Category Archives: Wallflowers Songs

Wallflowers covers: Acoustic cover songs – music videos by the songwriters of the Laptop Sessions video blog. Daily music blog with new indie rock acoustic songs.

“Three Ways” (Wallflowers Cover)

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For chords & lyrics, click HERE!

By Chris Moore:

For those wondering how long it’s been since I last recorded a bona fide “Laptop Session,” please refer to my YouTube page, and check the length of my hair.

(This has long been one of my favorite aspects of the LS blog, as I can skim through the stills of my cover song music videos posted over the span of months and years and watch my hair grow out, out, out, then get cut, and continue to grow…  Well, you get the idea.)

That being said, I decided several months ago that I would only post a cover song again when the time felt right.  I’ve been keeping quite active reviewing albums for the Weekend Review and “Yes, No, or Maybe So” segments that are regularly published here at the site.  However, I haven’t recorded an official cover song session since April 11th.

It’s now July 6th.

I spent the morning and afternoon this past Saturday driving around the state with a dear friend, windows down with selections from our favorite albums blasting at full volume.  All the time, we were singing along and pointing out our favorite sections and solos, etc. in the various songs.  Of course, the first album we chose was one with the following line:  “I feel fine with the sun in my eyes, the wind in my hair…”

I’m referring to my pick for number one album of the decade and my personal favorite: the Wallflowers’ Red Letter Days.

This is one of those records that incessantly hits you with great songs, track after track.  After the rock/pop/alternative rock attack of the first four tracks, the fifth track slows down a notch, but is equally as catchy as the songs that have come before.  I’m referring to “Three Ways,” a beautiful little song that I’m featuring here this morning on the blog.

When I heard it again in my friend Mike’s car, I spent part of the duration thinking how much I would like to learn it on acoustic guitar.  And that feeling didn’t dissipate days later.  Thus, I took a break from reading Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking-Glass yesterday to figure out the chords to “Three Ways.”  I found chords online, but not surprisingly, they were significantly flawed.  This cemented my desire to complete a full session, posting chords and lyrics for others to access that are accurate to the song. For the chords, I spent quite a while playing to the song and experimenting with different options until I pieced together the core components of the song.  As for the lyrics, I went to the CD booklet — one of the reasons I love having physical copies of my music — and copied them from there.  (In fact, if you enjoy this song at all, I would strongly encourage you to check out this album, either as a download from iTunes or some other service, but PREFERABLY as a physical CD.  I’m telling you: this is not only one of the best albums of all time, but it has excellent packaging as well!)

After a few takes, I recorded one that I was happy with, which is the one you’ll see tonight.  So, without further ado, I’ll leave you to the actual recording.  Enjoy…

See you next session!

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“God Says Nothing Back” (Wallflowers Cover)

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By Jeff Copperthite:

I’m back into the mix!

And now back to the Wallflowers – again, one of my favorite bands.

This song is off of their latest album “Rebel, Sweetheart” and is probably in my top 3 favorite Wallflowers songs of all time. It is a terrific song to sing and play on acoustic, and I am proud to enter it into the Laptop Sessions.

On this version, I went with a light strumming method, despite the recording using a more fingered and arpeggiated guitar pattern.

The middle part I tried to do the arpeggiated guitar pattern, but you can see just how difficult it is to sing over something like this. I think I did a decent job of it.

Editor’s Note: Unfortunately, Jeff’s acoustic cover song music videos are no longer on YouTube, but we decided to keep his cover song blog posts up.  We figured these music blog entries would be good for posterity’s sake and because Jeff always gave such insightful posts each Session.  We hope to see Jeff’s impressive catalog of acoustic rock songs here on the Laptop Sessions cover songs and original music blog again in the future.  But, for now, please make sure to check-out hundreds of other acoustic cover songs from all of your favorite bands here on the Laptop Sessions music blog!

Editor’s Note: Unfortunately, Jeff’s acoustic cover song music videos are no longer on YouTube, but we decided to keep his cover song blog posts up. We figured these music blog entries would be good for posterity’s sake and because Jeff always gave such insightful posts each Session. We hope to see Jeff’s impressive catalog of acoustic rock songs here on the Laptop Sessions cover songs and origianal music blog again in the future. But, for now, please make sure to check-out hundreds of other acoustic cover songs from all of your favorite bands here on the Laptop Sessions music blog!

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“One Headlight” (Wallflowers Cover)

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By Chris Moore:

Okay, so I have good news and bad news. Good news — MoU has finally released their highly anticipated second album, Homestead’s Revenge. It’s really the next step up from the more “live-in-the-studio” sound of our debut. And the songwriting includes all members. Not only do Jim, Mike, Cliff and I have our own songs, but we co-wrote three as a full band! I hope you’ll listen to album and purchase it at http://jimfusco.com/albums.html !

Now, for the bad news… While it’s been a lot of fun to record these Laptop Sessions, I’m afraid I’ve become far too busy to keep fitting them in. So, today I bring you my final, my farewell Laptop Session…

This Wallflowers song, “One Headlight,” is the first song I ever truly loved. I was in 7th grade, and whenever my dad and I were in the car and heard this song, we would crank the volume. This is saying something, because music wasn’t all that important to me back then. I never did buy the album, as the Sam Goody’s store in my local mall only had a copy with a cracked case. I couldn’t bring myself to spend what was then a lot of money for me on a less than perfect product. Ironically, I would go on to listen to songwriter Jakob Dylan’s father (yes, Bob Dylan!) and he would become my absolute favorite artist.

When I eventually did buy the Bringing Down the Horse album, I fell in love with not only this song, but the band. And I recently recorded “Sixth Avenue Heartache,” another BDTH alum, for a previous Laptop Session.

All right, I can’t go on with the lie — April Fool’s! This is far from my final Laptop Session, as Jim, Jeff, and I continue to record a new session-a-day for all of 2008. That’s right, all 366 days! I hope you’ll come back to https://guitarbucketlist.com for more sessions from Jeff!

See you next session!


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The Weekend Review: October 2012 Report

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By Chris Moore:

II (Bad Books)

Released: October 9, 2012

Rating:  3.5 / 5 stars

Top Two Tracks: “It Never Stops” & “Forest Whitaker”

The second album is always an interesting experiment for any band.  In the case of Bad Books’ II, some of the raw energy has been left behind in favor of refinement in both sound and content.  The benefit of this shift clearly goes to the continuity of the record, as the tracks feel more united than on their freshman effort.  Lyrically, Bad Books is as sharp as ever, and if anything, they have raised the quality.  Finally, in terms of the soundscape, II offers up a lush and gorgeous sequence of arrangements, masterfully orchestrating the mood and pacing.  Still, something has been lost in favor of refinement, but that may simply be the difference between the average first and second releases in a band’s timeline.  Peaking with the gems “It Never Stops” and “Forest Whitaker,” each fronting Bad Books’ signature simple-but-packed-full, low-key-but-rockin’ sound, II has a lot to offer, even if it does lack some of that unmined potential and dynamic appeal of the first record.

 

 

 

Glad All Over (The Wallflowers)

Producer: Jay Joyce

Released: October 9, 2012

Rating:  4 / 5 stars

Top Two Tracks: “First One in the Car” & “Constellation Blues”

Perhaps owing something to Jakob Dylan’s folksy hiatus, the Wallflowers have returned on Glad All Over intent on rocking as hard as they have in their career.  With the return of Rami Jaffee, the band has their signature keyboard/organ sounds firmly in place, and with the addition of Jack Irons on drums, they have implicitly stated their desire to return to rock ‘n’ roll proper, what with his resume as a founding member of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and history of backing such bands as Pearl Jam.  After seven years had passed since their last album (2005’s Rebel, Sweetheart), Glad All Over is precisely the type of return effort that will remind fans why the Wallflowers are one of the most underrated bands of the nineties, often written off as one-hit wonders following the chart-topping success of “One Headlight” (which, ironically enough, was only the second single off 1996’s Bringing Down the Horse).  What is clear here is that the band has reinvigorated and perhaps even re-envisioned their sound, evidenced by the sharper, harder guitar effects, additional reverb on the keyboard parts, and most notably by the presence of the Clash’s Mick Jones playing guitar and singing on the album’s lead single, as well as another track.  Still, after opening with the pulse-pounding, eerily rocking “Hospital for Sinners” and following up with the borderline funky, gloriously electrified “Misfits and Lovers,” they follow up with “First One in the Car,” a track that sounds like it was set aside from the Bringing Down the Horse sessions, only to be revealed now.  This has the effect of a nod, or perhaps even a wink, to the sound that earned them their fame, though it admittedly fits fully into the flow of this record.  “Reboot the Mission,” the lead single, takes a turn and revs up the band to create a unique sound that pushes the bass to the front of the mix and toys with atmospherics.  It serves as a thesis of sorts for Glad All Over, as the refrain features the band chorally singing, “Eyes on the prize, reboot the mission: I lost my sight but not the vision.”  “It’s A Dream” continues the rock sound they’ve unveiled on the opening tracks before moving into “Love is a Country,” a gorgeous, rolling track that was handled nicely in the official “lyric video” released by their YouTube channel.  The guitars take the fore on the following tracks, in solos on “Have Mercy On Him Now” and in riffs on “The Devil’s Waltz,” flowing back to a track reminiscent of the Rebel, Sweetheart sound on “It Won’t Be Long (Till We’re Not Wrong Anymore)” before hitting the pinnacle of the second half in “Constellation Blues,” a track that is arguably the amalgamation of all that has come before.  This may seem counterintuitive at first, as the guitars are lower in the mix, yet they’re more subtle than soft, playing an integral role even as the rhythm section takes the lead and the keyboards add layer upon layer of shimmering atmosphere.  True to the mission statement of this album, “One Set of Wings” closes the album on a strong note, offering the full spectrum of instrumentation – distorted guitars riffing and soloing, haunting organ tones, flowing bass lines, and heavy-hitting drums – as well as a vocal delivery of the lyrics that walks the line between gloomy and hopeful.  Perhaps the line of most interest here is when Dylan sings, “I have been lost, and I’m ready to be found.”  With all that this band has to offer particularly on this most recent release, one would hope that it’s time they be found for what they are: a band of career musicians capable of greatness far beyond a solitary single in the late nineties.

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