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"Classical Gas" is an Instrumental piece written by Mason Williams . The title of the song was originally "Classical Gasoline" but was changed to "Classical Gas" by the music copyist. On the original recording, Williams plays Guitar and is accompanied by an Orchestra l backing. It was released in February 1968 from the album '' The Mason Williams Phonograph Record ''. In August 1968 it reached the top 5 in the American charts and went on to sell over a million copies. Williams re-recorded the tune as a solo guitar piece on his 1970 album ''Hand Made''.


AWARDS

In , Best Contemporary-Pop Performance, Instrumental , and Best Instrumental Arrangement .

In 1998 Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI) awarded Williams a special Citation of Achievement. The piece has logged over five million broadcast performances to become BMI's all-time number-one Instrumental Composition for Radio air play.


TRIVIA


  • Used as the theme music for ''Granada Television's'' watchdog broadcast "This is your right" running from 1972 to 1986.

  • The 1980 film '' The Legend Of Alfred Packer '' features a sound-alike tune by Jaime Mendoza-Nava over its main and end titles.

  • Lisa Simpson plays "Union Strike Song" on guitar in the 1993 Simpsons episode '' Last Exit To Springfield ''. Once she is done, Lenny requests "now do Classical Gas".

  • Frasier Crane plays the song on his CD player while testing his new furniture in the 2000 episode The Great Crane Robbery

  • The music is played to a series of clips of the Parkes Radio Telescope in the 2000 movie " The Dish ".

  • Mannheim Steamroller re-recorded the song, along with other compositions by Williams, in their album of the same name.

  • In the 1970s many local area news programs throughout the United States used it as their Theme Song .

  • NASA used it as the background music for the Apollo 4 mission film.

  • This song is played in the 2003 movie ''Cheaper By The Dozen'' , in a series of scenes when the family are looking for their son Mark, who ran away.

  • The complete list of artists to release a copy of Classical Gas can be found on the Classical Gas Website.

  • Many people mistakenly believe the song to be the work of artist Eric Clapton, and a mis-titled mp3 version is widely circulated on the internet. Clapton has never released any version of the song.

  • The song was used as the background for the ''Ballad of Leeroy Jenkins ''.

  • Larry Fast recorded a completely synthesized version for his 1976 ''Sequencer'' album. This version was used by Laserium in the 1970s.

  • Classical Gas was recorded by Steve Howe on his album Pulling Strings and is often played on his live tours.

  • Patrick Norman recorded the song on an album he simply named "Guitare" (Guitar in french).

  • Mason Williams performed the song on an episode of the Glen Campbell show, enhanced with a visual presentation of classic works of art. The performance is thought of as the first contemporary music video.

  • In 1995, the Violinist Vanessa-Mae recorded an arrangement of Classical Gas by Mike Batt on her CD, The Violin Player

  • Tommy Emmanuel , who has been hailed as the world's greatest Fingerstyle guitarist, has recorded this song with the Australian Philharmonic Orchestra, on his album, titled "Classical Gas." He plays it as a solo piece at most concerts.

  • Sinai 48 recorded this song on their first release. The band's guitarist Ananiah McCarrell is a friend of Mason Williams .

  • California Guitar Trio recorded an arrangement of the guitar & orchestra for 3 solo acoustic guitars on their album "Pathways" and frequently play it live in concert.



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