Tag Archives: acoustic

“The New Year” (Death Cab for Cutie Cover)

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For Death Cab for Cutie chords & lyrics, CLICK HERE!

By Chris Moore:

Hello and welcome to the first all-new Laptop Session of 2010!  It is my pleasure to kick off another great year here for the best cover song music video blog on the Internet today.  This past year has indeed been a year of changes, of many comings and goings for most of us here, and now we’re setting out to make this the best year yet. 

There’s a lot to live up to, given the past two years  and more of contributions.

Still, I think we’re up to it.

What can you expect?  Well, for now, you can expect a Chris Moore Monday and a Jim Fusco Tuesday each week.  Although Thumpin’ Thursday is no longer regularly filled, you never know when Jeff will get the itch again…  As for Guest Sessions Friday, it is my sincere hope that recent regular Jeremy Hammond will continue to send me links.  In fact, he’d already sent me the link to his video for that Friday’s post, and I can tell you that it’s a song that I remember fondly.  I first heard it on one of my dad’s “hits of the seventies” cassette tapes.  (Remember those?  They were THE media before CDs…)  From what little I know of him through our email conversations, Jeremy seems like a really interesting guy with some great ideas for cover songs to record.  Finally, as for Saturday and Sunday, there will be one edition of “The Weekend Review” each week.  On top of all that, you have the “From the Music Blog Archives” feature to look forward to each and every time you visit the site; we’ve gotten to the point where there are so many posts available to draw from that many are ones that I read as though for the first time…

If you haven’t already, I hope you’ll check out my “50 Best Rock Albums of the Decade, 2000-2009” list and liner notes, posted over the past several days.  Now, my next project is to finish off my “Best of 2009” lists.

First, though, I need to take a breather!

Today was the first day back to school, and what a relaxing start it was, due mostly to the 90 minute delay we had.  I didn’t sleep in, but I did get a lot of grading done.  When I finish this post, I’ll be returning to that seemingly endless task until I’m off to a BK Lounge run with Mike and three hours of live TNA.  This feels in many ways like the biggest single show since my friends got me interested in professional wrestling a couple years ago, so I’m looking forward to it as a full three hours of relaxation before school gets back into full swing tomorrow.

Which brings me, at last, to the session of the night.  I’m bringing you my cover version of Death Cab for Cutie’s “The New Year,” which is the opening track to their strong Transatlanticism album.  I’ve already recorded one song from that release, “The Sound of Settling,” a while back, but I couldn’t think of any better song for the first post of the New Year, 2010. 

I hope you’ve had a relaxing and productive holiday, and that the promise of more Laptop Sessions and related posts gives you something to look forward to throughout 2010.

See you next session!

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“Here Comes Santa Claus” (Gene Autry Cover)

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For Gene Autry chords & lyrics, CLICK HERE!

By Chris Moore:

Hello and welcome to the final Monday edition of the Laptop Sessions before Christmas Day!  There’s been a lot of Christmas music being posted this month, and it’s hard to believe that this season is almost coming to a close.

Regardless, it’s an honor to kick off Christmas week here at the best cover song music video blog in the universe.

(And the most modest, too…)

“Here Comes Santa Claus” is a track from MoU’s expanded Christmas chord book.  It fits all the criteria for an enjoyable live song — easy to play, upbeat, instantly recognizable, and just plain fun.  There have been so many versions of this song recorded since Gene Autry’s original.  He himself re-recorded it not once, but twice.  In addition, Bing Crosby, Elvis Presley, and Bob Dylan have all recorded their own versions over the years.

In fact, in my favorite music/TV crossover of 2009, Dylan’s version was used as the opening song in the first few minutes of a Bones episode a couple weeks ago.  Of course, it faded out just as a bank robbery and a bombing were about to occur, but somehow I think Dylan must have enjoyed this macabre twist on the season for peace on earth and good will toward men.

That is, if he watches television.  I’m not entirely convinced he’s moved on from the radio…

It’s not only difficult to believe that Christmas will be this Friday, but that the new year is also just around the corner.  You should know that you had a special Guest Session to look forward to that Friday, with new sessions regular Jeremy Hammond bringing yet another all-new artist’s material to the blog.  It’ll be one of those “how have we not included a song from this guy” moments, I promise.  Being that it’s the end of the decade as well, there’s a lot to look forward to in the coming weeks.  To celebrate the decade’s best albums, The Weekend Review is in the middle of a Top Five Albums of the Decade, 2000-2009 countdown, with number 3 having been revealed yesterday in Ben Folds’ 2001 release Rockin’ the Suburbs.

On a side note, yesterday’s review brings me within one review of my twenty-six review commitment for the year, as suggested by Jim back in February of this year.  I hope he’ll be happy to hear that, in the spirit of continual progress, I committed to one review a week that year for a grand total of fifty-two!  Because I’ll be reviewing albums on a very regular basis, I’ll be able to really vary the type of reviews that I do.  For instance, I tend to review the albums I like most because I’ve always figured, why waste my time on the music I’m not crazy about?

Well, no more.

This will be a year of exercising my critical abilities as I review new 2010 releases, revisit the classic hits and infamous misses of the past, as well as continue my Deep Racks Report series (for which I already have five albums lined up — I’ve featured albums that begin with A, B, and C, so you maybe you can imagine where I’m going with this…). And I’ll be continuing the five star rating system I introduced a couple of weeks ago. While I’m still hesitant to comfortably box an album into a fraction like that, I really like the feel of the five star rating system.

In other end-of-the-year highlights, the Laptop Sessions will be featuring some great lists, including the Weekend Review’s take on the following:

“The Top Thirty Rock Albums of the Decade”

“The Top Ten Rock Albums of 2009”

“Yes, No, or Maybe So: One Sentence Reviews of 2009 Albums”

“The Top Ten Rock Songs of 2009”

“The Best Packaging of the Year”

“The Best Deluxe Edition Features of the Year”

As a final note, I would like to call on Jim and Jeff to share their thoughts for the best music of the decade.  We all have our overlapping areas of mutual appreciation, but we certainly have room for debate.  Considerable room, at times.

I know what my picks are for the best albums and songs of the decade, but I would love to be reminded or learn of Jim and Jeff’s picks.

With that, I’m done for tonight.  As I sign off, I wish a merry Christmas to all those out there eagerly awaiting a Christmas Eve service or the pitter-patter of eight tiny reindeer overhead.  As for me, I’m going back to the MoU 2006 Christmas Concert CD for a stroll down memory — and also Santa Claus — lane.

See you next session!

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“Here Comes Santa Claus” by Gene Autry & Oakley Haldeman – Chords, Tabs, and How to Play

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“Here Comes Santa Claus”
Gene Autry & Oakley Haldeman

F
Here comes Santa Claus!
Here comes Santa Claus,
C7
Right down Santa Claus Lane!
Vixen and Blitzen and all his reindeer are
F
pulling on the reins.
Bb                       F
Bells are ringing, children singing;
Gm7                  F
All is merry and bright.
Bb                                     D7
Hang your stockings, and say your prayers,
D7        C7                              F
‘Cause Santa Claus comes tonight.

Here comes Santa Claus!
Here comes Santa Claus,
Right down Santa Claus Lane!
He’s got a bag that is filled with toys for the
boys and girls again.
Hear those sleigh bells jingle jangle,
What a beautiful sight.
Jump in bed, cover up your head,
‘Cause Santa Claus comes tonight.

Here comes Santa Claus!
Here comes Santa Claus,
Right down Santa Claus Lane!
He doesn’t care if you’re rich or poor, for he
Loves you just the same.
Santa knows that we’re God’s children,
That makes everything right.
Fill your hearts with Christmas cheer,
‘Cause Santa Claus comes tonight.

Here comes Santa Claus!
Here comes Santa Claus,
Right down Santa Claus Lane!
He’ll come around when the chimes ring out; it’s
Christmas morn’ again.
Peace on Earth will come to all if
We just follow the light…
Let’s give thanks to the Lord above,
‘Cause Santa Claus comes tonight.

** 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. **

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“Back on the Train” (Phish Cover)

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By Jeremy Hammond:

My acoustic cover of “Back on the Train” by Phish, from the Farmhouse album. I intend to go back and overlay another track for the solos, but here’s the “single take” version with just rhythm and vocals.

** EDITOR’S NOTE: **

For Jeremy’s third Guest Session contribution, he has brought yet another new band to the Laptop Sessions cover song music video blog.  Somehow, Phish have slipped by these past couple years without ever being acknowledged by the Laptop Sessions crew.

No longer!

As per usual, this is a great video of an upbeat performance — Jeremy’s vocals are beautifully authentic to Trey Anastasio’s original lead.  And, of course, the chords sound quirky and, again, perfectly authentic to the Farmhouse track.  Farmhouse was their final record before they announced a hiatus, even if they have gone on to release new discs at a steady pace since then, including 2009’s most recent Phish album, Joy.

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