Tag Archives: acoustic

“God’s Gonna Cut You Down” (Johnny Cash acoustic folk song)

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For Johnny Cash chords & lyrics, CLICK HERE!

By Chris Moore:

As the Mamas and the Papas would say: “Monday, Monday!”

Welcome to the first acoustic cover song music video of a brand new week here at the Laptop Sessions.  Tonight, I’m bringing you my second cover from Johnny Cash’s first posthumous release, American Recordings V: A Hundred Highways.  Yes, that’s right…  I specified “first” posthumous release, because I just read that American VI is scheduled for release later this year.  Apparently, Cash was working on V up until he passed away.  I was under the impression that V was a collection of material that was still unreleased, but that’s more along the lines of what VI will be.  Even so, I am very excited to hear this final collection when it is released.

What brought on this sudden return to Johnny Cash’s recent work, you might ask?  Well, I found the first American Recordings CD on sale at Newbury’s last week and decided to pick it up.  Truly good new albums have been far and few between this summer, with the exception of the Fruit Bats’ The Ruminant Band earlier this month — a very pleasant surprise to say the least!

I’ve been enjoying American Recordings thus far; it clearly displayed a lot of potential, which was explored on the four — and soon to be five — subsequent editions of the series.  The only one I have yet to hear is American Recordings II, which includes the classic “I’ve Been Everywhere,” which Jim worked into my version of “Folsom Prison Blues” way back when for my second Laptop Session cover song video ever.

The song I chose for tonight is “God’s Gonna Cut You Down,” one of my favorites from American Recordings V.  It is a traditional song that Cash truly made his own, a song that has the ability to be simultaneously catchy/rockin’, and yet haunting/foreboding.  I had a fun time playing and practicing it the past few days, and I hope you’ll enjoy watching it.  As I mentioned earlier, this is the second song I’ve covered from this album, if you count Johnny Cash’s cover of Gordon Lightfoot’s “If You Could Read My Mind,” one of the most beautiful songs ever written.

In other music news, I spent some time tonight reading about R.E.M.’s forthcoming double-CD live album that will include 39 tracks culled from their 2007 shows at the Olympia.  To be more specific, they played five shows in a row as they tried out new material for their 2008 album Accelerate.  In addition, they also played their hits and deep tracks.  I’ve wanted to hear these performances since I heard their new album, and I’m truly thrilled to hear this concert when it comes out in a couple months.  If you’re an R.E.M. fan, too, you should check out the videos for the two songs — the excellent “Living Well is the Best Revenge,” for which I recorded a Laptop Session, and Automatic for the People opening track “Drive — that have debuted on RollingStone.com.

And if you’re someone who has lost interest in Michael Stipe and company since they went through what can only be called a boring streak recently, then you need to give Accelerate a shot.  You won’t be disappointed.

I’ll leave you with one final, music-related note.  I added to Paste Magazine‘s trending topic on Twitter.com about the best albums of the 00’s, and shortly thereafter learned that I am the only person in the universe to have ever tweeted about the Wallflowers’ Red Letter Days, much less mention the album as one of the best during the decade.

I know; it’s quite the distinction…

See you next session!

“Trouble” by Pink – Chords, Lyrics, & How to Play

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To see how it’s played in a cover song music video, CLICK HERE!

“Trouble”
Pink

G                                      D
No attorneys to plead my case,
C                                G
No orbits to send me into outer space.
And my fingers are bejeweled
With diamonds and gold, but that ain’t gonna help me now.

G            C          G           C
I’m trouble, yeah trouble now;
G               C              D           C
I’m trouble ya’ll — I disturb my town.
I’m trouble, yeah trouble now;
I’m trouble ya’ll — I got trouble in my town.

You think you’re right, but you were wrong.
You tried to take me, but I knew all along.
You can take me for a ride,
But I’m not a fool out, so you better run and hide.

CHORUS

Bm                 Em       Am          D         C
If you see me coming down the street, then you
Bm          Em      Am               D                        C                                 G
Know it’s time to go (and you know it’s time to go ’cause here comes trouble)…

SOLO

No attorneys to plead my case,
No orbits to send me into outer space.
And my fingers are bejeweled
With diamonds and gold, but that ain’t gonna help me now.

You think you’re right, but you were wrong.
You tried to take me, but I knew all along.
You can take me for a ride,
But I’m not a fool out, so you better run and hide.

CHORUS

If you see me coming down the street, then you
Know it’s time to go (and you know it’s time to go ’cause here comes trouble)…

CHORUS (repeat)

** These chords and lyrics are interpretations and transcriptions, respectively, and are the sole property of the copyright holder(s). They are posted on this website free of charge for no profit for the purpose of study and commentary, as allowed for under the “fair use” provision of U.S. copyright law, and should only be used for such personal and/or academic work. **

“Modern Guilt” (Beck Cover)

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By Chris Moore:

Hello and welcome to yet another quality edition of the Laptop Sessions music blog, dedicated to bringing you the best cover songs on the web today!

Today’s acoustic cover is Beck’s “Modern Guilt” off his 2008 album of the same name. I have to admit that I wasn’t sure how I would like the album, which came highly recommended from one of my students. But, being in an experimental mood and curious to try it out, I went out and picked it up. Beck works with Danger Mouse on this CD, and it is the latter’s drum beats that really propel the album as a whole. I’m usually not a fan of artificial drum sounds, but I think that they really work for some of these songs. In fact, the reason why I think I’m okay with the drum sounds is that they sounded so much like real drums to me until I read the liner notes in the booklet. Now, granted, I’m not the best judge of sounds in albums, so it may be really obvious that these are fake drums…

For my tastes, the first third of the album is good, the middle third is excellent, and the final section is okay. “Modern Guilt” is track four and the first of my three favorite songs (tracks 4-6). Probably the most enjoyable part of playing this as an acoustic cover song is its beat and how it is fun to play in a staccato fashion with the strumming. Another fun aspect of playing this song as an acoustic version was that I really learned the words — I’d have to say one of my biggest criticisms of the album is that it has great lyrics… that I have a really difficult time understanding. It’s not that I don’t understand the lyrics themselves; in fact, I really like what these songs are about and how he has worded them. But, whether through his singing or the way the album was mixed, I have a difficult time hearing what he is saying.

Well, that’s enough about new rock music for today. I’m going to echo Jim’s post from yesterday and urge you to keep checking back as Jim and I begin to post our collaborative videos; he, Becky, and I sat down last week and recorded several group sessions that are certain to impress.

For now, you can tide yourself over by tuning in tomorrow for another excellent, all-new acoustic rock cover song from our very own Jeff Copperthite…

See you next session!


“Socrates’ Gulps” (Chris Moore original)

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By Chris Moore:

Hello and welcome to the third installment of the 2010 Project preview series.  If you’ve been around the blog recently, you’ve seen the unveiling of both the opener “No Lights, No Sound” and the second track “I Would Prefer Not To.”

Now, on to track three…

“Socrates’ Gulps” is a fairly recent song, one that knocked the older “No More” down to the fourth slot.  It features one of my more ambitious vocals in the chorus, which guaranteed its place in the third slot.  I won’t say much about it, other than to note that it is the song I plan on recording tomorrow and/or Saturday.  For once, I’ll have the song speak for itself.

Outside of tonight’s video, I’d like to emphasize that I haven’t forgotten about the Weekend Review.  In fact, I have the next six reviews lined up and ready to be written.  Finding time is the issue.  I did finish my class, which has freed up a lot of time, but I have been spending a lot of time hanging out with friends, reading books that I want to finish before the summer is out, and kicking off recording sessions for my first album in four years, The 2010 Project.

In other words, I’ve been enjoying the latter half of my summer break!

But stay tuned here, as I’ve pledged to post 52 of my 2010 music reviews here at the Laptop Sessions, and I am confident that I will be able to do so.  (As for my Bob Dylan review-writing goal, I’ve shifted that to included his sixties releases only…)

As a final note, be sure to glance behind me in the video tonight and check out the Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin lithograph that has covered up my previous Dead Weather Sea of Cowards poster.  I mention this, first, to give Wilson’s new album a shout-out (it just may end up being the seventh review on my list), and second, to re-iterate how much I love Newbury Comics, whose coupon brought the album price down to a reasonable $9.99 and included the poster for free.

At that, I’ll leave you to this Original Wednesday video and turn my attention back to the increasingly depressing Mets game, currently in the bottom of the twelfth inning.  With any “luck,” Ollie Perez is getting warmed up.  I mean, his role is as the twelfth inning specialist, isn’t it?

See you next session!