Mason Williams Biography

Mason Williams (b. August 24, 1938 in Abilene, Texas) is an American guitarist and composer, best known for his popular guitar instrumental "Classical Gas". Williams wrote for the Smothers Brothers show and is also an eclectic poet and lyricist.

After becoming involved in protests against a Willamette River hydroelectric power project, Williams began to think of how the river itself should have a voice in its fate, and eventually collected over 400 songs about rivers, which he crafted into his program Of Time and Rivers Flowing. A chronological "river" of music and time, it encompasses the realms of classical, folk, minstrel, gospel, jazz, country, pop, and contemporary rock. Mason has performed the program for benefits, conferences, and in concert. A recent event of note was the 25th anniversary celebration of American Rivers in Washington, D.C., where Vice President Al Gore was the principal speaker.

From masonwilliams-online.com and Yahoo's "Mason Williams: Discography".