"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 Billboard Hot 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 Grazing in the Grass: The Best of Hugh Masekela (2001), Still Grazing (2004), and Live at the Market Theatre (2006).
Video Grazing in the Grass
Recording
"Grazing in the Grass" was inspired by an earlier Masekela recording, "Mr. Bull No. 5". Hou, an actor and singer, came up with the melody while the backing track was already being recorded. The session was held at Gold Star Studios in Hollywood.
Maps Grazing in the Grass
Personnel
- Hugh Masekela - trumpet
- Bruce Langhorne - guitar
- Al Abreu - alto sax
- William Henderson - piano
- Henry Franklin - bass
- Chuck Carter - drums
Charts
The Friends of Distinction version
The Friends of Distinction 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 Distinction - vocals
- Max Bennett - electric bass
- Johnny Guthrie - drums
- Al Casey and Arthur Wright - guitars
- Gene Cipriano - piccolo flute
- John Audino, Anthony Terran, Bud Childers, Dalton Smith - trumpets
- King Errisson - congas
- Douglas Davis - cello
- Jim Horn - tenor saxophone,
- Garry Nuttycombe - viola
- Harry Bluestone, Jimmy Getzoff - violins
- Jack Arnold - percussion
- Larry Knechtel - piano
Chart performance
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Other cover versions
"Grazing in the Grass" has been recorded by many other musicians, including Stevie Wonder (on his 1968 album Eivets Rednow), 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 & Smooth on 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 14:59.
The jazz saxophonist George Howard did an upbeat version of "Grazing in the Grass" on his album When Summer Comes in 1993.
In popular culture
- The song has been included in numerous movie sound tracks including: Battle of the Sexes (2017), Talk to Me (2007), Bobby (2006), The Last King of Scotland (2006), Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004), The Lion King 1½ (2004), Space Cowboys (2000), Jackie Brown (1997) and I Shot Andy Warhol (1995).
- In the 1988 film I'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 Still Grazing: The Musical Journey of Hugh Masekela
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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