Category Archives: Wilco Songs

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

“Box Full of Letters” (Wilco Cover)

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By Chris Moore:

Hello and welcome to yet another all-new Laptop Session at your web blog for a session-a-day, guaranteed through December 31st, 2008. Now, that guarantee is swiftly running out, but don’t fret. We’ll be introducing a new schedule of performances for 2009 that will not only introduce many new types of posts to the blog on a regular basis, but also maintain a steady and prolific stream of new cover song music videos!

But, let’s focus on the present for now…

I had originally intended to record a Christmas song tonight, but I got busy with napping, fast food eating, Christmas shopping, and TNA Impact! viewing, so I decided to pull out my one and only “backup video.” If I haven’t already, I should introduce this video by announcing my desire to record a cover video for at least one song from each Wilco album. I’ve been listening to this band a lot these past several months, picking up their albums one by one as I find them on sale or used. I’ve already recorded a song from their third studio album, Summerteeth, called “How to Fight Loneliness” — that video is posted in the members only area of this blog (scroll down to the bottom to sign in and/or sign up!). Previous to that, I recorded “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart” from their critically acclaimed fourth album Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. This was a great song — easy to learn, fun to memorize the lyrics for the performance, and I even got a compliment from a former student who watched the video!

Last week, I picked up a copy of their subsequent album, A Ghost is Born. Ironically, I’m listening to that album now and — literally the moment I typed the title of the album (!) — I just heard Tweedy singing “a ghost is born…,” which is in the lyrics to the song “Theologians.” I don’t think that A Ghost is Born is as impressive an album as Foxtrot or as rocking and enjoyable an album as Summerteeth, but I’m warming to it. There’s a great deal of experimentation, particularly on the 15-minute penultimate track “Less Than You Think.”

But I’m not quite ready to record a song from that album yet, so I went back to the first Wilco album, A.M., which is the final album that I own thus far. This album was more of a straightforward country rock effort, reminiscent of their predecessor Uncle Tupelo. Tweedy himself doesn’t sound all that impressed with the album, but I think it’s actually the most upbeat of the Wilco albums I own. It’s certainly the best album to listen to in the car!

This is my version of the single from the album, titled “Box Full of Letters.” I don’t know what it is about this song — something about the combination of the guitar hooks, lower lead vocal that resonates, and the catchy chorus — but I love it.

And it puts me one step closer to having recorded one song from each album!

Thanks for reading and watching!

See you next session!

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An All-New Cover Music Video added to the Members-Only Section!

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By Chris Moore:

Hey there y’all!  So, I’m aware that this isn’t my night and all, but I have some good news…

One more video has arrived!

Yes, it’s true.  In addition to Jim’s regularly scheduled cover song music video, you can check out an all-new video in the members-only section.  If you’re not a member, you need to sign up!  If not, you’ll miss my recording of Wilco’s “How to Fight Loneliness.”  I didn’t feel right releasing this as a normal Laptop Session, as I already had recorded a Wilco song for my Tuesday 11/18/2008 video.  So, I figured there was no better way to handle it than to add it as a free video in the members-only section.

So, don’t wait around, get on over to the members-only section and kick back to my cover version of this great track off Wilco’s Summerteeth album.  I should also give a shout-out to Jim for helping me figure out the A6 and Bbdim chords I needed to learn in order to play this song.  It’s a fairly simple song, but I really enjoyed learning it.  I’ve been playing it a lot recently, so I figured I just had to share it.

Enough said.  Go to the members section!  Press play!  Enjoy, courtesy of the best acoustic cover song music blog in the universe…

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“Walt Whitman’s Niece” (Billy Bragg & Wilco Cover)

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By Chris Moore:

As promised, I’m back after my second Jack Johnson acoustic cover song (posted on Saturday) to bring you my first installment for “New Bands Week.”  Since I wanted to make sure that I’m pulling my weight around here (and considering that Jim is swiftly adding to a list of at least ten new artists he plans to cover!), I decided to bring not only one but two new bands in one day to the best cover song music blog in the universe!

Okay, so maybe I’m talking up my contribution here, since the song I chose — “Walt Whitman’s Niece” — was recorded as a collaboration between the two artists, songwriter Billy Bragg and alternative rock band Wilco.  But, still… in the spirit of “New Bands Week,” two new bands!

There’s a really interesting story to go along with this cover song.  This is the first track on Billy Bragg and Wilco’s Mermaid Avenue album, a collection of songs based on the lyrics of Woody Guthrie.  Guthrie essentially ended up writing countless songs over his years as a songwriter, many of which he never put to music.  He literally had boxes of them.  I read that Guthrie actually offered them to a young Bob Dylan when Dylan went to visit him in the hospital.  He even made the long trip out to Guthrie’s house, but there was only a babysitter at home and she did not want to let a stranger in.  (Little did she know he would soon be anything BUT a stranger!)  Then, decades later, Billy Bragg and Wilco got their hands on the lyrics, chose their favorites, and wrote music for the words.  The result is an amazing album that I first learned about through my Journalism II teacher, who was also a big Dylan fan.

They came out with a sequel a few years later, simply called Mermaid Avenue Volume II, but it really wasn’t as strong as the first time around.  This is simply one of those moments in rock music, in my opinion, that came down to initial inspiration.  That first album is such a strong, enjoyable, and interesting collection of music.  In fact, I initially wanted to record “Ingrid Bergman” (which I did and stored away for later), but then remembered about “Walt Whitman’s Niece.”  I figured it would be a much stronger choice, as it is the first track on the album, upbeat, and of course, highlighted by a crazy harmonica solo that I could never duplicate.  All in all, a really fun song to sing.  As Jim and I figured out, it was a lot of fun to improv lyrics to the tune!

As a final note, Jim and I saw the latest Woody Allen movie, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, tonight.  Although I’m always a big fan of seeing him in the movies, this was a really interesting film even if he didn’t play an acting role.  I wasn’t sure how I felt about the voiceovers initially, but I really got into the characters and especially the situation.  I think this is one of those movies that will cause viewers to think about their own ideas about love, trust, and what their lives will be like in several decades.  How do you find happiness?  I don’t want to give anything away, so I’ll stop here.

This may be all for today’s post. If you haven’t already, you should scroll down the home page and check out Jim and Jeff’s first picks of the New Bands Week.

See you next sesion!

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