"Night of the Long Grass" is a song by English rock band

the Troggs The Troggs (originally called the Troglodytes) are an English garage rock band formed in Andover, Hampshire in May 1964. Their most famous songs include the US chart-topper " Wild Thing", "With a Girl Like You" and "Love Is All Around", all o ...

, released as a single in May 1967. It continued their slight dip in chart performance, though still became their sixth top-twenty hit in the UK.

Background and release

Originally towards the end of April 1967, the next Troggs single was announced as "My Lady" backed with "Girl in Black". However, a week before its release, it was announced that they would be changing the

A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

and instead release "Night of the Long Grass" as a single. As "My Lady" was withdrawn so soon before its expected release, according to Reg Presley, around 26,000 copies had already been pressed. It was given a release in South Africa as was also "Night of the Long Grass", with the latter backed with "

Hi Hi Hazel "Hi Hi Hazel" is a song first released by soul band Geno Washington & the Ram Jam Band as a single in July 1966. A version by rock band the Troggs was released as a single in July 1967, and both were minor hits in the UK. Background and releas ...

". "My Lady" was later included on the Troggs album ''Cellophone'' and a cover by

Jet Harris Jet, Jets, or The Jet(s) may refer to: Aerospace * Jet aircraft, an aircraft propelled by jet engines ** Jet airliner ** Jet engine ** Jet fuel * Jet Airways, an Indian airline * Wind Jet (ICAO: JET), an Italian airline * Journey to Enceladus a ...

was released as a single in July 1967. Reviewing for ''

Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper between 1954 and 1991 for pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after the ''NME'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK album chart was published in ''Re ...

'', Peter Jones described "Night of the Long Grass" as "much stronger than the mooted "My Lady" single – in fact, it becomes darned infectious after just a couple of plays. Lyrics worth a close listen, with atmospheric guitar and percussion backing… and the vocal comes through as if hidden behind a wall of bricks or grass or something. Curious vocals sounds behind, too". Guest reviewing for ''

Disc and Music Echo ''Disc'' was a weekly British popular music magazine, published between 1958 and 1975, when it was incorporated into ''Record Mirror''. It was also known for periods as ''Disc Weekly '' (1964–1966) and ''Disc and Music Echo '' (1966–1972). ...

'',

Dusty Springfield Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien (16 April 1939 – 2 March 1999), known professionally as Dusty Springfield, was an English singer. With her distinctive mezzo-soprano sound, she was a popular singer of blue-eyed soul, Pop music, p ...

wrote "What a creepy beginning! And a lovely, sexy, sinister vocal from Reg. On first hearing though, it's not as catchy as some of their others but it's got lots of nice ideas and their popularity will see it into the chart I'm sure".

Charts

References

{{Authority control 1967 singles The Troggs songs Songs written by Reg Presley 1967 songs