June | 2016 | FOREVER 5TH DIMENSION

It’s The 5th Dimension as The Versatiles!

Dateline June 26–We’re honoring the birthday of Billy Davis, Jr. with a rare landmark recording, as featured in this YouTube for FOREVER 5th DIMENSION. According to group founder LaMonte McLemore, “Everyone thinks we started in ’67 because of ‘Up-Up and Away,’ but I formed the group in late ’65.” LaMonte, Billy, along with Marilyn McCoo, Florence LaRue, and Ron Townson were known as The Versatiles then, before manager Marc Gordon convinced them to go find a hipper moniker. This tune, “You’re Good Enough for Me” was the A-side of The Versatile’s only single on Bronco Records (produced and co-written in ’65 by Gordon). And it’s notable that the quintet had initial interest in recording for Motown, for surely this production had that company’s flavor. McLemore adds, “It’s good we didn’t go with Motown and that Marc got us connected with Johnny Rivers’s Soul City Records and the music of Jimmy Webb…our eventual sound wound up un-matched!” True, yet this single side is quite unique, too, as it brings us the roots of The 5th Dimension and one of Mr. Billy Davis, Jr.’s earliest leads.

RARE ED SULLIVAN

For his birthday, the fans at FOREVER 5th DIMENSION have been celebrating Billy’s many memorable solos with “The 5th”: The still-timely tour-de-force, “A Change is Gonna Come,” the sweet-Soul of “Summer’s Daughter” and “Misty Roses,” the inspirational “Leave A Little Room,” and the raucous romp of recovery in “Feelin’ Alright.” Along with the passion of “Requiem: 820 Latham,” “Let It Be Me,” and “The Worst that Could Happen,” Billy Davis Jr’s musical exploits bring out equally-impassioned sentiments from fans old and new. It’s no wonder luminaries like the aforementioned Webb, the late Maurice White and Gerald Levert of Earth, Wind & Fire and The O’Jay’s, respectively, and former band-mates McLemore and LaRue have labeled him one of our greatest Soul singers. Most certainly, his wife of soon-to-be 47 years, the ever-lovely Ms. McCoo warmly and pridefully concurs.

Gentleman of Soul

As The Original 5th Dimension’s biographer, I dub Billy Davis, Jr. our Gentleman of Soul. As we wish him a blessed birthday with this early gem, it’s remarkable that this may not have exactly foreshadowed the perfect jewels to come, but was a charming start, one The 5th eventually would have fun “spoofing” in concert and on TV (The Flip Wilson Show). Today, on the occasion of Mr. Davis’s birthday, we can look back on “You’re Good Enough for Me” with a smile, a finger-snap and a strut in our step. —Robert-Allan Arno

Special thanks to Paul Corley–this rare single is from his exclusive collection.

More thanks to the special fans, and to the stars: Billy, Marilyn, Florence and LaMonte. Also to Sterling Winters.

Photos: The Arno 5th Legacy Collection, DeniseRose Torres and Getty Images

LaMonte McLemore’s hit memoir, “From Hobo Flats to The 5th Dimension” is available at: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0692307362

Visit Marilyn McCoo & Billy Davis, Jr. at http://www.mccoodavis.com

Visit Florence LaRue and The 5th Dimension, today at: http://the5thdimensionlive.com/

Robert-Allan Arno is at: http://www.about.me/robertallanarno

Billy, Robert, Marilyn, June 2016

Review–Marilyn McCoo & Billy Davis, Jr. in “Up, Up and Away, a Musical Fable,” Theater at Westbury, Long Island, June 9, 2016

by Robert-Allan Arno

This is the type of “review” which can be deemed as subjective and objective. Not only am I the biographer of The Original 5th Dimension and its founder, LaMonte McLemore, but the Theater at Westbury, once known as Westbury Music Fair, was sacred home for the many times I had seen the original quintet perform while I grew up on Long Island. And so as the evening’s overture played, I sighed, “Now, this is full-circle!” then wondered quickly, “Has the beautiful balloon finally landed?” About the latter, no possible way. If anything, it soars higher than ever. Marilyn McCoo remains as gorgeous as her legendary octaves do; Billy Davis, Jr. is our true Gentleman of Soul. Their Broadway-like presentation, “Up, Up and Away, A Musical Fable” (which I keep accidentally calling “a musical fantasy!”) is a revelation even for someone like myself. And by the way, “fantasy” fits this bill–you have to keep pinching yourself that what you’re seeing and hearing is a reality. That McCoo-Davis individually collective sound, the moves, the back-up singers, the top-flight band (led by Darrell Alston) are all so exquisitely pristine yet astute that we get to see the movies of our minds…live!

From the first strains of their signature “Up-Up and Away” to the last of “Let the Sunshine In” and its “Aquarius” mash-up mate, we’re taken on one heart-tugging, joyful and exhilarating ride. Marilyn and Billy commence with a “Where or When” sampler through everything from Billy’s Blues roots, Marilyn’s torch inclinations, “Solid Gold” days, “Showboat” and “Dreamgirls,” in a way that’s seamlessly autobiographical. It’s clear that both McCoo and Davis were virtual child prodigies who made their dreams including Broadway stints and TV series, come true. “You Don’t Have to be a Star,” baby, but MarBill make us feel like special revelers invited to their party as they keep intensifying their show, bringing us in with their scripted and seemingly off-the-cuff patter. The hits just keep coming, and many in the audience were singing along, hooting n’ hollering, and getting down with “Stoned Soul/Sweet Blindness” unadulterated fun, “Last Night I Didn’t Get to Sleep” smooth grooves, “Wedding Bell Blues” flirty moves, and “Save the Country” verve.

How can Marilyn’s “Never My Love” surpass that famed moment from “The 5th Dimension–Live” album? She made it happen and it stopped the show with a protracted standing O. How can Billy’s “The Worst that Could Happen” redefine what was already so full-throttle? He sure did, stopping the show again with another grand ovation. And then there’s “MacArthur Park.” As we immediately recall the beloved Ron Townson’s in-concert lead, Billy graciously does so too, singing in his deeper tones, diction emphatic…we behold the measure of a man who gives homage by inhabiting a song, finding its richest subtext. Of course, so does La McCoo who offers the Jimmy Webb masterpiece her intricately syncopated back-ups in solidarity, along with three talented singers (Cydney Davis, Cynthia Bass and choreographer as well, Andre Carthen). Breathtaking is their take on the cake…in the rain, as a “fade to black” gives us a chance to catch our breath during intermission.

A Beatles medley opens the second act with so many twists and turns to “musically stretch out,” I will leave it as a surprise when you get to see this production. And speaking of “The Fab 4,” did you know The 5th Dimension was sometimes known as “The Black Beatles?” According to group founder McLemore, “Like the Beatles, all our fans–regardless of race–knew both the first and last names of each of the original members of The 5th Dimension.” Furthermore, this McCoo-Davis 2016 retrospective on “The Fab 5,” in no way diminishes Ms. LaRue and The current 5th Dimension, for Florence as well as LaMonte and Ron are mentioned warmly and seen on-screen via select photos, throughout the show. Indeed, The 5th Dimension remains family. It should be noted that Ms. McCoo, Mr. Davis and their seminal quintet became leading pop cultural figures by example. As such, their harmonious sound and image united diverse people during the turbulent times of the late ’60’s and early ’70’s. Just like The Mills Brothers, Lena Horne, Nat King Cole and Johnny Mathis before them, they did it with class yet were in a class by themselves. And when The 5th had to make a stand-out political point, they did it with the same spirit of finesse we always expected. Case in point, The Independence Medley from the historic “Portrait” album. Guess what? Marilyn and Billy re-purpose it today, in a way that gives thought to our country’s still-troubling Civil Rights condition and revisits their own recorded glory.

Ms. McCoo sings “Blackbird” (photo courtesy Miguel de Leon)

When Ms. McCoo steps forward to emote “Blackbird,” it seems no longer part of the aforementioned Beatles medley, in fact, once she concludes, it becomes indelible as a prelude to the “on the record” Independence Medley. Moreover, Marilyn makes “Blackbird” a soulmate to Billie Holiday’s “Strange Fruit.” Just thinking of McCoo’s watershed interpretation brings tears as it did to many in attendance. Then there’s the familiar “The Declaration,” a tune so many school children utilized to learn the “We hold these truths…that all men are created equal” words to such a revolutionary document. While unfolding, I began experiencing it as foreshadowing Broadway’s current hit “Hamilton”–yes, it’s 5th scholarship at its most hip, as well as the perfect lead-in to Billy’s tour-de-force: “A Change is Gonna Come.”

Here Davis takes us to church as we are powerfully yet poignantly reminded of struggles, losses, gains and the renewing promise of eternal hope. We soon thank God for “People Gotta Be Free” as we clap with Marilyn, Billy and singers in cathartic jubilation…what artistic transference!

Next, Marilyn’s solo signature, “One Less Bell to Answer” becomes a diva aria of Pop-Jazz that raises the roof as only an angel of song can. By the show’s conclusion, we see “The Way We Were” with newfound gratitude, for Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis, Jr.–soon to celebrate a 47th wedding anniversary–have brought us our “fountain of youth” while sharing their very own, timeless musical fable.

Billy Davis, Jr., Robert-Allan Arno, Marilyn McCoo

Visit http://www.mccoodavis.com or the Official Marilyn McCoo & Billy Davis, Jr. page on FB

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Monthly Archives: June 2016

Celebrating Billy’s Birthday with a Rare One!

Marilyn & Billy Bring An Irresistible Musical Fable

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