Notes
2016 three CD collection. A 50th anniversary celebration calls for some champagne... champagne soul, that is! Back in 1966, Billy Davis, Jr., Florence LaRue, Marilyn McCoo, Lamonte McLemore, and Ron Townson first started making beautiful music together, and the world of pop music has never been the same. Now, in 2016, 50 years later, Real Gone Music is proud to present the most comprehensive 5th Dimension collection ever compiled, a set containing their complete singles for the Soul City and Bell labels (plus their first single on the Bronco label as The Versatiles and their lone single release for Arista), 61 tracks of swinging, soulful harmonies, brilliant arrangements, ground-breaking production, and some of the best songwriting to come out of the '60s and '70s. This set-which is housed inside a sumptuous, 8-panel digipak mini-album featuring rare photos-not only includes 30 Pop and 15 R&B hits, all in their hard-to-find, mono mixes (only the last four tracks on the set are in stereo), featuring such legendary recordings as "Up-Up and Away, " "Stoned Soul Picnic, " "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In, " "Wedding Bell Blues, " "One Less Bell to Answer, " "(Last Night) I Didn't Get to Sleep at All, " and "If I Could Reach You, " but also some rare, non-LP single sides and single edits, nearly all making their CD debuts here! With production by the great Bones Howe, vocal arrangements by Bob Alcivar, and the instrumental accompaniment of the famed Wrecking Crew, the confluence of talent on these sides is simply staggering. And, of course, The 5th Dimension brought the songwriting genius of Laura Nyro and Jimmy Webb to the masses; their collaborations with Webb in particular remain among the pinnacles of '60s pop. Remastered by Mark Wilder at Battery Studios, and with notes by Paul Grein featuring quotes from all four living members (Billy Davis, Jr., Marilyn McCoo, Florence LaRue and Lamonte McLemore) that trace the historic arc of the group, The Complete Soul City/Bell Singles 1966-1975 isn't just the definitive look at The 5th Dimension; it's a collection that defines the whole sunshine pop genre.
