The Complete Soul City/Bell Singles 1966-1975 Set

I own all recordings by the 5th Dimension, in LP and CD. The MAGIC GARDEN is still my all time favorite pop recording by anyone--it captures that 1967 California Summer of Love feeling. I also own on CD the Bell/Arista 2 CD set of their "greatest hits", all those tracks are in stereo as are all the CD issues. In terms of LPs, I own the first two in mono and stereo as when Stoned Soul Picnic was released, the format of choice for LP was stereo and mono mixes no longer existed on vinyl.There lies the real joy of this CD collection---these are ALL mono mixes. To be honest, by the time SSP was released as a single, it was released as a stereo 45 and so were all the 45s issues after that. Whether Bones Howe had done mono mixes to the tracks from SSP LP forward I have no idea, as I stated earlier, when SSP was released on Soul City (SCS-92002, stereo; there was no mono catalogue number for the LP) all LP recordings were stereo, and most 45s were being released in the stereo format.The mono mixes from the first two LPs (Up, Up and Away and The Magic Garden) do differ slightly from their stereo counterparts--but only slightly--you need to listen carefully to the selected track listing, but it is noticeable. The other "mono mixes", which again were never mixed in a mono version for sale I can not hear any mixing difference, so I have to believe these tracks were just recently mixed into mono mix for this collection. Still, there is something still wonderful about mono mixes---they scream AM radio.If you are a die-hard 5D lover this collection is worth the money...even if you own all there other recordings. As Phil Spector stated...it's "back to mono."ENJOY

What makes this CD set worthwhile? It contains the actual single versions, and, for a large part of those, it means MONO. Those who don't know should realize that the hit singles, which this set contains, were mixed differently than the stereo album mixes in many cases. For that reason, they sound more powerful and solid, just like you remember your old 45s, and how you heard them on the radio back in the day.

This is a fantastic collection. Every song is a great classic. Some of these singles should have climbed much higher on the charts than they achieved.The "B" sides being included is a perfect bonus to this set. In 1970 the album "July 5TH-More Hits" contained a lot of the B sides from the Soul City label.The big album winner is portrait, all of which ended up on singles. The loser is Earthbound as no singles were ever released.The sound was great. I did not notice a lot of difference of mono versus stereo.

The 5th Dimension is the ultimate group from the 60s and 70s. Their harmony and their sound is an absolute joy to experience, and it holds as true today as when these hits first went out over the airwaves. This collection is truly the definitive collection of pop-soul music.

Th is the best collection of them. Everything from Wedding Bell Blues to Sweet Blindness. Wonderfully done.

The 5th Dimension were one of the greatest groups!!!!!!!!!

great collection of 45s

Excellent music from my high school days.

このアルバムはフィフディメの中で絶対に聴いてもらいたいものです。全てシングル・バージョンでモノラルで聴けるんです。当時、日本で盤のシングルはステレオで発売されて為、モノラルでは聴けませんでした。シングルはやはりモノラルですね。

モノラルだと、この当時の音の響きがリアルに伝わってきます。クリアな音も、もちろん、悪いとは言いませんが、この時代の音を再現している、こういう企画、大賛成です。