Night of the Long Grass

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"Night of the Long Grass"
The Troggs Night of the Long Grass.jpg
Danish picture sleeve
Single by the Troggs
B-side "Girl in Black"
Released19 May 1967 (1967-05-19)
Genre Psychedelic rock
Length3:04
Label Page One
Songwriter Reg Presley
Producer Larry Page
The Troggs singles chronology
"Give It to Me"
(1967)		"Night of the Long Grass"
(1967)		"Hi Hi Hazel"
(1967)
Audio
"Night of the Long Grass" on YouTube

"Night of the Long Grass" is a song by English rock band the Troggs, 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. [1]

Contents

Background and release

Originally towards the end of April 1967, the next Troggs single was announced as "My Lady" backed with "Girl in Black". [2] However, a week before its release, it was announced that they would be changing the A-side and instead release "Night of the Long Grass" as a single. [3] As "My Lady" was withdrawn so soon before its expected release, around 26,000 copies of that single had already been pressed. [4] It was given a release in South Africa as was also "Night of the Long Grass", with the latter backed with "Hi Hi Hazel". [5] [6] "My Lady" was later included on the Troggs album Cellophane and a cover by Jet Harris was released as a single in July 1967. [7]

Commercial performance and reception

"Night of the Long Grass" entered the Record Retailer charts at number 39 on 7 June 1967, before peaking at number 17 on 28 June. [8] In total, the single spent six weeks on the charts. [8] Presley commented on the single's relative chart failure, stating that "Night of the Long Grass" did not receive the "big plugs yet", including airplay on pirate radio. [9] The Troggs recorded a promotional film for "Night of the Long Grass" in Epping Forest during early June 1967. [9] The film was directed by Swedish director Peter Goldmann first screened on Swedish television. [10] Presley believed that the film would give the single a "shot in the arm" when it was aired. [9]

Reviewing for Record Mirror , 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". [11] Guest reviewing for Disc and Music Echo , Dusty Springfield 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". [12] Presley was more satisfied with the way the single was built than their earlier releases. [9]

Charts

Weekly chart performance for "Night of the Long Grass"
Chart (1967)Peak

position

Australia (Kent Music Report) [13] 79
France ( SNEP ) [14] 82
Ireland (RTÉ) [15] 23
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40) [16] 33
Poland (Scout Radio) [17] 3
UK ( Disc and Music Echo ) [18] 19
UK ( Melody Maker ) [19] 19
UK ( New Musical Express ) [20] 21
UK ( Record Retailer ) [1] 17
West Germany (Media Control) [21] 23

References

Citations

  1. 1 2 "Troggs". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 28 November 2025. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  2. ↑ Harry, Bill (29 April 1967). "The Face" (PDF). Record Mirror . p. 12. Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 January 2025. Retrieved 11 October 2022– via WorldRadioHistory.
  3. ↑ Anon. (13 May 1967). "Pet's Follow-up, Single by Burdon, Troggs Late Switch". New Musical Express . p. 8.
  4. ↑ Short, Don (18 May 1967). "A Hit out of a Hash" . Daily Mirror . p. 21. Archived from the original on 15 January 2026. Retrieved 15 January 2026– via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. ↑ "The Troggs - My Lady". 45cat. Archived from the original on 12 October 2022. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  6. ↑ "The Troggs - Night Of The Long Grass". 45cat. Archived from the original on 24 January 2025. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  7. ↑ Anon. (8 July 1967). "Jet Harris back" (PDF). Disc and Music Echo . p. 7. Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 December 2024. Retrieved 11 October 2022– via WorldRadioHistory.
  8. 1 2 "Night of the Long Grass". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 15 July 2024. Retrieved 15 January 2026.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Bromley, Tony (17 June 1967). "Question Time with Trogg Reg Presley" (PDF). New Musical Express . p. 9. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 October 2025. Retrieved 15 January 2026– via WorldRadioHistory.
  10. ↑ Anon. (1 July 1967). "Great Britain" (PDF). Cash Box . p. 54. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 November 2025. Retrieved 15 January 2026– via WorldRadioHistory.
  11. ↑ Jones, Peter (20 May 1967). "New Singles" (PDF). Record Mirror . p. 9. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 January 2025. Retrieved 11 October 2022– via WorldRadioHistory.
  12. ↑ Springfield, Dusty (27 May 1967). "Troggs – sexy" (PDF). Disc and Music Echo . p. 15. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 December 2024. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  13. ↑ Kent 2005, p. 66.
  14. ↑ "Accès direct à ces Artistes: Charles Trenet" [Access directly to Artists: Charles Trenet]. Infodisc. SNEP. Archived from the original on 12 November 2025. Retrieved 15 January 2026.
  15. ↑ Anon. (12 July 1967). "New Spotlight Top 30" . Evening Herald . p. 15. Archived from the original on 15 January 2026. Retrieved 15 January 2026– via Irish Newspaper Archives.
  16. ↑ "Night of the Long Grass" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Archived from the original on 14 October 2025. Retrieved 15 January 2026.
  17. ↑ Anon. (2 September 1967). "Hits of the World" (PDF). Billboard . p. 62. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 December 2024. Retrieved 16 January 2026– via WorldRadioHistory.
  18. ↑ Anon. (24 June 1967). "Top 30" (PDF). Disc and Music Echo . p. 3. Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 December 2024. Retrieved 11 October 2022– via WorldRadioHistory.
  19. ↑ Anon. (17 June 1967). "Pop 30" (PDF). Melody Maker . p. 2. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 July 2025. Retrieved 11 October 2022– via WorldRadioHistory.
  20. ↑ Anon. (17 June 1967). "NME Top 30" (PDF). New Musical Express . p. 5. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 October 2025. Retrieved 11 October 2022– via WorldRadioHistory.
  21. ↑ "Night of the Long Grass" (in German). Offizielle Deutsche Charts. Archived from the original on 15 January 2026. Retrieved 15 January 2026.

Sources

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