By Ken Paulson
There were a lot of reasons for the Smothers Brothers’ successful late ‘60s run on CBS TV. The show was irreverent, entertaining and featured boundary-pushing musical guests like the Who and Jefferson Airplane.
And of course, they also had Mason Williams, a terrific comedy writer and accomplished musician who wrote much of the skit material and co-wrote (with Nancy Ames) the show’s theme.
Williams also appeared on the show as an artist, performing his huge hit instrumental “Classical Gas” on three shows.
Real Gone Music has just re-issued Williams’ first two Warner Bros. albums – The Mason Williams Phonograph Record and The Mason Williams Ear Show – and both serve as a vivid reminder of just how smart and creative Williams was.
Williams embraced a wide musical landscape, alternating grand orchestration with quirky side-trips. These albums reveal him as a strange amalgam of Jimmy Webb and Roger Miller.
The ballads, period pop (“She’s Gone Away”) and playful excursions (“Cinderella-Rockefella,” Baroque-A-Nova”) hold up best. The stereotypically fey “The Prince’s Panties” is a rare misfire.
Do these four decade-old albums sound a bit dated? Sure. But they also remind us just how long it’s been since this kind of eclectic and entertaining mix appeared on major record labels. Mason Williams took risks and most of them paid off.
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