Marilyn McCoo (born September 30, 1943) – So Many Things For Free (1978)
The 5th Dimension co-founder co-wrote this beautiful, uplifting jam for her and husband Billy Davis Jr.'s third solo album, co-produced by Steve Cropper.
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Marilyn McCoo is a singer/songwriter, actress, and television host best known for being one of the original members of the 5th Dimension.
Born in Jersey City, NJ, McCoo soon moved with her family to Columbus, GA where they lived until she was seven, when they moved again to Los Angeles. There she began singing, dancing, and piano lessons. At age 15 she appeared on the program Talent Show, hosted by Art Linkletter. She worked as a model while still in high school and later as a UCLA student. In 1962 she won the talent portion of the Miss Bronze California pageant and met photographer and singer LaMonte McLemore, who was photographing the event.
See our earlier posts on 5th Dimension members LaMonte McLemore and McCoo’s husband Billy Davis Jr. for more on the group’s history.
The superb title track to the 5th Dimension’s sixth album, Love’s Lines, Angles and Rhymes (1971) had been a hit for Diana Ross the year earlier in 1970. With McCoo on lead vocals, their version went to #19 on the Billboard Hot 100. She memorably performed it on the February 21, 1971 episode of The Ed Sullivan Show that celebrated their fifth anniversary as a group, and later that year, on their own TV special The 5th Dimension Traveling Sunshine Show, which aired on August 18, 1971.
In 1974, for their ninth album Soul & Inspiration, McCoo sang lead on one of the group’s lesser known but excellent tracks, “House For Sale,” a haunting tale of lost love that picked up where “7 Rooms of Gloom” by the Four Tops left off.
After McCoo and Davis left the 5th Dimension in 1975 and went solo, they released two albums for ABC Records over the next two years, and a third for Columbia in 1978 titled Marilyn & Billy. It was co-produced by Davis and Steve Cropper, the Booker T. and the M.G.’s guitarist and Stax producer.
“Shine On Silver Moon” was the album’s disco single, expertly remixed by DJ and remix pioneer John Luongo, and the LP also contained the original version of Whitney Houston’s future #1 hit “Saving All My Love For You.” But its masterpiece was arguably the beautiful, inspirational jam “So Many Things For Free,” which McCoo co-wrote along with guitarist Bobby Gallarza and songwriter Delores Brown.
Besides Cropper and Gallarza on guitar, the stellar session musicians backing the track included Motown legend James Jamerson’s son James Jamerson Jr. on bass, and Richard Tee on piano.
Happy 80th Birthday to the marvelous Marilyn McCoo.
Further info:
“He-and-She Act, Working on a Cabaret Thing, Baby,” The New York Times, May 15, 2008.
“Sunday Conversation: Marilyn McCoo And Billy Davis Jr.,” Forbes, May 2, 2021.
“The 5th Dimension's Marilyn McCoo And Billy Davis Jr. Reminisce On 1969's 'Summer Of Soul',” by Robin Young and Serena McMahon, Here and Now, WBUR, June 29, 2021.
“An Interview with Music Legends Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr.,” interview by Kristen Castillo, kristencastillo.blog, January 11, 2022.
#soul #funk #5thDimension #MarilynMcCoo