By Debbie Gardner
debbieg@thereminder.com
Marilyn McCoo was on one line and her husband, Billy Davis Jr., was on the extension the late July morning Prime called the iconic couple at their LA home to talk about their upcoming performances at the Big E.
Though the two original lead singers of the legendary 1960s and ‘70s group, the 5th Dimension, have performed in and around New England before – most recently at the Mohegan Sun Casino in June of 2017 – this will be their first time appearing at New England’s Great State Fair.
“We’re looking forward to it, [we understand] it’s a very exciting event,” McCoo shared with Prime, adding, “This will be our first time [at the fair].”
Like many first-timers, McCoo and Davis admitted they were impressed by the size and reputation of the event where they would be performing in two short months.
“It’s one of the sixth largest fairs in the country,” McCoo remarked, “It goes on for 17 days!”
McCoo and Davis will appear on the Big E’s Court of Honor Stage at 3 p.m. daily Sept 20 to 22, during the fair’s traditionally busiest second weekend. Their show, “Up, Up and Away” starring Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. is billed as a “musical journey” that blends the couple’s Grammy-winning 5th Dimension and duet hits with tributes to fellow music legends of their era – including the Beatles.
“We try to pick music that will be entertaining and be recognizable to our audience,” McCoo said of the couple’s show. “One of the things we are thankful for is that we have a lot of material to pick from … [we] do the songs they’re hoping to hear and then mix it up to get them to say ‘wow, I forgot I heard that [from them]’ or “I haven’t heard that in awhile.
“It’s always nice to have a surprise for them,” McCoo added, saying besides the songs the audience may have forgotten were in the couple’s 5th Dimension and solo career repertoires, the pair might have one or two new songs to share with the audience.
But they know their fans come to hear the songs they grew up with, and that’s the music that will take center stage in their performances. And the pair has plenty of that to share. Before leaving the 5th Dimension in 1975 to start their career as a duo, the couple recorded “Up, Up and Away,” “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In,” “Worst that Could Happen,” “Stoned Soul Picnic,” “Sweet Blindness,” “Wedding Bell Blues” and “One Less Bell to Answer.” After leaving the group they took another Grammy for “You Don’t Have to be a Star (to Be in My Show).” Over the years, McCoo and Davis recorded a total of 15 gold and three platinum records.
“I’ve got to tell you, when we recorded a lot of those songs that became hits for us, little did we know that 40, 50 years later we could sing those songs and the response of the audience is amazing.”
Davis admitted that it’s the audience reaction that keeps the pair touring at their ages – McCoo is 75 and he’s 81.
“The energy takes us back, the music never gets old,” Davis said. “We like audience participation. We like them to get with us and let us know they recognize the songs and enjoy the performance.”
A lifetime of sharing their music
Though this may be their first time appearing at The Big E, this talented couple brings a combined century of performing experience to the Court of Honor stage. McCoo and Davis – named by Billboard as “the First Couple of Pop and Soul” – have each been performing before audiences for more than 50 years, both enjoying some success in startup careers before they came together with Lamonte McLemore, Florence LaRue and Ron Townson to form “The Versatiles” in 1965. That group quickly changed its name to “The 5th Dimension,” and the five singers recorded their first hit, “Go Where You Wanna Go,” in 1966. In 1967 the group released “Up, Up and Away,” which garnered four Grammys and was the title track on the 5th Dimension’s first hit album. In 1969 the group released the album “The Age of Aquarius” with the title track “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In” – a mega-hit which topped the charts for six weeks and earned the 5th Dimension both two more Grammy awards and Album of the year.
That same year –1969 – McCoo and Davis said “I Do” on July 26. They stayed with The Fifth Dimension for six more years, leaving in 1975 to perform first as a duo – earning another Grammy for their1976 hit “You Don’t Have to Be a Star (to Be in My Show)” – and in 1977, becoming the first black couple to host a T.V. variety show when “The Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr.” show ran on CBS that summer.
When the program ended, Davis went on to a successful career as a gospel performer. McCoo hosted the syndicated T.V. music countdown program “Solid Gold” for two stints in the 1980s, guest starred on multiple T.V. programs and the soap opera “Days of Our Lives,” and appeared in several stage productions as well as the Broadway production of “Show Boat.” She also released a couple of solo gospel albums in the early 1990s.
Despite their different career paths, McCoo and Davis said they always found ways to work together.
“We wanted to make sure each of us [got] the chance to do what they want in life, and support it,” Davis said during the interview. “I got the chance to be on ‘Solid Gold’ quite a few times.”
McCoo, in return, “did a duet with Billy on his gospel album,” among other collaborations, she said.
They’ve been touring as a duet act, and with 5th Dimension reunions since the late 1990s.
“One of the things people like to ask us [when we tour as a duet], is ‘How are Florence and Lamonte, and are we still in touch,” McCoo said. “And about Ron Townson, the heavyset bearded one in the group – he passed away a few years ago – but we’re still in touch with Florence and Lamont.
“Lamont lives in Las Vegas,” McCoo continued. “He retired [from performing], he was having some back issues and being on the road became difficult, He’s doing something else [now]. He was always the jokester; he decide to start writing books of the jokes he was making while we were together.”
Davis added that “Florence is still touring with four other members; they still go out under the name of the 5th Dimension.”
He said there are no hard feelings among the former group mates about this arrangement.
“You can’t really stop people from performing songs they are known for,” Davis said. “When we are there at the Big E we tour with backup singers and when we get ready to sing the songs people remember [from the 5th Dimension], we have to sound like the way they remember them.”
Together in music, and in love
In 2004, the couple collaborated on a memoir of their long career and marriage together, titled “Up, Up and Away… How We Found Love, Faith and Lasting Marriage in the Entertainment World” (rereleased as “Two Lives, One Heart”) This year, the couple celebrated their 50th anniversary at the end of July.
“We renewed our vows in front of friends of ours, and it was really, really nice,” McCoo shared. The secret to their longevity as a married couple, she attributed to “friendship and of course, we share our faith and there’s always strength in that.”
But as in most marriages there have been some rough spots, McCoo and Davis admitted. Even their beginning wasn’t all romance.
“When we first started going together we fought a lot,” McCoo said. “We’ve never been ones to hold back and not speaking what’s on our minds.”
But honesty doesn’t mean cruelty, she added. “One of the things we always suggest to married couples [who ask advice] – don’t say anything to hurt each other, don’t go for blood. You can win the argument and lose the war,” McCoo explained.
Davis agreed with the advice. “Definitely we’ve had our ups and downs,” he said. “We’ve learned to get through them by trusting in one another and trying to be there for each other and listening to one another with real concern. That makes a real difference.”
McCoo said she and Davis “tried to be as honest as possible” in talking about their marriage in the book. “That’s how people can gain from your experience,” she added.
Today the couple said they truly enjoy their time together – both at home and on the road – as long as the tour schedule gives them plenty of down time between appearances.
“It’s been fun,” Davis said. “We enjoy seeing things together and like getting out and getting to meet people. It’s not like one of us tries to stay back and sit and read a book. We both like to get out.”
And they both say they still enjoy performing. You might say it’s in their blood.
“We both knew this was what we wanted to do [when we met],” McCoo shared. “Billy and I grew up in different areas – I grew up in L. A and he grew up in St. Louis – but when we got together in L. A. [for The Versatile] we shared the same passion – a love of music – and we wanted to share it.”
What’s next?
Thought McCoo and Davis already have a music catalogue many artists would envy, the couple isn’t ones to rest on their laurels. McCoo let slip they’ve got something new in the works.
“We have been in the studio and the project is just about complete and we are very much excited about it,” she said. ‘We’re with EMG [Records] and we don’t know how its going to be; they are putting together the package [and] we are waiting to get the go-ahead to speak more about it.”
She added that if they get the go-ahead form EMG by Big E time, “one or two” of the couple’s new songs might make it into the show.
