“Brilliant Disguise” (Bruce Springsteen cover)

Posted on by
2

By Jim Fusco:

Welcome, welcome to another edition of Jim Fusco Tuesdays here on the Laptop Sessions acoustic cover songs music video blog!  Views have been increasing by leaps and bounds here on the blog, fueled by posts by Chris that were picked up by popular Bob Dylan sites in anticipation of his new album, “Together Through Life”.  I’ll be picking that album up in a couple weeks when it comes out, but for now, I hope you’ll consider tiding-yourself over with my brand-new album, released just one week ago, “Halfway There”.  I’m very proud of it and it’s been getting some great reviews.

Onto tonight’s music video- a cover version of Bruce Springsteen’s classic song, “Brilliant Disguise”.  This is a simple, yet great, tune that actually took me a few weeks to perfect.  The choruses are very similar each time, but have very important differences, so I had to practice when each one came in.

Funny story- when my brother Mike and I were growing up, we always thought he said, “Brick in disguise”.  Of course, it probably didn’t help that our father would always sing, “Brick in the sky”.  We were never quite sure whether he was messing up by accident or on purpose.  I think the general consensus is that he just loves messing with us! 🙂

I love the recorded version of “Brilliant Disguise”- that perfect clean sound that starts off with the drums and then comes in with just the right amount of synthesizer and guitar.  To me, this is what a great song should sound like.  I love the chorus, too- not only the tune, but the words.  That last time through the chorus, “You better look hard and look twice…” is so well-worded, it gets me every time.  And, it’s true- with many people at many times in our lives, we have to ask ourselves whether we’re seeing the really person or just a “brilliant disguise”.

It’s been a long week- we finally got away for a night in Providence, RI (went to the Providence Place mall and saw “Monsters vs. Aliens” in 3-D) and had a very nice time.  But, I had to do so much video work over the next three nights that it completely wiped-out any happiness I had built-up over that tiny vacation.  I can’t wait to go again.  Couple that with two incredibly busy and stressful days at work and you get, ‘All work and no play makes Jimmy a dull boy” syndrome.  Hopefully the second half of the week will be a bit better- I hear we’re getting nicer weather and that just gives me more of an excuse to school Chris for the um-teenth time in baseball.

Have a great night and I’ll see you in a week’s time.  Enjoy this Bruce Springsteen cover!

Jim Fusco reaches 250,000 YouTube Video Views!

Posted on by
Reply

Tonight, I just checked my YouTube stats and noticed that I am over 250,000 YouTube video views! This represents a combination of acoustic cover song music videos, how-to videos, and original songs.

I thank everyone for their support. At this rate, I’m on par to reach 500,000 total views by the end of the year- that’s doubling my current total, which took me sixteen months to originally get! Now, I’m looking to double my views in only eight months. And, if our past data shows us anything, it’s that the Laptop Sessions acoustic songs music videos only seem to gain in popularity day after day.

So, here’s to the first quarter-million (wow, that sounds good) and on to the next! It is a life goal to get to 1,000,000 views on YouTube- many people have views in the thousands, tens of thousands, and even hundreds of thousands, but it’s a very small percentage that can get to a million and that’s exactly what I’d expect from myself and the Laptop Sessions over the coming months.

Thanks to all viewers and keep watching!

~Jim

“Our Love Doesn’t Translate” (Jim Fusco Original Song)

Posted on by
1

By Jim Fusco:

Hello everyone- I know you were expecting a great acoustic cover song music video tonight, but instead, to commemorate my brand new album, “Halfway There”, I decided to record track two off of the album, “Our Love Doesn’t Translate”.

“Halfway There”, available at http://jimfusco.com, is an album I’m very proud of- I’m sure you’ll love it, and to prove it, you can hear the entire album online before you buy!

If I weren’t so tired tonight, I would tell you SO much about this song and this album.  My friend Alberto and I wrote this song while in Italy- we were so proud of it and we both knew we had a great song on our hands.  We were so excited to record this song when we got back- I finished it within a couple of weeks.  That was almost two full years ago- I’m so glad this album is finally finished and released!

Listen to the words of this song- they tell the whole story of a lost love and not being able to “connect” with that person.  It’s an exaggerated metaphor for this theory and I think you’ll get what we were talking about.

Okay- it’s been an incredibly long day and I need to gear up for another.  We had a great time tonight with a new friend from California- what a great way to kick-off the album release!

“Joe DiMaggio Done It Again” (Woody Guthrie, Billy Bragg, Wilco Cover) – OPENING DAY DOUBLE HEADER 2 of 2

Posted on by
Reply

For Woody Guthrie, Billy Bragg, & Wilco chords and lyrics, CLICK HERE!

By Chris Moore:

As promised, I’m up to the plate for the second time this evening, as I sonically celebrate New York Mets baseball opening day 2009!

For my next trick, I picked my familiar acoustic guitar up and learned a song from Mermaid Avenue, Volume II.  This album is comprised of songs whose lyrics were composed by Woody Guthrie, predominantly in the 1940s.  Then, in the mid to late 1990s, Billy Bragg and the boys of Wilco (Jeff Tweedy, John Stirratt, Jay Bennett, and Ken Coomer) teamed up to write music to the words.  The result was Mermaid Avenue.  The first album is, in my opinion, a masterpiece.  In both individual tracks and the sequence of songs as a whole, the first album is amazing.  There’s something about the production quality and the combination of vocals — alternating between Bragg’s deep clarity and Tweedy’s roughness — and instrumentation is masterful.

The second collaboration is essentially a compilation of tracks left off the first release.  As Bragg and Wilco had had a falling out, I can’t imagine that there was much in the way of actual collaboration on the second album.  This is evident, and it perhaps accounts for why I have never really gotten into the second album as much as the first.  Still, there are some standout tracks, such as “Airline to Heaven” and “Someday Some Morning Sometime.”

Admittedly, “Joe DiMaggio Done It Again” is not a song I would, under normal circumstances, choose to record for a Laptop Session.  (And it’s a bit of an anomaly, as the music is written by Bragg, yet Tweedy sings it — a good decision, in my personal opinion!)  That being said, I couldn’t think of a more perfect track for today.  Although Joe DiMaggio was a player for the Yankees (and I’m a Mets fan!), I think DiMaggio belongs to an era of baseball history that is timeless.  There are certain players — Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Ty Cobb, and others — that fans of all teams can appreciate.

It doesn’t hurt that the Mets won 2-1 over Cincinnati, led by the strong starting pitching of Johan Santana and a home run by Daniel Murphy to name a couple.  Even though I wasn’t home to watch the game, I was able to watch via live phone feed — um, I mean the internet connection to the Mets homepage on my iPhone.  As Mike texted today, “We’re back to iPhone scoreboard watching!”

As a final note, today is special for another reason…

It’s fellow Laptop Sessions contributor Mike Fusco’s birthday!  Here’s to the big 2-3, Fusc!  His birthday seems to come at the best time of the year for him — just as the weather is starting to turn warmer (not that you could tell from today’s weather!).  For those of you who don’t know, one of Mike’s favorite pastimes is going to the beach.  I was there this weekend, and let me tell you… it’s just about time!

Well, that’s about enough for one post.  I mean, two posts.  🙂  Have a great week and don’t forget to stop back regularly this week for more all-new cover song music videos and posts; the second installment of my “Together Through Life” article is coming this weekend…

See you next session!