Mason Williams facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Mason Williams
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Williams in 1969
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Mason Douglas Williams |
| Born | August 24, 1938 Abilene, Texas, U.S. |
| Genres | Easy listening, classical, bluegrass, folk |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, composer, songwriter, writer, poet, photographer |
| Instruments | Guitar, banjo |
| Years active | 1958–present |
| Labels | American Gramaphone, Everest, Flying Fish, Olympic, Real Music, Skookum, Vanguard, Vee-Jay, Warner Bros., WEA |
Mason Douglas Williams (born August 24, 1938) is an American musician, writer, and comedian. He is famous for his 1968 guitar song "Classical Gas". He also wrote comedy for popular TV shows like The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour and Saturday Night Live.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Mason Williams was born in Abilene, Texas. His father was a tile setter, and his mother's name was Kathlyn.
Mason grew up spending time with his father in Oklahoma and his mother in Oakridge, Oregon. He finished high school in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, in 1956. There, he became lifelong friends with artist Edward Ruscha.
He went to Oklahoma City University and North Texas State University. He also served in the United States Navy from 1961 to 1963.
Music Career
In 1968, Mason Williams won three Grammy Awards for his guitar song "Classical Gas". This song was released from his album The Mason Williams Phonograph Record. "Classical Gas" won Grammys for "Best Instrumental Composition," "Best Instrumental Performance," and "Best Instrumental Orchestra Arrangement." It sold over a million copies and earned a gold record.
Williams also wrote songs for The Kingston Trio. He received two more Grammy nominations for his album cover designs for Handmade and Sharepickers. With Nancy Ames, he wrote "Cinderella Rockefella," which was a number-one hit in the UK in 1968.
The Plexiglass Guitar
In 1970, Williams appeared on a TV show called Just Friends. To make his performance special, he used a unique plexiglass guitar. This guitar was made for him by Billy Cheatwood and a prop designer from ABC. For his performance of "Classical Gas," Williams filled the guitar with water and added two goldfish!
Albums and Collaborations
Williams has released more than a dozen albums. Five of them were with Warner Bros.. The cover for his 1968 album Music was painted by his friend, pop artist Edward Ruscha.
In 1987, he worked with Mannheim Steamroller on a new album, also called Classical Gas. This album included a new version of his famous 1968 song. Another song from the album, "Country Idyll," was nominated for a Grammy in 1988. This album also went gold in 1991.
In 1992, Vanguard released Music 1968–1971, which was a collection of songs from his earlier albums.
Concerts and Recognition
In the 1990s, Mason Williams performed many concerts. He played with the Oregon Symphony and the Eugene Symphony. He also created a show called "Concert For Bluegrass Band And Orchestra," which he performed with over 40 symphony orchestras.
In 1984, he released an album called Of Time & Rivers Flowing. A song from this album was used in a public service announcement (PSA) about rivers. In 1996, he received an honorary doctorate in music from Oklahoma City University.
In 1998, BMI, an organization that tracks how often songs are played, gave Williams an award for "Classical Gas." By 2008, the song had been played over six million times on radio and TV, making it the most played instrumental song in BMI's history.
Williams' music has been featured in several movies, including Cheaper by the Dozen and The Story of Us. His songs have also been played on the TV series The Sopranos.
In 2007, he was added to the Oregon Music Hall of Fame.
Comedy Work
Mason Williams is also a stand-up comedian. He often put his jokes into songs and sang them while playing his guitar. In 1964, he released an album called Them Poems, where he shared funny poems about different people and topics.
Williams wrote over 175 hours of music and comedy for TV. He was a key writer for CBS's Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. His background in folk music helped him create many comedy routines for the show. He also helped start the career of entertainer Steve Martin, hiring him as a writer for the show. In 1968, Williams won an Emmy Award for his comedy writing on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.
He also wrote for other TV stars like Glen Campbell and Andy Williams. In 1980, he briefly worked as the head writer for NBC's Saturday Night Live. In 1988, he received another Emmy nomination for his writing on The Smothers Brothers 20th Reunion Special.
Other Artistic Projects
Williams is also a photographer. In the 1960s, he published a life-sized photo print of a Greyhound bus. He even appeared with this print on the cover of his first album.
He also wrote a book called The Mason Williams Reading Matter. It included his original poems, many of which were funny, and his unique photographs.
In 1967, Williams tried to film the drawing of the world's biggest sunflower in the sky using a bi-plane. The flower was planned to be 2 miles wide and 3 miles high!
Environmental Interests
Mason Williams became interested in protecting rivers after joining protests against a power project on the Willamette River. He eventually collected over 400 songs about rivers.
He created a program called Of Time and Rivers Flowing. This program includes many different music styles, like classical, folk, gospel, jazz, country, and rock.
Personal Life
Mason Williams married Sheila Ann Massey in 1961, and they had one daughter, Kathryn Michelle, before they divorced.
He later married Katherine Elizabeth Kahn in 1994, but they divorced after 10 years.
Today, he lives in Eugene, Oregon, with his wife, Karen, who is an attorney.
Discography
Albums
- Them Poems, 1964
- The Mason Williams Phonograph Record, 1968
- The Mason Williams Ear Show, 1968
- Music, 1969
- The Mason Williams Listening Matter (Them Poems re-release), 1969
- Handmade, 1970
- Sharepickers, 1971
- Of Time & Rivers Flowing, 1984
- Music 1968-1971, 1992
- A Gift of Song, 1992
- Of Time & Rivers Flowing, Re-release, 1997
- Classical Gas, at the Wildish Theater, 2006
Singles
- "Love Are Wine" / "The Exciting Accident", 1966
- "Classical Gas" / "Long Time Blues", 1968
- "Baroque-a-Nova" / "Wanderlove", 1968
- "Saturday Night at the World" / "One Minute Commercial", 1968
- "Greensleeves" / "$13 Stella", 1969
- "A Gift Of Song" / "A Major Thing", 1969
- "José's Piece" / "Find a Reason To Believe, 1970
- "Train Ride in G" / "Here I Am Again", 1971
EPs
- EP 2003: Music for the Epicurean Harkener, 2003
- O Christmas Three, 2009
For Others
- Folk Baroque, producer/arranger, 1963
- Introducing Jayne Heather, arranger/musician, 1965
- Tour de Farce, The Smothers Brothers, sideman/songwriter, 1965
- The Smothers Brothers Play It Straight, co-producer, 1966
- Jennifer (Jennifer Warnes), guest vocalist, 1969
- Fiddle & A Song, Byron Berline CD, sideman, 1995
- 1995 Sony Disc Manufacturing Holiday Choir, producer, 1995
With Others
- Little Billy Blue Shoes b/w Run Comeun See, The Wayfarers Trio, 1960
- Folk Music as Heard at the Gourd, unknown group name, 1960
- Songs of the Blue and Grey, The Wayfarers Trio, 1961
- Away All Boats (EP), unknown group name, 1962
- More Hootenanny (LP), The Hootenaires, 1963
- Fresh Fish (LP), as Mason Williams & the Santa Fe Recital, 1978
- Classical Gas, with Mannheim Steamroller (LP), 1987
- Electrical Gas, with Zoe McCulloch (CD), 2005
- Classical Gas, with Craig Einhorn, 2006
Compilation Appearances
- The Big Hootenanny, 1963
- I Am an American, 1963
- The Twelve-String Story Vol. 1, 1963
- The Twelve-String Story Vol. 2, 1963
- The Banjo Story, 1963
- 5-String Banjo Greats, 1964
- Rock Instrumental Classics Vol. 2 - The Sixties. 1994
- 1968 Billboard Top Pop Hits (CD)
- Cascadia (1996 Oregon Governor's Arts Awards) 1996
See also
In Spanish: Mason Williams para niños
