 |date=2025-02-26}}</ref>

*On August 18, 1971, their television special, ''The 5th Dimension Traveling Sunshine Show'', first aired.<ref>{{Cite news|title=It's Time to Take the 5th|volume=LXXXIX|work=Alexandria Daily Town Talk|url=}}</ref>

*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 (1973 film)|Lost Horizon]].''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://filmthreat.com/uncategorized/the-bootleg-files-burt-bacharach-in-shangri-la/|title=The Bootleg Files: 'Burt Bacharach in Shangri-la' &#124; Film Threat|author=Terry Whittier|website=Filmthreat.com|date=20 May 2005|access-date=12 June 2021}}</ref>

*The 5th Dimension made appearances on ''[[Soul Train]]'', ''[[American Bandstand]]'', ''[[The Flip Wilson Show]]'', ''[[The Mike Douglas Show]]'', ''[[The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson]]'', ''The [[Bobby Goldsboro]] Show'',<ref> {{cite episode |title=The Bobby Goldsboro Show: The 5th Dimension |series=The Bobby Goldsboro Show |network=CBS |season=2 |number=23 |airdate=1976-02-14}}</ref> and ''[[The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour]]''.<ref> {{cite episode |title=The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour |series=The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour |network=CBS |season=1 |number=4 |airdate=1971-02-22}}</ref>

===Regrouping===
In 1975, McCoo and Davis, who had married on July 26, 1969, left the group to do collective and individual projects.<ref name="LarkinSM"/> The duo had success with "Your Love" and the [[chart topper]] "[[You Don't Have to Be a Star (To Be in My Show)]]",<ref name="Larkin60">{{cite book|title=[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music|The Virgin Encyclopedia of Sixties Music]]|editor=[[Colin Larkin (writer)|Colin Larkin]]|publisher=[[Virgin Books]]|date=1997|edition=First|isbn=0-7535-0149-X|page=195}}</ref> 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 (TV series)|Solid Gold]]''.<ref name="Larkin60"/>

===21st century===
[[File:Florence LaRue and the 5th Dimension performing outdoors 2018.JPG|thumb|right|Florence LaRue and The 5th Dimension performing a free outdoor concert in Manalapan, New Jersey in 2018]]
{{As of|2009|April}}, 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://thefifthdimension.org/biography.pdf|title=Florence LaRue & The 5th Dimension: A Brief Biography|access-date=2009-04-25|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090530155156/http://www.thefifthdimension.org/biography.pdf|archive-date=2009-05-30}}</ref>

On June 21, 2016, The 5th Dimension featuring Florence LaRue performed in [[The Villages, Florida]] just days after the [[Orlando nightclub shooting]]. 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".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.villages-news.com/5th-dimensions-florence-larue-charms-sold-crowd-savannah-center |title=5th Dimension's Florence LaRue charms sold-out crowds at Savannah Center |website=Villages-News.com|date=June 22, 2016 |access-date=2016-08-25}}</ref>

In November 2017, The 5th Dimension appeared for 18 performances at the Andy Williams Performing Arts Centre in [[Branson, Missouri]], in the Andy Williams Christmas Extravaganza hosted by [[Jimmy Osmond]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Uitti |first=Jacob |date=2021-10-05 |title=The 5th Dimension's Florence LaRue Talks New Memoir, Band History, and Eartha Kitt |url=https://americansongwriter.com/the-5th-dimensions-florence-larue-talks-new-memoir-band-history-and-eartha-kitt/ |access-date=2023-06-17 |website=American Songwriter |language=en-US}}</ref>

== Legacy and critical reception ==

<blockquote><p>David Brown:<br/>For a brief period in the late 1960s, the 5th Dimension fully realized the post-racial crossover success that [Motown's] Gordy had imagined for his stars, while raising the legitimate question of what it means to sound Black in music.<br />
<br />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.<ref name=DavidBrown/></p></blockquote>

<blockquote>Mark Anthony Neal:<br/>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'' [film] segment, 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.<ref name= MarkAnthonyNeal/></blockquote>

<blockquote>Caroline Sullivan:<br/>Playing a show at the White House for then U.S. president [[Richard Nixon]] 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, [but he] wasn'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.<ref name=CarolineSullivan/><br/><br/>

[The medley of "The Declaration / A Change Is Gonna Come / People Gotta Be Free" was recorded for the ''[[Portrait (The 5th Dimension album)|Portrait]]'' 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".]<ref>{{cite book |last1=McLemore |first1=Lamonte |last2=Allan-Arno |first2=Robert |date= |title=From Hobo Flats to the 5th Dimension: A Life Fulfilled in Baseball, Photography and Music |url= |location= |publisher=The Soul of the Voice, Ltd. |page=48 |isbn=0692307362 |access-date=}}</ref></blockquote>

=== 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]], [[John Phillips (musician)|John Phillips]], [[Paul Anka]], [[Elton John]] and [[Bernie Taupin]], [[Neil Sedaka]], [[Paul Williams (composer)]] and [[Roger Nichols (songwriter)|Roger Nichols]], as well as [[John Lennon|Lennon]] and [[Paul McCartney|McCartney]], and [[George Harrison]] of [[The Beatles]]. They recorded a small number of  [[Burt Bacharach]] and [[Hal David]]-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]], who wrote the song "[[California Soul]]". The group is also notable for having more success with the songs of [[Laura Nyro]] than Nyro did herself,<ref name=":0" /> particularly with "[[Stoned Soul Picnic (song)|Stoned Soul Picnic]]", "[[Sweet Blindness]]", "[[Wedding Bell Blues]]", "[[Blowing Away|Blowin' Away]]" and "[[Save the Country]]". The same was true for [[Jimmy Webb]], an American singer-songwriter and arranger who won far more accolades supplying songs to artists like [[Johnny Rivers]], [[Glen Campbell]], [[Judy Collins]], [[Art Garfunkel]], [[Nina Simone]], [[Thelma Houston]], and even [[Frank Sinatra]] and the actor [[Richard Harris]], than he did for his own solo releases.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Webb |first1=Jimmy |url=https://www.jimmywebb.com/memoir |title=The Cake and the Rain |last2= |first2= |date= |publisher=St. Martin's Press |isbn=978-1-250-05841-6 |publication-date=2017 |page=308 |chapter=Artists Who Have Performed or Recorded Jimmy Webb Songs |access-date=}}</ref> 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 (song)|Up, Up and Away]]". The group's 1967 [[LP record|LP]], ''[[The Magic Garden]]'', features an 11 track song-cycle composed by Webb.<ref name="KenShane">{{cite web |author1=Ken Shane |date=2010-02-13 |title=Cratedigger: The 5th Dimension, 'The Magic Garden' |url=https://popdose.com/cratedigger-the-5th-dimension-the-magic-garden/ |access-date=26 February 2025 |website=Pop Dose}}</ref><ref name="SeanGaillard">{{cite web |author1=Sean Gaillard |date=2021-11-28 |title=The Concept Album: 'The Magic Garden' |url=https://www.culturesonar.com/the-concept-album-the-magic-garden/ |access-date=26 February 2025 |website=CultureSonar}}</ref>  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]], who had been a sound engineer for the likes of [[Frank Sinatra]], [[Bobby Darin]], [[Mel Torme]], [[Johnny Rivers]] and [[Phil Spector]], before producing and engineering hits for a number of young, contemporary acts, including [[The Association]], [[The Turtles]] and [[The Mamas & the Papas]]. Howe employed members of the "[[The Wrecking Crew (music)|Wrecking Crew]]" on all of The 5th Dimension recordings under his direction. (The [[The Wrecking Crew (music)|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 [[The Wrecking Crew (music)|Wrecking Crew]] became their de facto accompanists and instrumental arrangers. The contributions of the rhythm section in particular (consisting of [[Joe Osborn]] on bass, [[Hal Blaine]] 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]], 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]] in 2002.<ref name=VGHOF/>

The 5th Dimension was inducted into the [[Grammy Hall of Fame]] in 2003 for the 1967 single, "Up, Up and Away." <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.grammy.com/awards/hall-of-fame-award|title=Grammy Hall of Fame Award|access-date=2025-02-27}}</ref>

The original lineup of The 5th Dimension performed for the U.S. president, staff and invitees at the [[White House]] in 1970 and 1972.<ref name=CarolineSullivan/>

The Florence LaRue-led group later performed again at the White House in September 1982.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1982/09/24/charting-the-5th-dimension/9c32ef44-4de8-4053-904b-f6d7581def06/|author1=Joe Brown |title=Charting the 5th Dimension|access-date=2025-02-27}}</ref>

The group was invited by the U.S. State Department to represent the country as part of the [[United States cultural exchange programs|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.<ref>{{cite book |last1=McLemore |first1=Lamonte |last2=Allan-Arno |first2=Robert |date= |title=From Hobo Flats to the 5th Dimension: A Life Fulfilled in Baseball, Photography and Music |url= |location= |publisher=The Soul of the Voice, Ltd. |page=83 |isbn=0692307362 |access-date=}}</ref>

They have a star on the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]], inducted August 9, 1991, and the [[St. Louis Walk of Fame]], inducted on March 18, 2010.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stlouiswalkoffame.org/inductees/The5thDimension.html|title=St. Louis Walk of Fame – The 5th Dimension|publisher=St. Louis Walk of Fame|access-date=20 March 2010}}</ref>

==Membership==

=== Original members ===
* [[Marilyn McCoo]] (born September 30, 1943, [[Jersey City, New Jersey]])
* [[Florence LaRue]] (born February 4, 1942 [[Philadelphia]], [[Pennsylvania]])
* [[Billy Davis Jr.]] (born June 26, 1938, [[St. Louis]], [[Missouri]])
* [[LaMonte McLemore]] (born September 17, 1939, St. Louis, Missouri<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1052890/bio|title=LaMonte McLemore |publisher=IMDb|access-date=2012-11-10}}</ref>)
* [[Ronald Townson|Ronald L. "Ron" Townson]], nicknamed "Sweets" (born January 20, 1933, St. Louis, Missouri, died August 2, 2001, of [[kidney failure]], [[Las Vegas Valley|Las Vegas]], [[Nevada]])

=== 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 Townson|Ronald L. "Ron" Townson]] (1966–1978, 1980–1997)
* [[Marilyn McCoo]] (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)


{|class="wikitable"
|-
!Original lineup||width=16%|Florence LaRue||width=16%|Marilyn McCoo||width=16%|Billy Davis Jr.||width=16%|LaMonte McLemore||width=16%|Ron Townson
|-
|1966–75||rowspan=22|Florence LaRue||Marilyn McCoo||Billy Davis Jr.||rowspan=18|LaMonte McLemore||rowspan=4|Ron Townson
|-
|1975||Eloise Laws||rowspan=3|Danny Beard
|-
|1976–76||Marjorie Barnes
|-
|1978||rowspan=2|Terri Bryant
|-
|1978–79||rowspan=2|Lou Courtney||rowspan=3|Mic Bell
|-
|rowspan=2|1979||rowspan=2|Pat Bass/<br />Tanya Boyd/<br />Joyce Wright Pierce
|-
|rowspan=5|Michael Procter
|-
|1980–86||Joyce Wright Pierce||rowspan=6|Ron Townson
|-
|1986||Estrelita
|-
|1987||Joyce Wright Pierce
|-
|1988||rowspan=4|Phyllis Battle
|-
|1989–92||Eugene Barry Hill
|-
|1993–98||rowspan=6|Greg Walker
|-
|1998–2002||rowspan=9|Sidney Jacobs
|-
|2002||Van Jewell
|-
|2002–05||Julie Delgado
|-
|2005||Van Jewell
|-
|2005–06||Jamila Ajibade
|-
|2006–07||Valerie Davis||rowspan=4|Leonard Tucker||rowspan=3|Michael Mishaw
|-
|2007||Jennifer Lee Warren/<br />Gwyn Foxx
|-
|2008||rowspan=2|Patrice Morris
|-
|2009–present||Floyd Smith
|}

==Discography==
{{Main|The 5th Dimension discography}}
* ''[[Up, Up and Away (The 5th Dimension album)|Up, Up and Away]]'' (1967)
* ''[[The Magic Garden]]'' (1968)
* ''[[Stoned Soul Picnic (The 5th Dimension album)|Stoned Soul Picnic]]'' (1968)
* ''[[The Age of Aquarius (album)|The Age of Aquarius]]'' (1969)
* ''[[Portrait (The 5th Dimension album)|Portrait]]'' (1970)
* ''[[Love's Lines, Angles and Rhymes]]'' (1971)
* ''[[Individually & Collectively]]'' (1972)
* ''[[Living Together, Growing Together (album)|Living Together, Growing Together]]'' (1973)
* ''[[Soul & Inspiration (album)|Soul & Inspiration]]'' (1974)
* ''[[Earthbound (The 5th Dimension album)|Earthbound]]'' (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"<ref name=HalBlaine>{{cite book |last1=Blaine |first1=Hal |last2=Goggin |first2=David |date= |title=Hal Blaine & The Wrecking Crew |chapter=Jimmy Webb and The 5th Dimension |url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7669496-hal-blaine-and-the-wrecking-crew |publisher=Rebeats Publications |publication-date=2003 |page=77 |isbn=1888408073 |access-date=}}</ref>
* ''The Cake and the Rain''; Jimmy Webb; © 2017; St. Martin's Press, New York<ref name=JimmyWebb>{{cite book |last1=Webb |first1=Jimmy |last2= |first2= |date= |title=The Cake and the Rain |chapter=Chapter Nine; Chapter Twelve |url=https://www.jimmywebb.com/memoir |publisher=St. Martin's Press |publication-date=2017 |pages=156; 199 |isbn=978-1-250-05841-6 |access-date=}}</ref>
: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 (The 5th Dimension album)|Earthbound]]", recorded in 1975.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
* [http://5thdimensionlive.com/ Current Official Site]
* [https://forever5thdimension.wordpress.com/ Forever 5th Dimension]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20081208101216/http://rare-albums.com/albums.php?id=17 Album Review of ''The Magic Garden'']
* {{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p50073|label=The 5th Dimension}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090202162751/http://www.vocalgroup.org/inductees/fifth_dimension.html The 5th Dimension Vocal Group Hall of Fame Page]
* [http://www.wlatalent.com/roster/the_5th_dimension/artistprofile.htm The 5th Dimension] at [http://www.wlatalent.com Wenig-LaMonica Associates]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20021014234654/http://ubl.artistdirect.com/music/artist/card/0,,394958,00.html Ultimate Band List page]
* [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0173613 The 5th Dimension Traveling Sunshine Show (1971)]

{{The 5th Dimension|state=expanded}}
{{Grammy Award for Record of the Year}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:5th Dimension, The}}
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