Monday, April 26, 2010

The Friends of Distinction

Artist: The Friends of Distinction
LP: Grazin'
Song: "Grazing In the Grass"
[ listen ]
Song: "Eli's Comin'"
[ listen ]

This 1969 Friends of Distinction LP is one of the neat things I found at the little shop in Grants Pass, Oregon while passing through a few weeks ago. The store didn't have a listening station, but the LP cover alone was worth the $3 I paid. One of the best tracks on the record is "Grazing In the Grass," a catchy number that was the group's first top ten hit, and which brings to mind one of my favorite Pizzicato Five songs. Another favorite here is "Eli's Comin'," a cover of a Laura Nyro song. A few years ago I bought a disappointing Laura Nyro tribute CD on which 14 popular female singers each transformed one of Nyro's songs into a bowl of cold, adult-contemporary oatmeal. But the Friends of Distinction don't let Nyro down, actually building upon the musical energy and excitement of her song. You can read more about The Friends of Distinction (Floyd Butler, Harry Elston, Jessica Cleaves, Barbara Love) on Wikipedia here, with liner notes, a list of musicians contributing to the LP and a photo of the group grazing in the grass included below.

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