Classical Gas

[methodistgirl]

I wonder how many guitar players have played this timeless
piece of music. Here's a video.YouTube - Mason Williams - Classical Gas (Acoustic)
I love playing this piece on the guitar a lot. I hope you like
listening to this. I do.
judy tooley

 

[marval]

I don't play the guitar, but I like listening to it. Thank you for sharing that Judy.


Margaret

 

[John Watt]

yeah... this really brings back memories...
The t.v. would be on and mom and dad would be watching Glen Campbell,
and I'd be sitting on the floor off to the side playing along with my Stratocaster.
I think that's the year Ovation came out and Glen used a multiple sound-hole model.
I remember Mason Williams and Classical Gas.
That's a rare song in my captivated me right away category.
That song was so big it made him a regular guest. A minor, if I remember.
I used to associate that kind of Am progression with "25 or 6 to 4", by Chicago.
"While My Guitar Gently Weeps" uses Am too.
That's if I remember.
Maybe it's in C.
Jose Feliciano was on a lot. I really liked him.

I must be tired because this is just a memory fragment, but...
pale blue bell-bottoms and a long pale blue jacket with ruffled white shirt cuffs,
a blow-dried, puffy mop-top look, light brown hair, stepping up... seeing his right side...
Was that Mason Williams? Where was he and where was he going?
Now that I'm defragmenting my brain,
I notice most of the shards from the seventies are cassette graphics.

I don't know if I could really say I know that song, and I've never heard the words.
and I heard... uh... that uh... Roy Clark kept his window shut after that.

 

[methodistgirl]

I know that Roy Clark also had his version of this piece
and Chet Atkins. I loved Chet Atkins's version of Jingle
Bell Rock. It did rock.
judy tooley

 

[John Watt]

When I think of Chet Atkins I remember how he helped Lenny Breau.
A lot can happen while playing guitar.

 

[methodistgirl]

You've got that right.
judy tooley

 

[John Watt]

It's funny for me that when I tried to think of who could have written that,
if Mason Williams didn't,
I came up with Roy Clark, Chet Atkins and Jerry Reed.
You named two of them as recording that song.
Wow! This is a new display of subconscious relativity by my brain.
I've been waiting a long, long time for my first middle-aged moment,
but maybe I'm not going to have one, if I can enjoy new activity.
Most of my friends think I missed middle age entirely.
I'm not sure what age I'm in.
My guitar playing is growing with me. That's the only "proof" I need.
When does music get old?

 

[Lusaka_Guitarist]

I don't play the guitar, but I like listening to it. Thank you for sharing that Judy.


Margaret

The piece can be played on other instruments and still sound great. So far I've heard it played on Harp, Violin (with a bit of accompaniment), Classical guitar (solo) and Acoustic Guitar (solo).

Its a great piece and I'd like to learn it someday.

Thanks for sharing.

Lovemore Nanjaya.

 

[methodistgirl]

Since I play the guitar by ear, I enjoy playing something like
that. I will also play Malaguena. Sorry I don't have my
speller on. This one is a spanish piece that I like simular to
Classical Gas.
judy tooley

 

[teddy]

Thanks for the clip judy. I can't play this piece but I enjoy the memories it stirs

teddy

 

[Lusaka_Guitarist]

Judy, is there a video of you playing Clasical Gas anywhere on the net?

 

[John Watt]

I'm going to keep looking here to see if Judy does.
Seeing a sentence like that is almost a challenge.

 

[methodistgirl]

Lusaka, look it up on you tube. There are many ways it's played
on the guitar. I also like Love's Limited Theme on the guitar.
judy tooley

 

[Lusaka_Guitarist]

Violin/Ragae Version

Here is a Violin/Ragae version of Classical Gas by Vanessa Mae and Asward. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fzLBjQ3mwY

 

[methodistgirl]

I wished I had a video of me playing Classical Gas. Sorry I don't
have one.
judy tooley

 

[teddy]

I wished I had a video of me playing Classical Gas. Sorry I don't
have one.
judy tooley

Your next project judy?

teddy

 

[johnkevin]

I've heard a a recording a couple of times that is credited to Chet Atkins; it's a cover of classical gas, but then someone told me that it was Chet Atkins AND Mark Knopfler. I checked the track listing of the album they did in the '90s, 'Neck and Neck', and it's not there. Is it Knopfler and Atkins, and is it on any specific album, regardless of who recorded it?

 

[John Watt]

Is Judy still holding back on us?
If she's not careful I'll take off my shirt again and try to remember it, live, up close.
Sooner or later I'll phase into a fast Mr. Bojangles and start to semi-tap-dance,
so watch out.

It's so easy to think oh yeah, I could get that back together again,
but there's a lot of orchestration and it keeps building as a studio production.
However, there's a nice guitar moment at the end of the heavy instrumental,
when an acoustic guitar finger-picks an open chord, A major 7th, only one fret up.
That was one part of the song I could play along with that gave me confidence.

Maybe I'll update that song, and it's gotta get faster.
Instead of Classical Gas I'll call it New Age Contrails.

 

[methodistgirl]

Sorry guys, I don't have a video camera yet. I need
to save up to get one.
judy tooley

 

[teddy]

Judy

You could always get a web cam to link to your computer which will take stills or video. They are only a few pounds over here so I imagine in the USA ther would be about five dollars. You can then use video mail as well.

teddy