A 5th Dimension Box Delivers Hits Galore & Hidden Treasures: Review

The 5th Dimension’s Let the Sunshine In: The Soul City & Bell Albums 1967-1974 comes via Cherry Red Records.

The 5th Dimension’s original lineup has been compared to the Mamas and the Papas, whose songs they occasionally covered. Both were vocal groups, both featured male and female singers, both achieved major commercial success, and their heydays overlapped.

But important differences explain why the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted the Mamas and the Papas in 1998 while the 5th Dimension (whose founding lineup lasted until 1975) has never even been nominated. The Mamas and the Papas had strong countercultural ties and a great songwriter in John Phillips, and their music contained elements of folk and rock. The 5th Dimension, on the other hand, relied on outside writers for their hits, often featured brassy, show-tune-style arrangements and leaned more toward pop and easy listening. Suffice to say that the Mamas and the Papas would never have recorded anything like the 5th Dimension’s “Love Medley,” a wedding of Jackie DeShannon’s sappy “What the World Needs Now Is Love” and a butchered cover of the Beatles’ “All You Need Is Love” that sounds like something from a Broadway production.

Don’t write the group off though. Yes, the original 5th Dimension had significant shortcomings, but there are also two big reasons why they topped Billboard’s pop chart twice in 1969, made the Top 40 an additional 18 times between 1967 and 1973 and won multiple Grammys. First, the group consistently tapped excellent composers, most notably Jimmy Webb and Laura Nyro but also such folks as Harry Nilsson and the team of Burt Bacharach and Hal David. Moreover, all five of their members were fine vocalists.

Casual fans will likely be satisfied with one of the group’s many single-disc anthologies, but anyone who takes a deep dive into the 5th Dimension’s catalog will find that their hits were far from their only high points. The place to go treasure hunting is 2026’s Let the Sunshine In—The Soul City & Bell Albums (1967-1974), a six-CD set that features remastered copies of 10 LPs, plus 25 bonus tracks, including non-album singles and previously unreleased material.\

An accompanying 44-page booklet unfortunately lacks discographic information. However, it does feature an interesting new oral history of the band that incorporates reminiscences from original members and primary lead vocalists Florence LaRue, Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. Also joining in the conversation are others who played a role in the 5th Dimension’s story, such as Bacharach, Webb and singer Johnny Rivers, who signed the group to his Soul City label before they achieved success.

Among the bonus numbers on the CDs are two from the group’s earliest days, when its members billed themselves as the Versatiles, and after listening to the recordings in this box, you might consider that moniker more appropriate than the 5th Dimension. The band tackles everything from Cream’s “Sunshine of Your Love,” Traffic’s “Feelin’ Alright” and Rivers’ “Poor Side of Town” to Bobbie Gentry’s “Ode to Billie Joe,” Tim Hardin’s “Misty Roses” and the Association’s “Never My Love.”

Related: When Frank Sinatra joined the 5th Dimension

The box makes for an occasionally bumpy ride but one with many satisfying waypoints. All of the famous numbers are here, including the two chart-toppers, “Wedding Bell Blues” and the Grammy-winning “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In (The Flesh Failures),” plus “(Last Night) I Didn’t Get to Sleep at All,” “One Less Bell to Answer,” “Up, Up and Away” and “Stoned Soul Picnic.” Also featured is a hits-dominated 80-minute concert set that proves the group could be just as impressive on stage as in the studio.

The June 19, 2026 release, via the Strawberry label of Cherry Red Records, is available in the U.S. here, in Canada here and in the U.K. here.