Classical gas

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Classical Gas is the title of an instrumental music piece composed by Mason Williams . Originally the track was called "Classical Gasoline", but it was renamed "Classical Gas" by Williams. On the original recording, Williams plays the guitar and is supported by an orchestra. It was first performed publicly on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour . It was released on record in February 1968 on the album The Mason Williams Phonograph Record . In August 1968 “Classical Gas” reached the top 2 in the American charts and was sold over 1 million times. Williams took up the melody again as a solo guitar piece in his 1970 album " Hand Made ". He also recorded a version with Mannheim Steamroller in 1987 .

Awards

  • In 1968 the piece won three Grammy awards: Best Instrumental Composition, Best Contemporary Pop Performance, Instrumental, and Best Instrumental Arrangement.
  • In 1998 the US collecting society Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI) awarded him a special award. The piece would be played over 5 million times on the radio, making it BMI's all-time number one instrumental composition for Airplay Radio.

More facts

In 1973, the piece of was Beggar's Opera in progressive rock style on their fourth album Get Your Dog off Me! covered. The rumor keeps surfacing that Eric Clapton recorded a version of the piece, but this was denied by Williams himself on the official website. This rumor may have originated from the fact that the soundtrack for the film " By Your Side ", composed by Marc Shaiman and Eric Clapton, also features a recording of the piece - but this is the acoustic version recorded in 1970 by Mason Williams.

The piece can also be heard frequently in television series and films, for example in an episode each of the series " The Simpsons ", " Frasier ", " American Dad " and " Wild Palms ".

For the 1976 federal election , the FDP used Classical Gas in its TV campaign ads.

Also in 1976 the American synthesizer pioneer Larry Fast released a cover version of "Classical Gas" on Sequencer , his second solo album, released under the project name Synergy . An early version of this title is also featured on the UK (but not US) release of his 1975 debut album Electronic Realizations For Rock Orchestra .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Classical Gas in the US charts
  2. ↑ Grammy Winners Search for Glassical gas. grammy.com, accessed October 2, 2010 .
  3. ^ Classical Gas Awards. classicalgas.com, accessed October 2, 2010 (English).
  4. ↑ The Story of Us (1999) - Soundtracks. Internet Movie Database , accessed October 2, 2010 .
  5. ↑ Tracklist and review of Sequencer on the Babyblauen Seiten
  6. ↑ Larry Fast on the process of creating his album Sequencer