Soul & Inspiration (The 5th Dimension)

Recently, many albums in The 5th Dimension's catalogue saw release on CD. Now, for those of you who are looking for just one good 5th Dimension package that collects the hits, I would recommend Up-Up and Away: The Definitive Collection. It's a 2-disc set that does an awesome job of collecting the hit singles as well as some key other cuts. I've given this set many a play since I acquired it years ago, and it's an awesome purchase. Do yourself a favor and get it.

My appreciation for the group only grew over the years as I kept returning to the aforementioned set, so when I saw that their albums were appearing on CD, I got excited at the opportunity to dig deeper into their repertoire. The album I selected to purchase is Soul & Inspiration. This album was originally released in 1974. It contains the track "Harlem," which is a song written and originally recorded by Bill Withers. The group had released it as a single, but it failed to make much of an impact. That's a shame, because they do an awesome job with it. Anyway, that tune was one of the major draws to this album for me. Some other familiar songs remade here are "The Best of My Love," which was a #1 hit for The Eagles, and "Soul and Inspiration," better known in its Righteous Brothers version. I had never heard The 5th Dimension's versions of these, but they're very good. I was particularly impressed by the remake of "The Best of My Love." It's amazing just how well this song fits Marilyn McCoo's vocals, especially with the flourishes provided by Florence LaRue's additional vocals.

The other tracks here also make for good listens. In addition to some cool selections from the original album (including the Billy Davis, Jr. vocal tunes "My Song"and "I Don't Know How to Look for Love," and the McCoo-Davis vocal duet single (with wonderful group harmonies as well) "No Love in the Room," which is also present on the Up-Up and Away set), there are many bonus tracks included. These include a couple more good remakes (Three Dog Night's "Out in the Country" and a masterful vocal by Ron Townson on "Love Story.") Also included is an alternate version to the album track "Somebody Warm Like Me." The one that ended up on the album has lead vocals supplied by Billy Davis, Jr. While his version is good, the alternate one, which has McCoo doing vocals, is absolutely stunning. Billy Davis, Jr. turns in an outstanding performance on one of the other bonus tracks, "Rusty Hands of Time."

As an additional perk, Gene Sculatti's liner notes are concise but effective, leaving one with a fairly good picture of the state of the group at the time this album was released and a bit of commentary about the tracks, including some quotes from personnel involved on the album.

To summarize, I'm very happy with this purchase overall and would recommend it. It makes a great supplement to any 5th Dimension collection.

Tracks:
1. Soul & Inspiration
2. Harlem
3. The Best of My Love
4. My Song
5. Hard Core Poetry
6. No Love in the Room
7. House for Sale
8. Somebody Warm Like Me
9. Salty Years
10. I Don't Know How to Look for Love (all following this track are bonus cuts)
11. As Long As There's an Apple Tree
12. Out in the Country
13. Rusty Hands of Time
14. Somebody Warm Like Me (Marilyn McCoo version)
15. Love Story
16. Back Together