Tag Archives: acoustic cover

“And I Love Her” (Beatles Cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Here on this edition of The Laptop Sessions acoustic cover songs music video blog is a version I’m really proud of. My roommate and I did this version of the classic Beatles song “And I Love Her”. I think having two people perform the song (even though there’s only one vocal) really helps because it allowed me to play the solo and the little guitar riff at the beginning and end.

You know, I think “And I Love Her” would’ve been the perfect song to do on my “gut-string” (nylon, basically) guitar.  But, there’s no way the sound of the solo would’ve risen above the steel-string guitar we used for the rhythm part.  So, I was forced to use my steel-string acoustic guitar, as well.

One interesting aspect of “And I Love Her” is the key change in the middle.  It’s almost indiscernible because the key change happens during the guitar solo.  That made the second half of the song harder to play, of course.  I noticed this same phenomenon in the Beach Boys’ #1 Hit, “I Get Around”.  The same exact thing happens- the key changes in the song as soon as the guitar solo starts.  The only difference?  “And I Love Her” actually goes back to the original key at the end!  Now, that’s a good piece of songwriting there.

I love this Beatles song, it’s fun to sing, and really shows how great the Beatles were, even at the beginning of their popularity.  I know there are a lot of people that prefer the later Beatles work over their early stuff.  But for me, the early Beatles music was something magical.  These guys knew, from a very young age, exactly how to write a hit song.  And, even for songs that weren’t necessarily hits, like “And I Love Her”, they were able to write an impressive tune that was as good (or better) than anything else at the time.  In the Beach Boys, you had Brian Wilson writing all of the songs (Mike Love helped with lyrics, of course) for the first five or six years.  It was only later in 1968 that the rest of the band members (especially Dennis Wilson) started contributing and showing their own genius as songwriters.  But with the Beatles, you had both Paul McCartney and John Lennon at the top of their game right from Day One and that continued throughout the Beatles’ 8-year run.  It was only an added bonus to get classic songs by George Harrison and Ringo Starr in there.

One funny thing: In the Beatles, obviously Paul McCartney and John Lennon were the big-shots.  But, for me, post 1970, I prefer the solo music of George Harrison and Ringo Starr over almost anything that John and Paul did during their solo careers.  You know that old phrase, “The whole is greater than the sum of the parts”, right?  I think John and Paul were much better together than apart.  I think the same goes for the members of the Beach Boys, including Brian Wilson.

By the way, sorry I missed Original Wednesday this week- I’ll make sure to post TWO videos next Wednesday!  And stay tuned for more Beatles cover songs each and every week here on the Laptop Sessions acoustic cover songs music video blog!

“Never Comes the Day” (Moody Blues Cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Welcome to another edition of the Laptop Sessions!!

Anyway, this song, “Never Comes the Day”, is a Moody Blues tune from “On the Threshold of a Dream” that I absolutely love. Plus, it works great with two people. Justin Hayward (who wrote this song) has a great way of writing a nice, slow song…then busting out to a faster section of the song. Despite the fact that “Threshold” is one of my favorite Moodies albums, this tune always stood out to me because of the way Hayward sings the line, “If only you knew what’s inside of me now…”

I hope you enjoy my first duet here on the Laptop Sessions! Stay tuned for more and keep those requests coming!

“Somewhere Near Japan” (Beach Boys Cover)

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Okay, request time here at The Laptop Sessions! This one’s going out to Peter (aka thebeachboys on YouTube).

This is one of my favorites and I thought no one else really ever paid any attention to it. “Somewhere Near Japan”, written by Mike Love and Terry Melcher, is one of the only saving graces on the 1988 EP/album “Still Cruisin”.  Actually, I like the album a lot, but it’s not really a full album.  There are a few old Beach Boys songs tacked onto the end of the album because they were “featured” in movies out at the time.  And, you can pretty much throw away the Fat Boys’ version of “Wipeout” which featured Brian Wilson singing the backing vocals.  It’s nice to hear Brian in there, but honestly, why did that song end up on a Beach Boys album anyway?  You’ve also got “Kokomo”.  Love it or hate it, it’s one of the biggest songs they ever did.  So, the album had some notoriety behind it.  Songs like “Still Cruisin'” are just fun songs to me, and the Beach Boys even played that song during their 2012 tour!  Personally, I really like the songs “Make It Big” and “Island Girl”, especially because they feature Carl Wilson and Al Jardine, respectively.

Carl Wilson, Al Jardine, Mike Love, and Bruce Johnston are all featured on lead at some point on “Somewhere Near Japan” (ala “Add Some Music” from the Beach Boys’ 1970 classic album, Sunflower) and I think that always added to my enjoyment of the song.  I’ll admit it- when Terry Melcher and Mike Love wanted to write a good song, they really hit it on the nose.  Think of the classic song “Gethca Back” from the Beach Boys 1985 album.  Even a couple years after the Still Cruisin’ album on 1992’s “Summer In Paradise”, Melcher and Love wrote a few great songs.  Now THAT is an album that doesn’t get any respect.  I think songs like “Island Fever”, “Lahaina Aloha”, and “Strange Things Happen” are really great songs.

Tonight’s acoustic cover song music video is one of those “let’s hear how it sounds stripped-down” versions. The late-80s production might have turned some people off to this Beach Boys song, but I think the song stands up great on it own!   So, these 80s/90s Beach Boys songs may have cheesy lyrics now and again (and that 1992 drum machine is pretty bad).  But, that’s one of the reasons why I record cover song videos here on the music blog.  I’d like to think that I’m pretty good at spotting a good song, even if it’s hidden underneath terrible production and synth instruments.  And, with that ability, I strip all of that stuff away to give you an acoustic-guitar-driven version.  I hope these videos open people to songs they otherwise wouldn’t listen to.

I hope you enjoy tonight’s cover video, and keep those requests coming! I’m doing a new music video every two days this year. If you request something, please be patient, but we’re always here to please at The Laptop Sessions acoustic cover songs music video blog!

“Home” (New Indie Music – Cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

This edition of the Laptop Sessions is the first installment of what we like to call “Original Wednesday”, where we pick an original tune from someone in the Fusco-Moore Productions galaxy and play it for our Laptop Sessions video podcast series!

This Wednesday edition, I’m playing a Jeff Copperthite song called “Home”, which is for his EP “Greenlight”.

I love this song and so does my mother. It’s a very sincere song and I just can’t get that ending tag out of my head. Even as I write this, I’m trying not to think of it so I won’t get it stuck in there again. I’m desperately holding on to Jeff’s Laptop Session of the Wallflower’s “God Says Nothing Back”.

Anyway, this is a cool song, and just as any musician feels when he hears a cool new song, I wondered how it would sound if I gave it the Jim Fusco treatment! So, I hope you enjoy and I hope the video does Jeff proud. Go check out Jeff’s version of my song, “Harmony”, too!! It’s sure to please.