I had lunch with Mason Williams when I was a college student at Oregon. He was living in Eugene and was invited to speak to my Journalism class about his career as a television writer. I hung around after class to ask him about his success as a composer and the professor asked if I’d join them at the faculty club for lunch. It was long ago, but I recall that Mason was very engaging, brilliant, and encouraging to this callow undergraduate. He is a class act.
This is the performance from "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" that made history. All the Mason Williams cardboard cut outs represent the work he put into this song. He played everything, recorded it separately, then mixed it into one song. Yes, he did the entire song by himself. An absolute musical genius!
Not sure where you got that info but it's not true. He composed the entire song himself and he worked on the Smothers Brothers as a writer but no he did not play each instrument in the song and mix it together. The Wrecking Crew played the backup music.
I would argue (with passion) that it is in fact THE greatest piece of guitar music ever composed. Think about it...what's better? Embryonic Journey? Dust in the Wind? Jolene? Those are all top-shelf gems, but they all lack the intricacy of Classical Gas.
In the 1960s would it even have been possible for a single musician to play all of the parts and then overdub them? For the violin section you can't just play a violin once, you have to play it 8 times to make it sound like a section of 8 violins. Recorders were at most 8 tracks in the late '60s. Ampex produced the first commercially-available 16-track machine in 1968, the year this song came out. Nowadays of course, such a feat is commonly showcased on TH-cam by today's musicians equipped with limitless tracks and lossless digital technology.
What memories this brings back. My Dad, my Mom, the innocence of my youth, our simple farm kitchen, and our cheap sand colored Philco plastic radio on the long kitchen counter by the west window. This was on the radio almost every school morning of my childhood. It had an uplifting effect on a chilly, dreary morning. Rest in peace, Dad and Mom. See you in Heaven with our Lord.
I was in treatment for alcoholism There's a few who didn't make it. I was the youngest man there at first. , for the next three years I fought for frist my life and then my Soberity., today 50 years later I have both , The line from the tale of two city's It was the best of times , it was the worst of times . But I would add it was one hell of a Classical Gas.
Yes, I wholeheartedly agree! I hadn't thought of this song in years until they played it in an episode of Netflix series The Queen's Gambit. I had to rewind and watch it again. It was brilliant, as was the entire '60s soundtrack.
Just a incredible talent. Mason Williams was a comedian/comedy writer by trade. He wrote the majority of the 'controversial' smothers brothers comedy hour in the late 60's and early 70's. He wrote music in his spare time. Just a incredible piece of music on the guitar and I am still stunned by it. Just incredible!!
@@matthewronson5218Not true. He recorded CG with an orchestra backup. He was also a comedian/writer, so the cardboard cutouts were probably just part of an elaborate joke.
We were so lucky to have been born when music was opening up new horizons. Made us laugh, cry, soar, think. I wouldn’t change it for anything. For a moment I was a very young teen again, being lifted up on the music.
music still does this these days. you just aren't getting your music from the right places. hint 'commercial radio' is not where you wanna look. nostalgia is BAD, it blinds you. plenty of great music all over the place, IN ALL GENRES. you're just being lazy!
@@jimmythebold589 don’t judge. I have a wide musical repertoire: classical, hard rock, some country, reggae, rock n roll, opera, jazz...the list is endless!
@@vickiehendrickson3173 Maybe I'm getting old. Maybe I'm sentimental. In any case, it delights me that we can individually listen to this, years and decades later, and enjoy it again.
I was today years old when I learned the name of this song. The local UHF channel in Houston used to play this song whenever they had technical difficulties and I've wondered for decades what it was called.
I remember this song well,it was a time when instrumentals were still popular, I had Herb Alpert records I listened to on my hand me down record player.
For the longest time, I couldn't understand why this song was titled: Classical G.A.S., until one day it dawned on me that it stood for: Classical Guitar And Symphony.
You're right, this is this most iconic, incredible song I have enjoyed since the day it game out, no one could play an acoustic guitar like this, and I agree about the name. However, we first heard it in Vietnam, now during the 60's one of the cultural acronyms was GAS, which stood for "Give A Shi#" Which by no means reflects this incredible song - when it came across our military broadcast system, we'd all yell out guys we've got GAS incoming, ( not rockets). The song took that 1,000 yard stare out of your eyes for as long as it played
Actually, that's incorrect. Williams wrote it as "fuel" for anyone that wanted to hear him play Classical Guitar. He wrote Gas as short for Gasoline but the copyist took it verbatim. It was never Classical G.A.S.
From the high desert and the great American southwest I bid you all good morning, good afternoon, good evening, wherever you may be in the world in whatever time zone it may be you reside in every single one of them covered like a blanket by this program Coast to Coast AM. I’m Art Bell it is my honor to be escorting you this…
What memories this brings back. My Dad, my Mom, the innocence of my youth, our simple farm kitchen, and our cheap sand colored Philco plastic radio on the long kitchen counter by the west window. This was on the radio almost every school morning of my childhood. It had an uplifting effect on a chilly, dreary morning. Rest in peace, Dad
1968 - graduating college, meeting my future & still wife and the 2 songs that have been my mental soundtrack ever since - Classical Gas and Macarthur Park. Life is good.
This is fantastic. A teacher at a local high school downloaded a bunch of oldies from the 50s and 60s and played the music in the school library. The kids loved it. When the music wasn't playing, they asked for it. If more kids could hear music like this, they wouldn't think so highly of pop music today.
It's funny how music emotionally connects with us. In this piece I hear struggle, triumph, and eventually comfort and resolution. All these emotions with no lyrics. Music fascinates me.
It must leave a warm feeling to know that long after you’ve gone ( I’m thinking hundreds of years here ) that classical gas will still be remembered and played with many different arrangements. Absolutely eternal - thank you sir.
Mason Williams was so cool, confident and elegant back in the sixties when he penned and played this amazing instrumental. Love the background use of cutouts.
This is the song that inspired me to learn guitar. Two decades later, I can still just sit there and play it nonstop for hours. I've heard it at least five thousand times, and I could go another twenty-five without issue. An absolute masterpiece! 🥰
@@JeffWells-cw2sw Get after it, brother! I used to love playing this song, then I got in a really bad relationship that killed my love of most things, including playing guitar. Now that I've recovered I'm gonna bust that baby out and relearn to play this song.
Truly one of the greatest compositions for guitar ever written. Musically it is not all that complex but it is a masterstroke of composition and really brings out the beauty of guitar.
The odd thing about Mason Williams is that most of his career has been in comedy, not music. When this song came out, he was a writer for the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. He wrote for a number of other comedy and variety shows, and in 1980 served as head writer on SNL briefly. He apparently also did stand-up comedy at one point, with most of his material being comedic songs. Evidently, he was enormously talented in not just one field but two.
When this song came on my used, (not pre-owned!), 1967 VW bug radio, I would open all the windows and blast the hell out of this glorious music and it always made me drive faster. Oh the memories...
Was in CRETE US AIRBASE...NCO CLUB drinking ..screwdrivers,7 7's, beer etc. I was crazy back then I had enlisted during the Vietnam war.[the Lord was protecting me]..Several buddies of mine rented a VW bug and we toured one end of the island to the other listening to this song and Credence Clearwater...ROLLI NG...down the river. It was a time of innocence. The base no longer exists nor does the base in Pakistan that I served in. Just a memory. Visted the hippies in caves...saw the NATO AIR BASE there. Would love to go back there and visit.
Mozart would have been proud to have penned such a beautiful melody . Amazing how someone , the world doesn't know , can in a moment of inspiration reach the heights frequented by giants .
This song is burnes into my memory as I woke to an alarm early the morning after Bobby Kennedy was shot. First came the morning news and then this song came on my radio as I dressed to go out for my morning paper, stunned at the news of the shooting. Thats was neary 55 years ago and this beautiful song has haunted me all these years as it unfailingly takes me back to that morning.
This was a great moment on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, for which Mason Williams was one of the main writers and composers. This piece defined the late '60s and appealed to all ages and tastes, owing to its classical origins (hence its name) and the way it pushed the boundaries of pop. It was a gas, indeed, and still is. Thanks for posting!
The Smothers Brothers introduced such an avalanche of talent along with a refusal to adopt TV’s brain-dead production standards, the network had no choice but to cancel the show.
I can remember how fascinated I was the first time I heard this song, I was getting ready to start kindergarten in 1969, what a classic and timeless song, I love it!!
I really got into this tune when it came out in 1968, which might make me a little weird, I was 10 years old. Most of my friends were listening to the Monkees or the Archies. Still love it.
Perhaps it was your friends, who were NOT open - minded enough to appreciate music in ALL its' forms, who were really the weird ones ??? My personal music collection has everything from Hard Rock, to Rock & Roll, Punk Rock, Country & Western, Movie themes, Classical, Jazz & Blues. Even Comedy both mainstream & obscure.
Puts me right back to wonderful long summer days at the swimming pool we lived near. All my siblings & our friends from the neighborhood - about 20 kids - would walk together & swim all day. This song takes me there again. Great song. Damn, I'm old.
@@rickkernell2486 I”m not sure Mason Williams was on that show, could have been the S. Brothers, but something makes me think it could have been a variety show like Sonny and Cher, or ...... just can’t remember which one.
This music represents a time when art and culture were highly valued n our country. This particular instrumental for me brings me right back to a time when our country seemed so much more filled with integrity & class. A time I miss nearly daily.
WOW! It's been a lot of years since '68. I'd forgotten this one. But the 60's were jam-crammed with a variety of great music. Thanks for bringing this one to mind. Pure pleasure!
I used to listen to this on the radio when I was a child and dreamed I'd learn to play it..... im 65 now and still waiting...sadly I have the guitar playing ability of a hippo with tendonitis 😂... great tune though!
Don't worry about it :) I have a son who is pretty good with a guitar. He told me this song is certainly hard to play :) I have less musical talent than you too! But the song lifts my spirits for sure.
@@roderickcampbell2105 Every time I suffer a head injury playing sports I pick up a guitar and try again, hoping my neural connections have been modified and magically I can actually play something. I'm 61 and nothing so far. Maybe a lightning strike would do it?
I have faith in you Peter. Get a guitar, find a place where you don't drive people crazy when you practice, get a portable CD player, a foot stand, a guitar tuner and a CD and book with tabs and teach yourself. It is hard, but when you get that first little solo strung together the joy, rapture even (on an eschatological theme lol) is worth it. The sense of achievement is divine. Like everything in life if you're self taught you can get stuck at a particular skill level. Sometimes a few lessons help.
That's ok. I was so impressed by David McCallum's playing of the oboe and English horn-2 of my favourite instruments-that I took band in h.s.and chose the oboe the 2nd week after my tonsils and adenoids were removed.I didn't realise how hard the oboe was, but my band teacher, Mr.Foos, told me that David started playing the oboe at 8 yrs.of age. David later told me he was glad I least tried and thanked me for trying. I told him the recorder-Blockfluete-was easier in when I met him the 2nd time in '78.
Most folks do not know this gentleman did the entire song(instruments and mix, by himself) what a beautiful piece, still has to have one of the best hooks in that beautiful guitar and horn sections. This still sounds relevant in 2022. Another fact was this was a huge AM radio hit. Very few instrumentals ever attained that status, most folks thought this was an entire orchestra.
@Jon Ihler Sorry this is not correct! In Hal Blaine's autobiography he states that he was the drummer on this session - I'm sure the rest of the Wrecking Crew were not far behind...
No way he played all the strings and the horns. That’s just silly. It’s a full orchestra. (I saw him play this with Hal Blaine at the Getty - with the original art film that went with it. Amazing.)
The first time I heard this was in my college dorm room the morning after Robert Kennedy had been assassinated. An anthem of the late 60’s that I can’t hear without thinking of RFK and what we lost. It is a great song.
It is sad that that his passing had to come with your hearing this great musical piece. I would have been grieving RK Jr. despite the song. It was just a great loss, again.
This song brings back memories. in the summer of 1973, just before college, I used to hang out at the municipal pool In Kalamazoo. I was an NCAA springboard diver and I had a couple of diving friends. We would practice our diving, talk up the girls, and generally have a blast. At the end of the summer, the Pool staff put on a party for the regulars. My buddies and I put on a Diving exhibition. The pool had 3 boards : 1 3 meter board in between 2 1 meter boards. We used this single of Classical Gas as our music. We timed the first dive to enter the water as the music kicked off with the melody after the slow intro. We did as many dives as we could in the time of that song. The first dives were front 1 1/2s by my buddies on the 1 meter boards and I did a 2 1/2 from the 3 meter board. Great day. I'll never forget it.
I would have been in grade 9 or 10 when this came out. It was frequently played on the radio. Back in those days, there was real music of all sorts, unlike the crap that passes for music these days.
Music is in the ear of the beholder. I'm sure Mason Williams and Classical Gas was "crap that passes for music" to your parents or grandparents. As a person maybe only 8-10 years younger than you, I listen to music from '50's through today...and enjoy it all!
@@trublu206 I totally agree. I'm in my mid-fifties. So I was only 2 when this song came out. I think it's okay to say, today's music is not for me. It just isn't. But I too listen to music from the same time period. Not so much today's music. But I refuse to act like my Father who said that music is crap when I listened to U2 as a Teenager.
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Same here! I would hear that song play on the radio in the early 70's living in San Francisco. Never knew the title until hearing it on "The Queen's Gambit♟🏆🎖!" Benny & Beth scene. ❤❤❤ it!
Same here, Shazam'd the name during Queeen's Gambit. I'd always loved this song but never knew the name or artist (and heard it rarely). I prefer the all-guitar version from the album Handmade, though. th-cam.com/video/1EnwvdaBpFQ/w-d-xo.html
I was 12 years old when I heard this on the radio and saw him on , I think , The Smothers Brothers show, next day took a bus by myself and went downtown Montreal to Sam the Record Man and bought , with a little mad money, a brand new 45 rpm of this long lasting classic. I think it cost 1.25, the bus ride was more expensive..
Great story it reminded me of my first record buy. It was Santana's first album. It was in a rack in the supermarket...lol I think it was $3.00. LoL Played it to death.
I had lunch with Mason Williams when I was a college student at Oregon. He was living in Eugene and was invited to speak to my Journalism class about his career as a television writer. I hung around after class to ask him about his success as a composer and the professor asked if I’d join them at the faculty club for lunch.
It was long ago, but I recall that Mason was very engaging, brilliant, and encouraging to this callow undergraduate. He is a class act.
Somehow I'm not surprised!! 😉
Indeed a “classical “ act
This will be the song playing when my life flashes before my eyes.
This is the performance from "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" that made history. All the Mason Williams cardboard cut outs represent the work he put into this song. He played everything, recorded it separately, then mixed it into one song. Yes, he did the entire song by himself. An absolute musical genius!
I have loved this song for years, but I never realized he played all the parts. I loved how he gave credit to the "rest of the orchestra" at the end.
According to Wikipedia The Wrecking Crew played the back up
It should be noted that he was also a writer for the show itself.
@@RevWillTheThrill1974 He was the head writer for the show!😊
Not sure where you got that info but it's not true. He composed the entire song himself and he worked on the Smothers Brothers as a writer but no he did not play each instrument in the song and mix it together. The Wrecking Crew played the backup music.
One of the greatest pieces of guitar music ever composed.
And the rest.
A master at work.
So much agree
You are so right 👍👍👍
I would argue (with passion) that it is in fact THE greatest piece of guitar music ever composed.
Think about it...what's better?
Embryonic Journey? Dust in the Wind? Jolene?
Those are all top-shelf gems, but they all lack the intricacy of Classical Gas.
I loved this song as a child, but until now I never knew it was the work of only one musician. Blows my mind.
It wasn't. Apparently the Wrecking Crew played backup.
In the 1960s would it even have been possible for a single musician to play all of the parts and then overdub them? For the violin section you can't just play a violin once, you have to play it 8 times to make it sound like a section of 8 violins. Recorders were at most 8 tracks in the late '60s. Ampex produced the first commercially-available 16-track machine in 1968, the year this song came out.
Nowadays of course, such a feat is commonly showcased on TH-cam by today's musicians equipped with limitless tracks and lossless digital technology.
@@jeromeglick A super song and a great musician a hero of Western culture. A great treat for the ears.
Just learned that myself, makes me appreciate the song even more
@@jeromeglick You can mix 8 violins together, then incorporate that as a single track in a new mix.
Don’t know what came first but this has a MOODY BLUES feel to it.
What memories this brings back. My Dad, my Mom, the innocence of my youth, our simple farm kitchen, and our cheap sand colored Philco plastic radio on the long kitchen counter by the west window. This was on the radio almost every school morning of my childhood. It had an uplifting effect on a chilly, dreary morning. Rest in peace, Dad and Mom. See you in Heaven with our Lord.
Amen, God bless us all. What a talent, Mason Williams. Oh what memories..
God bless you
I was in treatment for alcoholism
There's a few who didn't make it.
I was the youngest man there at first. , for the next three years I fought for frist my life and then my
Soberity., today 50 years later I have both ,
The line from the tale of two city's
It was the best of times , it was the worst of times . But I would add it was one hell of a Classical Gas.
Thats lovely. Oh aren't memories precious
Watch and Look Up!...That was so very well written; it flowed nicely. Bravo..!!
Heard it when it came out in the sixties, Am seventy-three, still moved every time I hear it. Nothing else like it. A true Classical; what a gas!
Whenever I hear that song it still stops me in my tracks; an absolutely brilliant piece of music.
I did it for you and green and purple green brown brown and green green brown brown
01:15 - sounds like an American TV sportscast of the Era, *in colour*
Yes, I wholeheartedly agree! I hadn't thought of this song in years until they played it in an episode of Netflix series The Queen's Gambit. I had to rewind and watch it again. It was brilliant, as was the entire '60s soundtrack.
I have the exact same reaction. Gives me chills still after all these years.
@@truthseeker713 I was 15
Just a incredible talent. Mason Williams was a comedian/comedy writer by trade. He wrote the majority of the 'controversial' smothers brothers comedy hour in the late 60's and early 70's. He wrote music in his spare time. Just a incredible piece of music on the guitar and I am still stunned by it. Just incredible!!
Not simply the guitar, but he played every instrument as represented by those cardboard cut-outs as well.
@@matthewronson5218 Yup, an absolute musical genius!!
Sounds like a musician who does comedy for a living
@@matthewronson5218Not true. He recorded CG with an orchestra backup. He was also a comedian/writer, so the cardboard cutouts were probably just part of an elaborate joke.
Still listening 2024 ❤
Me too. Love it❤️
Me too, great music
We were so lucky to have been born when music was opening up new horizons. Made us laugh, cry, soar, think.
I wouldn’t change it for anything. For a moment I was a very young teen again, being lifted up on the music.
That's the truth !! 😎
music still does this these days. you just aren't getting your music from the right places. hint 'commercial radio' is not where you wanna look. nostalgia is BAD, it blinds you. plenty of great music all over the place, IN ALL GENRES. you're just being lazy!
Exactly, it wasn't done yet.... ; )
I sure do miss those days.
@@jimmythebold589 don’t judge. I have a wide musical repertoire: classical, hard rock, some country, reggae, rock n roll, opera, jazz...the list is endless!
This song has made my soul soar for decades.
………this song has made my fingers SORE for years.....( trying to play it well enough outside of the house)
I like the lyrics......deep and meaningful
One of the few songs that I know all the words by heart.
I use to imagine riding horseback and jumping fences lol!
@@vickiehendrickson3173 Maybe I'm getting old. Maybe I'm sentimental. In any case, it delights me that we can individually listen to this, years and decades later, and enjoy it again.
I was today years old when I learned the name of this song. The local UHF channel in Houston used to play this song whenever they had technical difficulties and I've wondered for decades what it was called.
Was it channel 2? 11? 13? 39?
One of the best instrumental pieces... Ever.
One of the most iconic tunes of the late 1960's 🙏
One might says it's a *classical*?
I remember this song well,it was a time when instrumentals were still popular, I had Herb Alpert records I listened to on my hand me down record player.
@@tomchrisfield7348 Loved Herb Albert & Tijuana Brass too. Even loved "This Guy's in Love With You".
Yes it is. A great instrumental
@@ciderfan823
Lame
This song for me represents the end of the 1960s and the beginning of the 1970s
This brings back childhood memories growing up in the 1970s. 🌻✌
For the longest time, I couldn't understand why this song was titled: Classical G.A.S., until one day it dawned on me that it stood for: Classical Guitar And Symphony.
You're right, this is this most iconic, incredible song I have enjoyed since the day it game out, no one could play an acoustic guitar like this, and I agree about the name. However, we first heard it in Vietnam, now during the 60's one of the cultural acronyms was GAS, which stood for "Give A Shi#" Which by no means reflects this incredible song - when it came across our military broadcast system, we'd all yell out guys we've got GAS incoming, ( not rockets). The song took that 1,000 yard stare out of your eyes for as long as it played
I had no idea, I always thought it was because gas was a hip word back then. It’s a gas man
Actually, that's incorrect. Williams wrote it as "fuel" for anyone that wanted to hear him play Classical Guitar. He wrote Gas as short for Gasoline but the copyist took it verbatim. It was never Classical G.A.S.
It was written as ‘Classical Gasoline’ but changed when the producer Mike Post got hold of it…
Jumpin' Jack Flash came out in '68 also.. It's a gas! Gas! Gas ... might have influened the title selection...
This song is a stroke of epic musical genius ...
This IS the musical theme to the late 1960s.
Maybe even the 1900’s
@@passtheparcel360 I'd say Scott Joplin's ragtime music was more a musical theme to the early 1900's.
@@701CPD good suggestion - and, as much as I’m not a fan, Elvis is the connection between the 2 halves of the century.
I know this is on all those “songs of the 60’s” cd’s
To me, this led right into the yuppie era. ELO and all that.
IMO this is one of the finest compositions of the modern era.
This is long drives in rural Australia as a young kid and hearing this on the radio.
Listening to it in 2022, musical genius
For a guy who was 18 when he had his first guitar lesson he did pretty well...
The chord progressions, key changes, and the orchestral arrangement of this piece of music are all exceptional.
Yes
Shalom
From the high desert and the great American southwest I bid you all good morning, good afternoon, good evening, wherever you may be in the world in whatever time zone it may be you reside in every single one of them covered like a blanket by this program Coast to Coast AM. I’m Art Bell it is my honor to be escorting you this…
What memories this brings back. My Dad, my Mom, the innocence of my youth, our simple farm kitchen, and our cheap sand colored Philco plastic radio on the long kitchen counter by the west window. This was on the radio almost every school morning of my childhood. It had an uplifting effect on a chilly, dreary morning. Rest in peace, Dad
This song always sounded like the ‘60s to me. It sounded like the energy, the passion, the delicate beauty of that time.
Same here. I was in my early teens at the time.
Sounds timeless to me…
Me, too
👍👍
@rustyshackleford9588 In a way, it is.
This was all over the radio in it’s day. What a piece of music.
Amazing musician and such Talent. Remember it as a 18 year old and still love it.❤
Instrumental songs are definitely a forgotten art and this was a gem 🎼👍
we will always have film score and video game music for that
Could use one of these
1968 - graduating college, meeting my future & still wife and the 2 songs that have been my mental soundtrack ever since - Classical Gas and Macarthur Park. Life is good.
We will just never be young again >>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Absolutely agree with you on that. Me too, thank you Wiz
I told someone that the best music was recorded in 1968. You know what's funny. Glen Campbell, Witchita Lineman was released in 1968 also
We are forever young....at heart😎
I was thinking, only MacArthur Park had a greater historic significance as an orchestral piece from the ‘60s. Well, that and Tubular Bells.
NEVER EVER get tired of this fabulous piece - totally superb. I have listened to it for decades and it melts me every time, incredible - WOW!!
This song got Him a Grammy
MVBHall
Me too!
Great song and love the cutouts in the back !
My dad played this for us all the time, and whenever I hear it now I think of him.
This is exactly how I feel
Musicality is what is missing from popular music these days
This is fantastic. A teacher at a local high school downloaded a bunch of oldies from the 50s and 60s and played the music in the school library. The kids loved it. When the music wasn't playing, they asked for it. If more kids could hear music like this, they wouldn't think so highly of pop music today.
More Mason Williams: th-cam.com/video/JeHgNqbdBKs/w-d-xo.html
Or RAP..... 💀
It's funny how music emotionally connects with us. In this piece I hear struggle, triumph, and eventually comfort and resolution. All these emotions with no lyrics. Music fascinates me.
Sooo true!! It’s a musical triumph!
Timeless! A God given talent and he shared it with the world!
It must leave a warm feeling to know that long after you’ve gone ( I’m thinking hundreds of years here ) that classical gas will still be remembered and played with many different arrangements. Absolutely eternal - thank you sir.
Mason Williams was so cool, confident and elegant back in the sixties when he penned and played this amazing instrumental. Love the background use of cutouts.
This is the song that inspired me to learn guitar. Two decades later, I can still just sit there and play it nonstop for hours.
I've heard it at least five thousand times, and I could go another twenty-five without issue. An absolute masterpiece! 🥰
I know the feeling! I used to know all kinds of tunes including this one but life got in the way and now I want 'em back!
@@JeffWells-cw2sw Take It Back, Jeff!
You Deserve It ALL!
@@JeffWells-cw2sw Get after it, brother! I used to love playing this song, then I got in a really bad relationship that killed my love of most things, including playing guitar. Now that I've recovered I'm gonna bust that baby out and relearn to play this song.
Definitely a musical genius ahead of the times
A multi-disciplinary talent!! 😎
Truly one of the greatest compositions for guitar ever written. Musically it is not all that complex but it is a masterstroke of composition and really brings out the beauty of guitar.
I don’t know if it’s complex or not, but I do know it uplifts me every time I hear it. 🤭☺️
I always loved this song .this is when music was actually music and there was Talent not like the crap of today
He's definitely one of the most underrated guitarists. This is a most unique song.
No he was not underrated. He was acclaimed.
Stop trying to bring artists down to your level.
There’s no such thing as “most unique.” Sheesh…..
@@richardorr3970
Well, I think it's even more unique than all the other unique songs that aren't as unique as this unique one. So there!
@@Wotsitorlabart you need to get a copy of “Fowler’s Modern English Usage” to help you work on your uniquely verbal Tourette’s Syndrome
@@charlie-obrienhe’s giving the artist praise and you’re being an ass for no reason
The odd thing about Mason Williams is that most of his career has been in comedy, not music. When this song came out, he was a writer for the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. He wrote for a number of other comedy and variety shows, and in 1980 served as head writer on SNL briefly. He apparently also did stand-up comedy at one point, with most of his material being comedic songs. Evidently, he was enormously talented in not just one field but two.
Wow! never knew that! Great 411
Steve Martin was on that writing team as well.
@@tomb4575 and John Hartford!
Didn't he have SOMETHING to do with CW McCall, as well? Or Mannheim Steamroller? Or both? Or neither; I might be misfiring on a couple cylinders.
More Mason Williams: th-cam.com/video/JeHgNqbdBKs/w-d-xo.html
This performance STILL tugs at my heartstrings.
The 60s had so many great instrumentals this is the best of the best.
When this song came on my used, (not pre-owned!), 1967 VW bug radio, I would open all the windows and blast the hell out of this glorious music and it always made me drive faster. Oh the memories...
Great song
Great car
'65 bug, and yes!
Yeah, you...mine was a 1968 VW...sunroof and Mireille air conditioning...good times not to be forgotten huh?
I have always seen this as a motorcyclist song.....
Was in CRETE US AIRBASE...NCO CLUB drinking ..screwdrivers,7 7's, beer etc. I was crazy back then I had enlisted during the Vietnam war.[the Lord was protecting me]..Several buddies of mine rented a VW bug and we toured one end of the island to the other listening to this song and Credence Clearwater...ROLLI NG...down the river. It was a time of innocence. The base no longer exists nor does the base in Pakistan that I served in. Just a memory. Visted the hippies in caves...saw the NATO AIR BASE there. Would love to go back there and visit.
Mozart would have been proud to have penned such a beautiful melody . Amazing how someone , the world doesn't know , can in a moment of inspiration reach the heights frequented by giants .
Poetic Sir and well said.
I guess you can say this was Mason Williams version of Mozart's "Eine kliene Nacht Music"
Laughs in J.S. Bach.
This isn't the only thing he did
This was my first vinyl I ever purchased. It was just a 45, but I am still in love with this song all these decades later. 👍❤️🎶
This song is burnes into my memory as I woke to an alarm early the morning after Bobby Kennedy was shot. First came the morning news and then this song came on my radio as I dressed to go out for my morning paper, stunned at the news of the shooting. Thats was neary 55 years ago and this beautiful song has haunted me all these years as it unfailingly takes me back to that morning.
This was a great moment on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, for which Mason Williams was one of the main writers and composers. This piece defined the late '60s and appealed to all ages and tastes, owing to its classical origins (hence its name) and the way it pushed the boundaries of pop. It was a gas, indeed, and still is. Thanks for posting!
The Smothers Brothers introduced such an avalanche of talent along with a refusal to adopt TV’s brain-dead production standards, the network had no choice but to cancel the show.
Instantly takes one back to the performance on the Smother’s Brothers show.
Mason was the head writer on the Smothers Brothers show along with Steve Martin, among others.
84 years young, beautiful music Mason Williams!
I can remember how fascinated I was the first time I heard this song, I was getting ready to start kindergarten in 1969, what a classic and timeless song,
I love it!!
I really got into this tune when it came out in 1968, which might make me a little weird, I was 10 years old. Most of my friends were listening to the Monkees or the Archies. Still love it.
Same here
I was just thinking the same thing, I was also 10
Trust me, your'e not alone. "The Last Train to Clarksville" couldn't hold a candle to this!
Perhaps it was your friends, who were NOT open - minded enough to appreciate music in ALL its' forms, who were really the weird ones ??? My personal music collection has everything from Hard Rock, to Rock & Roll, Punk Rock, Country & Western, Movie themes, Classical, Jazz & Blues. Even Comedy both mainstream & obscure.
Same as myself. In age and music t taste. Lol
Puts me right back to wonderful long summer days at the swimming pool we lived near. All my siblings & our friends from the neighborhood - about 20 kids - would walk together & swim all day. This song takes me there again. Great song. Damn, I'm old.
@@jimwills2094 it was a mess of a world and country then as well, you were just oblivious as only a child can be. Children today are too.
It was only yesterday when this was the best and it hasn't been the same. When musicians had talent and we stopped to listen.
Brilliant.
So this is what music sounded like.
Roy Clark and Glen Campbell had great guitar performances along the same lines. I remember watching this on TV when it played for the first time.
@@davidbaker1069 Wasn't it the Smothers Brothers Show? I seem to remember them introducing Mason...
@@rickkernell2486 I”m not sure Mason Williams was on that show, could have been the S. Brothers, but something makes me think it could have been a variety show like Sonny and Cher, or ...... just can’t remember which one.
My father used to play this song when I was a child and Id bounce around the room to it dancing!
Hope it lifts you up as well.
Thank you...it does!....
Oh yes!!!!!
This music represents a time when art and culture were highly valued n our country. This particular instrumental for me brings me right back to a time when our country seemed so much more filled with integrity & class. A time I miss nearly daily.
Well said sir.
So you were alive, and old enough to appreciate "art and culture" in 1968?
@@yezz-_-3570 yes indeed in "68 I was 21
I have to agree with you 100 percent on your comment. I feel the same way.
WOW! It's been a lot of years since '68. I'd forgotten this one. But the 60's were jam-crammed with a variety of great music. Thanks for bringing this one to mind. Pure pleasure!
Hi Susan
I used to listen to this on the radio when I was a child and dreamed I'd learn to play it..... im 65 now and still waiting...sadly I have the guitar playing ability of a hippo with tendonitis 😂... great tune though!
Don't worry about it :) I have a son who is pretty good with a guitar. He told me this song is certainly hard to play :) I have less musical talent than you too! But the song lifts my spirits for sure.
@@roderickcampbell2105 Every time I suffer a head injury playing sports I pick up a guitar and try again, hoping my neural connections have been modified and magically I can actually play something. I'm 61 and nothing so far. Maybe a lightning strike would do it?
I have faith in you Peter. Get a guitar, find a place where you don't drive people crazy when you practice, get a portable CD player, a foot stand, a guitar tuner and a CD and book with tabs and teach yourself.
It is hard, but when you get that first little solo strung together the joy, rapture even (on an eschatological theme lol) is worth it. The sense of achievement is divine.
Like everything in life if you're self taught you can get stuck at a particular skill level. Sometimes a few lessons help.
Same here
That's ok. I was so impressed by David McCallum's playing of the oboe and English horn-2 of my favourite instruments-that I took band in h.s.and chose the oboe the 2nd week after my tonsils and adenoids were removed.I didn't realise how hard the oboe was, but my band teacher, Mr.Foos, told me that David started playing the oboe at 8 yrs.of age. David later told me he was glad I least tried and thanked me for trying. I told him the recorder-Blockfluete-was easier in when I met him the 2nd time in '78.
Another piece of music as good as anything ever written. Beautiful.
This is the tune that inspired me to learn to play guitar so many years ago.
I have to come back once in a while and listen, eyes closed, smiling. AAaahhh
Courtesy of Half Vast Flying
Superb ! It always sounds so soothing and refreshing.
And upbeat!!
After all these years , still love this song!
Most folks do not know this gentleman did the entire song(instruments and mix, by himself) what a beautiful piece, still has to have one of the best hooks in that beautiful guitar and horn sections. This still sounds relevant in 2022. Another fact was this was a huge AM radio hit. Very few instrumentals ever attained that status, most folks thought this was an entire orchestra.
I just enjoyed it.0
Thanks for information.
I never realized in 50+ years that Mason Williams played (dubbed in) ALL the instruments! Dude was surely talented.
@Jon Ihler Sorry this is not correct! In Hal Blaine's autobiography he states that he was the drummer on this session - I'm sure the rest of the Wrecking Crew were not far behind...
No way he played all the strings and the horns. That’s just silly. It’s a full orchestra. (I saw him play this with Hal Blaine at the Getty - with the original art film that went with it. Amazing.)
@@jeffthebracketman Jim Gordon was the drummer, not Hal . . .
@@bangosdemangos416 I guess I was wrong
@@m655john I’m already there my friend. I’m a proud possessor of Hal Blaine’s autobiography in which he details a good deal of it.
when I moved to boarding school in 1974, the cool boys could play Stairway to Heaven on guitar --- and Classical Gas. WHAT A SONG!
What a fantastic composition this is. I haven't heard it for ages and almost forgotten all about it. Brilliant.
If only there was music like this today.
Wrote comedy that had us rolling in the aisles, played music like this and a face to die for.
The first time I heard this was in my college dorm room the morning after Robert Kennedy had been assassinated. An anthem of the late 60’s that I can’t hear without thinking of RFK and what we lost. It is a great song.
We could use an RFK today....
An Earthshattering moment, when we immediately knew that nothing would ever be what it should have been, and it wasn't. Yeah, this is a great song.
It is sad that that his passing had to come with your hearing this great musical piece. I would have been grieving RK Jr. despite the song. It was just a great loss, again.
So many memories of growing up, lost loves, living the life. This is so very special. This is was music sounds like when it comes from the heart!
l was only 10 yrs old when l heard this wonderful music, it was like nothing l ever thought a guitar could sound so great, its the player, the artist
68 was a great year for these kind of songs;
This song brings back memories. in the summer of 1973, just before college, I used to hang out at the municipal pool In Kalamazoo. I was an NCAA springboard diver and I had a couple of diving friends. We would practice our diving, talk up the girls, and generally have a blast. At the end of the summer, the Pool staff put on a party for the regulars. My buddies and I put on a Diving exhibition. The pool had 3 boards : 1 3 meter board in between 2 1 meter boards. We used this single of Classical Gas as our music. We timed the first dive to enter the water as the music kicked off with the melody after the slow intro. We did as many dives as we could in the time of that song. The first dives were front 1 1/2s by my buddies on the 1 meter boards and I did a 2 1/2 from the 3 meter board. Great day. I'll never forget it.
THAT must have been an incredible sight to see!
Got a speeding ticket in ‘69 cruising along because of
this music. I didn’t mind. Great orchestration.
Mason Williams, Hank B Marvin & Mike Oldfield.....musicians that will never be seen again...so sad!!
I've always loved this piece 💜
My left hand has gone into spasms just watching. He makes it look so effortless
This is what I want to jam to on my journey into heaven!
One reason i love the 60s is that genres didn't matter. What mattered was that it sounded great.
Still lovin' it (and him) 53 years
later!
The most creative musical selection in my lifetime. I remember it well from The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.
He might only be remembered for 1 tune but my giddy aunt what a tune
I would have been in grade 9 or 10 when this came out. It was frequently played on the radio. Back in those days, there was real music of all sorts, unlike the crap that passes for music these days.
Got that shit right ; )
Excuse me but the weekend and jcole is my stuff don’t dis my music pop pop
Music is in the ear of the beholder. I'm sure Mason Williams and Classical Gas was "crap that passes for music" to your parents or grandparents. As a person maybe only 8-10 years younger than you, I listen to music from '50's through today...and enjoy it all!
@@trublu206 I totally agree. I'm in my mid-fifties. So I was only 2 when this song came out. I think it's okay to say, today's music is not for me. It just isn't. But I too listen to music from the same time period. Not so much today's music. But I refuse to act like my Father who said that music is crap when I listened to U2 as a Teenager.
Ok, b_om_r!
The greatest guitar instrumental song ever written. Thank you Mason Williams!
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As a guitar player the only thing more amazing than playing this is writing it incredible!!!!
The finest Guitar and Orchestration piece ever !!!!! Anything of real class on TH-cam never gets a single Thumbs Down....
He sure impressed a 7 year-old me. This has been a favorite ever since.
I've known and loved this song for decades never knowing its name or artist; yes, I finally discovered the info from Queens Gambit. Great song.
Same here! I would hear that song play on the radio in the early 70's living in San Francisco. Never knew the title until hearing it on "The Queen's Gambit♟🏆🎖!" Benny & Beth scene. ❤❤❤ it!
Same here😄
Same..... and I was born 10 years before it was released 😂😂
Ha! Same here!
Same here, Shazam'd the name during Queeen's Gambit. I'd always loved this song but never knew the name or artist (and heard it rarely). I prefer the all-guitar version from the album Handmade, though. th-cam.com/video/1EnwvdaBpFQ/w-d-xo.html
Wow , just as moving today as it was back then 😊👍👍🇺🇸
Probably the most perfect song and the Very best interpretation.
A hundred years from now, this will still be a classic.
Yes, it will.
I was 12 years old when I heard this on the radio and saw him on , I think , The Smothers Brothers show, next day took a bus by myself and went downtown Montreal to Sam the Record Man and bought , with a little mad money, a brand new 45 rpm of this long lasting classic. I think it cost 1.25, the bus ride was more expensive..
Great story it reminded me of my first record buy. It was Santana's first album. It was in a rack in the supermarket...lol I think it was $3.00. LoL Played it to death.
Thank you for sharing such a beautiful story, wish you a happy life
Still have the vinyl album!