- Classical Gas
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For the properties of a gas in classical physics, see ideal gas.
"Classical Gas" Single by Mason Williams from the album The Mason Williams Phonograph Record B-side "Long Time Blues" Released 1968 Format 7" Genre Easy listening, classical Length 3:00 Label Warner Bros. Writer(s) Mason Williams Producer Mike Post Classical Gas Studio album by Mason Williams with Mannheim Steamroller Released 1987 Recorded 1987 Genre Easy listening, classical "Classical Gas" is an instrumental musical piece composed and originally performed by Mason Williams. Originally released in 1968 on the album The Mason Williams Phonograph Record, it has been re-recorded and re-released numerous times since by Williams. One later version served as the title track of a 1987 album by Williams and the orchestra Mannheim Steamroller.
Williams re-recorded "Classical Gas" as a solo guitar piece on his 1970 album Handmade. In 1987, he recorded a version with Mannheim Steamroller. The song was also re-released by Sony in 2003, after being featured in the film Cheaper by the Dozen.[1]
Williams was the head writer for The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour at the time of the piece's release and premiered the composition on the show. Williams performed it several times over several episodes. After the piece had reached the Top Ten, Williams asked an experimental filmmaker named Dan McLaughlin to create a video montage of classical art works edited in time to the music, using the visual effect now known as kinestasis. The pioneering work, 3000 Years of Art, premiered in the summer of 1968 and may have helped push the song high on the charts; it peaked at #2 for two weeks in August that year.[2]
During the 1970s and early 1980s, many television stations (such as WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh, WBAL-TV in Baltimore and KNTV in San Jose) used the composition - or a version of it re-recorded by Telesound - as their theme song.
There is a common misconception[citation needed] that "Classical Gas" was composed and performed by Eric Clapton. Clapton has never recorded a cover of the song. This misconception may possibly be attributed to the fact that Clapton was musical director of, and played much of the guitar music for, the feature film The Story of Us. The version of the song on the film's soundtrack is actually Williams's own solo-guitar re-recording of it, from his 1970 album Handmade.[3]
Contents
Track listing of 1987 album
- "Classical Gas" 03:27
- "Sunflower" 02:08
- "Samba Beach" 03:54
- "Country Idyll" 02:11
- "Saturday Night at the World" 03:52
- "Shady Dell" 03:18
- "Katydid’s Ditty" 00:58
- "Greensleeves" 03:01
- "Doot-Doot" 02:03
- "La Chanson de Claudine" 03:12
- "McCall" 02:35
- "Vancouver Island" 02:45
- "Baroque-A-Nova" 03:04
Awards
- In 1969, the piece won three Grammy Awards: Best Instrumental Composition, Best Contemporary-Pop Performance, Instrumental, and Best Instrumental Arrangement.[4]
- In 1998, Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI) awarded Williams a special Citation of Achievement. The piece has logged over five million broadcast performances to become BMI's all-time number-one instrumental composition for radio air play.
Covers
Area Code 615 covered "Classical Gas" in their 1970 album Trip in the Country, played by Bobby Thompson on banjo, parts of which are sampled and featured in a recent (Jan 2010) Irish & UK Guinness TV Commercial. Larry Fast recorded an electronic version for his Synergy album Sequencer in 1976. Cozy Powell performed a version of the song on his 1992 solo album The Drums Are Back, as did Australian musician Tommy Emmanuel on his self-titled album, backed by the Australian Philharmonic Orchestra. Vanessa-Mae, British violinist, covered "Classical Gas" in November 1995. A live rendition by Glen Campbell is included on 20 Greatest Hits and on the 3-CD set Classic Campbell.
In Film and Television
- 1993
"The Simpsons: Last Exit to Springfield", Fox TV/Music, (TV)
"Wild Palms" Soundtrack, EMI Music Canada, LTD., (FILM)
- 1994
"What's My Line", PBS, (TV)
"Visions" Video, American Gramaphone, (VIDEO)
- 1995
"The Heidi Chronicles" , Writers Cinema II, (TV)
"A Patchwork of Possibilities", Penn Dutch Conventions & Visitors Bureau, (VIDEO)
"Once in a Blue Moon" Soundtrack, Airwaves Sound Design, (FILM)
- 1996
"The Heidi Chronicles" Promo Trailer, Turner Network Television, (TV)
"Jeopardy" #327, Game Show Network, (TV)
"Getting Started with Lawson Insight Environment", Lawson Software, (DVD)
"Learning & Jobs News", Learning & Skills TV of Alberta, LTD, (TV)
"The Rosie O'Donnell Show", Kidro Entertainment, (TV)
- 1997
In-House Video, First Light, (VIDEO)
Advertisement, Marketing Management Inc., (VIDEO)
City Convention & Visitors Video, Patco Resources, Inc., (VIDEO)
- 1998
Advertisement, General Motors/Yessian, (VIDEO)
"Rock and Roll Jeopardy" #98012, Trackdown Productions, Inc., (TV)
Radio/TV Promo Trailer, K(TV)U/FOX22, (TV)
- 1999
Advertisement, Entergy, (TV)
"Turbo Teen: Fright Friday", France SACEM, (TV)
"The Story of Us" Theatrical Trailer, Soundtrack, Universal Pictures, (FILM/DVD)
CTV National News Canada, SOCAN, (TV)
- 2000
"Celebrity Dating Game" #13, Columbia Pictures Television, (TV)
Wear Coastal Cooking Show, Wear Coastal, (TV)
"Frasier: The Great Crane Robbery" #170, Paramount Pictures, (TV)
"The Newlywed Game" #60 (1972), Columbia Pictures Television, (TV)
"The Newlywed Game" #62 (1972), Columbia Pictures Television, (TV)
- 2001
"Stick People" Project, Ken Nielsen, (VIDEO)
WKBW News at 11, WKBW, (TV)
"The Dish" Soundtrack, Warner Bros., (FILM/DVD)
Henry Ford Museum Advertisement, Greenfield Village, (TV)
"Visions", Rondor Music International, (VIDEO)
- 2002
LVG Archive Video, Jack Morton Company (IBM), (VIDEO)
"Dances on the Prairie", Metta Productions, (VIDEO)
"Campanile", Campanile, (DVD)
"Where Angels Fear...", JZK Inc., (FILM)
"State of Grace II", Ladybug Productions, (TV)
- 2003
"Angels Among Us: Vietnam POWs", US Air Force, (DVD)
"The Simpson's" Video, Fox (FILM/VIDEO)
"Cheaper by the Dozen" Soundtrack, 20th Century Fox, (FILM/DVD)
"Glen Campbell:Inside Fame", MTV Network Nashville, (TV)
- 2004
JEFX '04, 367 TRSS Hill Air Force Base, Utah, (DVD)
"Miracle Run", Lifetime, (TV)
- 2005
Drum Corps International, Youth Education Arts, (VIDEO)
"The Sopranos", HBO Original Series, (TV)
Notes
External links
Categories:- Rock instrumentals
- Theme music
- 1968 songs
- Billboard Adult Contemporary number-one singles
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