The Friends of Distinction earned their greatest recognition through the chart-topping pop single “Grazing in the Grass.” Harry Elston and Floyd Butler launched the ensemble, which originally featured Jessica Cleaves alongside Barbara Jean Love; Charlene Gibson later stepped in for Love while she was expecting. Prior to this project, Elston and Butler had already performed together in several ensembles, one of which was the Hi-Fi’s. After that outfit dissolved in 1966, the pair brought Cleaves and Love into the fold for a fresh venture. Elston first proposed the name Distinctive Friends, yet Love proposed flipping the phrase, resulting in Friends of Distinction.
Following several months of refinement in 1968, the quartet began performing across the Los Angeles club scene. Bolstered by seasoned skills and the guidance of prominent manager and former football star Jim Brown, they secured a contract with RCA. Their debut single, “Grazing in the Grass,” arrived in 1969. The track had originally been cut by renowned trumpeter Hugh Masekela; Elston supplied the lyrics to accompany Masekela’s horn line. The release dominated the Billboard R&B listing for seventeen weeks and reached number five, while climbing to number three on the Hot 100. Their follow-up, “Going in Circles,” advanced to number three on the R&B chart across a nineteen-week run.
Additional singles such as “Love or Let Me Be Lonely,” “Time Waits for No One,” and “I Need You” also registered on the charts, though none matched the commercial impact of the opening pair. Early success brought personnel shifts: Love exited, and Cleaves moved on to Earth, Wind & Fire, later collaborating with Parliament-Funkadelic and Raw Silk among others. When creative differences prompted Elston and Butler to disband the act, the Friends of Distinction had already issued seven RCA albums. Years afterward the two men reconciled, yet Butler suffered a fatal heart attack in 1990. Later in that decade Elston revived the group, enlisting Pattie Brooks, Van Jewel, and Drake Frye. Cleaves passed away following a stroke in 2014.
