Mason Douglas Williams (born August 24, 1938) is an American

classical guitar The classical guitar, also known as Spanish guitar, is a member of the guitar family used in classical music and other styles. An acoustic wooden string (music), string instrument with strings made of catgut, gut or nylon, it is a precursor of the ...

ist, composer, singer, writer, comedian, and poet, best known for his 1968 instrumental " Classical Gas" and for his work as a comedy writer on ''

The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour ''The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour'' is an American television comedy, comedy and variety show television series hosted by the Smothers Brothers and initially airing on CBS from 1967 to 1969. The series was a major success, especially consid ...

'', '' The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour'', and ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

''.

Early life

Williams was born in

Abilene, Texas Abilene ( ) is a city in Taylor County, Texas, Taylor and Jones County, Texas, Jones counties, Texas, United States. Its population was 125,182 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Abilene metropolitan ar ...

, the son of Jackson Eugene (a tile setter) and Kathlyn (née Nations) Williams. Williams grew up dividing his time between living with his father in Oklahoma and his mother in Oakridge, Oregon. He graduated from Northwest Classen High School in

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

in 1956. In Oklahoma, he began his lifelong friendship with artist Edward Ruscha. He attended Oklahoma City University (1957–60) and

North Texas State University The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public university, public research university located in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Its main campus is in Denton, Texas, Denton, with a satellite campus in Frisco, Texas, Frisco. It serves as the ...

for one semester, and served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

from 1961 to 1963.

Career

Music

In 1968, Williams won three

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

s for his guitar

instrumental An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through Semantic change, semantic widening, a broader sense of the word s ...

" Classical Gas". "Classical Gas" was released as a single from '' The Mason Williams Phonograph Record'' in 1968. "Classical Gas" won three Grammys that year for "Best Instrumental (theme) Composition", "Best Instrumental (theme) Performance", and "Best Instrumental Orchestra Arrangement", Mike Post, arranger. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a

gold disc Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

. He also wrote songs for

The Kingston Trio The Kingston Trio is an American folk and pop music group that helped launch the folk revival of the late 1950s to the late 1960s. The group started as a San Francisco Bay Area nightclub act with an original lineup of Dave Guard, Bob Shane, ...

. For both ''Handmade'' and ''Sharepickers'', Mason received two more Grammy nominations for "Best Album Cover Design". Together with Nancy Ames, he wrote " Cinderella Rockefella", a 1968 number-one hit for

Esther and Abi Ofarim Esther & Abi Ofarim were an Israeli musical duo active during the 1960s, consisting of husband and wife Abi Ofarim and Esther Ofarim. They enjoyed particular success in Germany. They had hits in Europe with their songs "One More Dance," "Morning o ...

in the United Kingdom. In 1970, Williams made a television appearance on a variety show, ''Just Friends'', which reunited regulars of ''The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour''. To create a visual element for his performance, he used a special playable classical

plexiglass Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) is a synthetic polymer derived from methyl methacrylate. It is a transparent thermoplastic, used as an engineering plastic. PMMA is also known as acrylic, acrylic glass, as well as by the trade names and bran ...

guitar built for him b
Billy Cheatwood
and a prop designer for ABC. For the performance, Williams filled the guitar with water and added a couple of goldfish. He then used the plexiglass guitar to finger-sync his hit version of "Classical Gas". Williams has recorded more than a dozen albums, five on the

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

label (''The Mason Williams Phonograph Record'', ''The Mason Williams Ear Show'', ''Music'', ''Handmade'', and ''Sharepickers''). The LP cover for the 1968 ''Music'' was painted by pop artist Edward Ruscha. The credit reads "Sorry, Cover by Edward Ruscha." In December 1970, Williams performed benefit concerts for the Pala Indian Reservation Cultural Center hosted by Clairemont High School. Sponsored by the nonprofit Americans for Indian Future and Tradition, with the help of Ken Kragen and Friends, Williams performed two shows. The event raised enough funds to pay for the construction of the block walls. In 1987, he teamed with Mannheim Steamroller to release a new album on the American Gramaphone label. The album, titled ''Classical Gas'', included a remake of the 1968 composition. Another track from the album, "Country Idyll", was a 1988 nominee for a Grammy in the

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

category for "Best Instrumental Performance by a Soloist, Group or Orchestra". The album went gold in 1991. Williams' plexiglass guitar appears on the cover of the album. He released an acoustic instrumental album of Christmas and holiday music, ''A Gift of Song'', on the Real Music label, featuring arrangements of traditional carols and original compositions. In 1992, the

Vanguard The vanguard (sometimes abbreviated to van and also called the advance guard) is the leading part of an advancing military formation. It has a number of functions, including seeking out the enemy and securing ground in advance of the main force. ...

label released ''Music 1968–1971'', a compilation of tracks from his five Warner Bros. albums recorded in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Williams relates that when compiling the album, he went to Warner Bros. and asked, "Where's that painting that Ed Ruscha did for that old 'Music''cover?" and was told it had been thrown away; a probable loss of $3–5 million. In conjunction with the release of this album, Williams added a "Holiday Concert Program" to his repertoire, featuring music from the album and other traditional music of the season. In 1994, he played six sold-out concerts with the

Oregon Symphony The Oregon Symphony is an American symphony orchestra based in Portland, Oregon, United States. Founded as the "Portland Symphony Society" in 1896, it is the sixth oldest orchestra in the United States, and oldest in the Western United States. It ...

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

. In the 1990s, he also performed with the Eugene Symphony with friend

Ken Kesey Ken Elton Kesey (; September 17, 1935 – November 10, 2001) was an American novelist, essayist and Counterculture of the 1960s, countercultural figure. He considered himself a link between the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the hippies o ...

. Williams then concentrated on a variety of programs for his concert appearances. His "Concert For Bluegrass Band And Orchestra", also titled "Symphonic Bluegrass", has been performed with over 40 symphony orchestras, including the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, Kansas City Symphony, Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, Oklahoma City Philharmonic, Louisville Orchestra, and

Edmonton Symphony Orchestra The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra (ESO) is a Canadian orchestra based in Edmonton, Alberta. As the professional orchestra of Alberta's creative capital city it presents over 85 concerts a year of symphonic music in all genres, from classical to co ...

. In 1984, Williams released an album, ''Of Time & Rivers Flowing'', on his own Skookum label, containing 14 of the roughly 35 songs performed in the concert. In 1993, the title cut from the album was used as the soundtrack for a 90-second

public service announcement A public service announcement (PSA) is a message in the public interest disseminated by the media without charge to raise public awareness and change behavior. Oftentimes these messages feature unsettling imagery, ideas or behaviors that are des ...

(PSA) created by the American Rivers Council on the home video release of '' A River Runs Through It''. The PSA was also on the 1995 home video release of '' The River Wild''. That same year, Williams was invited to play for Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber's inauguration, and in 1996, Williams received an honorary doctorate in music from his alma mater, Oklahoma City University. In 1998, BMI, the performance-rights organization that tracks air-play performances on radio and television, presented Williams with a Special Citation of Achievement in recognition of the great national and international popularity of "Classical Gas". By 2008, the song logged over six million broadcast performances, to become the all-time number-one instrumental composition for air play in BMI's repertoire. In 1999, Williams played again for the Kitzhaber's second inauguration. In February, Williams' "Bus" art piece was included in the

Norton Simon Museum The Norton Simon Museum is an art museum located in Pasadena, California. It was previously known as the Pasadena Art Institute and the Pasadena Art Museum and displays numerous sculptures on its grounds. Overview The Norton Simon collections ...

exhibition "Radical Past", in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commerci ...

. In the spring, he played his ''Of Time and Rivers Flowing'' concert with the Oregon Children's Choral Festival, a two-day event involving 3,000 elementary school children singing water and rivers songs with Williams and his band. Williams received the Distinguished Service Award from the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

in honor of his contribution to the arts in Oregon. In late 1999, the Bluegrass Band and he played for Byron Berline's Oklahoma International Bluegrass Festival in

Guthrie, Oklahoma Guthrie is a city and county seat in Logan County, Oklahoma, United States, and a part of the Oklahoma City Metroplex. Its population was 10,191 at the 2010 census, a 2.7% increase from 9,925 in the 2000 census. First known as a railroad st ...

, with the Oklahoma City Philharmonic. Williams' music has been featured in several movies, including '' The Story of Us'', ''

Cheaper by the Dozen ''Cheaper by the Dozen'' is a semi-autobiographical novel written by Frank Bunker Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey, published in 1948. The novel recounts the authors' childhood lives growing up in a household of 12 children. The bes ...

'', ''

The Dish ''The Dish'' is a 2000 Australian historical drama, historical comedy-drama film that tells the story of the Parkes Observatory's role in relaying live television of humanity's first steps on the Moon during the Apollo 11 mission in 1969. It wa ...

'', '' The Heidi Chronicles'', and '' Heartbreakers''. His compositions also have been played on the television series ''

The Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime drama television series created by David Chase. The series follows Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey American Mafia, Mafia boss who suffers from panic attacks. He reluct ...

''. In 2003, Williams released an EP, ''Music for the Epicurean Harkener'', and again was nominated for a Grammy in 2004 for best instrumental album. In 2005, he collaborated with UK guitarist Zoe McCulloch on the album ''Electrical Gas''. In June 2006, Williams performed at his 50th high-school reunion at Northwest Classen High School in Oklahoma City. He performed with other musicians as Mason Williams and Friends at concerts in Eugene and Springfield (

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

) and at the opening gala at the Richard E. Wildish Community Theater in Springfield. In January 2007, he was reunited with long-time friend and artist Edward Ruscha, performing at the Getty Center in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. In October 2007, he was inducted into the Oregon Music Hall of Fame. and co-headlined a concert with Everclear and

Paul Revere and the Raiders Paul Revere & the Raiders (also known as Raiders) were an American Rock music, rock band formed in Boise, Idaho, in 1958. They saw considerable U.S. mainstream success in the second half of the 1960s and early 1970s. The band was known for inclu ...

. In 2022, BGO Records announced the release of a two-CD collection of five of his early albums.

Comedy

Like many writer-performers, Williams was also a

stand-up comedian Stand-up comedy is a performance directed to a live audience, where the performer stands on a stage and delivers humorous and satirical monologues sometimes incorporating physical acts. These performances are typically composed of rehear ...

. He set most of his comic ideas to music and sang or recited the jokes in lyric form with guitar accompaniment. In 1964,

Vee-Jay Records Vee-Jay Records is an American record label founded in the 1950s, located in Chicago and specializing in blues, jazz, rhythm and blues and rock and roll. The label was founded in Gary, Indiana, in 1953 by Vivian Carter and James C. Bracken, a ...

released ''Them Poems'', a record album on which Williams entertains a live audience with "them poems about them people", covering such varied topics as "Them Moose Goosers", "Them Sand Pickers", and "Them Surf Serfs". A typical "them poem" is "Them Banjo Pickers", which begins: "Them banjo pickers! Mighty funny ways. Same damn song three or four days!" Several other "them" poems, along with many ditties, song lyrics, odd and amusing photographs from around the country, and assorted bits of visual and verbal silliness are collected in ''The Mason Williams Reading Matter'' ( Doubleday, 1969), and the ''Them Poems'' record album was reissued (also in 1969, on the heels of the success of "Classical Gas") as ''The Mason Williams Listening Matter''. Williams has written more than 175 hours of music and comedy for network television programming and was a prime creative force for CBS' controversial ''Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour''. His experience in

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

gave him the background for many of Tom and

Dick Smothers Richard Remick Smothers (born November 20, 1938) is an American actor, comedian, composer, and musician. He was half of the musical comedy team the Smothers Brothers, with his older brother Tom. Early life Smothers was born in New York City ...

' comedy routines and with co-writer Nancy Ames, also composed the show's musical theme. On the ''Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour'', he created and perpetuated the 1968 " Pat Paulsen for President" campaign, an elaborate

political satire Political satire is a type of satire that specializes in gaining entertainment from politics. Political satire can also act as a tool for advancing political arguments in conditions where political speech and dissent are banned. Political satir ...

. Williams also helped launch the career of entertainer

Steve Martin Stephen Glenn Martin (born August 14, 1945) is an American comedian, actor, writer, producer, and musician. Known for Steve Martin filmography, his work in comedy films, television, and #Discography, recording, he has received List of awards a ...

. Martin was hired by Williams as a writer on the ''Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour'', for which his contributions were initially paid out of Williams' own pocket. In 1968, he won an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

for his work as a comedy writer on ''

''. Other television personalities for whom he has written include

Andy Williams Howard Andrew Williams (December 3, 1927 – September 25, 2012) was an American singer. He recorded 43 albums in his career, of which 15 have been gold certified and three platinum certified. He was also nominated for six Grammy Awards. He hos ...

Glen Campbell Glen Travis Campbell (April 22, 1936 – August 8, 2017) was an American country musician and actor. He was best known for a series of hit songs in the 1960s and 1970s, and for hosting ''The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour'' on CBS television from ...

Dinah Shore Dinah Shore (born Frances Rose Shore; February 29, 1916 – February 24, 1994) was an American singer, actress, television personality, and the chart-topping female vocalist of the 1940s. She rose to prominence as a recording artist during the ...

Roger Miller Roger Dean Miller Sr. (January 2, 1936 – October 25, 1992) was an American singer-songwriter, widely known for his honky-tonk-influenced novelty songs and his chart-topping country hits " King of the Road", "Dang Me", and " England Swing ...

, and

Petula Clark Sally "Petula" Clark (born 15 November 1932) is a British singer, actress, and songwriter. She started her professional career as a child actor, child performer and has had the longest career of any British entertainer, spanning more than 85 y ...

. In 1980, Williams briefly served as head writer for

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

's ''

'', but left after clashing with producer Jean Doumanian. In 1988, Williams received his third Emmy nomination as a comedy writer for his work on ''The Smothers Brothers 20th Reunion Special'' on CBS. In February 2000, Williams participated in the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in

Aspen, Colorado Aspen is the List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city that is the county seat and the List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous municipality of Pitkin County, Colorado, United States. The city population ...

. The sixth annual festival honored ''The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour'' and its contribution to television. Williams performed a concert with Tom and Dick Smothers, and again on a late-night show with performers that included

Catherine O'Hara Catherine Anne O'Hara (born March 4, 1954) is a Canadian and American actress, comedian, and screenwriter. She started her career in sketch comedy, sketch and improvisational comedy in film and television before expanding her career taking dra ...

Martin Short Martin Hayter Short (born March 26, 1950) is a Canadian and American comedian, actor, and writer. Short is known as an energetic comedian who gained prominence for his roles in sketch comedy. He has also acted in numerous films and television ...

, Andrea Martin,

Robin Williams Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and comedie ...

, and

Marc Shaiman Marc Shaiman ( ; born October 22, 1959) is an American composer and lyricist for films, television, and theatre, best known for his collaborations with lyricist and director Scott Wittman, actor Billy Crystal, and director Rob Reiner. Shaiman ha ...

Other artistic work

Also a

photographer A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who uses a camera to make photographs. Duties and types of photograp ...

, Williams published a life-sized photo print of a

Greyhound The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a dog breed, breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Some are kept as show dogs or pets. Greyhounds are defined as a tall, muscular, smooth-c ...

bus in the 1960s. He appeared with the print on the cover of his first

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

, ''The Mason Williams Phonograph Record''. Williams also created a book titled ''The Mason Williams Reading Matter'', which was published by Doubleday & Company with copyrights ranging from 1964 to 1969. In this opus, he included original poetry, many with comical lyrics, and original photographs, some of which are funny. In 1967, Williams attempted a filming of drawing the world's biggest sunflower. As Williams remarked, "the film was to be a slow-motion aerial ballet in which an old bi-wing aeroplane skywrites “draws” the stem and leaves of a flower in the sky beneath the sun, the sun itself thereby becoming the blossom of a “Sun“ flower." Due to technical difficulties dealing with filming photographing directly into the sun, the film did not turn out. Nevertheless, the completed flower measured 2 miles wide by 3 miles high, and lasted 40 seconds.

Environmentalism

After becoming involved in protests against a

Willamette River The Willamette River ( ) is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States. Flowing northward ...

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

power project, Williams eventually collected over 400 songs about rivers. He created a program called ''Of Time and Rivers Flowing''. that encompasses classical, folk,

minstrel A minstrel was an entertainer, initially in medieval Europe. The term originally described any type of entertainer such as a musician, juggler, acrobat, singer or fool; later, from the sixteenth century, it came to mean a specialist enter ...

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

, country, pop, and contemporary rock music genres.

Personal life

Williams married Sheila Ann Massey on April 22, 1961; they had one daughter, Kathryn Michelle, before divorcing. He remarried, to Katherine Elizabeth Kahn, in February 1994; the couple divorced after 10 years. He lives in Eugene, Oregon, with his Canadian-born wife, Karen, an attorney.

Discography

Albums

*''Folk Music As Heard At The Gourd'', with Steve Brainerd,

Johnny Horton John LaGale Horton (April 30, 1925 – November 5, 1960) was an American country, honky tonk, and rockabilly musician during the 1950s. He is best known for a series of history-inspired narrative country saga songs that became international ...

& Joe Lawrence, 1960 *''Little Billy Blue Shoe''s b/w ''Run Comeun See'', The Wayfarers Trio, 1960 *''Songs of the Blue and Grey'', The Wayfarers Trio, 1961 *''More Hootenanny'', The Hootenaires, 1963 *''Them Poems'', 1964 *'' The Mason Williams Phonograph Record'', 1968 *''The Sound of Mason Williams'', with Paul Sykes & the Oklahoma City Philharmonic Orchestra, 1968 *''The Mason Williams Ear Show'', 1968 *''Music by Mason Williams'', 1969 *''The Mason Williams Listening Matter'' (Them Poems re-release), 1969 *''Hand Made'', 1970 *''Improved'', 1971 *''Sharepickers'', 1971 *''Fresh Fish'', with The Santa Fe Recital, 1975 *''Of Time & Rivers Flowing'', 1984 *''Music 1968-1971'', 1992 *''A Gift of Song'', 1992 *''Feuding Banjos'', with

Roger McGuinn James Roger McGuinn (; born James Joseph McGuinn III; July 13, 1942) is an American musician, best known for being the frontman and leader of the Byrds. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991 as a member of the band. As a so ...

Eric Weissberg Eric Weissberg (August 16, 1939 – March 22, 2020) was an American singer, banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and in moder ...

, 1995 *''Electrical Gas'', with Zoe McCulloch, 2005 *''Classical Gas'', with Mannheim Steamroller, 2006

Singles

* "Love Are Wine" / "The Exciting Accident", 1966 * " Classical Gas" / "Long Time Blues", 1968 * "Baroque-a-Nova" / "Wanderlove", 1968 * "Saturday Night at the World" / "One Minute Commercial", 1968 * "Greensleeves" / "$13 Stella", 1969 * "A Gift Of Song" / "A Major Thing", 1969 * "José's Piece" / "Find a Reason To Believe, 1970 * "Train Ride in G" / "Here I Am Again", 1971

EPs

*'' EP 2003: Music for the Epicurean Harkener'', 2003 *''O Christmas Three'', 2009

For others

*''Folk Baroque'', producer/arranger, 1963 *''Introducing Jayne Heather'', arranger/musician, 1965 *''Tour de Farce'', The

Smothers Brothers The Smothers Brothers were the American duo of brothers Tom Smothers, Tom and Dick Smothers, who performed folk singer, folk singing, music, and comedy. The brothers' trademark double act was performing folk songs (Tommy on Steel-string guitar, a ...

, sideman/songwriter, 1965 *''The Smothers Brothers Play It Straight'', co-producer, 1966 *''Jennifer'',

Jennifer Warnes Jennifer Jean Warnes (born March 3, 1947) is an American singer and songwriter who has performed as a vocalist on a number of film soundtracks. She has won two Grammy Awards, in 1983 for the Joe Cocker duet " Up Where We Belong", and in 1987 fo ...

, guest vocalist, 1969 *''Fiddle & A Song'', Byron Berline, sideman, 1995 *''1995 Sony Disc Manufacturing Holiday Choir'', producer, 1995

Compilation appearances

*''The Big Hootenanny'', 1963 *''I Am an American'', 1963 *''The Twelve-String Story Vol. 1'', 1963 *''The Twelve-String Story Vol. 2'', 1963 *''The Banjo Story'', 1963 *''5-String Banjo Greats'', 1964 *''Rock Instrumental Classics Vol. 2 - The Sixties'', 1994 *''1968 Billboard Top Pop Hits'', 1995 *''Cascadia'' (1996 Oregon Governor's Arts Awards), 1996

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

References

External links

*
Classical Gas
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Mason 1938 births Living people American classical guitarists American male guitarists Primetime Emmy Award winners Musicians from Abilene, Texas Grammy Award winners Northwest Classen High School alumni Oklahoma City University alumni People from Oakridge, Oregon Musicians from Eugene, Oregon Musicians from Oklahoma City Vanguard Records artists Writers Guild of America Award winners Guitarists from Oregon Guitarists from Oklahoma 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians Classical musicians from Oregon Comedians from Texas Comedians from Oklahoma City Comedians from Oregon