Celebrating our 18th Year! A TRIBUTE TO THE MULTI-GRAMMY WINNING LEGENDARY STARS of THE ORIGINAL 5TH DIMENSION, Curated by Biographer, Robert-Allan Arno ~~ History & Current Events, Exclusive Quotes & Interviews, Rare Photo Collection! Recommended by McCoo/Davis, LaRue & McLemore!
The 5th Dimension‘s recording of “The Declaration” reverberates on many levels–to special fans and the group members, themselves–all these years later. The put-to-music version of the preamble to The Declaration of Independence was brought to producer Bones Howe from the play, “Bread, Beans and Things” by the members of the quintet. It was Howe who had the panoramic view to make it part of “The Independence Medley” (combined with “A Change is Gonna Come,” and “People Gotta be Free”) that began side 2 of the statement-making PORTRAIT album.
Simply stated for this 4th of July weekend in 2025, please watch The 5th Dimension’s emotional performance of “The Declaration” with “People Gotta be Free”–a historic one. May it bring a moment of reflection, remembrance, and the feeling of convicted joy in taking action–in our unique ways–in making today’s world a better place. —Robert-Allan Arno
Forever 5th Dimension by Arno, a production of The Soul of The Voice, Ltd., copyright 2008-2025, intellectual property, all rights reserved.
#Summer5thFun Let’s go “strollin’ on the boardwalk, on a hot summer day at the shore, by the sea” with “On the Beach (In the Summertime)”…a fan fave by The 5th Dimension. Released as a single-only by Bell Records, thinking it was time to move on from the PORTRAIT album, the late Ron Townson reported to us, during the time of The Original 5th Dimension reunion tour, “I really liked this song (which Townson begins singing with, ‘On the beach, where the happenings are flowing,” in double voice) but it wasn’t released during the summer, when it should have been!” Producer Bones Howe commented to FOREVER 5th DIMENSION, “Even though it was released during the wrong season and is rather obscure, it stands as a quintessential summer song by The 5th. And then we realized PORTRAIT still had legs when ‘One Less Bell” became a delayed, break-out mega hit!”
Enjoy “On the Beach (In the Summertime),” re-mastered as a bonus cut for the PORTRAIT album re-issue, here:
Forever 5th Dimension by Robert-Allan Arno, a production of The Soul of The Voice, Ltd., copyright 2008-2022, intellectual property, all rights reserved)
“It was our form of a protest record,” declares Marilyn McCoo about the seminal album, “The 5th Dimension/Portrait,” alluding specifically to side 2 featuring “Save the Country” by Laura Nyro and then the Independence Medley: “The Declaration/A Change is Gonna Come/People Gotta be Free.” Concerning his timeless watershed moment delivering Sam Cook‘s “People Gotta Be Free,” Billy Davis, Jr. shared with Forever 5th Dimension, “That’s not me, it’s God working through me!” In his memoir, LaMonte McLemore notes he was particularly intrigued with artist Leroy Neiman attending the sessions, sketching The 5th Dimension in the recording studio…his etchings found in the album’s fold-out. Of course, Neiman’s “portrait” is famously featured on the cover. About Florence LaRue‘s tour-de-force, “This is Your Life” by Jimmy Webb, the tunesmith shared, “That was a good song for Florence.” Other notable cuts included Neil Sedaka‘s “Puppet Man,” a personal favorite of producer Bones Howe. Also, the jazzy scat of “Dimension 5ive,” Mac’s penning of “A Love Like Ours,” and Billy rocking out on “Feelin’ Alright?” The ubiquitous for-the-time, stellar musicians known as TheWrecking Crew have the following to share on Portrait’s anniversary week, noting that “One Less Bell to Answer” by Bacharach/David saved the day for the album, bringing a huge classic hit for The 5th Dimension with the torchy Ms. McCoo in the lead:
This week in April of 1970, the LP “Portrait” by The 5th Dimension was released on Bell Records. It was produced by Bones Howe.
The album stayed in the mid-60s on the Billboard Top 200 Album Charts after the release of its first three singles, none of which entered the Top 20 of the American pop music charts. Bell Records, hoping to see a return on the investment they made by signing The 5th Dimension after the group’s contract at Soul City Records ended, made a fourth and final attempt at a hit – a relatively uncommon practice at the time – with the release of Burt Bacharach and Hal David‘s “One Less Bell to Answer”. The single rose all the way to #2 by Christmas 1970, becoming one of the group’s greatest hits of all time.
The album was recorded at Wally Heider Recording in Hollywood August 22, 1969-March 20, 1970.
FOREVER 5TH DIMENSION 
You must be logged in to post a comment.