The album was released by MGM Records label, which Masekela left several years ago.[5] It was recorded at The Village Gate, New York City, in November 1965 during the same sessions as The Americanization of Ooga Booga and released as a separate album in December 1968.[6] In 1996 Verve Records released a CD named The Lasting Impression of Ooga-Booga, which included tracks from The Americanization of Ooga Booga and five tracks from the present record without "Child of the Earth".
Reception[]
A reviewer of Dusty Groove stated: "One of Hugh's best albums for MGM – with some tracks that are longer than his late 60s pop tunes, and which feature him stretching out more in a soulful mode, hitting some fuzzy Afro funk grooves that are very nice! Hugh's soulful trumpet is in fine fine form..."[7] Bruce Eder of AllMusic wrote: "The remainder of Hugh Masekela's winter 1965 Village Gate set sat in the can for three years, until 'Grazing in the Grass' became a hit in 1968 on the Uni label. Then the label rushed out with the six-track Lasting Impressions of Hugh Masekela LP, which was a match musically for its predecessor, The Americanization of Ooga Booga."[1]