And, welcome back! Today is Wednesday, and here on the best acoustic music blog ever conceived, that means it’s time for an original song! Today, I bring you a cut off of my new album, “Halfway There”, available now at http://jimfusco.com.
This song is the most personal one on the album and is really the most blunt song I’ve written in a long time. It’s not meant to be angry or anything- it’s meant to ask questions of both myself and someone else.
Basically, I’m saying: “Hey, I’ve been trustworthy for over six years and still I feel that I’m not being fully trusted.” The song pretty much speaks for itself after that.
This was the last song I wrote for the album, save for the bonus track. To me, I can definitely tell that this was written after the bulk of the other songs. Songs for an album always have a “feel” to them and it took me quite a while to record this track and make it “fit”. But, I love the tune and the chord progression. Fans of Stone Temple Pilots will hear the similarity between the riff of this song and the one in “Plush”, which I was listening to a lot at the time. I didn’t realize it until afterward. But, the similarity is just like an, “Oh, yeah, I see what you mean,” more than anything.
So, I hope you enjoy this original song. It’s really one of my favorites off of the new album and the chord progression to the chorus is one of my favorites to play, too. Have a great day!
Welcome, everyone to yet another Laptop Session with me, Jim Fusco.
I”m back with a real video tonight (not a swerve like my genius move last week!) in a classic song: “Walk Away Renee”. Plus, I bring you not one, but TWO new artists in one video, in one night!!! Tell me, has that ever been done before?
You know this tune: “Just walk away, Renee, you won’t see me follow you back home.”
Now, think of who sings it. I thought about it myself and remembered that the version I have is from the Four Tops. And it sounds right- I know I’ve heard it on the radio before.
Except there’s something wrong. Two things, in fact.
The version I remember had strings in the background (violins, etc.) and the chorus was sung differently. In the Four Tops version, the background singers sing the “you won’t see me follow you back home” in a very “on the beat” manner.
The version I remember sang it the way I do in this video- with a little more relaxed style. You’ll hear what I mean.
So, I began searching- what version did I know? I found a couple of promising ones, but none that were exactly what I remembered.
Finally, a search in the iTunes store brought me to a group called The Left Banke. They were a one (or possibly two) hit wonder back in the late 60s. Their hit? “Walk Away Renee”- the version I’ve always known!!
But, over the years, I seem to have merged the Left Banke version and the Four Tops version in my head. The Left Banke version doesn’t have drums or that classic Motown backing band, but has the strings. And I hear the Left Banke singer’s lead vocal on the verses in my head, but the Four Tops lead singer on the choruses…but he’s singing in the STYLE of the Left Banke guy!
AHH!
Anyway, tonight’s video turned out great- probably one of my most solid overall performances. It’s a great song I’ve always known by just hearing it on the radio, but it only took me one take on video tonight. When that happens, you know you “got it.”
It’s been some busy times lately, but Dana and I are getting more and more determined each night. We’re trying to lose a little weight, eat better, exercise, and get a lot of work done. It’s nice to have someone here that helps me achieve these goals, because Lord knows I couldn’t motivate myself all the time.
So, enjoy my video tonight! I hope Chris will take a more prominent role in the Laptop Sessions promotions work now that he’s out of school for the summer. Also, he’s going to be away and then he’s moving out (and on) after that. Hopefully he’ll channel some of his new found “not around Jim” time towards promoting the cover songs music video blog that we affectionately call The Laptop Sessions. Until next Tuesday!!
Ladies and gentlemen- after 25 years, I’ve finally fallen to peer pressure and decided to cover a contemporary pop song. Tonight, I covered the Black Eyed Peas’ song, “Boom Boom Pow” right here on the Laptop Sessions acoustic cover songs music video blog.
I’m going to let the music speak for me on this one, as I’m sure all of my friends and fans are going to need some time to pick their jaws up off of the floor after the reading the words “Boom Boom Pow” at the top of this post.
I hope you all enjoy my unique version, as it was challenging to get this to work as an acoustic song. So, this goes out to you- you know who you are! 🙂
You know, usually, I just throw in that “rock” word in my post titles because it’s a good keyword for search engines. But, tonight, I’m proud to say that it rings true. And, on a new Bob Dylan song no-less!
Tonight, I bring you a cool tune from Bob Dylan’s new album, “Together Through Life”. Tonight’s post will be partially about this song and partially my review of the album.
“Forgetful Heart” is the first real “rock” song I’ve heard Dylan do for a long, long time. Not since “Love and Theft” have we heard Dylan rock out. Yes, he’s had some “rompin’ type” of tunes, but most of them are blues and are very, very long. This song is on the shorter side and doesn’t really have that “old standard” sound that we’re so used to hearing from Dylan lately. This is a pure rock song and for this tune at least, his gritty voice serves us well. The electric guitar, although subdued, is a great addition. I hope we get to hear a live version of this song someday with a little more kick and a lot more speed. I play my version about double the speed of Dylan’s original.
Of course, my bad luck continues tonight. You can see the microphone very clearly in the shot. I even recorded an original song for tomorrow. I made sure to get the microphone even closer to my mouth so I could sing these lower-register songs over the acoustic guitar. Turns out, I forgot to select the external microphone input and it recorded off of the built-in mic. Ugh.
Now, onto the album. Let me start off by saying that I’ve heard the album about 20 times so far. I’m really enjoying it. But, it certainly isn’t as good as “Modern Times”. That album is simply great. And, I’ve discovered the reasons why “Together Through Life” doesn’t match up.
The first time I heard “Together Through Life”, I felt like I knew the words and could even sorta sing along to the tunes. The tunes are very predictable and always follow the patterns you think they’re going to follow- especially Dylan’s middle-eights. But, then again, this ablum does have things like choruses (except for a couple songs) and middle-eights, which are pretty much non-existant on “Modern Times”. In fact, the song structure on “Together…” is very similar to “Nashville Skyline” in that the songs sound, well, normal.
But, that’s one of the problems! On “Modern Times”, I still can’t remember all the words and I must’ve heard it forty times. Chris knows I’m a whiz when it comes to lyrics. Dylan has such a way with words- in fact, it really is very poetic. But, you just can’t predict what he’s going to say next. He always switches it up and comes up with great ways of expressing simple sentiments, “When you’re near, I’m a thousand times happier than I could ever say.” What a great way to say, “I love you.”
But, on this album, and it may be because of his writing partner for the project, the lyrics are much simpler and there are only a few hints of Dylan word-greatness.
Dylan’s voice on the album has continued to deteriorate from previous efforts. Honestly- he almost sounds GOOD on “Modern Times”! But, I figured this one out, too- check the songs he sings softly. Those, he sounds fine. It’s the songs he sings louder (even if just in volume and not angrier or screaming) in that he sounds terrible. I don’t care if a gruff voice would contribute to some angry songs. That’s the argument I always hear. You want that? Get frickin’ John Stamos. There comes a point when it’s too much. “This Dream of You” is a classic song. It can become a standard of American songwriting. But, this song is just ruined by his faling voice. Listen to the way his voice just dies on the word “moment” and you’ll hear what I hear. That song would sound amazing coming from a 30 year old Dylan.
Anyway, again, I really like the album, but I did find myself going back and listening to great tracks on “Modern Times” like “Spirit on the Water”, “Workingman’s Blues”, and “Someday Baby”.
I can still do without all those blues songs, though. Talk about a cop-out!
Hopefully, someday, we’ll hear a real rock album from Bob Dylan again. But, until then, I’ll hold onto “Forgetful Heart” and dream of days past.
