Welcome back to another edition of the Laptop Sessions!
One of my favorite Tom Petty albums is the little-known 1999 album Echo. I found it used in an FYE about a year ago, and although it may not be his best album ever, it immediately grew on me. There are some really great tracks on it (out of 15 tracks, you’d hope so!), including the title track that I’m playing here. It took me a bit of practice to be comfortable playing this song without a cheat sheet in front of me — certainly not for the chords, but for the words, which change every chorus. In the end, it was a lot of fun, and I’ve been playing it pretty much every day since I recorded it.
Some day, I might get up the “balls” (as Tom Petty might sing) to play “Rhino Skin,” one of the best tracks on the album. Take a listen to it some time, and maybe you’ll see why I’m not quite there yet… 🙂
Don’t forget to check out more great Laptop Sessions from Jeff and Jim- and then [insert: Arnold Schwarzenegger voice] I’ll be back!
Thanks again to Jeff for coming up with “Original Wednesday”, as I think it’s a great way to work some of our own material in here!
Today, I’m doing one of my songs from an album I made back in late 2003 called “That’s All…”. I couldn’t stop listening to this song (yes, I listen to my own music quite a bit- I think I should be making music I actually like listening to!) so I decided to make it my first non-Christmas original here on the Laptop Sessions.
I like the way the verse isn’t very “standard”. I don’t exactly know what prompted my creation of it, but it’s always stuck out as both unique and meaningful.
Problem is that I don’t really remember the meaning, either! Actually, I can take a pretty educated guess: Basically, the song says, “I gave you everything. You could’ve had anything. But when I ask for a little something in return, you tell me I’m greedy and hold it against me.”
I must’ve felt this way, as most people do in a relationship at one time or another. I think it made for great song material!
Well, as they say, a Laptop Session a day keeps the doctor away! They don’t? Well, anyway, here’s your daily dose of great music from Jim, Chris, and Jeff!
Hello all, and welcome to yet another Laptop Session! Tonight’s session is a classic tune made famous by the one and only Ricky Nelson.
I’ve always loved this song, but recently, it’s become a bit of an obsession.
I’ve always wanted to be a Ricky Nelson type, but my brother has always dubbed himself the “Self-Proclaimed Teen Heartthrob”. But I think this song is fitted to me and my singing style, plus I got Chris to help me out and let me play the guitar solo (which, I do have to admit, is pretty spot-on).
I’ll be doing other Rick Nelson songs in the future, so any requests are very welcome!
Back into my favorite domain: the obscure Beach Boys cover songs! Today’s song is by request, and I’ll tell you, it wasn’t easy.
I always loved the acoustic guitar part in “Busy Doin’ Nothing”, especially because there’s not too many acoustic-guitar driven Brian Wilson songs.
But, this song uses some crazy chords, including some that 99.9% of rock songs never use- kind of like old jazz chords.
Needless to say, I learned all these new chords and practiced it over and over again for this cover song music video. That same night, I made this recording. It was actually pretty easy because I knew the words completely by heart (any Beach Boys songs I can sing in my sleep). That’s always the hardest part of the Laptop Sessions- learning the chords to a cover song is easy, but if you forget the order of the verses (see Jeff’s post yesterday), you’re stuck.
About this song: From the Friends album, this tune (I always thought) kind of shows the state of mind Brian Wilson was in during the late 60s. I think after the craziness of SMiLE, he wanted to be at home. This song describes a “day in the life”. Although, I still don’t know why Brian Wilson had a “pocket book”! Reminds me of that Seinfeld episode where Jerry had the pocket-book: “It’s European!” But seriously, “Busy Doin’ Nothing” doesn’t really sound like any other Beach Boys song. It has it’s own sound, from the acoustic guitars (that I mentioned earlier) to the flutes. It has the same bossa nova beat The Beach Boys were into during the Friends sessions, though. I think The Beach Boys were looking for a way to forge their own niche. After the SMiLE project broke down, the Beach Boys tried doing psychedelic music on “Smiley Smile”, but to me, it just didn’t work. I can imagine that they didn’t want to always follow in the (large) footsteps of the Beatles. At that time, they were working on the White Album and were going back to basics with their sound. The Beach Boys kind of did that in a way, but they also changed their style. It became more relaxed. Beach Boy music was always peppy and fast-paced under the tutelage of Murray Wilson, the Wilson brothers’ father. Under their own management, the Boys decided to take a more mellow approach. It didn’t gain them much commercial success for quite a while, but I do look back on this period of albums fondly.
This is a big shout-out to all the Blueboarders (fans of Brian Wilson’s message board on his official website) that always give me encouragement and always want more videos! I have so many great cover song music videos up my sleeve, I can’t wait to release them to the world! Enjoy tonight’s cover song video in the Beach Boys’ “Busy Doin’ Nothing” here on the Laptop Sessions acoustic cover songs music video blog!
NOTE: This video was remastered in 2020 for better video and audio quality.
Cover Songs & Original Music Videos By Laptop Sessions Songwriters
The Laptop Sessions music video blog is a great combination of acoustic cover songs and original music. This website features cover songs from many of rock music's greatest bands, including the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and Bob Dylan. The blog archives hundreds of acoustic cover videos, how-to videos, and articles about music.We only play the best cover songs from the best rock bands of all time.
Here at the Laptop Sessions, we don't just sit down and do a bunch of cover songs- we make them our own. Yes, each cover will sound like the original, but it will also have a new, fresh sound to it. One of our specialties is taking a song from say the eighties and stripping-away the production. Then, we're left with just the song- simple (and most times, much better). We then record an acoustic version of that song and put it on this music video blog for all music fans to watch.
But, Laptop Sessions Music Blog is much more than just videos. There are informative blog posts, including the chords and lyrics to your favorite songs, recording tips, and much more. Plus, you can buy Jim Fusco's original songs right here on the music blog!
Right from the start, the Laptop Sessions Acoustic Cover Songs & Music Video Blog set out to be different. We wanted to give the best music blog for the world to enjoy. We wanted to put an end to bad YouTube cover videos forever. We wanted to bring great rock music back to the forefront with our great cover songs and original music. And, we guarantee we'll keep it this way- free videos in the archive for your musical enjoyment. If you're looking for the best cover songs, the most exciting new music, and the most informative music articles, look no further than right here: home of the world-famous Laptop Sessions.
