The birthday of Billy Davis, Jr., our Gentleman of Soul has been special cause for celebration over the 9 years we’ve been doing FOREVER 5th DIMENSION, honoring the man whose motto is “What comes from the heart, goes to the heart.” And that’s been proven in each and every one of his recorded and onstage renderings that have moved us over the years, from ballads to Blues, sweet-Soul treatises to full-throttle romps. Literally, as I am writing this, our friends at REWOUND radio are honoring my own “Billy Birthday Request” in playing that tune of nostalgic loss yet eternal forgiveness, “Ashes to Ashes”…a personal favorite 5th Dimension single of Billy’s. And last month, while his superstar wife of soon-to-be 48 years, Marilyn McCoo and the equally stellar Mr. Davis were being feted by the Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters, it was fellow Original 5th Dimension mate, Florence LaRue who declared emotionally from the dais that “No one sounds like Billy, his voice still brings a tear to my eye.” Also in May, at the Carnegie Hall tribute to Jimmy Webb, it was Billy who brought down the house, garnering a standing O for his interpretation of “The Worst that Could Happen”…a gem from “The Magic Garden.”
