John Williams and the Boston Pops Orchestra welcome the Smothers Brothers and Mason Williams. This act made me a Smothers Brothers fan for life. Mason Williams' performance of "Classical Gas" with the orchestra is fantastic.
I loved them as a kid and never missed them on tv. As an adult, I realize now how truly talented they were as comedians, performers, musicians, and singers. The best. RIP Tommy
My husband and I watched this many yrs ago at the beginning of our marriage. It was a running joke between us our whole marriage of 40 yr. He's been gone for 13 yrs now. When I see things like this, it makes me miss him even more.
They are so loved. It's on the faces of so many in the audience. Good and brave and audacious in the ticklish wonderful American way. How they are needed.
They have come a long way from performing in bars with an audience of 14 people! A truly unique duo of musical comedians. A long-time fan since 1963, I never missed their iconic show, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. After being fired by the network, they came back in 1988 with a special that was delightful. What a treat!
Some of it was more than "mildly" controversial - for the times. For example, one of the skits they censored and was never shown on TV was titled something like, "The First Interracial Marriage in Mississippi." There is the standard wedding party setup with a white bride and black groom. The minister goes through the usual vows and when he gets to the point where he would say, "The ring please." the minister instead says, "The rope please." And the groom's eyes get real big. Of course, they could have done that skit on the "In Living Color" show years later and definitely by Key & Peele nowadays.
Something you could play for your children without censoring from profanity or explicit sexual content. True G rated comedy!! I enjoy it myself. I'm 70. 😻💕🌹✌️
This was great, I waited for Mason Williams, and Classical Gas, oh how I love the Smothers Brothers. My mom had their album “Think Ethnic”, I remember being 6-7 & asking what ethnic meant, and she explained, not that I understood back in 1961-62, but I always appreciated my mom taking me seriously, and the humor of The Smothers Brothers. John Williams is on a plain of his own, genius.
The Smothers Brothers deserve our thanks, for entertaining us during one of the darkest times in America: The Nixon Administration! Bless you guys....Mason Williams too, of course!
Nixon literally saved the country after Kennedy and Johnson got us so deeply involved in Viet Nam and then wouldn't let us win. Nixon saved 10's of thousands of American lives (including mine) by deciding to win the war instead of handcuffing our military. And we were winning in a landslide, it was nearly over as a win until that liar Walter Conkrite whipped up more strife in the U.S.!
The Smothers Brothers had fans in our family when we came back to the States. Guffaws and love of their music made those evenings a joy... as long as we got reception on the black and white tv and kept readjusting the tin foil on the antennas. Hootenany. Lets see... Kingston Trio. Jonathan, my oldest brother, was a banjo picker and David, a yr younger brother, played guitar. (Me? Classical piano). Good times. A lot less apparent evil in our country back then. Blessings!
Pianist Michael Petty can compete any time....fabulously talented orchestra members..all the guitar music was superb! Conductor Williams looked very pleased!
loved these guys since I was little. Mason Williams was a treat on top of the Boston Pops. great humor great music good times. thanks for sharing! made my night.
Most of the memorable tunes I remember from growing up in the 60's were instrumentals: Classical Gas, Pipeline, Tel-star and Love is Blue come to mind. Back when radio stations would play songs that were many years old in addition to the current "hits". As a kid I didn't realize they were that old... even songs from 40's and my parent's generation!
Classical Gas: One of the most unique and strikingly original compositions to come out of the 70s. It transcends strict classification, much like a lot of the music of George Gershwin.
Some years ago, I saw the "Yoyo man" bit at two of their concerts live. Just great. These guys are just treasures in the entertainment world. Wish there were more of this sort of quality and class with more of today's performers.
How come I have never heard of these wonderful brothers?! Not the same about Classical Gas... it's pure emotion in sound, what an amazing piece (and this version is awesome). And J. Williams and all the orchestra... Pure treasure. Greetings from Brazil.
"CBS abruptly yanked “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour” in April 1969 because of their persistent and humorous opposition to the Vietnam War, support of civil rights and tweaking authority. They welcomed controversial anti-war guests and resisted efforts to censor the show. The brothers weren’t allowed to use the phrase “sex education” or joke that someone was “a known heterosexual.” From apnews
That was too much fun! I tried to teach my junior high self how to play it, but could never figure it out. What fun to see it now and with John Williams conducting (and he's still here!!)
I always thought President George W Bush reminded me of someone but could never name who that was. I now see who it was ,Tommy Smothers when he goes into his hilarious panicked dialogue.
Wow, this brought back memories, The man from yo and naked bacon. I never knew where the naked bacon line that goes through my head every day came from.
Hearing Mason Williams perform Classical Gas for the first time in probably 20 years or more brought tears to my eyes. The only thing that could have made it better would be if he had included a couple of verses of "How 'bout them toad suckers" or "How 'bout them hjor d'oerves? Ain't they neat? Little piece of cheese. Little piece of meat." They don't write 'em like that anymore.
Watched The Smothers Brothers when I was in high school loved them then still do. I try to catch all I can on You Tube…Never gets old. You two are so talented…
Checking to see if they’re still around, both are, i was interested to see that their father, a U.S. Army major, died while being held in captivity by the Japanese during WW2.
Actually they first played at the Purple Onion in San Francisco in 1959. As Tom pointed out in one interview, Dick was too young to be in a bar since he was not yet 21.
Mr. Brown, thank you for this amazing gift of music and pure talent. I am floating on a sea of wonderful memories that you have made available. I am subscribing to your channel!
