By Jim Fusco:

Welcome to The Laptop Sessions with me, Jim Fusco!  I’m glad to be back with another acoustic cover song music video for you to enjoy.  Tonight, I go back about fifty years and bring you Elvis Presley’s classic song, “His Latest Flame”.  It’s a cool tune with a great beat.  I love the bossa nova style used in the original recording.  Of course, this video is just me and my guitar.  But, I think it still captures the essence of the song.  This song requires a lot of energy and I hope that shows in this cover song video.

“His Latest Flame” was written by the songwriting pair of Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman (you may remember the mention of their names in Ben Folds & Nick Hornsby’s “Lonely Avenue”).  This song went all the way up to #4 on the Billboard charts.  And clocking in just over two minutes, they proved that a catchy number, no matter the length, can be a big hit.

One thing I thought was interesting was the Del Shannon (of “Runaway” fame) originally recorded this song.  Of course, his version wasn’t the hit.  I imagine that happened to many artists once Elvis got a hold of a song.  I, for one, would be pretty intimidated if Elvis Presley picked a song I had already recorded and made it his own.  I think that would spell the end of the original version and the beginning of Elvis’ sure-fire hit in the late 50s and early 60s.

Of course, my cover version of “His Latest Flame” sounds its best because of my Martin MMV acoustic guitar.  It’s just so clear and powerful- it makes anything I play sound better.  I hope that my cover version helps keep this song alive for years to come and introduces it to a new generation of potential Elvis (and early rock’n’roll) fans.

On a side note, I’m still getting used to editing my Laptop Sessions cover song music videos with Final Cut Pro X.  It’s really a pain in the neck and many of the functions just seem purposefully “dumbed-down” to make it easier to use.  The problem is that it literally took me an hour searching online to find out how to fade in the video.  Geesh!  Plus, there’s a little skip in the audio at the end- I’m not sure why that happened, but there’s no way to fix it.  Also, there’s a few seconds of black at the end- not sure how it got there or how to fix that in the future.  But when the video takes literally HOURS to render at full 1080p high-definition resolution, I really only get one shot at it to get it right.

Finally for tonight, I wanted to mention the progress of my brand-new album, “Those Around Us”.  It’s all recorded and mixed.  Now, it’s in the loving hands of a mastering company.  If everything turns out as well as I hope it does, I’ll be posting praise for that company soon enough- I just want to make sure first. 🙂  Anyway, it’s an album of 12 original songs.  It’s 95% me, but there are a couple of nice collaborations on there.  As you’ll hear once it’s released, it’s by far and away the finest work I’ve done so far.  Every song is crafted with love and care down to each minute detail.  The songs aren’t overproduced, but they don’t sound sparse, either.  The vocals, now that I have a great Shure condenser microphone, are clear and pitch-perfect.  I’m not tooting my own horn there- I spent countless hours making sure the timbre of my voice was correct on each harmony track.  Also, the instruments really sound great.  I utilized a sampled Wurlitzer electric piano (used in such hits as “Joy To The World” among many, many others) and this album features a real drum kit.  Also, I have a vast array of different guitars, ranging from a 12-string electric to a lap steel.  The variation of sounds makes each track on this album sound fresh and different- no two tracks have the same instrument setup.  To me, that’s the mark of a diverse and interesting album.

I’ll be releasing more information on the album in the next few weeks.  I’m hoping to get the album cover firmed-up soon and will hopefully get to post an in-depth look at how it was created.  In the meantime, I’ll be back in two weeks with my next Laptop Sessions acoustic cover song music video.  I’d love to read comments both here on the music blog and on YouTube.  Take care and I’ll see you in two weeks.  Enjoy “(Marie’s the Name of) His Latest Flame”!