“Grazing in the Grass” by Hugh Masekela
Hugh Masekela (1939-2018) was a multi-instrumentalist (specializing in the trumpet) from South Africa. His discography almost reached the six-decade year mark while he was still on the mortal plane.
Throughout his career, he had achieved numerous ‘lifetime achievement’ awards for his works.
Hugh’s signature song is “Grazing in the Grass”, which Uni Records released during May of 1968.
The credited author of this song is one Philemon Hou, who didn’t write it per se but rather composed the melody upon which it is based. And the producer of “Grazing in the Grass” is Stewart Levine.
“Grazing in the Grass” is actually what we in more modern times would perhaps call a remix or cover of a piece entitled “Mr. Bull No. 4”. Readily available information on said track is scant, as it is apparently akin to an African folk song. And the artist who laid it down, Mr. Bull, is seemingly from Zambia or some other part of southern Africa. The only reason Masekela proceeded to record his own rendition of the tune was because having already recorded the rest of the album, it came to be featured on, “The Promise of a Future” (1968), he came up 3 minutes short of the 30 he was contracted to drop.
Other notable musicians who participated in this recording include:
- bassist Henry Franklin – who has worked with some of the biggest names in the game
- guitarist Bruce Langhorne (1938-2017), who is perhaps best known for his collaborations with Bob Dylan
Song’s Title (“Grazing in the Grass”)
Actually Masekela derived the song’s title from the aforementioned “Mr. Bull No. 4”. This song (“Mr. Bull #4”) begins with a cowbell sound and a cow mooing. Thereafter an angry man shouts at the top of his voice on the cow to get the hell out of his “backyard”. Apparently the cow was illegally grazing/feeding in the man’s “backyard” and he didn’t like that.
More Facts about “Grazing in the Grass”
This track actually topped the Billboard Hot 100, back in the day when it was more common for jazz instrumentals to do so.
Allstate Insurance reportedly used this piece for one of their advertisements which came out in 2021.
In 2018, this song, as originally rendered by Masekela, also made its way into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
A cover of this song, though with lyrics, came out in 1969, via The Friends of Distinction, an R&B crew from Los Angeles. And their rendition also did quite well for itself, breaking the top 10 of 3 different Billboard charts.
This track was recorded at a since-defunct facility in Los Angeles known as Gold Star Studios. This was a place that accommodated many of the top acts of its day.
Hugh’s “The Promise of a Future” Album
“The Promise of a Future” was launched in 1986 as Masekela’s eighth studio album. In 1993, the defunct One Way label had the album re-released on CD.
The 9-tracked jazz album was entirely produced by American record producer, Stewart Levine.
“The Promise of a Future” was released through American record label Uni Records, a record label currently under the management of Geffen Records.
