As with most (if not all) people, the thing that drew me to this
Mason Williams LP was "Classical Gas".
Mason Williams
1968
“The Mason Williams Phonograph Record”
Warner Bros. 1729
Vintage US pressing
"Classical Gas" is a track that grabbed my imagination and fired my
own drive to improve my guitar playing. To this day, the memory of
how to play this song is still imbedded in my fingers.
From the book "The Wrecking Crew, The Inside Story of Rock And
Roll's Best-Kept Secret" by Kent Hartman, Mason Williams is described
as:
"Something of an eccentric balladeer, the Oklahoma-raised Williams,
in addition to possessing an offbeat, well-honed sense of humor, was
also an accomplished songwriter and classically influenced guitarist.
The Kingston Trio, Glen Yarbrough, and other prominent folk artists
covered several of Williams's compositions in the early sixties...
...Traveling in the same folkie circles, the Smother's Brothers soon
became aware of William's quirky comedy songs."
Mason Williams eventually became a head writer for "The Smother's
Brothers Comedy Hour".
Regarding "Classical Gas" in particular:
"Noodling around one day...Williams stumbled across a lick that
particularly jumped out at him. Building on it, he began to expand an
intricate, classical-style finger picking progression into the
semblance of what he thought just might make a catchy song....
...Living at the time with Tommy Smothers in an apartment on Kings
Road in West Hollywood (both men were recently divorced), Williams
continued to practice the embryonic tune over and over at home while
Smothers offered feedback along the way. As it took shape, it became
clear that the piece of music had unusual potential. "You've got to
record that," Tommy said."
"With the Smothers Brothers graciously allowing Mason to perform
"Classical Gas" on "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" over the next
few months, it finally began to catch on with the public. Just as
season two of the increasingly controversial show came to a close in
June of '68, the record finally slid into the upper reaches of the
Hot 100. Seven weeks later, "Classical Gas" had blown by virtually
all comers on its way to number two, held off from the top spot only
by the Doors' "Hello, I Love You."
But the momentum didn't stop there. "Classical Gas" would soon go on
to win three Grammy Awards....And because of the massive amount of
airplay the song continuously received, even after falling off the
charts, it would become the most played instrumental in the history
of American radio."
As to the rest of the tracks on this LP, they're a bit of a mix of styles
that were floating around in 1968 as well as a bit of Mason's humor and
silliness as found on "The Prince's Panties".
Tracks included are:
1. "Overture" (Mike Post)
2. "All of the Time" (Mason Williams)
3. "Dylan Thomas" (Williams)
4. "Wanderlove" - (Williams)
5. "She's Gone Away" - (Williams)
6. "Here I Am" - (Brown, Williams)
7. "Classical Gas" - (Williams)
8. "Long Time Blues" - (Elington, Williams)
9. "Baroque-a-Nova" - (Blye, Williams)
10. "The Princes Panties" - (Williams)
11. "Life Song" - (Williams)
12. "Sunflower" - (Williams)
The setup used:
-Technics SL-1900 direct drive turntable running an Ortofon 2M Black cartridge
-Underwood/Parts Connexion performance-modified PS Audio GCPH phono preamp
-E-MU 1212M sound card
The audio was captured at 192/32-bit (float)
All pops & clicks were removed manually in Audition. No EQ or NR has been added.
Sample rate conversion to 96kHz & 44.1kHz and down-converting to 16-bit audio was
accomplished via iZotope RX Advanced.
Artwork is included for those who care for it.
-DLedin