 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (August 2019) |
| The Magic Garden | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | December 1967 | |||
| Recorded | July 15 – November 1967 | |||
| Studio | United Western, Los Angeles | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 35:29 | |||
| Label | Soul City Records | |||
| Producer | Bones Howe | |||
| the 5th Dimension chronology | ||||
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| Singles from The Magic Garden | ||||
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| Review scores | |
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| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
The Magic Garden is the second album by the American pop group the 5th Dimension, released in 1967 (see 1967 in music). A concept album, it tells the story of a couple's love and the end of their relationship. In more recent discussions of the album, that love affair is said to be about Jimmy Webb — who composed all but one of the album's songs — and his time with singer and then-girlfriend Susan Horton (the song "Dreams/Pax/Nepenthe" refers to a Susan). The album's one track not credited to Jimmy Webb, a cover of Lennon–McCartney's "Ticket to Ride", was originally intended for the group's debut album, Up, Up and Away.
Following the success of Up, Up and Away, which spawned two Top-20 singles on the Billboard Pop Chart, expectations were high for The Magic Garden. The album just missed the Billboard Hot 100, and no Top 20 singles emerged from it in the US. The first single, "Paper Cup", rose only to #34. "Carpet Man", the album's second single, landed at #29 in the US but found great success in Canada, charting at #3 on Toronto's CHUM chart and #11 on the RPM chart, in March 1968. The group performed the song on Kraft Music Hall (on an episode hosted by John Davidson) and The Ed Sullivan Show.
However, over the years The Magic Garden gained cult album status.
- ^ a b c "The Magic Garden - The 5th Dimension | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic.
- ^ Stanley, Bob (13 September 2013). "Pop Gets Sophisticated: Soft Rock". Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Story of Modern Pop. Faber & Faber. p. 245. ISBN 978-0-571-28198-5.