Friends of Distinction
Encyclopedia
The Friends of Distinction are an American
vocal group best known for their late 1960s hits
, "Grazing in the Grass
", "Love or Let Me Be Lonely
", and "Going in Circles
". Founded by Harry Elston and Floyd Butler, The Friends of Distinction also included Jessica Cleaves
and Barbara Jean Love (plus Charlene Gibson, who replaced Love during her pregnancy).
entailed several groups
, including the Hi-Fis, Ray Charles
' backing band. The Hi-Fis also included Lamont McLemore and Marilyn McCoo
, who would go on to be members of The 5th Dimension. When the group disbanded in 1966, Elston and Butler recruited Cleaves and Love for a new band; initially, Elston came up with the name Distinctive Friends, but Love suggested reversing the words to Friends of Distinction.
After polishing up their act for a few months during 1968, the group hit the local tour circuit in Los Angeles
, California
. With the support of a well-known manager
, former football star
Jim Brown
, the group signed with RCA Records
. In 1969, they released their first single
"Grazing in the Grass", produced
by John Florez, arranged
and conducted
by Ray Cork Jr. Originally recorded
by trumpet
er Hugh Masekela
, Elston wrote the lyrics
to Masakela's trumpet lead, and the song became a hit. It remained on the U.S.
R&B chart
for 17 weeks, peaking at #5, and on the Hot 100 for 16 weeks, peaking at #3. The disc sold one million copies gaining it a R.I.A.A.
gold record
. Four months later, the third release, "Going in Circles", surpassed its predecessor. It climbed to #3 R&B after 19 weeks, and also reached #15 on the The Billboard Hot 100 chart
. It too sold over one million copies, giving the group their second gold record.
Three more singles charted for the group---"Love or Let Me Be Lonely," "Time Waits for No One" and "I Need You"---though none were as successful as the group's first two hits . However "Love or Let Me Be Lonely" gave the group a second Top 10 pop hit and its only entry on the adult contemporary
singles chart. The group encountered some personnel changes following the two hits. Cleaves and Love both departed the group. Cleaves joined up with other R&B
acts, Earth, Wind & Fire
and Parliament. After the release of their fifth and final single, the decline of The Friends of Distinction began.
By the mid 1970s, with more than five years elapsed since their first release, Elston and Butler disbanded the unit. The two parted ways and did not speak for several years. When they finally overcame their differences however, Butler died of a heart attack
---in Elston's arms. In 1996 Elston ultimately accomplished what he and Butler had agreed to do: he reformed the group with new members Pattie Brooks
, Van Jewel, and Drake Frye.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
vocal group best known for their late 1960s hits
Hit record
A hit record is a sound recording, usually in the form of a single or album, that sells a large number of copies or otherwise becomes broadly popular or well-known, through airplay, club play, inclusion in a film or stage play soundtrack, causing it to have "hit" one of the popular chart listings...
, "Grazing in the Grass
Grazing in the Grass
"Grazing in the Grass" is an instrumental composed by Philemon Hou and first recorded by the South African trumpeter Hugh Masekela. It is recognizable by its prominent cowbell part. Released in the United States as a single in 1968, it hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.-Recording:"Grazing in...
", "Love or Let Me Be Lonely
Love or Let Me Be Lonely
"Love or Let Me Be Lonely" is a pop song recorded by the soul group The Friends of Distinction and released as a single in early 1970. The song was a multi-format success, peaking in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary singles charts and at number 13 on the R&B chart.The...
", and "Going in Circles
Going in Circles (song)
"Going in Circles" is a song written by Jerry Peters and Anita Poree, and originally performed by The Friends of Distinction on their 1969 album Grazin′, reaching #15 on the U.S. Hot 100, and #3 on the R&B chart...
". Founded by Harry Elston and Floyd Butler, The Friends of Distinction also included Jessica Cleaves
Jessica Cleaves
Jessica Cleaves was lead singer for Friends of Distinction in the 1960s. Founded by Harry Elston and Floyd Butler, the Friends of Distinction also comprised Barbara Jean Love .Cleaves also performed and recorded with Earth, Wind & Fire, and for a brief time performed with...
and Barbara Jean Love (plus Charlene Gibson, who replaced Love during her pregnancy).
Career
Elston and Butler's involvement in musicMusic
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
entailed several groups
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
, including the Hi-Fis, Ray Charles
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...
' backing band. The Hi-Fis also included Lamont McLemore and Marilyn McCoo
Marilyn McCoo
Marilyn McCoo is an American singer, actress, and television presenter, who is best known for being the lead female vocalist in the group The 5th Dimension, as well as hosting the 1980s music countdown series Solid Gold...
, who would go on to be members of The 5th Dimension. When the group disbanded in 1966, Elston and Butler recruited Cleaves and Love for a new band; initially, Elston came up with the name Distinctive Friends, but Love suggested reversing the words to Friends of Distinction.
After polishing up their act for a few months during 1968, the group hit the local tour circuit in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. With the support of a well-known manager
Management
Management in all business and organizational activities is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively...
, former football star
Celebrity
A celebrity, also referred to as a celeb in popular culture, is a person who has a prominent profile and commands a great degree of public fascination and influence in day-to-day media...
Jim Brown
Jim Brown
James Nathaniel "Jim" Brown is an American former professional football player who has also made his mark as an actor. He is best known for his exceptional and record-setting nine-year career as a running back for the NFL Cleveland Browns from 1957 to 1965. In 2002, he was named by Sporting News...
, the group signed with RCA Records
RCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
. In 1969, they released their first single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
"Grazing in the Grass", produced
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
by John Florez, arranged
Arrangement
The American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...
and conducted
Conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
by Ray Cork Jr. Originally recorded
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
by trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
er Hugh Masekela
Hugh Masekela
Hugh Ramopolo Masekela is a South African trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, composer, and singer.-Early life:Masekela was born in Kwa-Guqa Township, Witbank, South Africa. He began singing and playing piano as a child...
, Elston wrote the lyrics
Lyrics
Lyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of...
to Masakela's trumpet lead, and the song became a hit. It remained on the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
R&B chart
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
for 17 weeks, peaking at #5, and on the Hot 100 for 16 weeks, peaking at #3. The disc sold one million copies gaining it a R.I.A.A.
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
gold record
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
. Four months later, the third release, "Going in Circles", surpassed its predecessor. It climbed to #3 R&B after 19 weeks, and also reached #15 on the The Billboard Hot 100 chart
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
. It too sold over one million copies, giving the group their second gold record.
Three more singles charted for the group---"Love or Let Me Be Lonely," "Time Waits for No One" and "I Need You"---though none were as successful as the group's first two hits . However "Love or Let Me Be Lonely" gave the group a second Top 10 pop hit and its only entry on the adult contemporary
Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks
The Adult Contemporary chart is a weekly chart published in Billboard magazine that lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary and "lite-pop" radio stations in the United States...
singles chart. The group encountered some personnel changes following the two hits. Cleaves and Love both departed the group. Cleaves joined up with other R&B
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
acts, Earth, Wind & Fire
Earth, Wind & Fire
Earth, Wind & Fire is an American soul and R&B band formed in Chicago, Illinois, in 1969 by Verdine and Maurice White. Also known as EWF, the band has won six Grammy Awards and four American Music Awards. They have been inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Vocal Group Hall of...
and Parliament. After the release of their fifth and final single, the decline of The Friends of Distinction began.
By the mid 1970s, with more than five years elapsed since their first release, Elston and Butler disbanded the unit. The two parted ways and did not speak for several years. When they finally overcame their differences however, Butler died of a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
---in Elston's arms. In 1996 Elston ultimately accomplished what he and Butler had agreed to do: he reformed the group with new members Pattie Brooks
Pattie Brooks
Pattie Brooks is an American singer most frequently associated with the disco era. She was born in Fort Riley, Kansas to a military family. Her first break came in 1968 when she auditioned for the chorus on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour". In the next decade she became a sought-after backing...
, Van Jewel, and Drake Frye.
Studio albums
| Year | Album | Chart positions | Record label | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
US R&B Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999... |
|||||
| 1969 | Grazin | 35 | 10 | RCA RCA Records RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label... |
||
| Highly Distinct | 173 | 14 | ||||
| 1970 | Real Friends | 68 | 9 | |||
| Whatever Whatever (The Friends of Distinction album) Whatever is the fourth album by R&B group The Friends of Distinction. Released in 1970. Produced by Ray Cork, Jr.-Track listing:#"You and I" 4:65#"New Mother Nature" 3:41... |
179 | 42 | ||||
| 1971 | Friends & People Friends & People Friends & People is the fifth album by R&B group The Friends of Distinction. Released in 1971. Produced by Jerry Peters-Track listing:#"People" 11:30 #"Faces On The Bus" 5:20#"I Can't Get You Out Of My Mind" 3:30 #"Down I Go" 3:10... |
166 | — | |||
| 1973 | Love Can Make It Easier | — | — | |||
| 1975 | Reviviscence - Live to Light Again | — | — | |||
| "—" denotes the album failed to chart | ||||||
Compilation albums
| Year | Album | Chart positions | Record label | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
US R&B Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999... |
|||||
| 1973 | Greatest Hits | — | — | RCA RCA Records RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label... |
||
| 1989 | Golden Classics | — | — | Collectables Collectables Records Collectables is a reissue record label founded in 1980 by Jerry Greene. Greene was previously associated with New York City's Times Square Record Shop, Philadelphia's Record Museum retail chain, and the Lost Nite and Crimson record labels.... |
||
| 1996 | Best of The Friends of Distinction | — | — | RCA | ||
| 2005 | Going in Circles | — | — | Sony BMG | ||
| "—" denotes the album failed to chart | ||||||
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart positions | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
US R&B Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,... |
US A/C |
|||||
| 1969 | "Grazing in the Grass Grazing in the Grass "Grazing in the Grass" is an instrumental composed by Philemon Hou and first recorded by the South African trumpeter Hugh Masekela. It is recognizable by its prominent cowbell part. Released in the United States as a single in 1968, it hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.-Recording:"Grazing in... " |
3 | 5 | — | |||
| "Going in Circles Going in Circles (song) "Going in Circles" is a song written by Jerry Peters and Anita Poree, and originally performed by The Friends of Distinction on their 1969 album Grazin′, reaching #15 on the U.S. Hot 100, and #3 on the R&B chart... " (A-side) |
15 | 3 | — | ||||
| "Let Yourself Go" (B-side) | 63 | — | — | ||||
| 1970 | "Love Is the Way of Life" | — | — | — | |||
| "Love or Let Me Be Lonely Love or Let Me Be Lonely "Love or Let Me Be Lonely" is a pop song recorded by the soul group The Friends of Distinction and released as a single in early 1970. The song was a multi-format success, peaking in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary singles charts and at number 13 on the R&B chart.The... " |
6 | 13 | 9 | ||||
| "Now Is the Time" | — | — | — | ||||
| "Time Waits for No One" | 60 | 37 | — | ||||
| 1971 | "I Need You" | 79 | 28 | — | |||
| "It Don't Matter to Me" | — | — | — | ||||
| "Long Time Comin' My Way" | — | — | — | ||||
| 1972 | "Jenny Wants to Know" | — | — | — | |||
| "Thumb Tripping" | — | — | — | ||||
| 1973 | "Ain't No Woman (Like the One I've Got) Ain't No Woman (Like the One I've Got) "Ain't No Woman " is a 1973 hit single written by Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter, released as a single by the Four Tops on the ABC/Dunhill record label, from the album Keeper of the Castle.... " |
— | — | — | |||
| "Love Can Make It Easier" | — | — | — | ||||
| 1975 | "Love Shack (Opened Up a Shop) Pt. 1" | — | — | — | |||
| "—" denotes the single failed to chart | |||||||
External links
- The Friends of Distinction at DiscogsDiscogsDiscogs, short for discographies, is a website and database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. The Discogs servers, currently hosted under the domain name discogs.com, are owned by Zink Media, Inc., and are...
- The Friends of Distinction at Soul Tracks