THE CLASSIC ROCK MUSIC REPORTER: #comedian

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Thursday, December 7, 2017

MASON WILLIAMS CHATS ABOUT "CLASSICAL GAS" ...THE SMOTHERS BROTHERS... AND MORE

M A S O N W I L L I A M S

CELEBRATING '50 YEARS'

OF A TIMELESS

MUSICAL MASTERPIECE

"C L A S S I C A L G A S"

Mason Williams emerged in the late 1960’s as a strong force in television and music circles. In 1968 he won two Grammy awards with his unique composition for guitar, Classical Gas. That same year he also won an Emmy award for his work as a comedy writer on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.

Mason is perhaps most widely known as a composer and recording artist. He has recorded more than two dozen albums, five on the Warner Bros. label (The Mason Williams Phonograph Record, The Mason Williams Ear Show, Music, Handmade, and Sharepickers). 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).

In 1987, Mason teamed up with MANNHEIM STEAMROLLER of Fresh Aire fame, to release a new album on the American Gramaphone label. The Album, titled “CLASSICAL GAS”, includes a remake of his 1968 Grammy award winning song. Another cut from this album, “Country Idyll”, was a 1988 nominee for a Grammy in the Country Music category for “Best Instrumental Performance by a Soloist, Group or Orchestra.” This album went Gold in 1991, and is now approaching platinum.

Mason has released (on the Real Music label) an acoustic instrumental album of Christmas/Holiday music tititled “A GIFT OF SONG”, featuring arrangements of traditional carols and original compositions. In 1992 the Vanguard label released “MUSIC 1968-1971”, a compilation of cuts from his five Warner Bros. albums recorded in the late 60s, early 70s.

As a comedy writer, Mason has written for more than 150 hours of network television programming. Writing both music and comedy, Mason was a prime creative force for CBS’ controversial SMOTHERS BROTHERS COMEDY HOUR. His extensive repertoire in folk music gave him the background for many of Tom and Dick’s comedy routines, and with co-writer Nancy Ames, he also composed the shows’ musical theme. He also created and perpetuated the 1968 PAT PAULSEN FOR PRESIDENT CAMPAIGN, the most elaborate political satire in recent history.

Other major television personalities he has written for include: Roger Miller, Petula Clark, Andy Williams, Glen Campbell, Dinah Shore, and Steve Martin. In 1980 Mason was head writer for NBC’s SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE. In 1988 Mason received his third Emmy nomination as a comedy writer for his work on THE SMOTHERS BROTHERS 20TH REUNION SPECIAL (CBS).

He is also the creator of the world’s largest sunflower. Originally intended as a short film, the sunflower concept was conceived as a slow-motion aerial ballet in which an old biplane skywrites (“draws”), the stem and leaves of a sunflower in the sky beneath the sun, the sun thereby becoming the blossom of the flower.

Approaching the 50th Anniversary of Classical Gas gave Williams an opportunity to reflect on his career and collect many of his art, writing and music projects into a fantastic retrospective presentation that has been and continues to be exhibited in galleries around the country.

Mason is also currently working on events around the celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Classical Gas including writing, composing and performing in a variety of venues which continues to this day.

MASON WILLIAMS

and friends

A GIFT OF SONG

AN ACOUSTIC INSTRUMENTAL CHRISTMAS ALBUM

available at amazon

For more information about Mason Williams visit …

http://www.masonwilliams-online.com

Purchase the critically acclaimed ‘A Gift of Song’ by Mason Williams …

an acoustic instrumental Christmas album available for the holidays
at amazon .com

M A S O N W I L L I A M S

INTERVIEWED ON

THE RAY SHASHO SHOW

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And don’t forget to purchase a copy of my book entitled Check the Gs -the true story of an eclectic American family and their Wacky family business … or the second edition entitled … Wacky Shenanigans on F Street- ‘Proud to be Politically Incorrect in Washington DC’ ... available now at amazon.com. You’ll live it!!!

Have a great week everybody!

Wednesday, October 19, 2016

RAY SHASHO WELCOMES LEGENDARY IMPRESSIONIST AND COMEDIAN RICH LITTLE TO THE SHOW

EXCLUSIVE:THE RAY SHASHO SHOW WELCOMES THE LEGENDARY

'R I C H L I T T L E'

A master mimic of more than 200 voices, Rich Little continues to impress with a touring schedule throughout the United States and Canada.

U.S. Presidents: John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, both George Bushes and Barack Obama…Rich Little has a voice for every administration.

Infamous for his skewering of political figures, Little has charmed, amused, intrigued and gotten the best of politicians from here to his native Canada. He entertained at both of Reagan’s presidential inaugurations and got to know the Reagans very well during that time. President Reagan used to tell Little, “You do me better than I do.”

A professed classic movie buff, he’s particularly fond of doing Jimmy Stewart, Jack Lemmon, John Wayne and Humphrey Bogart, but Little has also latched on to baby boomer-friendly characters, such as Paul Lynde, Kermit the Frog, Andy Rooney and Dr. Phil, to name a few.

Some of his favorite current impressions are of stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Jack Nicholson, and Clint Eastwood. “They’re easy to do,” he says. “They are larger than life.”

Little says, “An impression is what you think a person sounds like. It could be an exaggeration or a cartoon. It’s your impression. I think of an impersonation as more of an exact copy. Knowing the person personally is not important; it’s knowing the speech patterns and mannerisms [in order] to imitate the person the way the public sees him.”

The son of a doctor in Ottawa, Little started his “career” at the age of 12 when he answered back to his teachers in their own voices. Observing the teachers in action was infinitely more fun than paying attention to class work. To get dates, he’d find out a girl’s favorite actor, then call her up imitating that actor’s voice. Then when Little showed up, he’d say, “Sorry, Cary [Grant] can’t make it.” This stopped when a girl told him her favorite was Lassie.

Impressions came in handy to Little while working as a disc jockey and talk show host. During one April Fool’s Day marathon, he had “Jimmy Durante” emcee the morning show, “Julia Child” do a cooking show and “Elvis Presley” host a teenage show. Like the infamous 1939 broadcast of War of the Worlds, 500 autograph-hungry Elvis-believing fans besieged the station, thinking the King was really there. When they found out it was Little, the fans started throwing things at him.

Still in his early 20s, Little was discovered while working in the United States. His friend, singer Mel Torme, then on the musical team of CBS network’s The Judy Garland Show, asked him to make a tape. Instead of the usual impressions, Little did voices nobody did, including Alfred Hitchcock, Orson Welles and Dennis Weaver. Garland thought it was great, particularly his James Mason, and Little was signed to the show.

Appearances on TV variety shows starring Ed Sullivan, Jackie Gleason, Glen Campbell and Dean Martin followed, as well as on series such as Laugh-In, The John Davidson Summer Show and as a regular on The Julie Andrews Show. Little also had his own variety show in the 70s and was the star of the TV show KopyKats. Little was a guest host early on for The Tonight Show, hosting 12 times. He quickly became a household name sitting in one of the Hollywood Squares and went on to do The Muppet Show.

Named “Comedy Star of the Year” by the American Guild of Variety Artists, Little was the perpetrator of nine comedy albums and three HBO comedy specials, as well as the Emmy-award winning specials Rich Little’s Christmas Carol with “W.C. Fields” as Scrooge, “Humphrey Bogart” as one of the ghosts and “Paul Lynde” as Bob Cratchit.

One of his appearances on HBO was as Johnny Carson in the movie The Late Shift, which dealt with the race to succeed Carson on The Tonight Show. Little has appeared on the daytime soaps The Young and the Restless and Santa Barbara. He has made dramatic guest shots on Fantasy Island, Chips, and Murder She Wrote… to name just a few.

Rick’s greatest fear? A sore throat. “Other people get a cold and they just get a cold. I get a cold and John Wayne gets a cold, Orson Welles gets a cold, Nixon gets a cold and Truman Capote gets the sniffles. I get a cold and it’s all over.”

In June 1998, Little’s star was added to the Canadian Walk of Fame to go along with his current stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Palms Springs Walk of Fame and Las Vegas Walk of Fame; one of the few, if not the only celebrity to achieve all four.

In 2003, Little wrote a one-man play entitled, Jimmy Stewart and Friends in honor of this beloved actor and dear friend. The story of Stewart’s amazing big screen career, his military record and his family life, including many celebrity impersonations, was met with rave reviews during a decade of touring at performing arts centers.. He’s hoping to have it made into a television special in the near future.

A little known fact about Little is his other talent as an artist. He started sketching when he was young, drawing his family and friends. To date, he has drawn around 100 pictures of all the celebrities and politicians he imitates, and portrays several of these life-like charcoal sketches in his shows.

In January 2010, Little became a United States citizen and was sworn in, with a suggestion from the judge to do it as John Wayne! Little is still currently working on his latest project, “Little by Little” a self-written, humorous show about his life, featuring over 30 characters.

Rich Little has an exciting new book out entitled Little by Little- People I’ve Known and Been- released in August this year and available to purchase on amazon.com or visit www.littlebookbylittle.com