Fifth Dimension (album)
Fifth Dimension | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | July 18, 1966 | |||
Recorded | January 24 – May 25, 1966 | |||
Studio | Columbia, Hollywood | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 29:59 | |||
Label | Columbia | |||
Producer | Allen Stanton | |||
The Byrds chronology | ||||
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Singles from Fifth Dimension | ||||
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Fifth Dimension is the third album by the American rock band the Byrds and was released in July 1966 on Columbia Records.[1][2] Most of the album was recorded following the February 1966 departure of the band's principal songwriter Gene Clark.[3][4] In an attempt to compensate for Clark's absence, guitarists Jim McGuinn and David Crosby increased their songwriting output.[5] In spite of this, the loss of Clark resulted in an album with four cover versions and an instrumental, which critics have described as "wildly uneven" and "awkward and scattered".[2][3] However, it was the first Byrds album not to include any songs written by Bob Dylan, whose material had previously been a mainstay of the band's repertoire.[3]
The album peaked at number 24 on the Billboard Top LPs chart and reached number 27 on the UK Albums Chart.[6][7] Two preceding singles, "Eight Miles High" and "5D (Fifth Dimension)", were included on the album, with the former just missing the Top 10 of the Billboard singles chart.[3][8] Additionally, a third single taken from the album, "Mr. Spaceman", managed to reach the U.S. Top 40.[8] Upon release, Fifth Dimension was widely regarded as the band's most experimental album to date and is today considered by critics to be influential in originating the musical genre of psychedelic rock.[3][5]
Background
On December 22, 1965, shortly after the release of their second album Turn! Turn! Turn!, the Byrds entered RCA Studios in Los Angeles to record "Eight Miles High" and "Why", two new songs that they had recently composed.[9] Both songs represented a creative leap forward for the band and were instrumental in developing the musical styles of psychedelic rock and raga rock.[3][10][11] However, the band ran into trouble with their record company, Columbia Records, who refused to release either song because they had not been recorded at a Columbia-owned studio.[10] As a result, the band were forced to re-record both songs in their entirety at Columbia Studios, Hollywood, and it was these re-recordings that would see release on the "Eight Miles High" single and the Fifth Dimension album.[4][9]
The re-recordings of "Eight Miles High" and "Why" were
Following the re-recording of "Eight Miles High" in January 1966, and just prior to its release as a single in March of that year, the band's principal songwriter, Gene Clark, left the band.[4] At the time, the official story regarding Clark's departure was that his fear of flying was preventing him from fulfilling his obligations with the group.[15] However, it has become known in the years since then that there were other stress related factors at work, as well as resentment within the band that his songwriting income had made him the wealthiest member of the Byrds.[15][16] While the song "Eight Miles High" still featured the full participation of Clark, the remaining ten tracks on the Fifth Dimension album were recorded after he had left the band.[3]
Music
The best known song on the album is the
The album also included the McGuinn-penned songs "5D (Fifth Dimension)" and "Mr. Spaceman", with the latter being an early foray into country rock and a semi-serious meditation on the existence of alien life.[21][22] In spite of its tongue-in-cheek lyrics, both McGuinn and Crosby were serious about the possibility of communicating with extraterrestrial lifeforms via the medium of radio broadcast.[21] McGuinn in particular felt that if the song was played on radio there was a possibility that extraterrestrials might intercept the broadcasts and make contact.[21] However, in later years McGuinn realized that this would've been impossible since AM radio waves disperse too rapidly in space.[5]
"5D (Fifth Dimension)", on the other hand, was an abstract attempt to explain
McGuinn also penned the album's closing track, "2-4-2 Fox Trot (The Lear Jet Song)", which was an attempt to create an aural approximation of a flight in a
One of Crosby's songwriting contributions to the album, "What's Happening?!?!", began his penchant for writing abstract songs asking irresoluble questions—a trend that has continued throughout his career with
Crosby and McGuinn also collaborated on the jazzy "I See You", which represented another example of abstract lyrics coupled with raga-influenced, psychedelic guitar solos.[2][17][22] Author Johnny Rogan has commented that "I See You" was indicative of the Byrds' move away from the darkly-romantic songs of Clark towards material that examined psychological states.[5] The album also includes the instrumental "Captain Soul", a song credited to all four band members that grew out of an in-studio jam of Lee Dorsey's "Get Out of My Life, Woman", and which features Clark playing harmonica.[3][21]
The cover versions on Fifth Dimension include the
Another cover version on the album, "I Come and Stand at Every Door", has been called the most macabre song in the Byrds' oeuvre by biographer Johnny Rogan.[21] The song's lyrics, which were adapted from a poem by Nâzım Hikmet, recount the story of a seven-year-old child who was killed in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.[21] The song describes how the child's spirit now walks the earth in search of peace in the nuclear age.[2][21]
The two traditional folk songs included on the album, "John Riley" and "Wild Mountain Thyme", were both introduced to the band by McGuinn, who had learned them via recordings made by Joan Baez and Pete Seeger respectively.[5] Writing for the AllMusic website, critic Richie Unterberger regarded both "John Riley" and "Wild Mountain Thyme" as "immaculate folk rock", praising the arrangements.[2]
Release and legacy
Fifth Dimension was released on July 18, 1966 in the United States (catalogue item CL 2549 in mono, CS 9349 in stereo) and September 22, 1966 in the UK (catalogue item BPG 62783 in mono, SBPG 62783 in stereo).[1] It peaked at number 24 on the Billboard Top LPs chart, during a chart stay of 28 weeks, and reached number 27 in the United Kingdom.[6][7] The album's front cover featured a photograph taken by the graphic design company Horn/Griner and also featured the first appearance of the Byrds' colorful psychedelic mosaic logo.[22][26]
The preceding "Eight Miles High" single was released on March 14, 1966 in the U.S., and April 29, 1966 in the UK, reaching number 14 on the
Contemporary reception
Upon its release, contemporary critical reaction to Fifth Dimension was somewhat tepid, although Hit Parader described it as "the third and best album from the Byrds".[26] The Hit Parader review also made reference to the recent controversy surrounding the album's two preceding singles by suggesting, "If your friendly neighborhood radio station banned 'Eight Miles High' and '5D' you can listen to them here and discover that there's nothing suggestive about them. The only danger in this album is that it might addict you to groovy music."[26]
Journalist
Modern reception
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [28] |
Entertainment Weekly | B[27] |
Melody Maker | "Recommended"[27] |
MusicHound | 3/5[29] |
NME | 8/10[27] |
Q | [27] |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [30] |
In more recent years, Richie Unterberger, writing for the AllMusic website, has described Fifth Dimension as "wildly uneven", noting that the album's short-comings prevent it "from attaining truly classic status".[2] Despite its inconsistency, Fifth Dimension is today regarded as a highly influential, albeit transitional, album that is musically more experimental than the band's previous recorded output.[3][5] A reviewer for Entertainment Weekly wrote in 1996 that "time hasn't enhanced the group's forays into psychedelia", yet the album contains "enough keepers to make you forgive their occasional tendency to fly into walls".[27] That same year, the NME described it as "faultless" and a work that "heralds a newly psychedelic Byrds hung up on the archetypal acid-fixation with the unknown".[27]
Barney Hoskyns of Mojo magazine was less impressed and deemed Fifth Dimension to be a "breakthrough" work, but also one that "can't quite decide what sort of album it is". Hoskins elaborated: "Torn between the past and the future, it picks randomly from a smorgasbord of country rock ('Mr. Spaceman'), garage punk ('Hey Joe'), instrumental R&B ('Captain Soul'), folk standards ('Wild Mountain Thyme', the lovely 'John Riley'), and rallying calls to the emerging hippy youth ('What's Happening?!?!'). 'Patchy' isn't close to describing it."[31] In 2004, Rolling Stone called it "the Byrds' most underrated album" and especially admired "Eight Miles High" as "the band's highest of highs, blending Coltrane-influenced 12-string squiggles with eerie harmonies for a truly hypnotic sound".[30]
Author Christopher Hjort has commented that Fifth Dimension can be seen as a testament to the rapidity with which pop music was evolving during the mid-1960s.[26] Like its predecessor, Turn! Turn! Turn!, the album was made under trying circumstances, with the band scrambling to compensate for the loss of their main songwriter in the wake of Clark's departure.[3][26] This resulted in an uneven album that included a total of four cover versions and an instrumental.[2] However, Fifth Dimension actually contained fewer covers than either of their Clark-era albums, as well as an absence of songs by Bob Dylan, whose material, along with Clark's, had dominated earlier Byrds releases.[26]
In his 2003 book Eight Miles High: Folk-Rock's Flight from Haight-Ashbury to Woodstock, Unterberger regards the album as a pivotal moment in establishing the Byrds' status within the emerging counterculture.[32] The author goes on to say that the album is a continuation of their folk rock sound, but clearly establishes the break away from "folk-rock into folk-rock-psychedelia".[32] He also notes the album's influence on the Byrds' contemporaries.[32]
The album was included in Robert Dimery's book
CD reissues and Another Dimension
Fifth Dimension was remastered at 20-
On April 26, 2005, Sundazed Records issued a compilation of outtakes from the Fifth Dimension recording sessions, titled Another Dimension.[38]
Track listing
Side one
- "traditional, arranged Jim McGuinn, Chris Hillman, Michael Clarke, David Crosby) – 2:30) – 3:03
- "Mr. Spaceman" (Jim McGuinn) – 2:09
- "I See You" (Jim McGuinn, David Crosby) – 2:38
- "What's Happening?!?!" (David Crosby) – 2:35
- "I Come and Stand at Every Door" (Nâzım Hikmet
Side two
- "Eight Miles High" (Gene Clark, Jim McGuinn, David Crosby) – 3:34
- "Hey Joe (Where You Gonna Go)" (Billy Roberts) – 2:17
- "Captain Soul" (Jim McGuinn, Chris Hillman, Michael Clarke, David Crosby) – 2:53
- "John Riley" (traditional, arranged Jim McGuinn, Chris Hillman, Michael Clarke, David Crosby) – 2:57
- "2-4-2 Fox Trot (The Lear Jet Song)" (Jim McGuinn) – 2:12
1996 CD reissue bonus tracks
- "Why" [Single Version] (Jim McGuinn, David Crosby) – 2:59
- "I Know My Rider (I Know You Rider)" (traditional, arranged Jim McGuinn, Gene Clark, David Crosby) – 2:43
- "Psychodrama City" (David Crosby) – 3:23
- "Eight Miles High" [Alternate RCA Version] (Gene Clark, Jim McGuinn, David Crosby) – 3:19
- "Why" [Alternate RCA Version] (Jim McGuinn, David Crosby) – 2:40
- "John Riley" [Instrumental] (traditional, arranged Jim McGuinn, Chris Hillman, Michael Clarke, David Crosby) – 16:53
Notes
- The album erroneously credits "John Riley" to Bob Gibson and Ricky Neff.[24]
- The instrumental version of "John Riley" ends at 3:10; at 3:20 begins "Byrds Promotional Radio Interview"
Personnel
Adapted from So You Want To Be A Rock 'n' Roll Star: The Byrds Day-By-Day (1965-1973) and the compact disc liner notes.[3][4][21][24][26]
Credits include bonus tracks on CD and digital releases of the album.
The Byrds
- Jim McGuinn – lead guitar, vocals
- David Crosby – rhythm guitar, vocals
- Chris Hillman – electric bass, vocals
- Michael Clarke – drums
- Gene Clark – vocals, tambourine (on "Eight Miles High" and "Why" [both single and alternate RCA versions]); harmonica (on "Captain Soul")
Additional personnel
- Van Dyke Parks – organ (on "5D (Fifth Dimension)")
- Allen Stanton – string section arrangement (on "Wild Mountain Thyme" and "John Riley")
Release history
Date | Label | Format | Country | Catalog | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
July 18, 1966 | Columbia | LP
|
US | CL 2549 | Original mono release. |
CS 9349 | Original stereo release.
| ||||
September 22, 1966 | CBS | LP | UK | BPG 62783 | Original mono release. |
SBPG 62783 | Original stereo release. | ||||
1989 | Columbia | CD
|
US | CK 9349 | Original CD release. |
1991 | BGO | LP | UK | BGOLP 106 | |
1991 | BGO | CD | UK | BGOCD 106 | |
1993 | Columbia | CD | UK | COL 567069 | |
April 30, 1996 | Columbia/Legacy | CD | US | CK 64847 | Reissue containing six bonus tracks and a partially remixed version of the stereo album. |
May 6, 1996 | UK | COL 4837072 | |||
1999 | Sundazed | LP | US | LP 5059 | Reissue of the partially remixed stereo album with two bonus tracks. |
1999 | Simply Vinyl | LP | UK | SVLP 0047 | Reissue of the partially remixed stereo album. |
2003 | Sony
|
CD | Japan | MHCP-68 | Reissue containing six bonus tracks and the partially remixed stereo album in a replica LP sleeve. |
2006 | Sundazed | LP | US | LP 5199 | Reissue of the original mono release. |
Remix information
Fifth Dimension was one of four Byrds albums that were remixed as part of their re-release on Columbia/Legacy.[36] However, unlike Mr. Tambourine Man and Turn! Turn! Turn!, which were remixed extensively, only a third of Fifth Dimension was remixed, although it is unknown exactly which tracks received this treatment.[36] The reason for these remixes was explained by Bob Irwin (who produced these re-issues for compact disc) during an interview:
The first four Byrds albums had sold so well, and the master tapes used so much that they were at least two, if not three generations down from the original. In most cases, a first-generation master no longer existed. They were basically played to death; they were worn out, there was nothing left of them.[39]
He further stated:
Each album is taken from the original multi-tracks, where they exist, which is in 95% of the cases. We remixed them exactly as they were, without taking any liberties, except for the occasional song appearing in stereo for the first time.[39]
Many fans enjoy the partially remixed album because it is very close to the original mix in most cases and offers noticeably better sound quality.[36]
References
- ^ ISBN 0-9529540-1-X.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Unterberger, Richie. "The Byrds Fifth Dimension". AllMusic. Retrieved 2009-12-12.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Fricke, David. (1996). Fifth Dimension (1996 CD liner notes).
- ^ ISBN 978-1-906002-15-2.
- ^ ISBN 0-9529540-1-X.
- ^ ISBN 0-89820-147-0.
- ^ ISBN 0-7119-7670-8.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-89820-172-7.
- ^ ISBN 0-9529540-1-X.
- ^ ISBN 0-9529540-1-X.
- ISBN 1-55553-319-1.
- ^ ISBN 0-9529540-1-X.
- ^ "Terry Melcher obituary". The Times. London. November 23, 2004. Retrieved 2009-12-12.
- ^ Rogan, Johnny. (1996). Turn! Turn! Turn! (1996 CD liner notes).
- ^ ISBN 0-9529540-1-X.
- ISBN 0-87930-793-5.
- ^ a b "The Byrds Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 2009-12-14.
- ^ ISBN 0-87930-793-5.
- ISBN 978-0-8264-2819-6.
- ISBN 0-9529540-1-X.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Rogan, Johnny. (1996). Fifth Dimension (1996 CD liner notes).
- ^ a b c d "Fifth Dimension". ByrdWatcher: A Field Guide to the Byrds of Los Angeles. Archived from the original on 2009-05-04. Retrieved 2009-12-14.
- ISBN 978-1-906002-15-2.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-906002-15-2.
- ^ Stax, Mike. (1998). Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965–1968 (1998 CD box set liner notes).
- ^ ISBN 978-1-906002-15-2.
- ^ a b c d e f g "The Byrds – Fifth Dimension CD Album" > "Product Reviews". CD Universe/Muze. Retrieved December 23, 2016.
- ISBN 978-0857125958.
- ISBN 1-57859-061-2.
- ^ a b "The Byrds: Album Guide". rollingstone.com. Archived version retrieved December 23, 2016.
- ^ Hoskyns, Barney (June 1996). "The Byrds: Mr Tambourine Man, Turn! Turn! Turn!, Fifth Dimension, Younger Than Yesterday". Mojo. Available at Rock's Backpages (subscription required).
- ^ ISBN 0-87930-743-9.
- ISBN 9780789320896.
- ISBN 0-7535-0493-6.
- ^ Keenan, David. "The Best Albums Ever...Honest (archived)". Sunday Herald. Archived from the original on 2006-01-12.
- ^ a b c d "The Byrds Remastered Albums 1996 – 2000". Byrds Flyght. Retrieved 2009-09-21.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-906002-15-2.
- ^ "Another Dimension review". AllMusic. Retrieved 2013-09-18.
- ^ a b Irwin, Bob. (March 1996), ICE Magazine #108
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Bibliography
- Rogan, Johnny, The Byrds: Timeless Flight Revisited, Rogan House, 1998, ISBN 0-9529540-1-X
- Hjort, Christopher, So You Want To Be A Rock 'n' Roll Star: The Byrds Day-By-Day (1965-1973), Jawbone Press, 2008, ISBN 1-906002-15-0.
- Einarson, John, Mr. Tambourine Man: The Life and Legacy of the Byrds' Gene Clark, Backbeat Books, ISBN 0-87930-793-5.
External links
- Fifth Dimension (Adobe Flash) at Radio3Net (streamed copy where licensed)