14 | July | 2021 | FOREVER 5TH DIMENSION

FOREVER 5th DIMENSION presents the Top 5 for Summer of 2021 for your listening, reading & viewing pleasure–in no necessary order…they’re all spectacular with kudos to Marilyn McCoo & Billy Davis, Jr., Florence LaRue and LaMonte McLemore. Oh, and don’t forget our exclusive online magazine interview with Marilyn & Billy coming for their 52nd wedding anniversary, the end of July! OK, let’s countdown…or count up “Up and Away!”

Marilyn & Billy‘s latest CD, “Blackbird: Lennon/McCartney Icons” is a statement piece in their recording legacy. Our “MarBill” add their inimitable approach with freshness, and a distinct Civil Rights bent to the music of Lennon/McCartney. Critically, celebrity and fan-acclaimed, available at Amazon here: Blackbird: Lennon-McCartney Icons by Marilyn McCoo & Billy Davis Jr. on Amazon Music – Amazon.com
I just reviewed Florence‘s new book “Grace in Your Second Act– A Guide to Aging Gracefully” (see our previous Forever 5th article) and I am still marveling at the amount of research and anecdotal information our “delightful diva” has compiled. It’s an important self-help & faith-based book with strategies that are practical, revelation-al, and oftentimes cute, poignant and celebrity-inspired. Read it “On the Beach (In the Summertime),” available at Amazon here: Grace in Your Second Act: A Guide to Aging Gracefully: LaRue, Florence, Paschall, Jenny: 9781664227088: Amazon.com: Books
LaMonte‘s hit memoir “From Hobo Flats to The 5th Dimension,” now in its 2nd edition, and something I am so honored to have co-written with Mac, is one hip literary trip. Recommended by Johnny Mathis, Nancy Sinatra, Otis Williams of the Temptations, more, LaMonte talks music history, Black history, and shares the secrets that made The 5th Dimension harmonic unifiers–bringing together generations, races and crossing record chart boundaries. Lots of laughs and celeb anecdotes…as only “Mac” can tell a story! Available at Amazon…another great beach read!: Amazon.com: From Hobo Flats to The 5th Dimension: A Life Fulfilled in Baseball, Photography and Music (9780692307366): McLemore, LaMonte, Arno, Robert-Allan: Books
The Ultimate 5th Dimension CD reviewed as “the best-sounding, best-annotated anthology” of the quintet by All Music Guide is a 21 song overview of The 5th’s recorded hit magic. And yes, I was so proud to compile the tunes with mega-producer Bones Howe for this project and write the extensive liners. Ultimate is a perennial AND back on the charts due to the “5th resurgence” created by “Summer of Soul,” and now at the “nice price,” at Amazon: The 5th Dimension – Ultimate 5th Dimension – Amazon.com Music
Last by not least, “Summer of Soul” is the hit docu-film of the summer! Producer Questlove unearthed countless pristine celluloid hours of African American musical luminaries performing at The Harlem Cultural Festival, circa 1969. Akin to a “Black Woodstock,” Nina Simone, Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight & The Pips, Mahalia Jackson, Sly & The Family Stone, and more took to the stage before hundreds of thousands. The #1 song of the day (and the year for that matter), actually a “mash-up” of “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In” courtesy of Broadway’s HAIR, performed with verve and optimistic joy by a brightly attired The 5^th Dimension (Marilyn McCoo, Florence LaRue, Billy Davis, Jr., Ron Townson and McLemore) is one of the movie’s centerpieces. As biographer of The Original 5^th Dimension and Mr. McLemore, I stated to SoulTracks and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: “To see The 5^th Dimension on the big screen at the apex of their career is thrilling for their many fans, more so it underscores the unexpected power of the group’s unique ebullient flavor.” Be sure to see “Summer of Soul” at a theater near you…or enjoy at home on Hulu! ~~Robert-Allan Arno