The Magic Garden
| The Magic Garden | ||||
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| Studio album by The 5th Dimension | ||||
| Released | December 1967 | |||
| Recorded | July 15, 1967 – November 1967, United/Western Recorders--Los Angeles | |||
| Genre | R&B, pop, soul, sunshine pop, psychedelic soul | |||
| Length | 35:29 | |||
| Label | Soul City Records | |||
| Producer | Jimmy Webb, Bones Howe | |||
| The 5th Dimension chronology | ||||
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| Singles from The Magic Garden | ||||
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |
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The Magic Garden is the second album by American pop group the 5th Dimension, released in 1967 (see 1967 in music). Considered 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 authored 10 of the album's 11 tracks — and his time with singer and then-girlfriend Susan Horton. The only non-Jimmy Webb song on the album, "Ticket to Ride", is an unused track from the group's first album, Up, Up and Away, the title track of which was also written by Webb.
"Carpet Man", the album's second single, found great success in Canada, charting at #3 on Toronto's CHUM chart, and #11 on the RPM chart, in March 1968. The song has been covered by the Nocturnes, the Charade, the Parking Lot, and by the founder of the 5th Dimension's Soul City record label, Johnny Rivers. The group performed the song on Kraft Music Hall, on an episode hosted by John Davidson; and on the Ed Sullivan Show. Dusty Springfield recorded a cover of the title track, which surfaced on a Springfield anthology in the 1990s.
One of the album's cuts, "The Worst That Could Happen", was culled from the LP and released as a single by Johnny Maestro & the Brooklyn Bridge in January 1969, and became a smash top 3 hit in the USA. The 5th Dimension would have to wait for their next album, Stoned Soul Picnic, to achieve the same chart placement. To capitalize on the success of "The Worst That Could Happen", Soul City Records re-titled The Magic Garden and re-released it as The Worst That Could Happen. The re-release reverses the front and back covers of the original LP. Although now titled The Worst That Could Happen on the album cover, the label on the vinyl itself still carried The Magic Garden as its title.
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