"Grazing in the Grass" is an instrumental composed by Philemon Hou and first recorded by the South African trumpeter Hugh Masekela. Released in the United States as a single in 1968, it reached number one on the BillboardHot 100 chart, ranking it as the 18th biggest hit of the year. The song also reached #15 Adult Contemporary. Masekela included the song in his albums , Still Grazing, and Live at the Market Theatre. Masekela’s recording of the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2018. A vocal version of the song by The Friends of Distinction, with lyrics by band member Harry Elston, was a US chart hit in 1969. The song has been recorded by many other musicians.
Hugh Masekela recording
"Grazing in the Grass" was inspired by an earlier novelty recording, "Mr. Bull Dog No. 5", which Masekela had heard in Zambia, that started with a cowbell. When Masekela was recording his debut album, the running order was short by three minutes and his record company suggested he record the tune. Philemon Hou, an actor and singer who was present in the studio, came up with a new melody while the backing track was already being recorded. The session was held at Gold Star Studios in Hollywood.
recorded a vocal cover version of the tune in 1969 on RCA Victor, which was also a Top Ten pop and R&B hit, reaching no. 3 on the former and no. 5 on the latter. One of the group's members, Harry Elston, wrote lyrics for the song and sang lead on the Friends Of Distinction's version of it.
Personnel
The Friends of Distinctionvocals
Max Bennettelectric bass
Johnny Guthriedrums
Al Casey and Arthur Wrightguitars
Gene Ciprianopiccolo flute
John Audino, Anthony Terran, Bud Childers, Dalton Smithtrumpets
"Grazing in the Grass" has been recorded by many other musicians, including Stevie Wonder, The Ventures, Chet Atkins, Galapagos Duck, Boney James, Rick Braun, Larry Harlow, Willie Mitchell, The Monitors, The Scofflaws,, Meco, and Dexys. In 2004, the song was covered by Raven-Symoné; her version was played on Radio Disney, but it never received a general commercial release as a single for airplay in other venues. The music video for her version features her and dancing extras interacting with scenes from The Lion King 1½, the video also received frequent airplay on Disney Channel, as well as MTV and BET. "Grazing in the Grass" was sampled by the hip hop duo Nice & Smoothon the track "One, Two and One More Makes Three" from their album Ain't a Damn Thing Changed. A sample of the song can be heard in Sugar Ray's 1999 single "Every Morning," from its album . The jazz saxophonist George Howard did an upbeat version of "Grazing in the Grass" on his album When Summer Comes in 1993.
In the 1988 filmI'm Gonna Git You Sucka,The Friends of Distinction's version plays on a car stereo in a scene featuring Isaac Hayes singing along—but off-key, for comic effect—to annoy his passenger, played by Jim Brown. Brown had actually discovered The Friends of Distinction, leading to their signing with RCA Records and the release of "Grazing in the Grass" as their first single.
Hugh Masekela's 2004 autobiography, which he dictated to journalist D. Michael Cheers, is titled
In 2018, the song was included in an episode of Family Guy with The Friends of Distinction as themselves through an archival recording.
