Classical Gas

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.

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.

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.

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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