Author Archives: Jim Fusco

About Jim Fusco

Jim Fusco is a singer, songwriter, guitarist, and all-around musician. Learn all about him and his creative works at http://jimfusco.com!

“A Singer Must Die” by Steven Page and the Art of Time Ensemble – The Weekday Review

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By Jim Fusco:

Do you know how much work I have to do tonight?  In addition to running three miles?  It’s a LOT- take my word for it.  But, I just had to write this article- that’s how strongly I feel about this.

Let me start off by saying that I love Steven Page’s music. I believe him to be the greatest songwriter since Brian Wilson.  Quite simply, he’s the man.  But, with “A Singer Must Die”, his first official solo effort, he proves once again that, with few exceptions (George Harrison being one of them), the whole (his former group, Barenaked Ladies) is greater than the sum of its parts.  Now, it might not be fair to judge his new solo career based on one album yet (and I won’t, as his real solo album with original songs comes out later this year), but I feel it necessary to get my two-cents in.

I hadn’t purchased the album (and I’m glad I didn’t)- my brother Mike let me borrow his.  I noticed that it got all of one play rotation in his car, as he readily handed it over just a few days after getting it himself.

As a person who records covers each week, you’d think I’d be open to this release.  But, this doesn’t sound like an “album”- it sounds like a collection of songs.  The styles all too different to make it sound like a cohesive album.  And when I hear Steven Page’s voice, I want it to be singing his own songs in his own style.  Hearing it on other people’s songs sounds odd and “untrue” because he didn’t write it.

Then, I put the CD in my player in the car.  I’ve never been so disappointed.

The first song was forgetful, at best.  But then, it all went very, very wrong.

“I Want You” (an Elvis Costello song) may possibly be the worst recording I’ve ever heard.  Not only is the song terrible, but the out of key strings and the weird timing makes it almost unlistenable.

Then, it’s followed by a Rufus Wainwright durge that I lasted only about a minute into.

Then, the most embarrassing track of all- Steven Page’s own cover of his OWN song, “Running Out of Ink”.  No drums, no harmonies- just strings and him.  It was like he was making fun of himself.  I was crushed.  I listened to about a minute of this one, then switched the track one more time.

“A Singer Must Die”, another real jump-starter to the album (by now, I hope you know that I’m being facetious), and I just sighed disgustingly and took the CD out of the player so fast you’d think it was physically hurting the machine.

With all due respect to amateur reviewer Chris Moore of the Laptop Sessions Music Blog, this album could NEVER garner itself four stars.  I’m wondering who paid him off to write such a review.  For me to think that an album like Ringo’s “Y Not” was given two stars and this atrocity four stars really, for me, takes away a lot of credibility from “The Weekend Review”.

“I’ve said my piece and I leave it all up to you.”

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“Surrender To Me” (McGuinn, Clark, & Hillman Cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Welcome to your Monday, Monday edition of the Laptop Sessions with me, Jim Fusco!

If you take a look at the last few posts, you’ll notice all the work I’ve been doing over the past 24 hours.  I’ve managed to mix, master, and put online three concerts worth of material.  The last one has 35 songs!  Then, I finally posted my photos from our TNA Wrestling show back in May.  Finally, I went through and backed-up literally 100 gb of data that was clogging up my laptop’s harddrive.  I put all of it on DVDs, which meant that I needed to complete everything before I backed it up and deleted it from my hard drive.

This is the first time in about nine months that the coffee table is clear of five spindles of DVDs.

Today, I bring you a song that Chris, Becky, and I have been playing since the beginning.  Back in late high school, I fell in love with the music of Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark, and Chris Hillman.  I mean, I was already a fan of the Byrds, but we had recentely gotten this album called “McGuinn, Clark, and Hillman”.  It was recorded in the mid-seventies, long after the original Byrds broke up and reformed.

A few tracks on this album, including the first track (which Jeff did as a Laptop Session- Click HERE to view it!) meant a lot to me at the time.  I was with my first girlfriend (and so proud that I had a CD player in the car- my 1990 Camaro) and the way we got together was a little weird.  We kinda had a thing going a year or so earlier, but then something happened to make us not talk for a long time.  I’m being vague not because I want to be, but because I honestly don’t remember.  That’s why I wrote in a journal every single day, I guess.  I’ll have to go back and read up on it.  Anyway, when we finally made it happen, I just thought the song “Long Long Time” was perfect for it.  I hope you’ll listen closely to the words in Jeff’s version and you’ll see what I mean.

“Surrender To Me” is a great song for a couple of reasons- mostly because of McGuinn’s incredible guitar work.  I actually based our live version half on the album version and half on the acoustic demo with Hillman and McGuinn.  Having Chris there to play the rhythm guitar (back when we first started playing live, he had a ton of trouble doing harmony parts while playing), Becky singing with me, and me playing a guitar solo I could actually handle, this was a prime choice.  I just wish more people had heard of it.  But, that’s okay- most people probably think it’s an original, which is major points for me!

Actually, this song is a cover itself.  Neither McGuinn, Clark, or Hillman wrote this tune.  But I still think it’s a great one and a standout track on the album.  Coming up on my next Session starts my suite of videos recorded in the great outdoors.  These videos are part of what the Laptop Sessions is all about, coupled with those Jeff did while on vacation- they’re LAPTOP Sessions!  We can record them anywhere and bring them to you from whereever you may be.  Enjoy today’s Session!



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“What Am I Doing Hangin’ ‘Round?” (The Monkees Cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Hello and welcome to a Valentine’s Day edition of the Laptop Sessions with Jim Fusco!  Tonight, I bring you a great song by the Monkees in “What Am I Doing Hangin’ ‘Round?”.  I’ve always loved this song, especially because of the great country-rock spin that Mike Nesmith put on it.  I was a little disappointed, though, to find out that he didn’t write it.  All these years I thought he did!

This is the final leftover video from last year’s recording sessions.  So, I guess it now means that I’m going to have to record some new videos this year!  I have a ton of ideas, it’s just about getting the time set aside to record them.  My ambition is growing, so that’s always a good thing!

I’ve always loved the songs that Mike Nesmith sang for the Monkees.  He is very similar to Gene Clark (of the Byrds) to me.  Nesmith was the first one who stopped touring with the Monkees, just like Clark.  And on future reunions, both Nesmith and Clark were the “flaky” ones that gave up on the projects before everyone else.  Their style of singing and musical styles are very similar, as well.  I consider them both pioneers in the “Southern Rock” category.  I think the most important similarity between the two musicians was their lack of recognition.  As everyone knows, the Monkees have never gotten the respect they deserved.  Everyone always just considered them a vocal band that did songs other people wrote.  That might have been true for a period of time, but it wasn’t necessarily their choice.  On albums like ‘Headquarters”, the members of the Monkees played almost all of the instruments.  And, Mike Nesmith was a very accomplished songwriter.  His song, “You Just May Be The One” is one of my Top 5 songs of all time!  And, Gene Clark, as great as he was, was never given the recognition he deserved, either.  He truly was one of the best rock songwriters of all time, claiming another one of my Top 5 favorite songs in “I’ll Feel A Whole Lot Better”.

I think a main difference between Michael Nesmith and Gene Clark is how they went about dealing with their fame and lack of recognition.  Nesmith kind of receded into the background and many people didn’t hear much from him for a long time.  Gene Clark, however, kept pushing on, but let the disappointment he felt from not regaining his Byrds popularity get to him.  Nesmith is still around, playing the occasional tour and Gene Clark has been gone for about 20 years now.

One frustrating thing about Nesmith is that he didn’t go on the reunion tour with the Monkees while Davy Jones was still alive.  And now that Davy is gone, Nesmith decided to go back on tour with the other two guys!  I really wish he could’ve had some more foresight and went out with the whole original group in tact.  Now, I’ll never get to see all four together.

I hope you enjoy today’s acoustic cover version of “What Am I Doing Hangin’ ‘Round” by the Monkees here on the Laptop Sessions acoustic cover songs music video blog.

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“Poor Little Fool” (Ricky Nelson Cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Hello everyone and a Happy 2013 to you!  I’m back with my first post of the New Year.  This is another leftover relic from last year’s sessions, which I like to call my “fat” sessions.  Why?  Because I’ve lost like 40 pounds since then and I look so much different in these videos!  I guess a 9-5 job and marriage got to me in the weight department a bit, but over the summer, I worked hard to get back down to a classic “Jim Fusco weight” and now I’m ready for the beach this year!  Oh, well there’s still the issue of my incredibly pale skin…

Tonight, I present Ricky Nelson’s classic song, “Poor Little Fool”.  I’ve always loved the music of Ricky Nelson.  His songs always put a smile on my face- even if it’s a sad song.  There’s such hope in his voice.  Ricky was a good-looking man, we all know that.  And some may write-off his music because of it.  They probably used to think about him the way many people currently think about KeSha, Katy Perry, and others in that same pop genre.  The difference between Ricky Nelson and the teen idols of today?  The man could SING!  I truly believe Rick Nelson had one of the best singing voices of all time.  His voice filled the speakers- it was so laid-back and country sounding, but still had a flair for pop music.  This was one immensely talented man.  And, in later years, he wrote some great songs.  Most notably, he wrote and performed “Garden Party”, which is also a favorite.

“Poor Little Fool” also features the great singing group The Jordanaires singing backup.  Yes, that’s the same backup band Elvis Presley used.  I wonder why Ricky decided to use that group to sing on his songs.  I imagine he would want to stay out of Elvis’ shadow and not be compared so much to him.  Don’t get me wrong- being compared to Elvis must’ve been an incredible honor.  But, think of it like Julian Lennon not wanting to be compared to his legendary father John.  After a while, you just want to be known for “you”, and not for some other person you sound like.

I was fortunate enough to record this Laptop Sessions acoustic cover song music video with my Martin MMV acoustic guitar.  The sound of this guitar brought the video to a whole new level.  Take away the HD video and the superb audio recording from my Zoom H2 microphone and you still have a good performance because of the sound of that guitar.  I think, over time, it will prove to be the best purchase I’ve ever made.  I hope I have that guitar forever!  Of course, and I’m letting my wife know this 20 years in advance so she won’t be shocked then, I’ll HAVE to get a 200-year anniversary Martin guitar when that milestone comes around in 2033.  I hope by then I can afford another one!

Enjoy tonight’s Laptop Session cover video- I hope to be back soon with more videos.  I have plenty of ideas, it’s just sitting down and getting them on video I’m having trouble with!  I’m also working on a bunch of new original songs, aided by my awesome “new” drum set (new sparkle green wraps, custom Pearl snare, and Sabian Pro hi-hats), vocal monitor, and tone pins for my Martin.  I hope 2013 will be a musical year!

More Laptop Sessions covers