MovieChat Forums > General Discussion > CLOSED***BAKERS DOZEN*** "Classical Gas"...

CLOSED***BAKERS DOZEN*** "Classical Gas"... people/fictional characters with either "Mason" or "Williams" in their names.


57 years ago this month (Feb 1968), "The Mason Williams Phonograph Record" was released. Only one track from this recording really became memorable...but what a track it is: the tremendous instrumental " Classical Gas." One of the greatest instrumentals ever recorded, it became a huge hit, reaching #2 on the American Top 40 charts for two weeks later in 1968 (kept out of the top spot by "Hello, I Love You" by The Doors). Mike Post, the great TV theme composer, actually composed the "middle part" of it. "Classical Gas" won 3 Grammy Awards in 1969 and is still very well-known today.

Here it is: https://youtu.be/EEzyrpfrPEI?si=j3L8ecbW8FoL_giF

Mason Williams is still alive as of today (He'll be 87 later this year). He was actually a comedy writer for "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" by trade...he did OK on "Classical Gas," though! πŸ˜ƒ

Anyway, in honor of Mason Williams, name a famous person (or fictional character) that has either "Mason" or "Williams" in their name (can be first, middle, last, etc.).

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1. Anthony Mason (former NBA player...RIP πŸ˜₯)

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I've always loved Classical Gas, GnG! Great idea for a BD game!

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Hi, Clementina...thank you! I love it also (But I'm a guitar player, so I almost have to love it! πŸ˜ƒ). There have been so many great versions of it (Glen Campbell did a version of it; Chet Atkins did a version of it; Tommy Emmanuel did a version of it; etc.), but I don't think any of them top Mason Williams ' original version. It's interesting how the strings and horns add so much to the original recording... Mason Williams later released a version where he just played the guitar (omitting the "middle part" that Mike Post wrote) and it sounds good, but not as great as the original, IMO.

One other little tidbit that I didn't mention in the original post: Mason Williams originally called this "Classical Gasoline," but the "Gasoline" part somehow got truncated to "Gas" (I think by accident). So that's why we know this great piece of music as "Classical Gas" today! πŸ˜ƒ

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I remember it. A great, catchy number. Do you remember this guitar player?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-zLwBf1Xe4

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Oh, yes! πŸ˜ƒ I love both Jose Feliciano and Yanni (Yanni composed a golf theme for CBS that they used from 2003 to 2014 that I love tremendously to this day... CBS has had a couple of different golf themes since then, but they don't compare to Yanni's theme, IMO).

I'm trying to remember what exactly Steve Buscemi's character in "Fargo" said... something like, "You can't go wrong with Jose Feliciano." He got a lot of things wrong in that movie, but he was right about that! πŸ˜ƒ Feliciano is one heck of a guitar player...it just seems to come out of him so naturally and he definitely has his own distinctive style. He's one of the greats for sure.

Thanks for posting that video. I had never seen that before!

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I love Yanni also. It was the Spanish guitar in this beautiful video that led me to the connection between Yanni and Jose. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jaGPxHMX1I

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That was awesome! Thanks for posting that also. I'm not sure who the guitar player is, but I thought it was interesting that he was playing a nylon-string with a pick (Mason Williams also played a nylon-string for "Classical Gas," but he fingerpicked it). I know there are some guitarists who primarily use a nylon-string guitar and play it with a pick (maybe none more famous than Willie Nelson...you don't hear a lot about his guitar playing, but I think he's an excellent guitar player also and his playing style is really hard to replicate).

Thanks again for the Yanni videos...those were great!

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1. Anthony Mason (former NBA player...RIP πŸ˜₯)
2. Perry Mason

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1. Anthony Mason (former NBA player...RIP πŸ˜₯)
2. Perry Mason
3. James Mason (actor)

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1. Anthony Mason (former NBA player...RIP πŸ˜₯)
2. Perry Mason
3. James Mason (actor)
4. Hank Williams

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1. Anthony Mason (former NBA player...RIP πŸ˜₯)
2. Perry Mason
3. James Mason (actor)
4. Hank Williams
5. John Williams (composer)

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1. Anthony Mason (former NBA player...RIP πŸ˜₯)
2. Perry Mason
3. James Mason (actor)
4. Hank Williams
5. John Williams (composer)
6. Paul Williams (songwriter)

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1. Anthony Mason (former NBA player...RIP πŸ˜₯)
2. Perry Mason
3. James Mason (actor)
4. Hank Williams
5. John Williams (composer)
6. Paul Williams (songwriter)
7. Remo Williams (Fictional Character from The Destroyer novels)

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Great one!

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Thanks

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1. Anthony Mason (former NBA player...RIP πŸ˜₯)
2. Perry Mason
3. James Mason (actor)
4. Hank Williams
5. John Williams (composer)
6. Paul Williams (songwriter)
7. Remo Williams (Fictional Character from The Destroyer novels)
8. Dave Mason (singer/songwriter)

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