Author Archives: Chris Moore

“R U Ready?” by Ringo Starr

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For Ringo Starr chords & lyrics, CLICK HERE!

By Chris Moore:

Okay, okay, so I know what you’re thinking: how could I have screwed the lyrics up so badly at the end of the song.  You see, when I say, “That’s the real thing, ain’t it?” it should actually be “That’s the real thing, i’n’t it.”

Hopefully you can see past my error…

Seriously though, I welcome you to the Monday night Laptop Session.  This is my first song choice in anticipation of a new music release this year — in this case, tomorrow’s release of Ringo Starr’s Y Not.  Based on the quality of Ringo’s past several albums, I can only imagine that this oddly titled release will be excellent.  There appear to be some promising collaborations with such artists as Van Dyke Parks, Ben Harper, Joss Stone, Richard Marx, and — most exciting — Paul McCartney.

I’ll be honest — the title does throw me off a bit.  After all, can there ever be a good justification for a man of Ringo Starr’s age and stature to use Instant Messenger shorthand in his album or song titles?  I certainly can’t think of one.  And this isn’t the first time that Ringo has utilized such abbreviations.  As you can tell, my song choice tonight was based on the fact that “R U Ready?” — from 2008’s Liverpool 8 — uses IM shorthand for “Are You.”  I can’t tell you why Ringo made this decision when writing the song, but I can tell you that it is indeed a great song.  It was fun and easy to play, and I got to break in my “D” harmonica.  Ever since I started exploring the different keys in my array of harps, I’ve been having more fun than ever breaking them out and playing them.

I’ll have to think of another harmonica-ready song for next week…

But, for now, I hope you’ll enjoy my cover version of “R U Ready?”  Then, consider taking a listen to the new Ringo Starr album Y Not, to be released tomorrow, Tuesday, January 12th, 2010.  He has truly been on a roll these past several years, releasing outstanding records in 2003, 2005, 2008, and now a mere two years later in 2010.  I know where I’ll be heading after school tomorrow — to my local Newbury Comics store for a copy of Y Not.

With Ringo’s recent track record, I ask you: y not?

“Take Me Out to the Ball Game” (Norworth/Von Tilzer Cover)

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For chords & lyrics, CLICK HERE!

By Chris Moore:

What a day! To begin with, it’s a beautiful day for an opening day baseball game at CitiField, made even more beautiful by their 7-1 win over the Marlins. This extends their opening day winning streak to five years in a row, thanks to Johan Santana’s spot-on start and an all-around excellent performance by the first incarnation of the 2010 Mets. I say “first” because, after last season, you never know how the lineup will shift and change.

I rushed home right after my faculty meeting ended today, in time to catch the final three innings. Although I had planned to continue my tribute to the music of Breaking Bad, I was simply too excited about opening day to not tie that in to my Monday post instead. Thus, I looked up the roots of the classic baseball anthem “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.”

Apparently, it was first conceived as a set of lyrics by vaudeville star Jack Norworth. Later, it became a Tin Pan Alley tune after Albert Von Tilzer set Norworth’s words to music. Ironically, neither writer would see their first baseball game for decades to come.

Modern listeners — myself included until I researched this song today — are familiar with the chorus of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” which is typically played during the seventh inning stretch as an audience chorale. I listened to broadcaster Edward Meeker’s phonograph recording on YouTube and was surprised to hear the two verses.

Of course, I couldn’t resist learning this song!

And, of course, there was no easily accessible, accurate version available online.

After searching multiple sites, I was able to find a set of chords based on the original composition (but only for the chorus) and a .PDF of the original sheet music. I used the latter to type the lyrics, and I referred to the former to start my transcription. I found another source of chords that had some errors, but I was able to pick up some subtle chord changes that I added. I also found an entirely incorrect version (with errors in chords AND lyrics). Now that I’ve finished transcribing the verses, I’m happy to add this complete version to the Laptop Sessions blog for your reference. If you notice any change that I missed, please comment below — I’ve come a long way since I began learning songs for these sessions, but my ear for this sort of work is still far from perfect.

So, on that note, I’m going to leave you to watch tonight’s video. I’ve written a lot for the blog this weekend, so I think that less is moore… (If you’re looking for other baseball-related videos, though, you can search above for my two from last season: “Walter Johnson” and “Joe Dimaggio Done It Again.”)

See you next session!

Bob Dylan – CONCERT REVIEW!- 8/15/2008 at the MGM Grand in Mashantucket, CT

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By Chris Moore:

Click HERE to view the SET LIST!

Okay, so I had what was potentially (literally) the worst seat in the house, a position so high as to be unreachable by today’s best air conditioning systems. And I may have walked in late, after having sat in stop-and-stop traffic for half an hour, just as the familiar voice-over finished — “Ladies and gentlemen… Columbia recording artist… Bob Dylan.”  It doesn’t sound like the ideal way to begin a live concert experience…

But this was the MGM Grand in Mashantucket, CT.  Even a bad seat — the worst seat, in my case — is a good seat with a great view of the stage and excellent acoustics.  I could hear every word Dylan said… when it was possible, of course!

Seriously, though, aside from the first song (when I couldn’t figure out what he and his band were playing until the very last line when he annunciated and almost shouted “your Leopard-skin Pill-box Haaaat!”), the set list of songs was amazing and the performances were exciting and entertaining.

After starting with a track from 1966’s Blonde on Blonde, Dylan went on to reach as far back as his acoustic folk records and as recently as his 2006 album Modern Times.  And he presented a healthy variety of songs from every phase in between.  Some highlights were — “Things Have Changed” from the Wonder Boys soundtrack, a rocking version of the Time Out of Mind track “Can’t Wait,” and a passionate version of “Just Like a Woman.”  The latter was perhaps the most impressive, if only for the fact that he still gives this mild hit (still played on oldies stations) his complete attention, even after performing it live for over four decades.

There were some absolute gems in song choice.  The one that nearly knocked me off my seat (which would have been dangerous, considering how high up I was!) was “I Believe in You.”  This is my favorite — and obscure — track off of his 1979 “Christian album” Slow Train Coming.  The album, of course, netted Dylan his first Grammy award, and this performance is most likely a tribute to his producer for the album, Jerry Wexler, who recently passed away.

And then there was “Nettie Moore,” a deep track from his most recent album — this is where I felt my friend Jim’s absence most profoundly, as it was one of his favorite tracks when he first heard Modern Times.  Now I may be biased (sharing the same last name and all), but this is a great track that was more upbeat than the studio recording.  It drew quite the applause from the first few chords, and this is not to be understated; so unique are his concert arrangements that it often takes the audience until well into the second verse if not the chorus to figure out which song is being performed.  Indeed, it was hard to shake the feeling that there is some connection between his line in “Nettie Moore” — “I’m beginning to believe what the scriptures tell” — and the themes of “I Believe in You.”

But, I’ll leave that for others to theorize on.

Overall, what makes Dylan’s show such an exciting one is not his faithful reproduction of classic hits and fan favorites.  Rather, this Dylan set list combined with the musicianship of his formidable band make for great entertainment.  They may not be a showy band, but he and his current band impress subtly at every turn — Dylan’s organ sound was clear and classic, the violin solo in “Things Have Changed” was cooler than I should admit to thinking, the riff I heard for the first time in “Can’t Wait” was infectious, the guitar solo in “High Water” was great and the one in “Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum” was scorching, and the drumming continues to be one of my favorite aspects of this band — George Recile redefines the terms “driving beat” (on “Honest with Me”) and “machine gun drumming” (on “All Along the Watchtower”).

Thankfully, I wasn’t alone in my excitement.  There wasn’t a still body in the place as Bob Dylan and his band returned to the stage for an encore — after several long minutes that almost made me question whether he was returning — and thundered into “Like a Rolling Stone.”

Compared even to last year’s show, I have to say that I was perhaps more excited last year, probably due to Dylan starting off the show on electric guitar as the lights came up — oh, the applause that brought on! — and his set list last year including some of my favorite tracks.  Still, after the encore, I couldn’t feel my arms from clapping so hard for so long (and, of course, from not visiting a gym anytime in my adult life) and my throat was sore for having cheered so loudly throughout the night, wishing desperately that the show wouldn’t end, making me wait another entire year before he comes around again.

If these aren’t signs of a great show, then I don’t know what are!

“This Wheel’s on Fire” (Bob Dylan/Byrds Cover)

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By Chris Moore:

I’ve been so excited recently to see what new bands Jim is going to introduce to the blog — I mean, you really have no idea from one day to the next which band he’ll tap in to.  At this point, he’s done so many different bands that it would actually be just as much a surprise to see him break out a classic standby, such as the Beach Boys.  And, to prove how excited I am about these new bands…

…I’m going to contribute a Bob Dylan song!

Big surprise, I realize.  (For those of you who don’t watch regularly, I’m a big Dylan fan and have recorded more Dylan covers than any other band!)  But I have my reasons, I promise.  First and foremost, today is the official release date of The Bootleg Series, Vol. 8: Rare and Unreleased: 1989-2006.  I’ve only had time to listen to the first two thirds of the first disc, but already I’m really enjoying it.  I’ve been concentrating so much on the new Ben Folds album, Way to Normal, that I was loath to take it out of my CD player.  But I’ve already fallen in love with Dylan’s work, even after hearing the first four tracks.  The version of “Mississippi,” one of my favorite songs of all time, is entirely different.  Then, the version of “Most of the Time” sounds less like the 1989 track I know and love and more like a track out of 1963; it’s entirely different, and yet in typical Dylan fashion, it’s entirely amazing.  Following an interesting little piano demo of “Dignity,” Dylan’s first take of “Born in Time” is — as the liner notes suggest — really the definitive version.

To be honest, I think the set might be worth the purchase if only for the “Born in Time” take and the new single “Dreamin’ of You,” an unreleased song from the Time Out of Mind sessions.  When I got home from a meeting late tonight, my first inclination was to record a song that was (a) comfortable for me to play, so I could get to bed on time, and (b) a Dylan song.

This fits both criteria!

That’s all for me for now, but you can fill your Laptop Sessions cavity with Jeff Copperthite’s offering tomorrow, Jim Fusco’s video on Thursday, and then I’ll be back.

See you next session!