The Age of Aquarius (album)
Encyclopedia
The Age of Aquarius is the fourth album
by American
pop
group The 5th Dimension, released in 1969 (see 1969 in music
).
Additional personnel
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
by American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
group The 5th Dimension, released in 1969 (see 1969 in music
1969 in music
-Events:Perhaps the two most famous musical events of 1969 were concerts. At a Rolling Stones concert in Altamont, California, a fan was stabbed to death by Hells Angels, a biker gang that had been hired to provide security for the event...
).
Track listing
- "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine InAquarius/Let the Sunshine In"Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In" is a medley of two songs written for the 1967 musical Hair by James Rado & Gerome Ragni , and Galt MacDermot , released as a single by The 5th Dimension. The song peaked at number one for six weeks on the U.S...
[The Flesh Failures]" (Galt MacDermotGalt MacDermotGalt MacDermot is a Canadian composer, pianist and writer of musical theatre. He won a Grammy Award for the song African Waltz in 1960. His most successful musicals have been Hair and Two Gentlemen of Verona...
, James Rado, Gerome RagniGerome RagniGerome Bernard Ragni was an American actor, singer and songwriter, best known as the co-author of the groundbreaking 1960s Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical.-Early life:...
) – 4:51 - "Blowing Away" (Laura NyroLaura NyroLaura Nyro was an American songwriter, singer, and pianist. She achieved considerable critical acclaim with her own recordings, particularly the albums Eli and the Thirteenth Confession and New York Tendaberry, and had commercial success with artists such as Barbra Streisand and The 5th...
) – 2:32 - "Skinny Man" (Kollander, Kollander) – 2:51
- "Wedding Bell BluesWedding Bell Blues"Wedding Bell Blues" is a song written and recorded by Laura Nyro in 1966 that became a number one hit for The 5th Dimension in 1969 and subsequently a popular phrase in American culture...
" (Nyro) – 2:44 - "Don't Cha Hear Me Callin' to Ya" (Rudy Stevenson) – 3:56
- "The Hideaway" (Jimmy WebbJimmy WebbJimmy Webb is an American songwriter, composer, and singer. He wrote numerous platinum selling classics, including "Up, Up and Away", "By the Time I Get to Phoenix", "Wichita Lineman", "Galveston", "The Worst That Could Happen", "All I Know", and "MacArthur Park"...
) – 2:45 - "Workin' on a Groovy Thing" (Roger Atkins, Neil SedakaNeil SedakaNeil Sedaka is an American pop/rock singer, pianist, and composer. His career has spanned nearly 55 years, during which time he has sold millions of records as an artist and has written or co-written over 500 songs for himself and other artists, collaborating mostly with lyricists Howard...
) – 3:10 - "Let It Be Me" (Gilbert BécaudGilbert BécaudGilbert Bécaud was a French singer, composer and actor, known as "Monsieur 100,000 Volts" for his energetic performances. His best-known hits are "Nathalie" and "Et Maintenant", a 1961 release that became an English language hit as "What Now My Love"...
, Mann Curtis, Pierre DelanoëPierre DelanoëPierre Delanoë , born Pierre Leroyer, was a French songwriter/lyricist who wrote for dozens of singers such as Edith Piaf, Charles Aznavour, Petula Clark, and Johnny Hallyday....
) – 3:54 - "Sunshine of Your LoveSunshine of Your Love"Sunshine of Your Love" is a 1967 song by the British supergroup Cream. The song was originally released on the album Disraeli Gears in November 1967, and was later released as a single in January 1968. It is Cream's only gold-selling single in the United States. It features a distinctive...
" (Pete BrownPete BrownPeter Ronald Brown is an English performance poet and lyricist.Best known for his collaborations with Jack Bruce, Brown also worked with The Battered Ornaments, formed his own group Pete Brown & Piblokto!, and worked with Graham Bond and Phil Ryan. Brown also writes film scores and formed a film...
, Jack BruceJack BruceJohn Symon Asher "Jack" Bruce is a Scottish musician and songwriter, respected as a founding member of the British psychedelic rock power trio, Cream, for a solo career that spans several decades, and for his participation in several well-known musical ensembles...
, Eric ClaptonEric ClaptonEric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
) – 3:18 - "The Winds of Heaven" (Bob Dorough, Fran Landesman) – 3:14
- "Those Were the DaysThose Were the Days (song)"Those Were the Days" is a song credited to Gene Raskin, who put English lyrics to the Russian song "Dorogoi dlinnoyu" , written by Boris Fomin with words by the poet Konstantin Podrevskii. It deals with reminiscence upon youth and romantic idealism...
" (Gene Raskin) – 3:03 - "The Sunshine in (Reprise)" (MacDermot, Rado, Ragni) – 1:29
- "Chissa Se Tornera Who Knows If He Will Return" (DeSanctis, Salis, Salis) – 3:00
Personnel
- Billy Davis, Jr.Billy Davis, Jr.Billy Davis, Jr. is an American musician, best known as a member of The 5th Dimension. Along with his wife, Marilyn McCoo, he had hit records during 1976 and 1977 with "I Hope We Get to Love in Time", "Your Love", and "You Don't Have to Be a Star "...
- vocals - Florence LaRueFlorence LaRueFlorence LaRue is an American actress, humanitarian, and Grammy award-winning singer. She is best known as the original female lead singer of The 5th Dimension.-Early life:...
- vocals - Marilyn McCooMarilyn McCooMarilyn McCoo is an American singer, actress, and television presenter, who is best known for being the lead female vocalist in the group The 5th Dimension, as well as hosting the 1980s music countdown series Solid Gold...
- vocals - Lamonte McLemore - vocals
- Ron TownsonRon TownsonRonald "Ron" Townson was an American vocalist. He was an original member of The 5th Dimension, a popular vocal group of the late '60s and early '70s....
- vocals
Additional personnel
- Dennis Budimir - guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
- Mike Deasy, Sr. - guitar
- Bill Fulton - guitar
- Tommy TedescoTommy TedescoThomas J. Tedesco was an American master session musician and renowned jazz and bebop guitarist.Tedesco's credits include the iconic brand-burning accompaniment theme from television's Bonanza, The Twilight Zone, Vic Mizzy's iconic theme from Green Acres, M*A*S*H, Batman, and Elvis Presley's '68...
- guitar - Joe OsbornJoe OsbornJoe Osborn is an American bass guitar virtuoso, notable for his work as a session musician in Los Angeles and Nashville during the period from the 1960s through the 1980s. Osborn's work is widely admired by fellow musicians.Osborn began his career working in local clubs, then played on a hit...
- bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Hal BlaineHal BlaineHal Blaine is an American drummer and session musician. He is most known for his work with the Wrecking Crew in California. Blaine played on numerous hits by popular groups, including Elvis Presley, John Denver, the Ronettes, Simon & Garfunkel, the Carpenters, the Beach Boys, Nancy Sinatra, and...
- drumDrumThe drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
s, percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration... - Milt HollandMilt HollandMilt Holland was an American drummer, percussionist, ethnic musicologist, and writer in the Los Angeles music scene who pioneered the use of African, South American, and Indian percussion styles in jazz, pop and film music, traveling extensively on those continents to collect instruments and to...
- percussion - Pete JollyPete JollyPete Jolly was an American West Coast jazz pianist and accordionist....
- keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments... - Larry KnechtelLarry KnechtelLawrence William "Larry" Knechtel was an American keyboard player and bassist, best known for his work as a session musician with such artists as Simon & Garfunkel, Duane Eddy, The Beach Boys, The Mamas & the Papas, The Partridge Family, The Doors, and Elvis Presley, and as a member of the 1970s...
- keyboards - Jimmy RowlesJimmy RowlesJimmy Rowles was an American jazz pianist who was best known as an accompanist. He also released a number of albums under his own name, and explored various idioms including swing and cool jazz. - Biography :Born in Spokane, Washington, Rowles studied at Gonzaga College in Spokane, Washington...
- keyboards - Bones HoweBones HoweDayton Burr "Bones" Howe is a Grammy-award-winning record producer and recording engineer associated with 1960s and 1970s hits, mostly of the sunshine pop genre, including most of the hits of The 5th Dimension and The Association, as well as music supervision of several films...
- sounds
Production
- Producer: Bones HoweBones HoweDayton Burr "Bones" Howe is a Grammy-award-winning record producer and recording engineer associated with 1960s and 1970s hits, mostly of the sunshine pop genre, including most of the hits of The 5th Dimension and The Association, as well as music supervision of several films...
- Engineer: Bones HoweBones HoweDayton Burr "Bones" Howe is a Grammy-award-winning record producer and recording engineer associated with 1960s and 1970s hits, mostly of the sunshine pop genre, including most of the hits of The 5th Dimension and The Association, as well as music supervision of several films...
- Mastering: Elliot Federman
- Digital transfers: Mike Hartry
- Reissue producer: Rob Santos
- Production coordination: Jeremy Holiday
- Production assistant: Ann McClelland, Tom Tierney, Russ Wapensky
- Project coordinator: Arlessa Barnes, Glenn Delgado, Christina DeSimone, Robin Diamond, Karyn Friedland, Felicia Gearhart, Laura Gregory, Robin Manning, Brooke Nochomson, Ed Osborne, Larry Parra, Dana Renert, Bill Stafford, Steve Strauss
- Archives coordinator: Joanne Feltman, Glenn Korman
- Arrangers: Bob AlcivarBob AlcivarBob Alcivar is an American music producer, composer, conductor and keyboard player. He is the father of rock keyboard player Jim Alcivar .-Discography:...
, Bill Holman, Bones Howe - Vocal arrangement: Bob Alcivar
- Art direction: Ron Wolin
- Reissue art director: Mathieu Bitton
- Design: Mathieu Bitton, Ron Wolin
- Photography: Ed Caraeff
- Liner notes: Mike Ragogna
Album
Billboard (North America)Year | Chart | Position |
---|---|---|
1969 | Black Albums | 2 |
1969 | Pop Albums | 2 |
Singles
Billboard (North America)Year | Single | Chart | Position |
---|---|---|---|
1969 | "Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In (The Flesh Failures)" | Black Singles | 6 |
1969 | "Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In (The Flesh Failures)" | Pop Singles | 1 |
1969 | "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In" | Adult Contemporary | 1 |
1969 | "Wedding Bell Blues" | Adult Contemporary | 1 |
1969 | "Wedding Bell Blues" | Black Singles | 23 |
1969 | "Wedding Bell Blues" | Pop Singles | 1 |
1969 | "Workin' On A Groovy Thing" | Black Singles | 15 |
1969 | "Workin' On A Groovy Thing" | Pop Singles | 20 |
1970 | "Blowing Away" | Adult Contemporary | 7 |
1970 | "Blowing Away" | Pop Singles | 21 |
Grammy awards
Year | Winner | Category |
---|---|---|
1969 | "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In" | Other Pop/Rock&Roll/ Contemporary Awards or Instrumental Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Song The Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Song was awarded between 1960 and 1971. The award had several minor name changes:*In 1960 the award was known as Best Performance by a "Top 40" Artist... |
1969 | "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In" | Record Of The Year Grammy Award for Record of the Year The Record of the Year is one of the four most prestigious Grammy Awards presented annually. It has been awarded since 1959.-History:The honorees through its history have been:*1959-1965: Artist only.*1966-1998: Artist and producer.... |