Classical Gas

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For a discussion of the properties of a gas in classical physics see ideal gas.

"Classical Gas" is an instrumental piece written by Mason Williams. On the original recording, Williams plays guitar and is accompanied by an orchestral 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. The title of the song was originally "Classical Gasoline" but was changed to "Classical Gas" by the music copyist.

[edit] Awards

In 1968 the piece won three Grammy awards: Best Instrumental Composition, 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 three million broadcast performances to become BMI's all-time number-one instrumental composition for radio air play.

Music sample:

Mason Williams "Classical Gas" (1968) (file info) — play in browser (beta)
- 18 second sample of "Classical Gas".
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[edit] Trivia

Lisa Simpson played "Classical Gas" on guitar in the 1993 Simpsons episode Last Exit to Springfield.
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 Antenna 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.
Radio networks have routinely used the song as "filler" during local commercial breaks because it has a duration of exactly three minutes.
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 song is sometimes credited (incorrectly) to Eric Clapton or The Shadows on online file sharing programs, this version is performed by Mark Knopfler, who recorded a cover but never officially released it.
The complete list of artists to release a copy of Classical Gas can be found on the Classical Gas Website.

It was originally titled Classical Gasoline (as in a fuel) but the title was mistakenly shortened while being copied.
The song was used as the background for the Ballad of Leeroy Jenkins.
Vanessa-Mae re-recorded it in her 1994 album The Violin Player.
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.