Hello all! Here’s another song for the Laptop Sessions! This one is by request for an early Beach Boys tune called “Farmer’s Daughter”. It’s a pretty cute little song (only four chords!) made exponentially harder because of the fact that it’s ALL sung in falsetto! But, as Brian Wilson was about when he recorded this, I’m in my early 20s, so I think I hit the notes! I, for one, love the songs from the very early Beach Boys albums. It was definitely a different time. It was before the Beatles made it big in America and there was an innocence to the music. Of course, that’s why I love the music I love- I try not to listen to too many depressing songs. For instance, I was starting to get in to Elliot Smith’s music. But, as anyone who has heard of Elliot Smith knows, his songs are almost always dark and with an overtone of suicidal thoughts. Elliot was a great musician and songwriter. But, I could never become a huge fan because of the songs’ subject matter. Listing to music has always been a source of joy for me, so I’ve decided to stay in my happy pre-Vietnam music world, smiling all the way. 🙂
Although, I will admit, “Farmer’s Daughter” is a bit too “vanilla”, even for me. But, Brian Wilson sings it so sweetly and it works. In fact, many of the songs from their early albums are a bit embarrassing to listen to now. Remember “Chug a Lug”? Probably not- it’s not that memorable. But, basically, it’s about drinking beer…root beer! I’ve played that song for people over the years and it’s embarrassing every time I do. But for some reason, I really like that song. It’s just a song a bunch of teenage friends, brothers, and cousins wrote and sang together for fun. And their voices are so “cute” that you can’t help but smile while singing.
Speaking of SMiLE, I wonder if these early songs gave Brian Wilson some influence over his most notable work. He wanted SMiLE to be something fun- something that was brilliant, but also made you not take the music so seriously. He always seemed stuck in a child-like state. I wonder if he looked back on these early songs and thought, “Yeah, I’d like to get back to that fun again. How do I do that while still sounding cool, complex, and relevant?”
One other album I love so much (which you’ll see plenty of videos from here on the music blog) is the Beach Boys Christmas Album from 1964. It’s one of my absolute favorite albums of all time. Why? Well, it fits all the criteria I listed above! It’s great music with the wonderful innocence and happiness of Christmas built right in. Nothing puts a bigger smile on my face (musically) than their Christmas songs.
So, in the middle of the second biggest, busiest weekend of my semester, I decided to record a Laptop Session. A couple years ago, this would have been no surprise, but it’s been a long time since the “session-a-day” workaholic’s regime ruled this blog.
July 26th.
That’s the date I posted my last acoustic cover song music video. I’ve recorded performances of original songs since then, but it’s been since before the premiere of Steven Page’s “Indecision” that I posted a true Laptop Session.
Back in July, I had based my cover on an acoustic performance by Page that a fan had posted on YouTube. That pretty much sums up my working philosophy concerning covers: I’m not on a schedule so much as I’m waiting for the interest to strike. Of course, I keep plenty busy in between writing music reviews and publishing playlists, as well as facilitating the Guest Sessions division of the blog, and I’m happier about my work here than I’ve been in a long time.
Still, there was an appeal to those days when cover songs were the sole focus of our efforts, and we were excited about expanding our repertoires at a breakneck pace.
That being said, I’ve learned fairly recently that the past is a nice place to think about and even visit, but I wouldn’t want to stay.
Today’s session is born out of how pleasantly surprised I was to find how much I like the Goo Goo Dolls’ early nineties work. I’ve been a fan of the band since I first heard “Iris” on the KISS 95.7 morning radio show in early 1998. I remember saving up my allowance so I could pick up the song the next time my parents took us out to the mall. This being before I understood and appreciated albums, I picked up the first CD I could find with “Iris”: the City of Angels soundtrack. (If I remember correctly, Dizzy Up the Girl hadn’t been released yet.) This wasn’t a complete loss, as this is the disc that introduced me to other great songs like Jimi Hendrix’s “Red House,” Eric Clapton’s “Further On Up the Road,” and one of the few U2 songs I truly love, “If God Will Send His Angels.”
Needless to say, I fell even more in love with “Slide” when that was released as the follow-up single. Looking back, I took this time period entirely for granted: excellent rock bands like the Goo Goo Dolls were on the radio all the time and their music videos were being played — sometimes at full length (gasp!) — on MTV. To this day, I can’t listen to “Iris” without imagining clips from the video, like in the tower or under the over pass.
At the end of the day, though, I’ve always felt Dizzy Up the Girl to be an okay album and not much more. There are some outstanding songs — “Broadway” became and remains my favorite song from the album and “Acoustic #3” is utterly, heartbreakingly beautiful — but there are also a handful of “okay’s” and throwaways. Compared to other albums I was listening to at the time — BnL’s Stunt and Matchbox20’s Yourself or Someone Like You — Dizzy Up the Girl took a back burner, and I never bought a follow-up album. By the time I was old enough to know about and be interested in back catalogs, I had left the Goo Goo Dolls behind.
Fast forward to 2010. Something For the Rest of Us is released, and interestingly, my review of Dizzy Up the Girl could be duplicated here, with only the specific song titles needing to be changed. (For the record, “Still Your Song” is in the running for my favorite GGD song and there are others, like “Sweetest Lie,” that I love.) My friend Mike kept singing the praises of this new album, so I gave it another chance (thus falling in love with the aforementioned songs that I hadn’t paid more than one listen), but the result still falls flat in comparison with his enthusiasm.
Then, Mike, my girlfriend Nicole, and I saw the Goo Goo Dolls in concert.
Several songs into the setlist, something clicked. I finally “get” the Goo Goo Dolls. Unlike Third Eye Blind (another late nineties favorite of mine that promptly faded from my radar when I “got” them and consequently got bored), the Goo Goo Dolls have such depth and energy that I had partially forgotten and partially missed. So, I set out to find albums from their back catalog. The first two I’ve been able to find are 1995’s A Boy Named Goo (discussion of which I will reserve for a future post) and 1990’s Hold Me Up. The latter is such a boneheaded album filled with boneheaded little rock songs like “Laughing,” but I loved it instantly. Almost immediately, I began singing a quieter version of “Laughing” to myself, eventually figured out the chords, and have played it now and then over the past week. Finally, I got the urge to record it today and voila!
It should be noted that I’m rusty and the consequences are as follows: I didn’t comb my hair, I didn’t think to hook up my new USB microphone that I’ve been using to mic sessions for my new album, and I absentmindedly dragged over the nearest item that would hold my cheat sheet at the proper level. The results? I look disheveled, it’s harder to hear me than it should be, and I smelled the vague whiff of cat poop throughout my two takes (turns out the aforementioned item is the cat’s poop bin, moved into the spare room while the bathroom is being worked on).
So, without further ado — and there’s been much ado, many parentheticals, and a slew of sidebars — I bring you my first authentic Laptop Session in over four months. My acoustic arrangement is certain to drum up a compliment or two and a much greater number of grammatically nonsensical rants about my talent (or lack thereof) and sexual orientation, but that’s the only way to know I’m back on the blog!
Welcome to your wonderful Monday edition of The Laptop Sessions!
Wait, did I use the words “wonderful” and “Monday” in the same sentence? Why, yes I did!
I woke up this morning to the awesome news of there being a 90 minute delay to the start of my school day. Always good news to wake up too. Then, all I had to do today was finish one lesson I started Thursday, and give a quiz to two classes (one of which was very adamant in not taking the quiz today, despite the multiple times I mentioned to them Thursday that the quiz would take place on the next school day).
Well, despite that, I close out today with a great new band to add to our session library. It’s a band that has been around for almost 20 years now. The band is Oasis, and today’s song is possibly their most popular song called “Wonderwall”.
Here’s a song that i’ve known how to play for some time. One thing that always bugged me is a person I used to know (was a boyfriend of a family member) who also played a cover of this song, but repeated the verse chords throughout the whole song, and couldn’t realize the fact he was doing it wrong! Ugh, it was hard sitting through that.
So i’m glad I can provide you with a solid version of the song tonight. It’s one of my better videos, despite my forgetting the 4th and 5th words of the final chorus. Oops.
But regardless, it’s here for you and I hope you enjoy it. I’ll be back for your holiday edition of The Laptop Sessions (my first one of the year ironically) on Thursday. Each of us has 3 videos to go for the year!
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 origianal 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 a brand-new week of cover song music videos here at your source for the best of the best — the Laptop Sessions!
But, as much as we like to brag, we really are trying every day to fill this site with a ridiculous number of cover song material — our daily video posts, chords/tabs to your favorite songs, and much more. We even sneak in a Fusco, Moore, and/or Copperthite original every Wednesday or so…
For today, I’m skimming off the top of the new music / new album current events pool. Tomorrow is the official US release date of Bruce Springsteen’s 16th studio album. It’s been less than two years since number 15, so this is exciting news! I think his previous album, Magic, was one of the best albums of 2007 and certainly my favorite Springsteen album to date. Now, to be fair, I’ve only listened to his more recent albums, so I reserve my right to change my mind sometime down the line…
But, back to the present. His new album, Working on a Dream, is coming out amidst a whole lot of Springsteen mania. For one, there’s his upcoming appearance during the half time show of Super Bowl XLIII on February 1, 2009. Following in the footsteps of such classic acts as Tom Petty and the Rolling Stones (who were also called out ostensibly to prevent any potential wardrobe malfunctions that may befall a younger, female act!), Springsteen’s album sales are expected to rise directly following the show. This is opportune timing, then. Also, two months ago, he released a greatest hits album exclusively at Wal-Mart. Now, I must admit that I was aggravated when I heard this in the news. After all, Springsteen is famous and much-respected for his disavowal of corporate sponsorships or endorsements.
Then, as I read some more of the article about this, I realized that it makes perfect sense. First of all, there’s the statistic that (reportedly) 15% of his recent CD sales have come from Wal-Mart. Also, there’s the whole Super Bowl business. I have to admit I can’t blame him and/or his people for pushing a greatest hits out now. I’m typically disgusted by these sorts of 12-track, almost-all-repeat-tracks-from-his-previous-greatest-hits sorts of releases. And yet, this is what people will be looking for! So, as Ben Folds might sing — “You’ve got to give the people what they want!”
Also, the disc is only $9.99, and it’s a limited release item (not part of his official catalog).
I find this stuff fascinating…
But, to come back to tonight’s video, let me explain why I’ve recorded “The Wrestler.” This is the title track to the film starring Mickey Rourke that has gained the spotlight during various recent award shows. I have yet to see the film, but I had heard that this track would be a bonus song on the new album. Thus, I set out to learn it, loved it, and had to record it. For those of you listening to this song now for the first time, I hope you’ll like my version and want to hear the real one.
I can’t actually vouch for the new album, as I have yet to hear anything other than the song titles from the track listing. However, I am ecstatic for this, the first new music release of 2009 that I’m really excited for. I’ll be out during lunchtime tomorrow or as soon as I get out of work to get it. And, who knows, I may just push myself to write a review tomorrow night.
Crazy? I know, but that’s what this whole Laptop Sessions thang is all about!
Oh, and before I forget, don’t miss the chords that I just posted a few hours ago here on the site. Now you can listen AND learn to play the song yourself!
Okay, I’m off to snuggle up with a couple of my dearest friends — one, the Fusco-Moore Experience copy of the latest Rolling Stone (complete with Bruce Springsteen, aka The Boss, on the cover — predictable? I know, but I couldn’t care less!) and my stack of midterm exams that are ripe for the grading…
