Song of the Day 9/2: Friends of Distinction, “Grazing in the Grass”

This song just missed topping the charts twice — the first time as South African trumpeter Hugh Masekela’s instrumental version, which reached No. 1 in 1968, and again in 1970, when the Friends of Distinction added lyrics and took it to No. 3. Lead singer Harry Enten wrote them, and while Masekela’s reference to grass stemmed from the way the song opens with a cowbell, Enten seems to be singing about an entirely different sort of grass.

The group, which emerged when a Los Angeles outfit called the Hi-Fis split up (two members, Marilyn McCoo and Lamont McLemore, helped found the Fifth Dimension), was discovered and managed by football great Jim Brown. They had a few other hits, notably “Love or Let Me Be Lonely” and “Going in Circles,” but disbanded by 1975. Jessica Cleaves (in white) later had a long career singing with Earth, Wind & Fire and Parliament/Funkadelic.

Masekela’s original was the biggest hit of his celebrated career.

Masekela said hs composition was inspired by the cowbell that opens this South African instrumental, “Mr. Bull No. 4” (by Freddie Gumbi, not “Mr. Bull” as credited in the video). As you can here, he was more than “inspired by” it — the only thing he added was a distinct melody line. He also eliminated the lowing cow.