Mason Williams
Encyclopedia
Mason Williams is an American
guitarist
and composer
, best known for his guitar instrumental "Classical Gas
". He is also a comedy writer, known for his writing on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour
, and Saturday Night Live
. He is also an eclectic poet and lyricist who has published several books.
; son of Jackson Eugene (a tile setter) and Kathlyn (Nations) Williams; married Sheila Ann Massey, April 22, 1961 (divorced); children: Kathryn Michelle.
He grew up dividing his time between living with his father in Oklahoma and his mother in Oakridge, Oregon
. He graduated from Northwest Classen High School
in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
in 1956. It was in Oklahoma that he began his lifelong friendship with artist Edward Ruscha
.
He attended Oklahoma City University, 1957–60, and North Texas State University, one semester. Military Service: U.S. Navy, 1961-63.
Married Katherine Elizabeth Kahn in February, 1994, after first planning to marry in 1971; divorced after ten years.
He lived for a time in Oakridge, and as of 2008 he lived in Eugene, Oregon
with his Canadian-born wife, who is a defense attorney.
s for his guitar instrumental
"Classical Gas
". Together with Nancy Ames he wrote Cinderella Rockefella
, a 1968 number one hit for Esther and Abi Ofarim
in the United Kingdom
.
In 1970, Williams made a television appearance on a variety show, Just Friends, which reunited regulars of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. To create a visual element for his performance, he used a special playable classical plexiglass
guitar built for him by Billy Cheatwood and a prop designer for ABC
. For the performance, Williams filled the guitar with water and added a couple of goldfish. He then used the plexiglass guitar to finger-sync his hit version of "Classical Gas".
Williams has recorded more than a dozen albums, five on the Warner Bros.
label (The Mason Williams Phonograph Record, The Mason Williams Ear Show, Music, Handmade, and Sharepickers). The LP cover for the 1968 'Music' was painted by Edward Ruscha. The credit reads "SORRY, COVER BY EDWARD RUSCHA.
"Classical Gas" was released as a single from The Mason Williams Phonograph Record in 1968. "Classical Gas" won three Grammys that year for "Best Instrumental (theme) Composition", "Best Instrumental (theme) Performance", and "Best Instrumental Orchestra Arrangement", Mike Post, arranger. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc
. He also wrote songs for The Kingston Trio
. For both Handmade and Sharepickers, Mason received two more Grammy nominations for "Best Album Cover Design".
In 1987, Williams teamed up with Mannheim Steamroller
to release a new album on the American Gramaphone
label. The album, titled Classical Gas, included a remake of the 1968 song. Another cut from this album, "Country Idyll", was a 1988 nominee for a Grammy in the country music
category for "Best Instrumental Performance by a Soloist, Group or Orchestra". The album went gold
in 1991.
Williams' plexiglass guitar appears on the cover of this album.
Williams released an acoustic instrumental album of Christmas and holiday music, A Gift of Song, on the Real Music label, featuring arrangements of traditional carols and original compositions. In 1992, the Vanguard
label released Music 1968–1971, a compilation of cuts from his five Warner Bros.
albums recorded in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Williams relates when compiling the album that he went to Warner Bros. and asked “Where’s that painting that Ed did for that old ["Music" ] cover?” and was told it had been thrown away; a probable loss of 3-5 million dollars.
In conjunction with the release of this album, Williams added a "Holiday Concert Program" to his repertoire, featuring music from the album as well as other traditional music of the season. In 1994, he played six sold-out concerts with the Oregon Symphony
in Portland, Oregon
. In the 1990s he also performed with the Eugene Symphony
with friend Ken Kesey
.
Williams then concentrated on a variety of programs for his concert appearances. His "Concert For Bluegrass Band And Orchestra", also titled "Symphonic Bluegrass", has been performed with over 40 symphonies, including the Colorado Symphony Orchestra
, Kansas City Symphony
, Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra
, Oklahoma City Philharmonic
, Louisville Orchestra
, and the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra
.
In 1984 Williams released an album, Of Time & Rivers Flowing
, on his own Skookum label, containing 14 of the approximately 35 songs performed in the concert. In 1993, the title cut from the album was used as the soundtrack for a ninety-second public service announcement
(PSA) created by The American Rivers Council on the home video release of Robert Redford
's film A River Runs Through It
. The PSA was also on the 1995 home video release of The River Wild
.
In 1995, Williams was invited to play for Oregon governor John Kitzhaber
's inauguration and in 1996, Williams received an honorary Doctorate of Music from his alma mater, Oklahoma City University
.
In 1998, BMI
, the music licensing organization that tracks air play performances on radio and television, presented Williams with a Special Citation of Achievement in recognition of the great national and international popularity of "Classical Gas". By 2008, the song logged over six million broadcast performances, to become the all-time number-one instrumental composition for air play in BMI's repertoire.
In 1999, Williams played again for the governor of Oregon
's second inauguration. In February, Williams' "Bus" art piece was included in the Norton Simon Museum
exhibition "Radical Past", in Pasadena, California
. In the spring he played his Of Time and Rivers Flowing concert with the Oregon Children's Choral Festival, a two-day event involving 3,000 elementary school children singing water and rivers songs with Williams and his band. Williams received the Distinguished Service Award from the University of Oregon
in honor of his Contribution to Oregon's arts.
In the fall of 1999, he and the Bluegrass Band played for Byron Berline
's Oklahoma International Bluegrass Festival
in Guthrie, Oklahoma
with the Oklahoma City Philharmonic.
Williams' music has been featured in several movies including The Story of Us
, Cheaper by the Dozen
, The Dish
, The Heidi Chronicles
, and Heartbreakers. His compositions have also been played on the television series The Sopranos
.
In 2003, Williams released an EP
, Music for the Epicurean Harkener, and was again nominated for a Grammy in 2004 for best instrumental album. In 2005, he collaborated with UK
guitarist Zoe McCulloch on the album Electrical Gas.
In June 2006, Williams performed at his 50th high school reunion at Northwest Classen High School
in Oklahoma City
. He performed as Mason Williams and Friends, the friends including Art Maddox, Mark Schneider, Thom Bergeron, Don Latarski, and Dennis Caffey, at concerts in Eugene
and Springfield
, Oregon
and at the opening gala at the Richard E. Wildish Community Theater in Springfield. He also made special guest appearances in September with many other guitarists at Primal Twang in San Diego, California
, and with Craig Einhorn and the Umpqua Symphony Orchestra in Roseburg, Oregon
.
In January 2007, he was reunited with longtime friend and artist Edward Ruscha
, performing at the Getty Center
in Los Angeles
. In October 2007, he was inducted into the Oregon Music Hall of Fame
. and co-headlined a concert with Everclear
and Paul Revere and the Raiders.
released Them Poems, a record album on which Williams entertains a live audience with "them poems about them people," covering such varied topics as "Them Moose Goosers," "Them Sand Pickers," and "Them Surf Serfs." A typical "them poem" is "Them Banjo Pickers," which begins: "Them banjo pickers! Mighty funny ways. Same damn song for three or four days!" Several other "them" poems, along with many ditties, song lyrics, odd and amusing photographs from around the country and assorted bits of visual and verbal silliness are collected in The Mason Williams Reading Matter (Doubleday, 1969), and the Them Poems record album was reissued (also in 1969, on the heels of the success of "Classical Gas") as The Mason Williams Listening Matter.
Williams has written more than 175 hours of music and comedy for network television programming and was a prime creative force for CBS
' controversial Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.
His experience in folk music
gave him the background for many of Tom
and Dick Smothers
' comedy routines and with co-writer Nancy Ames, also composed the show's musical theme.
It was at the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour he created and perpetuated the 1968 "Pat Paulsen
for President" campaign, an elaborate political satire
. Williams also helped launch the career of entertainer Steve Martin
. Martin was hired by Williams as a writer on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, for which his contributions were initially paid out of Williams' own pocket.In 1968, he won an Emmy Award
for his work as a comedy writer on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.
Other major television personalities he has written for include Andy Williams
, Glen Campbell
, Dinah Shore
, Roger Miller
, and Petula Clark
. In 1980, Williams briefly served as head writer for NBC
's Saturday Night Live
, but left after clashing with producer Jean Doumanian
. In 1988, Williams received his third Emmy nomination as a comedy writer for his work on The Smothers Brothers 20th Reunion Special on CBS. According to his book, The Mason Williams FCC Rapport, Williams also credits himself with the first concept of a VJ and for MTV
. His concept included visual representations of the music and a video host announcing each piece of music on the air. CBS executives scoffed at his idea at the time. However, this did not stop him from trying out his idea on the air in 1968, when his composition Classical Gas was played on The Summer Smothers Brothers Show against a backdrop of 2,500 art pieces, which effectively made the composition one of the first music videos.
In February 2000, Williams participated in the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, Colorado
. The sixth annual festival honored The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour and its unique contribution to television. Williams performed a concert with Tom and Dick, and again on a late night show with performers that included Catherine O'Hara
, Martin Short
, Andrea Martin
, Steve Martin
, Robin Williams
, and Marc Shaiman
.
hydroelectric
power project, Williams began to think of how the river itself should have a voice in its fate, and eventually collected over 400 songs about rivers, which he crafted into his program Of Time and Rivers Flowing.
A chronological "river" of music and time, it encompasses the realms of classical
, folk, minstrel
, gospel
, jazz
, country, pop
, and contemporary rock
. Williams has performed the program for benefits, conferences, and in concert.
Source:http://www.masonwilliams-online.com/careerdisc.html masonwilliams-online.com and Yahoo's "Mason Williams: Discography".
Source: WorldCat
Retrieved 4/10/2010
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
and composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, best known for his guitar instrumental "Classical Gas
Classical Gas
"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...
". He is also a comedy writer, known for his writing on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour
The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour
The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour was an American network television music and comedy variety show hosted by singer Glen Campbell from January 1969 through June 1972 on CBS. He was offered the show after he hosted a 1968 summer replacement for The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour...
, and Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
. He is also an eclectic poet and lyricist who has published several books.
Life
Mason Douglas Williams was born in Abilene, TexasAbilene, Texas
Abilene is a city in Taylor and Jones counties in west central Texas. The population was 117,063 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Abilene Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had a 2006 estimated population of 158,063. It is the county seat of Taylor County...
; son of Jackson Eugene (a tile setter) and Kathlyn (Nations) Williams; married Sheila Ann Massey, April 22, 1961 (divorced); children: Kathryn Michelle.
He grew up dividing his time between living with his father in Oklahoma and his mother in Oakridge, Oregon
Oakridge, Oregon
Oakridge is a city in Lane County, Oregon, United States. The population was estimated at 3,205 in 2010. It is located east of Westfir on Oregon Route 58, about east of Eugene, and southeast of Portland...
. He graduated from Northwest Classen High School
Northwest Classen High School
Northwest Classen High School is a public high school serving students in grades 9-12 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.- History :Northwest Classen High School was built in 1955 to accommodate the growing population in the northwest corridor of Oklahoma City. Along with Classen School of Advanced...
in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Oklahoma City is the capital and the largest city in the state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, the city ranks 31st among United States cities in population. The city's population, from the 2010 census, was 579,999, with a metro-area population of 1,252,987 . In 2010, the Oklahoma...
in 1956. It was in Oklahoma that he began his lifelong friendship with artist Edward Ruscha
Edward Ruscha
Edward Joseph Ruscha IV is an American artist associated with the Pop art movement. He has worked in the media of painting, printmaking, drawing, photography, and film. Ruscha lives and works in Culver City, California...
.
He attended Oklahoma City University, 1957–60, and North Texas State University, one semester. Military Service: U.S. Navy, 1961-63.
Married Katherine Elizabeth Kahn in February, 1994, after first planning to marry in 1971; divorced after ten years.
He lived for a time in Oakridge, and as of 2008 he lived in Eugene, Oregon
Eugene, Oregon
Eugene is the second largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and the seat of Lane County. It is located at the south end of the Willamette Valley, at the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast.As of the 2010 U.S...
with his Canadian-born wife, who is a defense attorney.
Music
In 1968 Williams won two Grammy AwardGrammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
s for his guitar instrumental
Instrumental
An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....
"Classical Gas
Classical Gas
"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...
". Together with Nancy Ames he wrote Cinderella Rockefella
Cinderella Rockefella
"Cinderella Rockefella" was a novelty single written by Mason Williams and Nancy Ames, and most famously released by the Israeli duo group Esther and Abi Ofarim, a married couple, in 1968.The song features yodelling and a somewhat 1920s style lyrics and music...
, a 1968 number one hit for Esther and Abi Ofarim
Esther and Abi Ofarim
Esther Ofarim is an Israeli female vocalist.She met Abi Ofarim, a guitarist and dancer, in 1959 and subsequently married him. With her husband and without him she began to sing Hebrew and international folk songs....
in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
In 1970, Williams made a television appearance on a variety show, Just Friends, which reunited regulars of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. To create a visual element for his performance, he used a special playable classical plexiglass
Acrylic glass
Poly is a transparent thermoplastic, often used as a light or shatter-resistant alternative to glass. It is sometimes called acrylic glass. Chemically, it is the synthetic polymer of methyl methacrylate...
guitar built for him by Billy Cheatwood and a prop designer for ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
. For the performance, Williams filled the guitar with water and added a couple of goldfish. He then used the plexiglass guitar to finger-sync his hit version of "Classical Gas".
Williams has recorded more than a dozen albums, five on the Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
label (The Mason Williams Phonograph Record, The Mason Williams Ear Show, Music, Handmade, and Sharepickers). The LP cover for the 1968 'Music' was painted by Edward Ruscha. The credit reads "SORRY, COVER BY EDWARD RUSCHA.
"Classical Gas" was released as a single from The Mason Williams Phonograph Record in 1968. "Classical Gas" won three Grammys that year for "Best Instrumental (theme) Composition", "Best Instrumental (theme) Performance", and "Best Instrumental Orchestra Arrangement", Mike Post, arranger. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
. He also wrote songs for The Kingston Trio
The Kingston Trio
The Kingston Trio is an American folk and pop music group that helped launch the folk revival of the late 1950s to late 1960s. The group started as a San Francisco Bay Area nightclub act with an original lineup of Dave Guard, Bob Shane, and Nick Reynolds...
. For both Handmade and Sharepickers, Mason received two more Grammy nominations for "Best Album Cover Design".
In 1987, Williams teamed up with Mannheim Steamroller
Mannheim Steamroller
Mannheim Steamroller is an American music group founded by Chip Davis and Jackson Berkey, known primarily for its modern recordings of Christmas music. The group has sold 28 million albums in the U.S. alone.-Beginnings:...
to release a new album on the American Gramaphone
American Gramaphone
American Gramaphone is an American record company, and was formed in 1974 by Chip Davis. It is best-known for releasing Davis' solo and Mannheim Steamroller albums...
label. The album, titled Classical Gas, included a remake of the 1968 song. Another cut from this album, "Country Idyll", was a 1988 nominee for a Grammy in the country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
category for "Best Instrumental Performance by a Soloist, Group or Orchestra". The album went gold
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
in 1991.
Williams' plexiglass guitar appears on the cover of this album.
Williams released an acoustic instrumental album of Christmas and holiday music, A Gift of Song, on the Real Music label, featuring arrangements of traditional carols and original compositions. In 1992, the Vanguard
Vanguard Records
Vanguard Records is a record label set up in 1950 by brothers Maynard and Seymour Solomon in New York. It started as a classical label, but is perhaps best known for its catalogue of recordings by a number of pivotal folk and blues artists from the 1960s; the Bach Guild was a subsidiary...
label released Music 1968–1971, a compilation of cuts from his five Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
albums recorded in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Williams relates when compiling the album that he went to Warner Bros. and asked “Where’s that painting that Ed did for that old ["Music" ] cover?” and was told it had been thrown away; a probable loss of 3-5 million dollars.
In conjunction with the release of this album, Williams added a "Holiday Concert Program" to his repertoire, featuring music from the album as well as other traditional music of the season. In 1994, he played six sold-out concerts with the Oregon Symphony
Oregon Symphony
The Oregon Symphony is an American orchestra based in Portland, Oregon. Founded as the Portland Symphony Society in 1896, it is the sixth oldest orchestra in the United States, and oldest in the Western United States...
in Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
. In the 1990s he also performed with the Eugene Symphony
Eugene Symphony
The Eugene Symphony is an American orchestra based in Eugene, Oregon. Its home venue is the Silva Concert Hall at the Hult Center for the Performing Arts.Approximately 27,000 people attend Eugene Symphony's classical and pops concert performances each year....
with friend Ken Kesey
Ken Kesey
Kenneth Elton "Ken" Kesey was an American author, best known for his novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest , and as a counter-cultural figure who considered himself a link between the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the hippies of the 1960s. "I was too young to be a beatnik, and too old to be a...
.
Williams then concentrated on a variety of programs for his concert appearances. His "Concert For Bluegrass Band And Orchestra", also titled "Symphonic Bluegrass", has been performed with over 40 symphonies, including the Colorado Symphony Orchestra
Colorado Symphony Orchestra
Colorado’s only full-time professional orchestra, the Colorado Symphony embraces a tradition of musical excellence by presenting a diverse array of symphonic performances throughout the year...
, Kansas City Symphony
Kansas City Symphony
The Kansas City Symphony is a United States symphony orchestra based in Kansas City, Missouri. The current music director is conductor Michael Stern. The current home of the Symphony is the Lyric Theatre, located in Downtown Kansas City on 11th Street between Wyandotte and Central Streets...
, Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra
Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra
The Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra is an American orchestra based in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the only full-time, professional orchestra in the Gulf South. The music director is Carlos Miguel Prieto....
, Oklahoma City Philharmonic
Oklahoma City Philharmonic
The Oklahoma City Philharmonic is the most prominent performing orchestra in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and its environs.- History :The first Oklahoma City orchestra was formed as early as 1924. The Oklahoma Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1938 with Ralph Rose conducting its inaugural season...
, Louisville Orchestra
Louisville Orchestra
The Louisville Orchestra is the primary orchestra in Louisville, Kentucky and has been called the cornerstone of the Louisville arts scene. It was founded in 1937 by Robert Whitney and Charles Farnsley, Mayor of Louisville...
, and the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra
Edmonton Symphony Orchestra
As the professional orchestra of Alberta's creative capital city, the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra presents over 85 concerts a year of symphonic music in all genres, from classical to country...
.
In 1984 Williams released an album, Of Time & Rivers Flowing
, on his own Skookum label, containing 14 of the approximately 35 songs performed in the concert. In 1993, the title cut from the album was used as the soundtrack for a ninety-second public service announcement
Public service announcement
A public service announcement or public service ad is a type of advertisement featured on television, radio, print or other media...
(PSA) created by The American Rivers Council on the home video release of Robert Redford
Robert Redford
Charles Robert Redford, Jr. , better known as Robert Redford, is an American actor, film director, producer, businessman, environmentalist, philanthropist, and founder of the Sundance Film Festival. He has received two Oscars: one in 1981 for directing Ordinary People, and one for Lifetime...
's film A River Runs Through It
A River Runs Through It (film)
A River Runs Through It is an Academy Award winning 1992 American film directed by Robert Redford and starring Brad Pitt, Craig Sheffer, Tom Skerritt, Brenda Blethyn, and Emily Lloyd...
. The PSA was also on the 1995 home video release of The River Wild
The River Wild
The River Wild is a 1994 thriller film directed by Curtis Hanson and starring Meryl Streep, Kevin Bacon, David Strathairn, John C. Reilly, and Joseph Mazzello...
.
In 1995, Williams was invited to play for Oregon governor John Kitzhaber
John Kitzhaber
John Albert Kitzhaber is the 37th Governor of Oregon. He served as the 35th Governor of Oregon from 1995 to 2003 and became the first person to be elected to the office three times when he was re-elected to a non-consecutive third term in 2010...
's inauguration and in 1996, Williams received an honorary Doctorate of Music from his alma mater, Oklahoma City University
Oklahoma City University
Oklahoma City University, often referred to as OCU, is a coeducational, urban, private university historically affiliated with the United Methodist Church...
.
In 1998, BMI
Broadcast Music Incorporated
Broadcast Music, Inc. is one of three United States performing rights organizations, along with ASCAP and SESAC. It collects license fees on behalf of songwriters, composers, and music publishers and distributes them as royalties to those members whose works have been performed...
, the music licensing organization that tracks air play performances on radio and television, presented Williams with a Special Citation of Achievement in recognition of the great national and international popularity of "Classical Gas". By 2008, the song logged over six million broadcast performances, to become the all-time number-one instrumental composition for air play in BMI's repertoire.
In 1999, Williams played again for the governor of Oregon
Governor of Oregon
The Governor of Oregon is the top executive of the government of the U.S. state of Oregon. The title of governor was also applied to the office of Oregon's chief executive during the provisional and U.S. territorial governments....
's second inauguration. In February, Williams' "Bus" art piece was included in the Norton Simon Museum
Norton Simon Museum
The Norton Simon Museum is an Art Museum located in Pasadena, California, United States. It was previously known by the names: the Pasadena Art Institute and the Pasadena Art Museum.-Overview:...
exhibition "Radical Past", in Pasadena, California
Pasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
. In the spring he played his Of Time and Rivers Flowing concert with the Oregon Children's Choral Festival, a two-day event involving 3,000 elementary school children singing water and rivers songs with Williams and his band. Williams received the Distinguished Service Award from the University of Oregon
University of Oregon
-Colleges and schools:The University of Oregon is organized into eight schools and colleges—six professional schools and colleges, an Arts and Sciences College and an Honors College.- School of Architecture and Allied Arts :...
in honor of his Contribution to Oregon's arts.
In the fall of 1999, he and the Bluegrass Band played for Byron Berline
Byron Berline
Byron Berline is an American fiddle player.-Biography:Berline started playing the fiddle at age five and quickly developed a talent for it. In 1965, he recorded the album Pickin' and Fiddlin with the Dillards...
's Oklahoma International Bluegrass Festival
Oklahoma International Bluegrass Festival
The Oklahoma International Bluegrass Festival is held annually in Guthrie, Oklahoma. The festival was founded as a nonprofit organization by Guthrie resident Byron Berline and Oklahoma state representative Joe Hutchinson in 1996. Each year the festival supports music education through music...
in Guthrie, Oklahoma
Guthrie, Oklahoma
Guthrie is a city in and the county seat of Logan County, Oklahoma, United States, and a part of the Oklahoma City Metroplex. The population was 9,925 at the 2000 census.Guthrie was the territorial and later the first state capital for Oklahoma...
with the Oklahoma City Philharmonic.
Williams' music has been featured in several movies including The Story of Us
The Story of Us
The Story of Us is a 1999 American film directed by Rob Reiner, and starring Bruce Willis and Michelle Pfeiffer as a couple married for fifteen years....
, Cheaper by the Dozen
Cheaper by the Dozen (2003 film)
Cheaper by the Dozen is a 2003 American comedy film about a family with 12 children . The film takes its title from the 1948 biography of the same name of Frank Bunker Gilbreth and Lillian Moller Gilbreth and their 12 children, but other than the title and the concept of a family with 12 children,...
, The Dish
The Dish
The Dish is a 2000 Australian film that tells the story of how the Parkes Observatory was used to relay the live television of man's first steps on the moon, during the Apollo 11 mission in 1969...
, The Heidi Chronicles
The Heidi Chronicles (film)
The Heidi Chronicles is a 1995 made-for-television film by Wendy Wasserstein adapted from her play of the same name.-Cast :*Jamie Lee Curtis - Heidi Holland*Tom Hulce - Peter Patrone*Peter Friedman - Scoop Rosenbaum*Kim Cattrall - Susan...
, and Heartbreakers. His compositions have also been played on the television series The Sopranos
The Sopranos
The Sopranos is an American television drama series created by David Chase that revolves around the New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the often conflicting requirements of his home life and the criminal organization he heads...
.
In 2003, Williams released an EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
, Music for the Epicurean Harkener, and was again nominated for a Grammy in 2004 for best instrumental album. In 2005, he collaborated with UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
guitarist Zoe McCulloch on the album Electrical Gas.
In June 2006, Williams performed at his 50th high school reunion at Northwest Classen High School
Northwest Classen High School
Northwest Classen High School is a public high school serving students in grades 9-12 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.- History :Northwest Classen High School was built in 1955 to accommodate the growing population in the northwest corridor of Oklahoma City. Along with Classen School of Advanced...
in Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Oklahoma City is the capital and the largest city in the state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, the city ranks 31st among United States cities in population. The city's population, from the 2010 census, was 579,999, with a metro-area population of 1,252,987 . In 2010, the Oklahoma...
. He performed as Mason Williams and Friends, the friends including Art Maddox, Mark Schneider, Thom Bergeron, Don Latarski, and Dennis Caffey, at concerts in Eugene
Eugene, Oregon
Eugene is the second largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and the seat of Lane County. It is located at the south end of the Willamette Valley, at the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast.As of the 2010 U.S...
and Springfield
Springfield, Oregon
Springfield is a city in Lane County, Oregon, United States. Located in the Southern Willamette Valley, it is within the Eugene-Springfield Metropolitan Statistical Area. Separated from Eugene to the west, mainly by Interstate 5, Springfield is the second-most populous city in the metropolitan area...
, Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
and at the opening gala at the Richard E. Wildish Community Theater in Springfield. He also made special guest appearances in September with many other guitarists at Primal Twang in San Diego, California
San Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
, and with Craig Einhorn and the Umpqua Symphony Orchestra in Roseburg, Oregon
Roseburg, Oregon
Roseburg is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is the county seat of Douglas County. The population was 21,181 at the 2010 census.-History:...
.
In January 2007, he was reunited with longtime friend and artist Edward Ruscha
Edward Ruscha
Edward Joseph Ruscha IV is an American artist associated with the Pop art movement. He has worked in the media of painting, printmaking, drawing, photography, and film. Ruscha lives and works in Culver City, California...
, performing at the Getty Center
Getty Center
The Getty Center, in Brentwood, Los Angeles, California, is a campus for cultural institutions founded by oilman J. Paul Getty. The $1.3 billion center, which opened on December 16, 1997, is also well known for its architecture, gardens, and views overlooking Los Angeles...
in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
. In October 2007, he was inducted into the Oregon Music Hall of Fame
Oregon Music Hall of Fame
The Oregon Music Hall of Fame is an award honoring musicians from the U.S. state of Oregon. The first induction ceremony took place on October 13, 2007.-History:...
. and co-headlined a concert with Everclear
Everclear (band)
Everclear is a rock band formed in Portland, Oregon in 1992 best known for their radio hits spanning more than a decade. For most of its existence, Everclear has consisted of Art Alexakis , Craig Montoya , and Greg Eklund . Eklund replaced original drummer Scott Cuthbert in 1994...
and Paul Revere and the Raiders.
Comedy
Like many writer-performers, Mason Williams was also a stand-up comedian. Williams set most of his comic ideas to music and sang or recited the jokes in lyric form with guitar accompaniment. In 1964, Vee-Jay RecordsVee-Jay Records
Vee-Jay Records is a record label founded in the 1950s, specializing in blues, jazz, rhythm and blues and rock and roll. It was owned and operated by African Americans.-History:...
released Them Poems, a record album on which Williams entertains a live audience with "them poems about them people," covering such varied topics as "Them Moose Goosers," "Them Sand Pickers," and "Them Surf Serfs." A typical "them poem" is "Them Banjo Pickers," which begins: "Them banjo pickers! Mighty funny ways. Same damn song for three or four days!" Several other "them" poems, along with many ditties, song lyrics, odd and amusing photographs from around the country and assorted bits of visual and verbal silliness are collected in The Mason Williams Reading Matter (Doubleday, 1969), and the Them Poems record album was reissued (also in 1969, on the heels of the success of "Classical Gas") as The Mason Williams Listening Matter.
Williams has written more than 175 hours of music and comedy for network television programming and was a prime creative force for CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
' controversial Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.
His experience in folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
gave him the background for many of Tom
Tom Smothers
Tom Smothers is an American comedian, composer and musician, best known as half of the musical comedy team The Smothers Brothers, alongside his younger brother Dick.-Early life:...
and Dick Smothers
Dick Smothers
Richard Remick "Dick" Smothers is an American actor, comedian, composer and musician. He is best known for being half of the musical comedy team, the Smothers Brothers, with his older brother Tom.-Life and career:...
' comedy routines and with co-writer Nancy Ames, also composed the show's musical theme.
It was at the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour he created and perpetuated the 1968 "Pat Paulsen
Pat Paulsen
Patrick Layton "Pat" Paulsen was an American comedian and satirist notable for his roles on several of the Smothers Brothers TV shows, and for his campaigns for President of the United States in 1968, 1972, 1980, 1988, 1992, and 1996, which had primarily comedic rather than political objectives,...
for President" campaign, an elaborate political satire
Political satire
Political satire is a significant part of satire that specializes in gaining entertainment from politics; it has also been used with subversive intent where political speech and dissent are forbidden by a regime, as a method of advancing political arguments where such arguments are expressly...
. Williams also helped launch the career of entertainer Steve Martin
Steve Martin
Stephen Glenn "Steve" Martin is an American actor, comedian, writer, playwright, producer, musician and composer....
. Martin was hired by Williams as a writer on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, for which his contributions were initially paid out of Williams' own pocket.In 1968, he won an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
for his work as a comedy writer on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.
Other major television personalities he has written for include Andy Williams
Andy Williams
Howard Andrew "Andy" Williams is an American singer who has recorded 18 Gold- and three Platinum-certified albums. He hosted The Andy Williams Show, a TV variety show, from 1962 to 1971, as well as numerous television specials, and owns his own theater, the Moon River Theatre in Branson, Missouri,...
, Glen Campbell
Glen Campbell
Glen Travis Campbell is an American country music singer, guitarist, television host and occasional actor. He is best known for a series of hits in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as for hosting a variety show called The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour on CBS television.During his 50 years in show...
, Dinah Shore
Dinah Shore
Dinah Shore was an American singer, actress, and television personality...
, Roger Miller
Roger Miller
Roger Dean Miller was an American singer, songwriter, musician and actor, best known for his honky tonk-influenced novelty songs...
, and Petula Clark
Petula Clark
Petula Clark, CBE is an English singer, actress, and composer whose career has spanned seven decades.Clark's professional career began as an entertainer on BBC Radio during World War II...
. In 1980, Williams briefly served as head writer for NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
, but left after clashing with producer Jean Doumanian
Jean Doumanian
Jean Doumanian is an American producer.Doumanian is probably most well known for her short reign as producer of Saturday Night Live between November 1980 and March 1981...
. In 1988, Williams received his third Emmy nomination as a comedy writer for his work on The Smothers Brothers 20th Reunion Special on CBS. According to his book, The Mason Williams FCC Rapport, Williams also credits himself with the first concept of a VJ and for MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
. His concept included visual representations of the music and a video host announcing each piece of music on the air. CBS executives scoffed at his idea at the time. However, this did not stop him from trying out his idea on the air in 1968, when his composition Classical Gas was played on The Summer Smothers Brothers Show against a backdrop of 2,500 art pieces, which effectively made the composition one of the first music videos.
In February 2000, Williams participated in the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, Colorado
Aspen, Colorado
The City of Aspen is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Pitkin County, Colorado, United States. The United States Census Bureau estimates that the city population was 5,804 in 2005...
. The sixth annual festival honored The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour and its unique contribution to television. Williams performed a concert with Tom and Dick, and again on a late night show with performers that included Catherine O'Hara
Catherine O'Hara
Catherine Anne O'Hara is a Canadian-American actress and comedienne. She is well known for her comedy work on SCTV, and her roles in the films After Hours, Beetlejuice, Home Alone, and The Nightmare Before Christmas, and also in the mockumentary films written and directed by Christopher Guest...
, Martin Short
Martin Short
Martin Hayter Short, CM is a Canadian actor, comedian, writer, singer and producer. He is best-known for his comedy work, particularly on the TV programs SCTV and Saturday Night Live...
, Andrea Martin
Andrea Martin
Andrea Louise Martin is an American and Canadian actress and comedienne. She has appeared in films such as My Big Fat Greek Wedding, on stage in productions such as My Favorite Year, Fiddler on the Roof and Candide, and in the television series, SCTV.-Personal life:Martin, the oldest of three...
, Steve Martin
Steve Martin
Stephen Glenn "Steve" Martin is an American actor, comedian, writer, playwright, producer, musician and composer....
, Robin Williams
Robin Williams
Robin McLaurin Williams is an American actor and comedian. Rising to fame with his role as the alien Mork in the TV series Mork and Mindy, and later stand-up comedy work, Williams has performed in many feature films since 1980. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance...
, and Marc Shaiman
Marc Shaiman
Marc Shaiman is an American composer, lyricist, arranger, and performer for films, television, and theatre. He is perhaps best known for writing the music and co-writing the lyrics for the Broadway musical version of the cult John Waters film Hairspray, for which Shaiman won Tony and Grammy...
.
Environmentalism
After becoming involved in protests against a Willamette RiverWillamette River
The Willamette River is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States...
hydroelectric
Hydroelectricity
Hydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower; the production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy...
power project, Williams began to think of how the river itself should have a voice in its fate, and eventually collected over 400 songs about rivers, which he crafted into his program Of Time and Rivers Flowing.
A chronological "river" of music and time, it encompasses the realms of classical
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
, folk, minstrel
Minstrel show
The minstrel show, or minstrelsy, was an American entertainment consisting of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music, performed by white people in blackface or, especially after the Civil War, black people in blackface....
, gospel
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, country, pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
, and contemporary rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
. Williams has performed the program for benefits, conferences, and in concert.
Discography
| July 14, 1960 | Little Billy Blue Shoes/Run Come See |
| August 1960 | Folk Music as Heard at The Gourd |
| April 1961 | Songs of the Blue and Grey ; recorded by The Wayfarers Trio |
| April 30, 1962 | Away All Boats |
| 1963 | The Big Hootenanny |
| March 12, 1963 | I Am an American |
| August 26, 1963 | More Hootenany |
| Unknown | Feudin' Banjos |
| 1963 | The Twelve-String Story Vol. I |
| 1963 | The Twelve-String Story Vol. II |
| October 1963 | The Banjo Story |
| October 29, 1963 | Folk Baroque; with Paul Sykes (singer) Paul Sykes (singer) Paul Sykes was an American folksinger, best known for live performances in the early 1960s at The Ice House, a folk music club in Pasadena, California, and as a member of folk trio The Randy Sparks Three... , Oklahoma City Symphony members, and OCU Chorus. |
| 2 April 1964 | 5-String Banjo Greats |
| 1964 | Them Poems |
| December 24, 1965 | Introducing Jayne Heather |
| April 1965 | Tour de Farce (The Smothers Brothers) |
| April 22, 1966 | Love Are Wine/The Exciting Accident |
| 1966 | The Smothers Brothers Play It Straight |
| 1968 | Classical Gas/Baroque-a-Nova |
| February 1968 | The Mason Williams Phonograph Record |
| August 10, 1968 | Classical Gas/Long Time Blues |
| November 1968 | The Mason Williams Ear Show |
| 1968 | Saturday Night at the World/One-Minute Commercial |
| March 13, 1969 | Music |
| March 1969 | Greensleeves/$13 Stella |
| 1969 | Jennifer |
| March 1969 | The Mason Williams Listening Matter (Them Poems) |
| March 10, 1970 | Handmade |
| 1970 | José's Piece |
| 1 January 1971 | Improved |
| October 1971 | Sharepickers |
| 1971 | Train Ride in G/Here I Am Again |
| November 1978 | Fresh Fish |
| December 1984 | Of Time and Rivers Flowing |
| October 22, 1987 | Classical Gas — Mason Williams and Mannheim Steamroller Mannheim Steamroller Mannheim Steamroller is an American music group founded by Chip Davis and Jackson Berkey, known primarily for its modern recordings of Christmas music. The group has sold 28 million albums in the U.S. alone.-Beginnings:... |
| July 13, 1992 | Music 1968–1972 |
| September 18, 1992 | A Gift of Song |
| 1994 | Rock Instrumental Classics, Vol. 2: The Sixties |
| September 1995 | Fiddle and a Song |
| Unknown | 1968 Billboard Top Pop Hits (Rhino) (features "Classical Gas") |
| December 20, 1995 | 1995 Sony Disc Manufacturing Holiday Choir |
| 9 April 1996 | Cascadia (1996 Oregon Governor's Arts Awards) |
| May 17, 1996 | Of Time and Rivers Flowing (re-released) |
| December 25, 2003 | Music for the Epicurean Harkener (EP) |
| September 27, 2005 | Electrical Gas — Mason Williams and Zoe McCulloch, Online at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgpE9GzNatw |
| September 30, 2006 | Classical Gas - Mason Williams, Craig Einhorn, Online at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=078N20Zxx1k |
| December 1, 2006 | Classical Gas - Mason Williams at the Wildish Theater, Online at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozAqqNZ0LHw |
| April, 2008 | 40th anniversary of Classical Gas - Classical Gas with Mason Williams and the original Dan McLaughlin "Classical Gas Video" as it appeared on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in 1968. Online at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoQh7F_1mbk |
| December 5, 2009 | O Christmas Three (EP) |
Source:http://www.masonwilliams-online.com/careerdisc.html masonwilliams-online.com and Yahoo's "Mason Williams: Discography".
Additional sources
- "Mason Williams Full Biography - with Awards, Discography, Books & Television Script Writing, Releases of Classical Gas." January, 2008. Retrieved 4/19/2009.
- Wine, Niki “The Philosophy of Mason Williams” Toledo Blade, March 16, 1969, pTV2.
Further reading
- Williams, Mason. "Bicyclists dismount". Hollywood, Calif. : Davon Music Corp., 1964.
- Mason Williams; Robert Willis. "Tosadnessday". Los Angeles, Calif. : Tasmania Press, 1966.
- Williams, Mason. "The night I lost my baby; a Las Vegas vignette". Los Angeles, Calif. 1966
- Williams, Mason, Edward Ruscha, and Patrick Blackwell. "Royal road test". New York: G. Wittenborn, 1967.
- Williams, Mason. "Boneless roast". Los Angeles, 1967
- Mason Williams and Jinx Kragen. "Pat Paulsen For President". Calif: Kragen/Fritz, 1968.
- Mason Williams; Robert Willis. "Roadsign business". Los Angeles, Calif.: M. Williams, 1969.
- Williams, Ma.son. "The Mason Williams reading matter". Garden City, NY Doubleday, 1969.
- Ruscha, Edward, and Mason Williams. "Crackers". Hollywood, Calif.: Heavy Industries, 1969.
- Williams, Mason. "The Mason Williams F.C.C. rapport". New York: Liveright, 1969. ISBN 0871400227
- Williams, Mason. "Flavors". Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1970.
- Williams, Mason. ["Them poems".]http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/Literature.Williams Madison, WI: Parallel Press, 2000.
- Mason Williams; James R Gardiner. "[Santa’s Scenic Trip Home,"]http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/tturb/00161/trb-00161p2.html by Mason Williams with text inspired by Arctic Dreams. [S.l.] : Flotsam & Jetsam, 1997.
Source: WorldCat
WorldCat
WorldCat is a union catalog which itemizes the collections of 72,000 libraries in 170 countries and territories which participate in the Online Computer Library Center global cooperative...
Retrieved 4/10/2010