Monthly Archives: May 2010

“I’d Have You Anytime” (George Harrison cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Welcome, everyone, to another Thursday edition of the Laptop Sessions with me, Jim Fusco!  I’m back for my bi-weekly video and I’m in a great mood tonight.  I have tomorrow off (going to a Mets game with my good friend, John) and tonight, I had a great dinner over the in-laws house, where I was fed all of my favorite dishes!  I also got a cool new gadget for the guitar called the Voice Capo and basically, it allows you to pick any chord and then all you need to do is strum.  At that point, you can experiment with other notes and “voicings” that let you expand on your guitar playing!  Pair that with my new Martin guitar and you’ve got some major creativity happening over here!

Speaking of creativity, this past weekend, I had my first writing session with a new collaborator.  He helped me try some new things and we worked on two songs.  One of them, I’m still working out, but the first one we did is AWESOME!  If I finish the lyrics to it, I’ll make sure to do an Original Wednesday Laptop Session for you!

Regarding the Laptop Sessions, I’m sure by now that you’ve noticed some changes.  Well, I got to thinking- why did I do over 200 cover song music videos here on the blog just to have them get “old” and fall off the face of the Earth?  So, I found a great way to refresh the old posts and bring them back to the front page again.  The best part is that, according to the search engines, these posts seem “new” and thus get back in the search engine results!  I have to say- this site has more traffic than New York City on a weekday morning now!  Honestly, on my birthday, April 29th, the Laptop Sessions music video blog had close to 10,000 views!  Now that’s what I call progress!

And, speaking of my birthday, boy, did I make out good.  I got more than I could’ve hoped for, mostly due to my father’s incredible bargain-hunting skills.  I’m now enjoying a new TV for our kitchen, a surround-sound bar for the living room, and even a new lawnmower!  Now, all I need is the lawn…  Anyway, my brother Mike got me Hulk Hogan’s autograph and MLB 2010 for PS3, which I’m really enjoying playing online with my new friend Mike from work.  Add to that the gifts that my wife got me (Dumb and Dumber on Blu-Ray, a George Harrison record set- see below), my new extended family (on Becky’s side), and my cousin, I’d say it was a great 26th!  We also went out to two great dinners- one on my actual birthday with my family, and the other the next night to my favorite restaurant, Jimmie’s in West Haven with my friends from college.

Now, back to that George Harrison album…  Well, as you might have read previously here on the music blog, I’ve been buying record albums (LPs) lately.  I love them- they’re collectible and are fun to find in stores and flea markets.  I just completed my Moody Blues collection last weekend!  Anyway, Becky went on eBay and got me an original copy of George Harrison’s 3-record set of his first solo album, “All Things Must Pass”.  It’s such a cool collector’s item and I’m proud to own a copy.  Becky’s always very perceptive on stuff like that.  She saw me drooling over a new vinyl copy of the remastered version and thought it would be cool to get a vintage one for me.  What a girl! 🙂

So, I decided to record my first Laptop Session acoustic cover song music video using my new Martin MMV acoustic guitar tonight!  The vocals are a bit muted in this version, but that’s because I wanted to focus on the sound of this new guitar.  The harmonics are just great- they sing themselves!  The guitar is bright and loud, but maintains such a clear bass that I can’t stop playing once I pick it up!  It just looks like a normal guitar, but you can see the logo on the headstock- it’s a Martin for sure.  I’d love to hear what you think of the new sound!

George Harrison, like most famous guitar players, owned a Martin acoustic, and I wanted to play “I’d Have You Anytime”, which is the first cut off of “All Things Must Pass”.  He co-wrote “I’d Have You Anytime” with Bob Dylan, too.  It’s a short song, but has such a cool sound.  George was so laid-back and made everything sound effortless.  “I’d Have You Anytime” is a perfect example of a fairly simple song that’s stood the test of time because of its sound and its style.

Okay, that’s enough from me tonight- I hope you all have a great week and I’ll catch you next time for another update. Make sure to check back for another cover song music video from yours-truly!

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Bob Dylan’s “Bob Dylan” (1962) – Yes, No, or Maybe So

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Bob Dylan’s Bob Dylan (1962) – MAYBE

Bob Dylan's self-titled debut (1962)

Bob Dylan's self-titled debut (1962

(March 19, 1962)

Review:

It is difficult to imagine a time when Bob Dylan was not revered as a songwriter, but here is one of the true documents of that time; it is an album that exemplifies young Dylan’s early sound, as he experimented with his influences on some of his first cover song recordings  and presented the first two originals he committed to an album (the early, touching gem “Song to Woody” and the raw, poetically humorous “Talkin’ New York”).

Top Two Tracks:

“Song to Woody” & “House of the Risin’ Sun”

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“Younger Generation” (The Lovin’ Spoonful Cover)

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For Lovin’ Spoonful chords & lyrics, CLICK HERE!

By Chris Moore:

Hello and welcome to a mind-blowing edition of the Laptop Sessions.  You won’t believe that we haven’t recorded a cover song music video for this band’s category…

The Lovin’ Spoonful, best known for their early single “Do You Believe in Magic,” are an interesting sixties rock band that developed quite a history in less than a decade of work.  From their roots as a jug band, their connection to the folk movement genre, and their eventual electric sound, The Lovin’ Spoonful went on to release some great singles, such as the chart topper “Summer in the City.”

The song I’ve learned and recorded for tonight is from the 1968 album Everthing Playing.  I chose this song not because it was a favorite of mine, or even one that I’ve known for a long time.  I came across this song the other night, and it struck me as relevant to some life changes that one of my friends is going through.

You know who you are, and I wish you the best!

That being said, I spent a great deal of time researching and figuring out the chords to this song.  I compiled my chords post from two different sources, and I’m still not entirely happy with the final transcription.  I do think this is as close as I can come, and I think the chords sound good in the song.

“Younger Generation” was the final single of the John Sebastian-led incarnation of the Lovin’ Spoonful, and it is a compelling mediation on the relationships between parents and children, as well as the transition from youth to “maturity.”  Sebastian’s references to futuristic inventions are interesting, particularly the “videophone.”  We’re not too far off…

Well, it’s been a tremendously hectic day, so I’m off to sleep.  After getting up early, exercising, teaching, attending one meeting, rescheduling another, recording this session, and attending a football game at school to help at the concessions stand, I am happy to say that this day has been a very complete one.

See you next session!

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The Bob Dylan Starter Compilation – Playlists on Parade

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By Chris Moore:

I’ve been wanting to kick this off for a few months now, but the time has finally arrived…

One of my goals for 2010 is to review every Bob Dylan studio album before New Year’s Day 2011.  This will include both one-sentence reviews in the “Yes, No, or Maybe So” series and full-out segments of “The Weekend Review.”  Unless he surprises us again, Dylan’s total studio album count is at thirty-two (I don’t count Dylan or Christmas in the Heart as studio albums), so I figured that I’d better get moving on this goal.

The Bob Dylan “Starter Compilation” is a playlist that I assembled with my girlfriend Nicole a while back as I continued to introduce her to the massive catalog of my favorite singer/songwriter of all time.  For anyone who knows me, it will come as no surprise that she had heard quite an array of Dylan songs already, most of them via the CD player in my car.  As we sorted through my iTunes software, she pointed to songs she loved and I played her songs that she hadn’t heard yet.  After a great deal of listening, discussing, arranging, and rearranging, we came up with a seventeen track layout.  I just updated it to eighteen tracks to include a sampling from his 2009 album Together Through Life.

So, without further ado, here’s the playlist.  Thanks to iTunes and other such services, you could easily download these tracks and start listening today.  For anyone unfamiliar with but interested in Dylan’s music, I’ve included the album that each song was originally released on, as well as a ranking for each album.  The 5’s are albums you should listen to right away, ranging down to the 0’s which are only for the true Dylan fanatics.  And there are some great albums that aren’t represented here (Desire being perhaps the most notable), but I had to make some hard decisions to make this the best playlist for a first-time listener.  Don’t hesitate to comment, criticize, etc. below…

TRACK LISTING

1)   “Someday Baby” From Modern Times (2006) 3

2)   “Maggie’s Farm” From Bringing It All Back Home (1965) 5

3)   “Like A Rolling Stone” From Highway 61 Revisited (1965) 4

4)   “Simple Twist of Fate” From Blood on the Tracks (1975) 4

5)   “Political World” From Oh Mercy (1989) 3

6)   “Blowin’ in the Wind” From The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan (1963) 5

7)   “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door” From The Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid Soundtrack (1973) 0

8)   “I Want You” From Blonde on Blonde (1966) 5

9)   “Lay Lady Lay” From Nashville Skyline (1969) 1

10) “Sweetheart Like You” From Infidels (1983) 2

11) “All Along the Watchtower” From John Wesley Harding (1968) 1

12) “Honest With Me” From Love & Theft (2001) 5

13) “The Times They Are A-Changin’” From The Times They A-Changin’ (1964) 2

14) “I Feel A Change Comin’ On” From Together Through Life (2009) 1

15) “Just Like A Woman” From Blonde on Blonde (1966) 5

16) “Tangled Up In Blue” From Blood on the Tracks (1975) 4

17) “Down in the Flood (New Version)” From The Masked and Anonymous Soundtrack (2003) 0

18) “Forever Young” From Planet Waves (1974) 2

(Album Ratings: 0-5 – “5” for the albums you should hear first, down to “0” which are for fans only!)

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