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Mason Williams
Mason Williams 1969.JPG
Williams in 1969
Background information
Birth name Mason Douglas Williams
Born (1938-08-24) August 24, 1938 (age 86)
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 Williams is a talented American musician, composer, writer, and comedian. He was born on August 24, 1938. He is most famous for his amazing guitar song "Classical Gas" from 1968. He also wrote funny jokes and scripts for popular TV shows like The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour and Saturday Night Live.

Mason Williams' Early Life

Mason Williams was born in Abilene, Texas. He spent his childhood living in both Oklahoma and Oakridge, Oregon. He finished high school in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in 1956.

During his time in Oklahoma, he became great friends with the artist Edward Ruscha. Mason also went to Oklahoma City University and served in the United States Navy for a few years.

Mason Williams' Career

Mason Williams has had a long and successful career in music, comedy, and other creative arts.

Music Achievements

In 1968, Mason Williams won three Grammy Awards for his guitar song "Classical Gas". This song was released as a single 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 one million copies and earned a gold disc.

He also wrote songs for the famous group The Kingston Trio. Mason received two more Grammy nominations for "Best Album Cover Design" for his albums Handmade and Sharepickers. He also co-wrote "Cinderella Rockefella" with Nancy Ames, which was a number-one hit in the United Kingdom in 1968.

Unique Performances and Albums

In 1970, Mason Williams appeared on a TV show called Just Friends. For his performance of "Classical Gas," he used a special guitar made of clear plexiglass. He filled this guitar with water and even added a couple of goldfish!

Williams has recorded more than a dozen albums. Five of these were with Warner Bros. Records. The cover for his 1968 album Music was painted by his friend, pop artist Edward Ruscha.

In 1987, he worked with Mannheim Steamroller to release a new album, also called Classical Gas. This album included a new version of his famous 1968 song. Another song from this album, "Country Idyll," was nominated for a Grammy in 1988. This album also went gold in 1991.

Later Music Work

In 1992, the Vanguard label released Music 1968–1971. This album was a collection of songs from his earlier Warner Bros. albums.

Mason Williams has performed his "Concert For Bluegrass Band And Orchestra" with over 40 symphony orchestras. These include the Colorado Symphony Orchestra and the Oklahoma City Philharmonic.

In 1996, Mason Williams received an honorary doctorate in music from his old school, Oklahoma City University. In 1998, BMI honored "Classical Gas" for its huge popularity on radio and TV. By 2008, the song had been played over six million times, making it the most played instrumental song in BMI's history.

His music has been featured in several movies, such as The Story of Us and Cheaper by the Dozen. His songs have also been played on the TV series The Sopranos.

In 2003, Williams released an EP called Music for the Epicurean Harkener. He was nominated for another Grammy in 2004 for best instrumental album. In 2005, he worked with UK guitarist Zoe McCulloch on the album Electrical Gas.

In October 2007, Mason Williams was inducted into the Oregon Music Hall of Fame.

Comedy Contributions

Mason Williams is also a talented stand-up comedian. He often turned his funny ideas into songs or poems, performing them with 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 shows. He was a key creative person for CBS's Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. His background in folk music helped him create many comedy routines for the show. He also co-wrote the show's theme song.

On the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, he created the "Pat Paulsen for President" campaign in 1968. This was a clever political satire that made fun of politics. Williams also helped start the career of famous entertainer Steve Martin. Steve Martin was hired by Williams as a writer for the show. In 1968, Mason Williams won an Emmy Award for his comedy writing on the show.

He also wrote for other TV stars like Andy Williams and Glen Campbell. In 1980, Williams was briefly the head writer for NBC's Saturday Night Live. In 1988, he received his third Emmy nomination for his writing on The Smothers Brothers 20th Reunion Special.

Other Artistic Work

Mason 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, The Mason Williams Phonograph Record.

He also created a book called The Mason Williams Reading Matter. This book included his original poems, many with funny lyrics, and his own amusing photographs.

In 1967, Williams tried to film drawing the world's biggest sunflower in the sky. He wanted an old airplane to skywrite the stem and leaves, with the sun as the flower's blossom. Even though the film had technical problems, the sky-drawn flower was huge, measuring 2 miles wide by 3 miles high!

Environmentalism

Mason Williams became involved in protests against a Willamette River hydroelectric power project. This led him to collect 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 has been married three times. He lives in Eugene, Oregon, with his current wife, Karen.

Discography

Albums

  • Folk Music As Heard At The Gourd, with Steve Brainerd, Johnny Horton & Joe Lawrence, 1960
  • Little Billy Blue Shoes b/w Run Comeun See, The Wayfarers Trio, 1960
  • Songs of the Blue and Grey, The Wayfarers Trio, 1961
  • More Hootenanny, The Hootenaires, 1963
  • Them Poems, 1964
  • The Mason Williams Phonograph Record, 1968
  • The Sound of Mason Williams, with Paul Sykes & the Oklahoma City Philharmonic Orchestra, 1968
  • The Mason Williams Ear Show, 1968
  • Music by Mason Williams, 1969
  • The Mason Williams Listening Matter (Them Poems re-release), 1969
  • Hand Made, 1970
  • Improved, 1971
  • Sharepickers, 1971
  • Fresh Fish, with The Santa Fe Recital, 1975
  • Of Time & Rivers Flowing, 1984
  • Music 1968-1971, 1992
  • A Gift of Song, 1992
  • Feuding Banjos, with Roger McGuinn & Eric Weissberg, 1995
  • Electrical Gas, with Zoe McCulloch, 2005
  • Classical Gas, with Mannheim Steamroller, 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, sideman, 1995
  • 1995 Sony Disc Manufacturing Holiday Choir, producer, 1995

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, 1995
  • Cascadia (1996 Oregon Governor's Arts Awards), 1996

See also

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