Customer Reviews

Grazin / Highly Distinct

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I produced these LP's for RCA Records in 1968 & 1969.

The Friends' "Grazin'" album is still my all-time favorite production from the 15 years that I was in the record business.

Each "Grazin'" song was hand-picked and "majority rule" voted upon by the group, our talented arranger, Ray Cork, and me - just like the 5th Dimension selected their material. Even the choice of a lead singer for each tune was first individually auditioned and then voted on - an amazing, ego-free democracy.

No one ever mentions it in their reviews, but listen to "Eli's Comin'" to witness an incredible performance by Jessica Cleaves and the group. They recorded this intricate vocal arrangment in an unbelievable one vocal "take". Ditto for a one take performace of "Grazin' in the Grass".

On the other hand, "Highly Distinct" was always, and still is, highly unlistenable. My favorite cut is "It's Just A Game". At this point in their career, the group had enjoyed back-to-back million selling singles and RCA asked (correction: DEMANDED) that a new album be produced immediately.

Well ... truth be told (as Harry Elston would say), the Friends had been on the road for months, headlined LA's Greek Theater with Tom Jones, and simply didn't have the time to put something special together for a follow-up LP. And most of the cuts had to be recorded live with a full orchestra because RCA didn't want us to spend time cutting individual sets of tracks as we had done for "Grazin'".

Thus, in a perfect world, RCA could have/should have released "I Really Hope You Do" (the "B" side of "Grazin' in the Grass") as the Friends' follow-up single to "Going in Circles" and allowed the group MUCH more time to put a sensational new album together. However, as it turned out, this wish was granted a year later (though I was no longer affiliated with the group), when Ray Cork produced the "Real Friends" LP. THAT album should have been the followup to our "Grazin'" LP - not "Highly Distinct". (And, had RCA released "It Don't Matter To Me" instead of "Time Waits for No One", I believe the Friends' string of monster hits would have been extended.)

Friends of Distinction fans: I recommend the "Grazin'" and "Real Friends" collections as the very best of this talented group's performances.

Sort of a jazzy-funky mix of the 5th Dimension and elements of the Manhattan Transfer with comparable chops and slightly lesser material. This set, though, is a treat, with 2 1969 LPs on one CD. "Grazin'" includes two hit singles, "Grazin' in the Grass" and "Going in Circles", and some fine performances on the Beatles "And I Love Him [Her]", Kenny Rankin's "Peaceful" (later a hit for Helen Reddy), and Cole Porter's "Lonesome Mood". "Highly Distinct" had no big hits but includes a nice take on "Workin' on a Groovy Thing" (though not as good as the 5D's), "It's Just a Game Love" (from the film "The Split"), and "We Got a Good Thing Goin'". "Impressions" is a psychedlic throwaway, though : a few minutes of effects-distorted dialogue and vocalese (in the loosest sense), that doen't bear repeated listening. Fans of the 5D, Manhattan Transfer, or just good vocal arrangements and harmonies will find this CD a delight and a bargain to boot.

I GAVE THIS CD FIVE STARS BECAUSE OF THE GREAT VALUE OF GETTING TWO FOR ONE. I AGREE TOTALLY WITH JOHN FLOREZ THAT "REAL FRIENDS" SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE FOLLOW-UP ALBUM FOR "GRAZIN'". IF YOU WANT TO GET FAMILIAR WITH THIS GROUP THIS CD IS A GOOD START.

The Friends of Distinction were a Los Angeles vocal quartet, two men and two women, whose funky hit single, "Grazin'," belied the smoother, easy soul of this debut album. Produced by John Florez, the group picked a lead vocalist from among the four to match each track, and then surrounded them with fetching harmonies. Their material ranged from Hugh Masekela's title song (to which group founder/vocalist Harry Elston added lyrics) to a slow and sensual cover of Lennon & McCartney's "And I Love Her." They created a vocal jazz arrangement of Cole Porter's "Lonesome Mood" that suggests Lambert, Hendricks & Ross, as does the waltz time "Baby I Could Be So Good at Loving You." The parallel with the Fifth Dimension is reinforced by the group's stellar cover of Laura Nyro's "Eli's Coming," featuring a supercharged falsetto lead by Jessica Cleaves against intricate backing vocals and an arrangement that alternates between slow soul and fervent revival. The album's second single "Going in Circles" charted into the Top 20 with a superb arrangement that combines strings, horns and woodwinds behind a feeling lead vocal and soulful harmonies. It's a shame that the group's follow-up album Highly Distinct was rushed out by the label, as given time to create, this debut shows how brilliantly they could select and sing light soul. [©2010 hyperbolium dot com]

Let's face it guys, "Highly Distinct" just didn't have the pop that "Grazin" had, but there're some good songs on "Distinct" ("let yourself go", "it's sunday"). It's just shows how hard it is to have two top ten songs (pop and soul charts) like "grazin in the grass" and "going in circles" on the same album, those "Friends of Distinction" pulled it off. You're gonna love their version of "elis coming", the girls are really showing their range on this one. I've listen to alot of FOD, and still can't tell who's singing between Jessica Cleaves and Charlene Gibson. What a pair of great voices. (here's a hint, Charlene sings "love or let me be lonely") Then there's "peaceful" another diamond in the rough. The Friends of Distinction, I'm sure you're gonna enjoy.