Customer Reviews

Up Up & Away

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

With the help of Johnny Rivers, the 5D cut their debut album with Soul City records some 35 years ago. Though 5D started as an R&B vocal act, they were passed over by Motown Records, which at the time was the only major label to host this type of material with a measure of success. Rivers' guidance wasn't flawless, and his desire to turn the group into a vocal powerhouse hit a few snags.

This album bears witness to the triumphs and misfires of Rivers' influence on the group. The almost accidental inclusion of Jimmy Webbs' original songs were by no means a calculated choice...after all, there were two other single releases from this album before "Up Up and Away" made history for 5D.

The material on this album is fairly standard Pop/Soul Fare by today's standards, but the sound (vocal and instrumental) is an oddball concoction that takes a little time to sink in with listeners. A few of the song covers bring almost inspirational performances out of this group of (then) unknowns: "Go Where You Wanna Go" gets a soul-intensive vocal workout that the Mamas and the Papas were simply incapable of achieving; Rivers' own "Poor Side of Town" is treated to a gorgeous (nearly a capella) performance that simply blows away Johnny's twangy/nasal original.

Though there are a few middling performances on this record, it's refreshing to be able to HEAR the enthusiasm that members of the 5D felt, and you CAN hear it. Solo highlights include Marilyn on "Never Gonna Be The Same," and Billy on "Misty Roses" and "Rosecrans Blvd." And buried on side two is a classic performance ("Learn How To Fly") that should have earned 5D another gold single.

The bonus tracks on this disc pre-date "Up Up...", and if you're familiar with "I'll Be Loving You..." from 5D's Definitive Collection, you'll be amply prepared for the other two R&B raveups that appear on this CD. They are solid, likeable tracks, but nothing exceptional in the musical field for that period.

-Mic

The only Fifth Dimension albums that stand up consistently are this one and the Magic Garden. The magic ingredient is Jimmy Webb - otherwise they stray too far into bland MOR. Not all the songs are by JW but the arrangements take up all the tracks to a very high standard.
The ultimate highlight, apart from the obvious ones like "Up Up and Away" and "Go where you wanna go", has got to be "Rosecrans Boulevard". I venture to suggest that it is one of the best of JW's songs. I have found it circling in my mind over and over as I tried to grasp its intoxicating totality.

The fifth's debut album is wonderful. Full of great pop tunes and the fifth's wonderful harmonies. Billy Davis Jr. and Marilyn McCoo have terrific voices. This can be evidenced on "Misty Rose", "California my Way" "Never be the Same." Though they were grouped to sound like the Black Mama'a and Papa's they have a distinctive sound all there own. Interestingly my cat chills out to this album and that's all the recommendation I need that this is a great album.

This unlikely mixture of an unknown black group (the 5th Dimension), a well-known but tragically unhip young white producer (Johnny Rivers) and an even younger songwriter/arranger/conducter of amazing ability (Jimmy Webb) confounded all expectations when first released in 1967, and has aged far better than contemporary "Summer of Love" drivel.

It is only in retrospect, in fact, that "Up, Up and Away" emerges as that most elusive of beasts, the listenable song cycle. Webb and, certainly, Rivers, were both influenced by the majesty of Brian Wilson's "Pet Sounds", released a year before, when the 5D were getting their start on Rivers' Soul City label as the Versatiles.

This CD, in addition to remastering the original album tracks, also includes three Versatiles tracks, useful both for compulsive completists and for the startling contrast Webb's arrangements made to the group's sound. The uncredited orchestra provides magnificent, lush underpinnings to Webb's anomic ballads, adding to the propulsive beat provided by crack LA studio hands like drummer Hal Blaine and guitarist Tommy Tedesco.

The title track showcases a silky smooth vocal effort gliding over a Wall of Sound to rival Phil Spector's. The gears quickly shift with the Sloan/Barri composition "Another Day, Another Heartache", preceded by the first of a series of between-tracks "Eastern (Pet?) Sounds" doodled on a bouzouki by guitarist Al Casey.

The contrast between the unbounded optimism of the first track and the wearily stoic second continues with Webb's haunting "Which Way to Nowhere", the first real showcase for Billy Davis Jr.'s evocative tenor. Track 4, the grittily optimistic "California My Way", somehow missed becoming the anthem of that state's newly-arrived residents, drawn from all over America by the promise of fun and sun -- promises the 5D sound as though they're not buying, but are intent on checking out nonetheless.

The fifth track, Tim Hardin's achingly lovely "Misty Roses", sets the theme for the rest of the disc -- Southern California's promise, and its beauty, may enchant and entice drifters from other states, but are no more substantial than flowers made of smoke.

This way, the album seems to hint, lies cynicism ("Pattern People"), heartbreak ("Learn How to Fly"), and even madness ("Rosecrans Blvd.")

If there is redemption to be found in lotus land, it is the redemption offered by those left behind -- as Rivers' feeble attempt at blue-eyed soul, "Poor Side of Town", is magically transformed into the real thing by the luscious choral harmonies of the 5D.

The Grammies were responsible for some major howlers in the '60s (the Lettermen always seemed more likely to win Best Group than, say, the Beatles), but in 1968 the Academy got things right -- "Up, Up and Away" won five awards for the 5D and Webb.

I'm just grateful technology has brought this pop soul masterpiece back for good.

...the Buddah/Arista/BMG remasters. One can definitely hear the brilliant act the 5th D were developing in the opening stages of their career. All were talented singers in their own right--Flo, Marilyn, Ron and Billy could have easily had solo careers, but the sum of the individual parts were simply stunning vocalising. This is the 5th D's first, top selling, number one album during the so-called Summer of Love... One thing I've noticed is the irony of "Up, up and Away" and it's optimistic hearts in love against the lost, searching, restless and sad hearts of a number of tunes on the album--particularly "Which Way To Nowhere", "California My Way" "Rosecrans Blvd." The drama in Billy Davis's voice in "Which Way..." is simply heartbreaking. "Pattern People" with that intricate vocal weaving--is an emotional mix of lies, damn excuses and accusations, lovers angrily fighting to only get to the making up lovesessions, to fight again, to get to...The Summer of Love was as complex as any other season, it seems...The beautiful arrangement of "Poor Side of Town" should not be missed, period! The acapella is awesome. Anyway, overall, I am glad this is finally in CD, 'cause I've always loved the 5th...I can't wait to get the Buddah CDs of "Stoned Soul.." "The Age of Aquarius" and "Portrait"..I would be in California Soul heaven!

This is where it all started. The album and the song that catapulted the careers of Lamont, Florence, Ron, Marilyn, & Billy, collectively known as the 5th Dimension.

The album, produced by Johnny Rivers introduced the group as somewhat of a soul music answer to the Mamas and the Papas, mixing the 5-part vocal harmony to catchy pop oriented music. For the most part it worked, however, as good as the group sounded even at the beginning, the album's initial singles, "Go Where You Wanna Go" (a cover of the hit single by the Mamas & the Papas) and "Another Day, Another Heartache", both noteworthy in their own right, really didn't receive much notice upon their initial releases. This all changed when the world got hold of their third single "Up Up and Away", this is when the 5D became more or less a household name well deserving of the praise they would receive.

Some key moments in the album tracks are the songs "California My Way", Pattern People", "Learn How To Fly" and the Marilyn McCoo solo (and one of my personal favorites) "Never Gonna Be The Same". This CD re-issue contains the early Motown-flavored 5D single "I'll Be Loving You Forever", as well as the tracks "Train Keep on Moving" and "Too Poor To Die"

Maybe The 5th Dimension just isn't to my taste, since I consistently find their regular albums disappointing, including this one. I've always liked the positive, inspiring, fresh feeling of this album's hit "Up, Up And Away," but the remaining songs on this album are generally quite negative. The song titles alone hint at this: "Another Day, Another Heartache," "Which Way To Nowhere," "Never Gonna Be The Same," "Poor Side Of Town," "Too Poor To Die." The worst is probably "Rosecrans Blvd.," where the singer admits he used a woman numerous times and then expects the listener feel sorry for his resulting loneliness. That theme still might fly if it weren't for the horrible lack of song regularity, changing tempo, *and* changing meter, which makes it all sound improvised. Too bad. I used to live in San Diego and knew Rosecrans Blvd. well, and would have liked it immortalized in a presentable way. The slowed-down version of Johnny Rivers' "Poor Side Of Town" here is worse than Rivers' original version, since it discards the catchy signature lick and slows it down to the point of near unrecognizability. Some good points: "California My Way" is active and positive, as is the title song, and "Too Poor To Die" is semi-humorous. Other than that, it might be better to get their greatest hits album instead. Except that it lacks some of their best songs like "California Soul"... I guess you just can't win.