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Fifth Dimension
Álbum de estudio de The Byrds
Publicación 18 de julio de 1966
Grabación Entre el 24 de enero y el 25 de mayo de 1966, Columbia Studios, Hollywood, California
Género(s) Folk rock, rock psicodélico, raga rock
Duración 29:59
Discográfica [Columbia Records]]
Productor(es) Allen Stanton
Cronología de The Byrds
Turn! Turn! Turn!
(1965)
Fifth Dimension
(1966)
Younger Than Yesterday
(1967)
Sencillos de The Fame
  1. «Eight Miles High»
    Publicado: 14 de marzo de 1966
  2. «5D (Fifth Dimension)»
    Publicado: 13 de junio de 1966
  3. «Mr. Spaceman»
    Publicado: 6 de septiembre de 1966

Fifth Dimension es el tercer álbum de estudio de la banda estadounidense de folk rock The Byrds, publicado en julio de 1966 a través de la discográfica Columbia Records[1][2]​ La gran mayoría del material se grabó después de que el compositor principal de la banda, Gene Clark, se marchase en febero de 1966.[3][4]​ En un intento de compensar la ausencia de Clark, los guitarristas Jim McGuinn y David Crosby dieron un paso al frente y aumentaron su productividad a la hora de componer.[5]​ A pesar de esto, la ausencia de Clark dio como resultado un disco desequilibrado que incluye cuatro versiones y un instrumental.[2][3]​ Sin embargo, es el primer álbum en el que no hay ninguna versión de canciones de Bob Dylan, cuyo material había sido hasta ese día parte importante del repertorio de la banda.[3]

El disco llegó a la posición número 24 de la lista Billboard 200 y al 27 de la on the lista británica de ventas.[6][7]​ En el disco aparecen dos sencillos, "Eight Miles High" y "5D (Fifth Dimension)", que ya se habían publicado con anterioridad. "5D (Fifth Dimension)", casi entró en los Top 10 de la lista Billboard,[3][8]​ mientras que el tercer y último sencillo, "Mr. Spaceman", consiguió entrar en el Top 40.[8]​ En el momento de su publicación, Fifth Dimension se consideró el disco más experimental de la banda hasta la fecha y es considerado influencia para el comienzo del género de rock psicodélico.[3][5]

Antecedente[editar]

El 22 de diciembre de 1965, poco despu´ñes de la publicación de su segundo disco Turn! Turn! Turn!, The Byrds entraron en los estudios RCA de Los Ángeles para grabar "Eight Miles High" y "Why", dos nuevas canciones de reciente composición.[9]​ Ambas canciones supusieron un salto creativo para la banda e importantes para la formación de los nuevos estilos musicales de rock psicodélico y raga rock.[3][10][11]​ Sin embargo, la banda encontró problemas con su discográfica, Columbia Records, que no querían publicar los sencillos debido a que no se habían grabado en sus propios estudios.[10]​ Como resultado, el grupo tuvo que regrabar ambos temas en los estudios Columbia de Hollywood y estas versiones fueron las que finalmente vieron la luz como sencillos.[4][9]

The re-recordings of "Eight Miles High" and "Why" were produced by Allen Stanton, Columbia's West Coast Vice President, who had recently been assigned to the band following The Byrds' decision to dispense with their previous producer, Terry Melcher.[10][12]​ Melcher had guided The Byrds through the recording of their first two folk rock albums, which had included the international hit singles "Mr. Tambourine Man" and "Turn! Turn! Turn!", both of which had reached #1 in the U.S. charts.[13][14]​ However, during sessions for the Turn! Turn! Turn! album, Melcher had found himself in conflict with The Byrds' manager, Jim Dickson, who had aspirations to produce the band himself.[12]​ Within a month of the band's second album being released, Dickson—with the full support of The Byrds—approached Columbia Records and insisted that Melcher be replaced.[12]​ However, any hopes that Dickson had of being allowed to produce The Byrds himself were dashed when Columbia chose Allen Stanton as the band's new producer.[12]​ This decision was due to Columbia studio regulations specifying that only an in-house Columbia employee could produce records by the label's acts.[12]​ Stanton would work as The Byrds' producer for the duration of the Fifth Dimension sessions but would leave Columbia for A&M Records shortly after the release of the album.[5]

Following the re-recording of "Eight Miles High" in January 1966 and just prior to its release as a single in March 1966, the band's principal songwriter, Gene Clark, left the band.[4]​ At the time, the official story regarding Clark's departure was that his fear of flying was preventing him from fulfilling his obligations with the group.[15]​ However, it has become known in the years since then that there were other stress related factors at work, as well as resentment within the band that his songwriting income had made him the wealthiest member of the group.[15][16]​ While the song "Eight Miles High" still featured the full participation of Clark, the remaining ten tracks on the Fifth Dimension album were recorded after he had left the band.[3]

Music[editar]

Arguably the most famous song on the album was the hit single "Eight Miles High", an early excursion into psychedelic rock.[17][18]​ Musically, the song was a fusion of John Coltrane-influenced guitar playing—courtesy of lead guitarist Jim McGuinn—and raga-based musical structure and vocals, inspired by the Indian classical music of Ravi Shankar.[18][19]​ Written mostly by Gene Clark in November 1965, while The Byrds were on tour in the U.S., the song was pivotal in transmuting folk rock into the new musical forms of psychedelia and raga rock.[18]​ Regardless of its innovative qualities, however, many radio stations in the U.S. banned the record, believing the title to be a reference to recreational drug use.[20]​ The song's lyrics actually pertained to the approximate cruising altitude of commercial airliners and the group's first visit to London during their 1965 English tour.[21]

The album also included the McGuinn penned songs "5D (Fifth Dimension)" and "Mr. Spaceman", with the latter being an early foray into country rock and a semi-serious meditation on the existence of alien life.[21][22]​ In spite of its tongue-in-cheek lyrics, both McGuinn and rhythm guitarist David Crosby were serious about the possibility of communicating with extraterrestrial lifeforms via the medium of radio broadcast.[21]​ McGuinn in particular felt that if the song was played on radio there was a possibility that extraterrestrials might intercept the broadcasts and make contact.[21]​ However, in later years McGuinn realized that this would've been impossible since AM radio waves disperse too rapidly in space.[5]​ "5D (Fifth Dimension)", on the other hand, was an abstract attempt to explain Einstein's theory of relativity, which was misconstrued by many as being a song about an LSD trip.[5][22]​ In particular, Variety magazine targeted "5D (Fifth Dimension)" shortly after its release as a single, claiming that it was one of a recent spate of pop songs to include veiled drug references in its lyrics.[5]​ This resulted in some radio stations in America refusing to play the song.[23]​ The organ arrangement on "5D (Fifth Dimension)" was played by Van Dyke Parks.[21]

McGuinn also penned the album's closing track, "2-4-2 Fox Trot (The Lear Jet Song)", which was an attempt to create an aural approximation of a flight in a Lear Jet.[5]​ The song was inspired by the band's friendship with jet manufacturer John Lear and the title is a reference to the registration number of Lear's own personal jet, which was N242FT.[5][24]​ The song makes extensive use of aviation sound effects, including an in-cockpit recitation of a pilot's pre-takeoff checklist and the sound of a jet engine starting up.[24]​ While the song can be regarded as another of The Byrds' quirky album closers, like "Oh! Susannah" and "We'll Meet Again" from their previous albums, Crosby and McGuinn actually took the song very seriously, arguing that it was an innovative attempt at incorporating mechanical sounds into a pop song format.[21]

One of Crosby's songwriting contributions to the album, "What's Happening?!?!", began his penchant for writing abstract songs asking irresoluble questions, a trend that has continued throughout his career with Crosby, Stills & Nash and as a solo artist. During a 1966 interview, Crosby admitted that it was a strange song, noting "It asks questions of what's going on here and who does it all belong to and why is it all going on. I just ask the questions because I really don't know the answers." Like "Eight Miles High", the song exhibits the strong influence of Indian classical music with its droning guitar and melody.[5]​ "What's Happening?!?!" is also notable for being the first song written solely by Crosby to appear on a Byrds' record.[21]

Crosby and McGuinn also collaborated on the jazzy "I See You", which represented another example of abstract lyrics coupled with raga-influenced, psychedelic guitar solos.[2][17][22]​ Author Johnny Rogan has commented that "I See You" was indicative of The Byrds' move away from the darkly-romantic songs of Gene Clark towards material that examined psychological states.[5]​ The album also includes the instrumental "Captain Soul", a song credited to all four band members that grew out of an in-studio jam of Lee Dorsey's "Get Out of My Life, Woman" and which features Gene Clark playing harmonica.[3][21]

The cover versions on Fifth Dimension include the Billy Roberts' song "Hey Joe (Where You Gonna Go)", which would enjoy a brief vogue during 1966, with notable versions of the song being recorded by Love, The Leaves, and The Jimi Hendrix Experience.[21][25]​ The song was introduced to The Byrds by Crosby, who also sang lead vocals on their recording of it.[21]​ Crosby, along with his friend Dino Valenti, had been instrumental in popularizing the song within the larger Los Angeles music community.[5][24]​ Consequently, the guitarist had been wanting to record the song with The Byrds almost since the band had first formed in 1964 but the other members of the group had been unenthusiastic.[5]​ During 1966, several other L.A. based bands enjoyed success with "Hey Joe", leaving Crosby angered by his bandmates' lack of faith in the song.[21]​ Finally the other members of The Byrds acquiesced and allowed Crosby the chance to record the song during sessions for Fifth Dimension.[21]

Another cover version on the album, "I Come and Stand at Every Door", is perhaps the most macabre song in The Byrds' oeuvre.[21]​ The song's lyrics, which were adapted from a poem by Nâzım Hikmet, recount the story of a seven-year-old child who was killed in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.[21]​ The song describes how the child's spirit now walks the earth in search of peace in the nuclear age.[2][21]​ The two traditional folk songs included on the album, "John Riley" and "Wild Mountain Thyme", were both introduced to the band by McGuinn, who had learned them via recordings made by Joan Baez and Pete Seeger respectively.[5]​ Writing for the Allmusic website, music critic Richie Unterberger regarded both "John Riley" and "Wild Mountain Thyme" as "immaculate folk rock", praising the arrangements.[2]

Publicación y legado[editar]

Fifth Dimension se publicó en Estados Unidos el 18 de julio de 1966 en (número de catálogo CL 2549 en mono, CS 9349 en estéreo) y el 22 de septiembre en el Reino Unido (número de catálogo BPG 62783 en mono y SBPG 62783 en estéreo).[1]​ Llegó al puesto número 24 en la lista de ventas del Billboard y permaneció 28 semanas en lista, mientras que en el Reino Unido llegó al puesto número 27 de las listas.[6][7]​ La portada tiene una fotografía tomada por la compañía de diseño gráfico Horn/Griner y significó la primera aparición del colorido logo, en forma de mosaico psicodélico de The Byrds .[22][26]​ El sencillo "Eight Miles High" salió a la venta el 14 de marzo en Estados Unidos y el 29 de abril en el Reino Unido y llegó al puesto número 14 de la lista Billboard Hot 100 y al 24 en la lista británica de sencillos.[1][7][8]​ El segundo sencillo, "5D (Fifth Dimension)", se publicó el 13 de junio de 1966 en Estados unidos y el 29 de julio en el Reino Unido y llegó al puesto número 44 en el Billboard Hot 100, sin llegar a entrar en las listas británicas.[1][7][8]​ El 6 de septiembre salió a la venta el sencillo "Mr. Spaceman" que llegó al puesto 36 en el Billboard Hot 100, pero nuevamente se quedó fuera de las listas del Reino Unido.[1][8]

Contemporary reception[editar]

Upon its release, contemporary critical reaction to Fifth Dimension was somewhat tepid, although Hit Parader described it as "the third and best album from The Byrds".[26]​ The Hit Parader review also made reference to the recent controversy surrounding the album's two preceding singles by suggesting "If your friendly neighborhood radio station banned 'Eight Miles High' and '5D' you can listen to them here and discover that there's nothing suggestive about them. The only danger in this album is that it might addict you to groovy music."[26]​ However, journalist Jon Landau, writing in Crawdaddy!, was less complimentary about the album and cited the departure of Gene Clark as a contributing factor in its artistic failure.[26]​ Landau concluded by saying that Fifth Dimension "cannot be considered up to the standards set by The Byrds' first two and basically demonstrates that they should be thinking in terms of replacing Gene Clark instead of just trying to carry on without him."[26]​ In the UK, Disc magazine was also critical, bemoaning a lack of energy in the album's contents and commenting: "Here then are those Byrds with the fresh eager exciting music sounding like tired and disillusioned old men looking back on the happy days. This is a sad sound indeed."[26]

Modern reception[editar]

Calificaciones profesionales
Calificaciones
FuenteCalificación
AllMusic4.5/5 estrellas[2]
Blender4/5 estrellas[27]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music4/5 estrellas[28]
Entertainment WeeklyB[27]
Melody Maker"Recommended"[27]
MusicHound3/5[29]
NME8/10[27]
Q4/5 estrellas[27]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide4.5/5 estrellas[30]

In more recent years, Richie Unterberger, writing for the AllMusic website, has described Fifth Dimension as "wildly uneven", noting that the album's short-comings prevent it "from attaining truly classic status".[2]​ Despite its inconsistency, Fifth Dimension is today regarded as a highly influential, albeit transitional, album that is musically more experimental than the band's previous recorded output.[3][5]​ A reviewer for Entertainment Weekly wrote in 1996 that "time hasn't enhanced the group's forays into psychedelia", yet the album contains "enough keepers to make you forgive their occasional tendency to fly into walls".[27]​ That same year, the NME described it as "faultless" and a work that "heralds a newly psychedelic Byrds hung up on the archetypal acid-fixation with the unknown".[27]

Less impressed, Barney Hoskyns of Mojo deemed Fifth Dimension to be a "breakthrough" work but also one that "can't quite decide what sort of album it is". Hoskins elaborated: "Torn between the past and the future, it picks randomly from a smorgasbord of country rock ('Mr. Spaceman'), garage punk ('Hey Joe'), instrumental R&B ('Captain Soul'), folk standards ('Wild Mountain Thyme', the lovely 'John Riley'), and rallying calls to the emerging hippy youth ('What's Happening?!?!'). 'Patchy' isn't close to describing it."[31]​ In 2004, Rolling Stone called it "the Byrds' most underrated album" and especially admired "Eight Miles High" as "the band's highest of highs, blending Coltrane-influenced 12-string squiggles with eerie harmonies for a truly hypnotic sound".[30]

Fifth Dimension can also be seen as a testament to the rapidity with which pop music was evolving during the mid-1960s.[26]​ Like its predecessor, Turn! Turn! Turn!, the album was made under trying circumstances, with the band scrambling to compensate for the loss of their main songwriter in the wake of Clark's departure.[3][26]​ This resulted in an uneven album that included a total of four cover versions and an instrumental.[2]​ However, Fifth Dimension actually contained fewer covers than either of their Clark-era albums, as well as an absence of songs by Bob Dylan, whose material, along with Clark's, had dominated earlier Byrds releases.[26]

In his 2003 book Eight Miles High: Folk-Rock's Flight from Haight-Ashbury to Woodstock, Unterberger regards the album as a pivotal moment in establishing the Byrds' status within the emerging counterculture.[32]​ The author goes on to say that the album is a continuation of their folk rock sound, but clearly establishes the break away from "folk-rock into folk-rock-psychedelia".[32]​ He also notes the album's influence on the Byrds' contemporaries.[32]

The album was included in Robert Dimery's book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[33]

Lista de canciones[editar]

N.ºTítuloEscritor(es)Duración
1.«5D (Fifth Dimension)»Jim McGuinn2:33
2.«Wild Mountain Thyme»tradicional, arreglos de Jim McGuinn, Chris Hillman, Michael Clarke, David Crosby2:30
3.«Mr. Spaceman»m McGuinn2:09
4.«I See You»Jim McGuinn, David Crosby2:38
5.«What's Happening?!?!»David Crosby2:35
6.«I Come and Stand at Every Door»3:03
7.«Eight Miles High»Gene Clark, Jim McGuinn, David Crosby3:34
8.«Hey Joe (Where You Gonna Go)»Billy Roberts2:17
9.«Captain Soul»Jim McGuinn, Chris Hillman, Michael Clarke, David Crosby2:53
10.«John Riley»tradicional, arreglos de Jim McGuinn, Chris Hillman, Michael Clarke, David Crosby2:57
11.«2-4-2 Fox Trot (The Lear Jet Song)»Jim McGuinn2:12
Pistas adicionales 1996 CD
N.ºTítuloEscritor(es)Duración
12.«Why versión sencillo»Jim McGuinn, David Crosby2:59
13.«I Know My Rider (I Know You Rider)»tradicional, arreglos de Jim McGuinn, Gene Clark, David Crosby2:43
14.«Psychodrama City»David Crosby3:23
15.«Eight Miles High [Versión alternativa RCA]»Gene Clark, Jim McGuinn, David Crosby3:19
16.«Why [Versión alternativa RCA]»Jim McGuinn, David Crosby2:40
17.«John Riley" [Instrumental]»tradicional, arranglos de Jim McGuinn, Chris Hillman, Michael Clarke, David Crosby16:53
Notas
  • Equivocadamente se acredita "John Riley" a Bob Gibson y Ricky Neff.[24]
  • La versión instrumental de "John Riley" acaba en 3:10; en 3:20 comienza "Byrds Promotional Radio Interview"

Personal[editar]

NOTA: Fuentes:[3][4][21][24][26]

The Byrds
Personal adicional

Referencias[editar]

Notas al pie
  1. a b c d e Rogan, Johnny. (1998). The Byrds: Timeless Flight Revisited (en inglés) (2ª edición). Rogan House. pp. 541-546. ISBN 0-9529540-1-X. 
  2. a b c d e f g h Unterberger, Richie. «The Byrds Fifth Dimension» (en inglés). AllMusic. Consultado el 12 de diciembre de 2012. 
  3. a b c d e f g h i j k Fricke, David. (1996). Fifth Dimension (1996 CD liner notes) (en inglés). 
  4. a b c d Hjort, Christopher. (2008). So You Want To Be A Rock 'n' Roll Star: The Byrds Day-By-Day (1965-1973) (en inglés). Jawbone Press. pp. 80-87. ISBN 1-906002-15-0. 
  5. a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Rogan, Johnny. (1998). The Byrds: Timeless Flight Revisited (en inglés) (2nd edición). Rogan House. pp. 177-186. ISBN 0-9529540-1-X. 
  6. a b Whitburn, Joel. (2002). Top Pop Albums 1955-2001 (en inglés). Record Research Inc. p. 121. ISBN 0-89820-147-0. 
  7. a b c d Brown, Tony. (2000). The Complete Book of the British Charts (en inglés). Omnibus Press. p. 130. ISBN 0-7119-7670-8. 
  8. a b c d e Whitburn, Joel. (2008). Top Pop Singles 1955-2006 (en inglés). Record Research Inc. p. 130. ISBN 0-89820-172-1. 
  9. a b Rogan, Johnny. (1998). The Byrds: Timeless Flight Revisited (en inglés) (2ª edición). Rogan House. p. 620. ISBN 0-9529540-1-X. 
  10. a b c Rogan, Johnny. (1998). The Byrds: Timeless Flight Revisited (en inglés) (2nd edición). Rogan House. pp. 152-158. ISBN 0-9529540-1-X. 
  11. Bellman, Jonathan. (1997). The Exotic In Western Music (en inglés). Northeastern Publishing. p. 351. ISBN 1-55553-319-1. 
  12. a b c d e Rogan, Johnny. (1998). The Byrds: Timeless Flight Revisited (2nd edición). Rogan House. pp. 147-150. ISBN 0-9529540-1-X. 
  13. «Terry Melcher obituary» (en inglés). London: The Times. November 23, 2004. Consultado el 12 de diciembre de 2009. 
  14. Rogan, Johnny. (1996). Turn! Turn! Turn! (1996 CD liner notes) (en inglés). 
  15. a b Rogan, Johnny. (1998). The Byrds: Timeless Flight Revisited (en inglés) (2nd edición). Rogan House. pp. 165-167. ISBN 0-9529540-1-X. 
  16. Einarson, John. (2005). Mr. Tambourine Man: The Life and Legacy of The Byrds' Gene Clark (en inglés). Backbeat Books. pp. 87-88. ISBN 0-87930-793-5. 
  17. a b «The Byrds Biography». Allmusic. Consultado el 14 de diciembre de 2009. 
  18. a b c Einarson, John. (2005). Mr. Tambourine Man: The Life and Legacy of The Byrds' Gene Clark. Backbeat Books. pp. 82-86. ISBN 0-87930-793-5. 
  19. Lavezzoli, Peter. (2007). The Dawn of Indian music in the West. Continuum International Publishing Group. pp. 155-157. ISBN 0-8264-2819-3. 
  20. Rogan, Johnny. (1998). The Byrds: Timeless Flight Revisited (2nd edición). Rogan House. pp. 158-163. ISBN 0-9529540-1-X. 
  21. a b c d e f g h i j k l m n ñ o Rogan, Johnny. (1996). Fifth Dimension (1996 CD liner notes). 
  22. a b c d «Fifth Dimension». ByrdWatcher: A Field Guide to the Byrds of Los Angeles. Archivado desde el original el 4 de mayo de 2009. Consultado el 14 de diciembre de 2009. 
  23. Hjort, Christopher. (2008). So You Want To Be A Rock 'n' Roll Star: The Byrds Day-By-Day (1965-1973). Jawbone Press. p. 97. ISBN 1-906002-15-0. 
  24. a b c d e Hjort, Christopher. (2008). So You Want To Be A Rock 'n' Roll Star: The Byrds Day-By-Day (1965-1973). Jawbone Press. pp. 93-95. ISBN 1-906002-15-0. 
  25. Stax, Mike. (1998). Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965–1968 (1998 CD box set liner notes). 
  26. a b c d e f g h i j Hjort, Christopher. (2008). So You Want To Be A Rock 'n' Roll Star: The Byrds Day-By-Day (1965-1973) (en inglés). Jawbone Press. pp. 101-103. ISBN 1-906002-15-0. 
  27. a b c d e f g «The Byrds – Fifth Dimension CD Album" > "Product Reviews». CD Universe/Muze. Consultado el December 23, 2016. 
  28. «The Byrds Fifth Dimension». Acclaimed Music. Consultado el December 23, 2016. 
  29. Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel (eds) (1999). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Farmington Hills, MI: Visible Ink Press. p. 186. ISBN 1-57859-061-2. 
  30. a b "The Byrds: Album Guide". rollingstone.com. Archived version retrieved December 23, 2016.
  31. Hoskyns, Barney (June 1996). «The Byrds: Mr Tambourine Man, Turn! Turn! Turn!, Fifth Dimension, Younger Than Yesterday». Mojo.  Available at Rock's Backpages (subscription required).
  32. a b c Unterberger, Richie (2003). Eight Miles High: Folk-Rock's Flight from Haight-Ashbury to Woodstock. San Francisco: Backbeat Books. p. 4. ISBN 0-87930-743-9. 
  33. Dimery, Robert (2010). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: Revised and Updated Edition. Universe. ISBN 9780789320896. 
Bibliografía
  • Rogan, Johnny, The Byrds: Timeless Flight Revisited, Rogan House, 1998, ISBN 0-9529540-1-X
  • Hjort, Christopher, So You Want To Be A Rock 'n' Roll Star: The Byrds Day-By-Day (1965-1973), Jawbone Press, 2008, ISBN 1-906002-15-0.
  • Einarson, John, Mr. Tambourine Man: The Life and Legacy of the Byrds' Gene Clark, Backbeat Books, ISBN 0-87930-793-5.


[[Category:The Byrds albums]] [[Category:1966 albums]] [[Category:Columbia Records albums]] [[Category:English-language albums]] [[Category:CBS Records albums]] [[Category:Legacy Recordings albums]] [[Category:Sundazed Records albums]]