By Jeff:
Welcome to Thumpin’ Thursday – another busy day in the life of Jeff.
But thankfully that busy-ness includes the posting of another video.
Today’s song is by the obscure band “Dishwalla”, and I shall be throwing my two cents into the ring from some obscure songs that I have lined up.
They’re only known by true fans as well, and this one fits that description.
The song is called “Bridge Song” and it’s from their album “And you think you know what life’s about”. This album is not as well known, and did not sell nearly the same amount of copies as “Pet Your Friends” did.
This cover has more of a personal touch to it because I did not stick to the same structure that exists in the recording. Again, you’d have to know the song to know what I did differently.
I’m also experimenting with slightly different camera angles. This is because I continue to receive comments about my voice being “boomy” in the condenser microphone in the camera. So i’m trying to sing off to the side to see if that helps things. Tonight I did have graduation so I was a bit tired. I wouldn’t say this is my best performance by any means.
But still, please enjoy the song. I’ll be back next week for another tune from the depths of obscurity!
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 original 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!
Hello and welcome to my first traditional “video and a post” Laptop Session in weeks! For the past few posts, I’ve opted to write reviews, but now its back to Beatles cover songs for me! This was actually a lot of fun, but I don’t get to write as directly and personally as I do in a post like this one. Thus, I’m back with a guitar, recording my first cover song music video since “God’s Gonna Cut You Down.” Let’s just say it’s good to be “back”!
You’ve probably already noticed that the Laptop Sessions main page has suddenly been filled with “chords & lyrics” posts. Let me start by explaining these four new additions to the blog.
First, the Beatles chords (for “You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away”) are obviously meant to accompany this post. If you enjoy it, then by all means, jump in and start playing it yourself. Actually, you might want to read the rest of my post before you break out your axe…
So, why the added chords and lyrics?
Well, I’ve been itching to record a cover version of a track from the new Pearl Jam album Backspacer ever since I started listening to it last Sunday. Specifically, there are two largely acoustic tracks that are very easily translatable into acoustic music videos — namely, “Just Breathe” and “The End.” The first single, “The Fixer,” is more of a full-band, harder rock affair, but its structure is fairly simple and it is truly a great deal of fun to sing. I’m still deciding which song to record for my session (anyone care to hazard a guess before next week?).
Now, normally I would wait until next Monday to post the chords, but I’ve been learning/practicing all three and going out of my mind attempting to comprehend how anyone could post the chords and lyrics without having even the slightest idea as to what the correct words are. This, in fact, is one of the most profoundly aggravating aspects of the decline of CD’s, at least in my mind — people who download digitally do not necessarily get a booklet, and even if they do, do not necessarily take the time to read the liner notes and lyrics. Has music really become that abundant and easily accessible that we couldn’t care less what the singer is actually saying, or what the album as a whole is actually about? This is the feeling I get when I surf the web for chords and lyrics.
This is also why I enjoy spending time in CD stores like Newbury Comics or — as I visited today — Exile on Main Street. It’s a good feeling to see albums that you had forgotten about, never actually seen in person, or perhaps never even heard of before. I left today with my hands covered in a thin layer of dust, having purchased an album that had collected a considerable amount of that aforementioned dust — the Charlie Sexton Sextet’s Under the Wishing Tree. (Sexton played with Dylan for a few years, left the band a while back, and just recently rejoined — he was perhaps my favorite guitarist that I’ve seen in Dylan’s band, so I had to check it out. More to come after I’ve listened more closely to the album…)
After all this posting, I suppose I should actually take a few moments to address the video you’re about to watch…
Following Jeff’s excellent rendition of “Yesterday” last Thumpin’ Thursday, I decided I couldn’t let the Beatles marathon slip away on my watch. I had been planning to record a Pearl Jam song (as I mentioned earlier), so I opted instead to record a Beatles song that had been sung by Eddie Vedder in a cover version a few years back. “You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away” is the third track from the Beatles’ excellent 1965 album Help! — Nicole’s favorite Beatles album. Thankfully, I was able to borrow her copy of the 2009 remastered version of Help! and ensure that I was more than prepared to record this great song.
The video that follows is a perfect example of what seems like a short, simple song but is in actuality a little gem. To me, this song exemplifies how the Beatles really aren’t overrated — even with a simple verse-verse-chorus-repeat-fade song, Lennon and McCartney had to throw in some interesting chords and variations. It’s not simply G or C that you’re hearing — instead, my underworked and not-so-dexterous pinky finger was called into play to make the song sound entirely accurate. Even as I type, my hand is still recovering from the workout! Overall, I’m very pleased with how the recording came out, even if my lips ended up a bit dry and thus led to a few flubs during my “vocal flute” solo at the outro. I hope you can forgive the slight inaccuracies and enjoy this great Lennon/McCartney classic!
Oh, as a quick “P.S.,” I should mention that my review of the 2009 remaster of Let It Be really will be coming eventually. My internet was a bit screwy last week and I lost all my progress, so I put it aside temporarily.
It’s been a great Yom Kippur (see my Twitter posts above), and although it’s back to school for me tomorrow, I still have another surprise up my sleeve for later this week. That is, if my internet connection can hold steady…
F
Tell me now, tell me true:
F Gm
Of all the things I did to you, was this the one
Gm F
That made you break?
F Gm F
Did I make my last mistake?
Only you can play the game,
Rope-a-dope and lay the blame.
Can’t you see my body shake?
‘Cause I made my last mistake…
Dm
I was out of line before,
Am Gm C
But this is so much more I know.
Dm
I don’t wanna be the king
Am Gm
Of every single living thing, just you.
Gm C
And you can be my queen mama…
Instrumental: F
Separate towns, separate hearts;
Distant love from distant parts.
Every man plays the snake,
Bound to make his last mistake…
Solo over BRIDGE
Outro: F (X4) – F7
** 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. **
Part 4 of this four part Laptop Sessions extravaganza comes to you with another Christmas song!
This classic tune by Bobby Helms has been covered by almost every artist since the song came out. But, I figured the Laptop Sessions could use a jolt of a song everyone knows and can sing to. But, you rarely hear an acoustic cover version of “Jingle Bell Rock”, though. Most of the time, you’ll hear a country artist sing it or someone will try to turn it into a slow, crooning song. Not me, though- I stay pretty true to the original song. But, who says that you can’t rock out on acoustic guitar? Of course, I’m using my nylon-stringed (or “gut” stringed) classical guitar that I bought while on vacation in Italy with one of my dearest friends. I don’t think many people would associate a classical guitar with “Jingle Bell Rock”, but I like to make my acoustic cover videos have an intimate setting. It allows me to sing at a nicer volume without having to worry about getting drowned out by my steel-stringed acoustic guitar.
As far as Christmas songs go, you can’t get more popular than “Jingle Bell Rock”. Sure, some Christmas songs may be AS popular as this classic Bobby Helms tune, but this song is instantly recognizable. Well, that’s kind of a given, seeing that you’ll probably hear it about a hundred times each Christmas. A few years back, my free internet radio station, WCJM Internet Radio, did a Christmas show where we wanted to find out what the best original Christmas song was. I chose the term “original song” because so many classic standards like Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and Santa Claus Is Coming To Town are simply untouchable. We at WCJM Internet Radio wanted to find out which Christmas song other than those standards was the best. And, whatever song won would be “retired” as a classic itself. Well, “Jingle Bell Rock” was very close to the top of the list. Oh, you didn’t think I would just give the list of the Best Original Christmas Songs away here on the music blog, right? You’re going to have to head over to WCJM Radio by clicking here to find out for yourself! Remember, all WCJM Internet Radio programs are absolutely free to listen to online. They’re hilarious and I know you’ll become an instant fan.
So, sit back and sing along to this Bobby Helms Christmas cover song music video- it’s another step on my journey to make your holiday season great!
