Grazing In The Grass

In his native South Africa, the trumpet player Hugh Masekela is esteemed for his huge catalog of jazz recordings. In the rest of the world, he's best known for "Grazing In The Grass," a song he considered a throwaway, recorded to complete the album. Masekela had been recording since 1962, but in 1967 he moved to the Uni label. When he was working on his third album for Uni, The Promise Of A Future, the label pointed out that it was 3 minutes short of the contractually agreed length of 30 minutes. Masekela's producer, Stewart Levine, suggested they fill the gap by reworking a 7-inch single that Hugh had bought on a trip to Zambia earlier in the year, a novelty tune called "Mr. Bull #5" that started with a cowbell. They banged it out in less than an hour; Levine said it was "a bit of a spoof," but when Uni Records executive Russ Regan heard it, he declared it a "smash." He was right: the song shot to #1 in July 1968 and became one of the all-time summer anthems.

There is only one credited songwriter on this track, and it's not Masekela. When they worked up the song in the studio, an African actor/musician named Philemon Hou was in the studio and came up with the melody. He was given the sole songwriting credit, which proved very lucrative.

"Grazing In The Grass" got its title because of the song it's based on, "Mr. Bull #5." That song takes place in a cow pasture, opening with someone yelling at the cow. That's also where the cowbell came from.