Cratedigger: The 5th Dimension, "The Magic Garden"

There are very few songwriters who have enjoyed careers as storied as Jimmy Webb. For more than 40 years he's been sending songs up the pop charts, creating stars along the way. My own appreciation of Webb began with the Richard Harris recording of Webbs epic “MacArthur Park" in 1968. Its a song that has inspired strong, and not necessarily positive, reactions. There has always been that silly criticism about someone left the cake out in the rain, and all the sweet green icing flowing down, when even a cursory listen reveals the true meaning of the metaphors. And yes, I even enjoyed Harris highly emotive vocal style. So much so that I bought his Webb-produced and written first album A Tramp Shining, as well as their second collaboration, which I regard as a true pop masterpiece, The Yard Went On Forever.

The 5th (not Fifth) Dimension scored their first big hit in 1967 with their version of Webbs “Up, Up, and Away." The single reached #7 on the pop chart, and the album of the same name, which included several other Webb songs, made it all the way to #8. It seemed only natural that when it came time for their second album, the L.A. vocal group would turn to Webb again. What wasnt natural was that instead of building on their success, they took a big chance. It was a gamble that succeeded brilliantly on an artistic level, but it did not come close to the commercial success of Up, Up, and Away.

Instead of following up their success with another group of disparate songs, the 5th Dimension chose to record a lyrical, bittersweet song cycle, written, with one exception, by Webb. It was called The Magic Garden. Word had it that the Association turned down the opportunity to record the album (as they had apparently turned down MacArthur Park). On such decisions the history of popular music turns. Bones Howe was brought in to produce, and Webb himself was on board as arranger and conductor. The session musicians included Wrecking Crew stalwarts Larry Knechtel, Tony Tedesco, Hal Blaine, and Joe Osborne. If The Magic Garden was a gamble, bets were hedged by surrounding the 5th Dimension with an all-star cast. The resulting album was well-named because it was, indeed, magic.