Living Together, Growing Together (album)

Living Together, Growing Together
Studio album by The 5th Dimension
Released	March 1, 1973
Recorded	Wally Heider Studios
Studio	Wally Heider Recording, Hollywood, Calif.
Label	Bell
Producer	Bones Howe
The 5th Dimension chronology
Individually & Collectively (1972) Living Together, Growing Together (1973) Soul & Inspiration (1974)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]

Living Together, Growing Together ^[2] is the eighth studio album by the American pop group The 5th Dimension. It was released on March 1st, 1973. Living Together, Growing Together reached No. 108 on the Billboard 200 Top LPs chart, and No. 25 on Billboard's R&B albums chart. The album includes the early World Beat composition, "Woyaya", originally recorded by the British-Ghanaian-Caribbean ensemble Osibisa, in 1971. The song was also covered in 1973 by Art Garfunkel on his debut solo album Angel Clare .

The 5th Dimension founder, LeMonte McLemore, gave the "Living Together, Growing Together" album period a largely unfavorable mention in his autobiography, From Hobo Flats to The 5th Dimension - A Life Fulfilled in Baseball, Photography, and Music: ^[3]

I'll speak for myself (but probably for some of the other members) when I say it ["Living Together, Growing Together"] was the worst single we ever put out. "Living Together, Growing Together" came from a bomb of a movie, '73's musical remake of Lost Horizon, and we were strong-armed into covering it, as Bell Records was a subsidiary of Columbia Pictures, who produced the film. While we tried our best to put life into a basically bland choral arrangement for a soulless choir, even the tune's composer, Burt Bacharach, is quoted as calling the entire movie's notion a "giant bust." Conversely, besides the "Living Together, Growing Together" album's meaningful "Ashes to Ashes," I liked the "havin' church," revival-meeting feel of "Day By Day" from Broadway's Godspell, which we had the opportunity to present in our live concerts, too.

After the "Living Together, Growing Together" fiasco we seemed jinxed; we just couldn't find the right material for the next hit. People were bringing us boxes of songs, and even more songs, and we just couldn't find a thing. And I think that's what helped Marilyn and Billy make their decision to go out on their own.

This album began the vocal group's somewhat unintentional transition to mainly adult contemporary fare, as they would never again prove noteworthy on the Billboard pop charts.

Singles

Three singles were released from Living Together, Growing Together in the United States:

• "Living Together, Growing Together" b/w "What Do I Need to Be Me" reached No. 32 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 5 on the Easy Listening chart.
• "Everything's Been Changed" b/w "There Never Was a Day" reached No. 70 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 18 on the Easy Listening chart.
• "Ashes to Ashes" b/w "The Singer" (from "Love's Lines, Angles and Rhymes") reached No. 52 on the Billboard Hot 100, No. 54 on the Billboard Hot R&B chart, and No. 7 on the Easy Listening chart.

Track listing

Side A

1. "Open Your Window" (Harry Nilsson)
2. "Ashes To Ashes" (Brian Potter, Dennis Lambert)
3. "Everything's Been Changed" (Paul Anka)
4. "The Riverwitch" (Jeffrey Comanor)
5. "Living Together, Growing Together" (Burt Bacharach, Hal David)

Side B

1. "Day By Day" (Stephen Schwartz)
2. "There's Nothin' Like Music" (Jeffrey Comanor)
3. "What Do I Need to Be Me" (Bobby Arvon)
4. "There Never Was a Day" (Randy McNeill)
5. "Let Me Be Lonely" (Burt Bacharach, Hal David)
6. "Woyaya (Amao, Tontoh, Bailey, Bedeau, Amarfio, Osei, Richardson)

Personnel

The 5th Dimension

• Marilyn McCoo – Soprano voice, lead vocals (track A1), background vocals
• Florence LaRue – Alto voice, lead vocals (track B4) , background vocals
• Billy Davis Jr. – Baritone voice, lead vocals (tracks A4, B1, B3), background vocals
• Ron Townson – Tenor voice, lead vocals (track B2), background vocals
• Lamonte McLemore – Baritone and Bass voice, background vocals

Instrumentalists

• Hal Blaine – drums
• Joe Osborn – bass guitar
• Larry Knechtel – organ, electric piano, piano
• Artie Butler – piano
• Jimmy Rowles – piano
• Dennis Budimir – guitar
• Jeffrey Comanor – guitar
• Tommy Tedesco – guitar
• Zavier – twelve-string guitar
• King Errisson – congas (track B6)
• Earl Palmer – drums
• Paul Humphrey – drums (track B6)
• Max Bennett – bass (track B6)
• Larry Bunker – Afro percussion
• Bob Alcivar – conductor
• Tom Scott – tenor saxophone (track B6)
• Bud Brisbois – trumpet (track B6)
• Clarence McDonald – organ (track B6)

Production

• Producer – Bones Howe
• Engineer – Bones Howe
• Assistant engineers – Ed Barton, Ken Caillat
• Vocal vrranger – Bob Alcivar
• Accompanied by, Orchestra – The 5th Dimension Studio Orchestra
• Art direction – Beverly Weinstein
• Concertmaster – Sid Sharp
• Coordinator [Production Co-ordination] – Pam Vale
• Album design – Kaleidoscope
• Horn arrangement on "Woyaya" – Tom Scott

Chart performance

Singles

Year	Song	Chart	Position
1973	"Living Together, Growing Together"	Billboard Hot 100	32
1973	"Everything's Been Changed"	Billboard Hot 100	70
1973	"Ashes to Ashes"	Billboard Hot 100	52

References

1. Planer, Lindsay. "The Fifth Dimension – Living Together, Growing Together: Review". AllMusic . Retrieved February 24, 2025.
2. Discogs (Recorded Music Database and Shop) (2025-02-25). "The 5th Dimension – Living Together, Growing Together". Discogs . Retrieved 25 February 2025.
3. McLemore, Lamonte; Arno, Robert-Allan (2014). From Hobo Flats to The 5th Dimension. ISBN   978-0692307366.