Beach Boys songs & covers: Acoustic cover songs – music videos by the songwriters of the Laptop Sessions video blog. Daily music blog with new indie rock acoustic songs.
Welcome back to the Guest Sessions here on the Guitar Bucket List acoustic cover songs music video blog! Today’s video comes from Charlie Ranucci, a singer-songwriter who sent in a collection of his cover songs.
Charlie’s video features his takes on a handful of classics — “Apologize” (OneRepublic), “Suddenly” (Billy Ocean), “God Only Knows” (The Beach Boys), and “You Raise Me Up” (Josh Groban). It’s quite a set, and you can tell he’s having a great time singing them.
Check out Charlie Ranucci’s cover songs:
I really enjoyed these — there’s something special about a singer just sharing the songs he loves. Let me know what you think in the comments! Stay tuned for more Guest Sessions videos as the weeks roll on.
Hello everyone and welcome to another edition of the Laptop Sessions with Jim Fusco! I went back to the Beach Boys cover songs well again for today’s video, but in a unique twist, this is one everyone’s heard of! Don’t worry, I’ll be back next time with a really obscure one. But, that one, along with “Sloop John B”, fits the theme of this season’s Laptop Sessions cover song music videos: songs that my kids love. You seem, there’s no Raffia playing in my house- my children listen to oldies songs just like their dear old dad. And they like them and request that I play them over and over again! So, I figured I should record these videos because my little Angie likes to watch them when we’re having our book reading time together before bed. It’s truly a joy to spend that time with her and I hope it never ends.
Today’s video is actually for my son, Jonny. I got him a copy of Al Jardine’s children’s book adaptation of “Sloop John B”, which is the Beach Boys’ adaptation of the Kingston Trio’s adaptation of a traditional folk song. Got that? 🙂 Anyway, the book is similar to the song, but has adapted lyrics that don’t include getting drunk and getting into a fist fight with a sea captain. It’s a cute book and I know Jonny likes the song. So, I figured I should give this one a try.
Now, I’ve been trying to take “big” songs with a lot of production and strip them down to a simple one-person acoustic. However, that’s kind of tough to do when the original song was a sea shanty that was sung by one person with an acoustic guitar. So, I took things a step further and adapted Brian Wilson’s arrangement that he did for the Beach Boys (at the behest of Alan Jardine) that ended up on the Pet Sounds album (and the biggest hit from that album, ahead of “Wouldn’t It Be Nice”, “God Only Knows” and “Caroline, No”).
So, this is a pared-down version of the Beach Boys’ masterpiece, with just me and my Martin MMV acoustic guitar. You’ll notice that this was still during the “quarantine hair” phase, as well. At the time I actually didn’t think it looked ridiculous, which is why I recorded these videos then. Wow, was I wrong! But, the performance came out nicely and I’m happy to present one of the Beach Boys’ biggest hits for you here on the music blog, which is the ultimate source for acoustic songs.
Stay tuned, as I will continue bringing you new videos here on The Laptop Sessions, which is now in its 14th year. I hope you enjoy “Sloop John B” and we’ll see you soon!
Let’s pretend for a moment that it’s still Friday night, shall we? 🙂
Day 13 is here and I’ve got my last Christmas cover song for you! It’s a tune I’ve been singing to my 4-month old son since he was born. For some reason, I got it in my head that he would like it, so I started singing it to him. Now, it seems like he recognizes it and likes to hear it. So, I may sing it year-round!
“Santa’s Beard” by the Beach Boys is one of those songs you’ve probably heard in passing here and there over the years. It’s a cute tune and I really like the vocals, as always. This ended up being one of the hardest songs to record because of the awesome walking bass line in it. What a project! It really took me a long time to get that down, but now that I did, it’s pretty spot-on to the original, if I do say so myself.
Enjoy “Santa’s Beard” and remember to download all of the rest of the Christmas songs. The last song in Jim Fusco’s 14 Days of Rock’n’Roll Christmas 2015 is next!
Hello everyone! We begin week number two of free Christmas songs with another favorite of mine: “The Man With All The Toys” by the Beach Boys. It sounds like a simple song on the surface, but there are some cool changes that Brian Wilson created for the chords. The vocals, especially the cool “low harmonies” on the bridges, are difficult and really cool.
I tried to stay as close as possible to the original with the instruments, too. I used my Fender Stratocaster on the neck pickup, just like Carl and Al did on the original recording. For the lead guitar part, I actually had to re-record it because I didn’t originally put the echo effect on it, like the original had. I also ended up recording two bass lines with slightly different sounds. If you listen on headphones, you can hear one in each ear. I never knew that there were two bass lines recorded for this song, but that’s how they got that cool “oomph” to the recording. As always, the more I find out about the Beach Boys, the more I love them!
I hope this track adds to your enjoyment of the holidays (paraphrased from Christmas Vacation) and that you’ve taken the time to download the other seven tracks so far. Stay tuned — Day 9 is next in the series!
Beach Boys & Brian Wilson Acoustic Rock Cover Songs and Free mp3 Downloads
The Beach Boys have often been referred to as America’s band, and the title is well-earned. After all, these “cousins, friends, and brothers” (to quote “Endless Harmony”) skyrocketed to early success in the 1960s and have released a variety of tracks, both those written by the songwriters in the band as well as cover songs such as the 1950s classic “Barbara Ann.” Those who consider their catalog to just surfer music have missed the majority of the excellent new music this band has released. Music reviews unanimously praised both 1966’s Pet Sounds, considered Brian Wilson’s masterpiece at the time, as well as Brian Wilson’s 2004 release of Smile, a failed Beach Boys record slated for release in 1967 and recently hailed as some of his best music ever. Brian Wilson continues to tour, and his band is multi-talented – even unplugged, they are as amazing as any band trying to fill the shoes of Carl Wilson, Dennis Wilson, Mike Love and Al Jardine could be. Meanwhile, Mike Love and Bruce Johnston continue to tour, although they tend to play less new music and more hits and cover songs. Without question, the Beach Boys and Brian Wilson are two of the most often covered artists/bands that the Laptop Sessions has to offer!
