Mason Williams -- Classical Gas

 

On this week's Reminiscings of Youth, I'd like to take you back to my early childhood late 1960s. Though my memories of that time are getting hazier the farther I age away from them, I still remember those days going into the 1970s as the era of the prime-time variety show in America. One of those programs was "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" on CBS which had a shorter run than I had thought at only two years (1967-1969). Tom and Dick Smothers have been folk singers and comedians who had their duo act with Tom being the goofy sibling while Dick was the straight man.

I have always been grateful to YouTube for being able to show all of these old television shows from my childhood since they no longer show up on regular television anymore. I don't think that I'd seen any rerun from "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" since when I did see them in their first run, and frankly the only reason that I had been able to remember Tom and Dick and their show was because of one song.

"Classical Gas" was one weird title for a song but it was one big hit for classical guitar player Mason Williams. Released in April 1968, it was this rather epic instrumental piece that seemed perfect for the times with some tender playing by Williams before things erupted into this whole orchestral adventure. For years, I just considered it to be pop orchestra along the lines of whatever The Boston Pops Orchestra was doing but now I know it to be one of the first examples of Baroque Pop that I ever heard. But I always wondered why whenever I remember The Smothers Brothers, I always hear "Classical Gas".

Of course, I figured that Williams probably played the song on the show. Well, I found out from Wikipedia that he played it several times over the course of the show's time on television. In fact, I also discovered that Williams wasn't only a performer there but also one of the comedy writers on "The Smothers Brothers" and he was even the fellow who came up with the theme song for the show! He would also become a writer for "Saturday Night Live" many years later.

Getting back to "Classical Gas", I remembered that it was a source for a rather ribald joke said by probably Tom (and maybe written by Williams) comparing the title to some sort of physical consequence after consuming lots of beans. Can't take the music all that seriously after all. I was wondering how the title came to be...was it a typically hippie expression of an existential miasma infused into all enlightened beings? Well, Wikipedia has come to the rescue again...the origins were far more mundane. It had originally been known as "Classical Gasoline" as in a source of fuel for classical guitar music in general, until it was accidentally shortened by a music copyist. I've also learned that Mike Post, the composer of so many famous TV theme songs including that of "The A-Team", was behind its arrangement. "Classical Gas" hit No. 2 on both the American and Canadian singles charts.

Unlike "Classical Gas", I never remembered Williams' theme song for "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" but here it is.

In any case, what was being released in April 1968 in Japan? Well, according to my usual source, considering the age, it's not surprising to note that it was all about Group Sounds. I've found three although according to what I've written about them, they actually came out in February and March of that year.

The Village Singers -- Amairo no Kami no Otome （亜麻色の髪の少女）

The Tempters -- Kamisama Onegai （神様お願い）

The Spiders -- Ano Toki Kimi wa Wakakatta（あの時君は若かった）