Do
You Have Classical Gas?
Name This Tune
Every so often, a piece of
music captures the imagination of the public and
becomes a cultural icon. One such case is the
catchy instrumental, Classical Gas.
It features Mason Williams on
guitar with a backing orchestra. Williams, who also
wrote the track, is something of a renaissance man.
He has written books, poetry and produced artwork
in addition to composing music.
The other string to Williams'
bow is comedy writing. At the time of composing
Classical Gas, he was working as head writer for
the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour television
show.
It was Tom Smothers who
suggested to Warner Brothers that they sign
Williams up to a record deal. He cut his debut
album, The Mason Williams Phonograph Record, from
which the hit single was released in 1968. The
track got to the Top 5 in the US charts, was also a
big seller in the UK and sold over a million
copies.
Classical Gas And The Grammy
Awards
In addition to chart success,
the record was honored at the Grammy Award
ceremony.
Williams won in the Best
Instrumental Composition and the Best Contemporary
Instrumental Pop Performance. Mike Post won for the
Best Instrumental Arrangement. Post would go on to
be feted as a successful composer of TV themes for
series such as Magnum P.I., NYPD Blue and Law and
Order.
Classical Gas entered the
record books as the most requested instrumental on
the radio and it still gets lots of airplay today.
The record was accompanied by a promotional video,
one of the earliest to be done.
Musicians Jump On The
Band Wagon Of Classical Gas
Other musicians too have paid
tribute to the tune by recording their own
versions. Covers have been done by Glen Campbell,
John Williams with the Boston Pops Orchestra, Steve
Howe and the country music guitarist, Chet Atkins.
The violinist, Vanessa-Mae has also done her own
interpretation.
About Original Classical
Gas Musician Mason Williams
Mason Williams still records
today and is happy to talk about the success of his
most famous release. Classical Gas has been used in
many forms over the years and Williams could not
have anticipated the impact that it would have. The
tune can be heard as background music for movies
and as theme tunes for television shows.
Skaters, body builders,
gymnasts and dancers have used the tune as
accompanying music for their routines. Not many
pieces of music get so much airplay for almost
forty years since the original release.
Other composers can only look
on in envy, wishing that they had come up with that
particular chord sequence.
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Merchandise for
Promotion
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Does your group need more money? Try
printing and offering your own promotional
band merchandise for extra income when you
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