“Promises” (Eric Clapton Cover)

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By Jeremy Hammond:

My cover of “Promises” by Eric Clapton. A bit of my own interpretation, I end it with an improvised solo. The video consists of two tracks. For the first track, I recorded the rhythm and vocals in a single take. Then I laid down a second track over the first for the solo.

** EDITOR’S NOTE: **

Eric Clapton is arguably one of the greatest electric guitar players of all time.  Over the first ten years or so of his career, he played in a number of influential rock bands, not the least of which was Cream.  Once he formed Derek and the Dominoes, he went on to release perhaps his most famous song, “Layla.”  As he proved with his famous acoustic rendition of “Layla” during an MTV Unplugged performance, he also has a knack for acoustic performances.

“Promises,” a track from the 1978 Eric Clapton album Backless, is an excellent choice for an acoustic cover.  As you’ll hear, Jeremy has brought another great addition to the Laptop Sessions storehouse of cover song music videos, adding to the woefully meager portion of Clapton that we currently offer.  Admittedly, the solo at the end strays from the Laptop Sessions format, but for those of you purists out there, simply hit stop at the three minute mark.  Otherwise, sit back and enjoy a great improv at the end to top off this excellent performance!

“The Man Who Sold The World” (David Bowie Cover)

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By Jeff Copperthite:

That’s right, ladies and gentlemen.  It’s that time…that’s right…Thumpin’ Thursday!  Who doesn’t enjoy a great dose of their Laptop Sessions on the second best day of the week – and it’s right after the best day of the week!

This next song is sort of by request – Jim mentioned it in recent correspondence that this song was covered by Nirvana, and we have not done either Nirvana, or the guy who wrote the song David Bowie.

What better day than Thumpin’ Thursday to fix both of those things in one session?

Therefore, here comes Jeff Copperthite with the “cover of a cover” version of David Bowie’s classic “The Man Who Sold The World” from his album of the same name.  The cover version was featured on the widely played Nirvana edition of the show “MTV Unplugged”.  I thoroughly enjoyed that series when it was on the air, and some of my favorite bands were lucky enough to be featured on that show while it lasted.

I recorded this in the same session as my previous U2 video, and again, I look tired.  I feel a lot better today than how I look in this video.  I couldn’t get a solid take where I played the riff cleanly, and eventually cut out some parts with the riff.  I also came in just a bit too early on one part.  Nobody has pointed it out in my recent video (what I did wrong), but I am very pleased on the positive feedback I have gotten from that video.

But now, you get to enjoy this version on a great Thursday.  I hope you enjoy it, and return for Jim’s fantastic Friday edition tomorrow!

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!

Jim Fusco wins the national Sam Ash Open Mic Night Instagram video contest!

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Out of hundreds of applicants, Jim Fusco’s Instagram video of his original song “Halfway There” was chosen as a Top-3 finalist for the Same Ash music stores’ Open Mic Night video contest.

After a week of online voting on Facebook, Jim’s video was voted the winner!

He won a $100 Sam Ash gift card and a featured spot on Sam Ash’s homepage at http://samashmusic.com!

Here’s a screenshot of the posting:

Jim Fusco featured on the Sam Ash homepage.

Jim Fusco featured on the Sam Ash homepage.

WCJM Free Internet Radio Station: “The First Show” – 1998

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By WCJM Free Internet Radio:

This ground breaking tape of Moore 94.2- Moore Hits in the Morning came from the mind of Chris Moore before Jim and Mike Fusco even met him. He had begun this show using the most primitive of equipment, and occasionally featuring members of his family on the show. Jim got into the act when Chris and Jim took part in a class play of the novel “Raisin in the Sun”. Jim had worked the sound for one of the acts of the play, and when mentioned his interest in sound mixing to Chris, he had the idea of visiting a radio station. So Chris and Jim wrote several letters to several radio stations, finally getting a letter back from KISS 95.7 in Hartford, CT. They visited the radio station on August 6, 1998, and had a great time, even controlling the station for a few seconds! They returned to Jim’s house that day with the ambition to make their own radio show. Chris mentioned his earlier work in the “radio business”, and showed Jim and Mike the ropes of producing a show.

The show began with Chris not realizing that the tape had started, giving an “Uh, hello?” to begin the Moore Hits in the Morning program. Because of the lack of equipment they had on hand, the trio had to hold one of the two microphones up to the speaker of a CD player! Because they could not talk (they would be heard in the background) they remained silent throughout the whole show (unless they were on the air), making it even more of a challenge to make the radio show work. So, with this show, Moore Hits in the Morning was born, giving Chris, Jim, and Mike a chance to do what they loved to do – create enjoyable and free Internet radio shows!

WCJM Internet Radio is a free comedy radio station with ten years of skits, themed radio shows, and wild entertainment all available on-demand. If you’re looking for the most hilarious radio station in the world…look somewhere else…and then come back for some other great free Internet radio from WCJM!