Regardless, hell of a song. And of course Glen picks it apart.
Glen playing a strat. We didn’t see that too often.
Great song btw, I’ve been playing it on guitar myself for decades.
"Classical Gas" is an instrumental musical piece composed and originally performed by American guitarist Mason Williams with instrumental backing by members of the Wrecking Crew. Originally released in 1968 on the album The Mason Williams Phonograph Record, it has been rerecorded and rereleased numerous times since by Williams. One later version served as the title track of a 1987 album by Williams and the band Mannheim Steamroller.I wonder if Glenn Campbell might have played on Classical Gas as part of The Wrecking Crew. That is incredible Williams was the head writer for the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (where did all that great television go?).Originally named "Classical Gasoline", the tune was envisioned to be "fuel" for the classical guitar repertoire. The title was later inadvertently shortened by a music copyist. Mike Post, later famous for television theme music, was a producer and arranger for the song.
Williams was the head writer for The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour at the time of the piece's release and premiered the composition on the show. Williams performed it several times over several episodes.
I bought "The Mason Williams Phonograph Record" when it came out. Wiki provides this funny tidbit about the album...
All tracks are written by Mason Williams, unless otherwise noted. Arranged by Al Capps, except Overture and Classical Gas by Post and Dylan Thomas and Life Song by Williams. The first printing of the vinyl label misspelled The Prince's Panties as "Princess Panties"."Princess Panties" - LOL. You have to wonder if maybe that was another copyist "mistake."
I like another set of postings featuring Glen Campbell and Jimmy Webb called "In Session", from a Canadian TV show.
From the YT channel:
Glen Campbell and Jimmy Webb: In Session is the sixty-second album by American guitarist Glen Campbell—a collaborative album with Jimmy Webb—released in September of 2012. The album and its accompanying DVD were filmed, taped, and recorded in December of 1988 in the Hamilton, Ontario studios of CHCH-TV as part of the Canadian concert series In Session. Glen Campbell and Jimmy Webb: In Session offers a rare look at Glen Campbell and Jimmy Webb performing together, Campbell on guitar and singing, and Webb accompanying him on piano.
Glen Campbell and Jimmy Webb: In Session playlist.
TRACKLISTING:
01. "Wichita Lineman" (Jimmy Webb) - 3:50
02. "Gentle On My Mind" (John Hartford) - 2:46
03. "Dreams of the Everyday Housewife" (Chris Gantry) - 2:27
04. "Highwayman" (Jimmy Webb) - 3:01
05. "By The Time I Get To Phoenix" (Jimmy Webb) - 3:06
06. "Classical Gas" (Mason Williams) - 3:04
07. "It's Only Make Believe" (Conway Twitty, Jack Nance) - 2:29
08. "Little Green Apples" (Robert L. Russell) - 3:28 (duet with Debby Campbell)
09."Southern Nights" (Allen Toussaint) - 3:01
10. "Rhinestone Cowboy" (Larry Weiss) - 3:05
11. "Galveston" (Jimmy Webb) - 4:00
12. "Since I Fell for You" (Woodrow Johnson) - 2:52
13. "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" (Jimmy Webb) - 3:03
14. "William Tell Overture" (Gioachino Rossini, arr. by Glen Campbell, Dennis McCarthy) - 2:49
15. "True Grit" (Don Black, Elmer Bernstein) - 2:58
16. "Still Within The Sound of My Voice" (Jimmy Webb) - 4:00
17. "Amazing Grace" (John Newton) - 3:13
18. "Don't Pull Your Love/Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye" (Lambert, Brian Potter) - 3:18
19. "MacArthur Park" (Jimmy Webb) - 7:34
20. "Let It Be Me" (Gilbert Bécaud, Manny Kurtz, Pierce Leroyer) - 2:16 (duet with Debby Campbell)
21. "Time in a Bottle" (Jim Croce) - 2:28
22. "Try A Little Kindness" (Bobby Austin, Thomas Sapaugh) - 4:57
PERFORMERS:
Glen Campbell - vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar
Debby Campbell - vocals
Gary Bruzesse - vocals, drums
Jeff Dayton - vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar
Noel Kirkland - vocals, fiddle, banjo, acoustic guitar, keyboards
T.J. Kuenster - musical director, vocals, keyboards
Kenny Skaggs - vocals, acoustic guitar, steel guitar, dobro, mandolin
Russ Skaggs - vocals, bass guitar
The South Dakota Symphony
A great concert.
Sounds a little ... soft. Nylon strings, maybe?
Great video and song!
Good Lord, he looks as good and sounds better than he did 50 years ago!!
Thanks for this—very uplifting!
Excellent concert. I was unaware of his great talent as a guitarist until I saw this concert and have seen many other clips on YouTube demonstrating Glens’ talent. He was arguably the best and most versatile popular music guitarist of our time.
Well, you sent me down the YouTube rabbit hole there.
Thanks for posting!
Very good performance by Glen and the rest. One could save a lot on overhead costs by going with this guy for the same song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S33tWZqXhnk