Tag Archives: acoustic

“If You Wanna” (Paul McCartney Cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Welcome, one and all, to the new and improved Laptop Sessions Cover Songs Music Blog!  If you’re a regular viewer, make sure to check out the homepage of guitarbucketlist.com and see our new features and new redesign.  It may not seem that different at first, but I think you’ll agree that it’s much easier to navigate, especially if you were a first-time viewer.  And, for a limited time, you can get a free mp3 download of my album, “What About Today?” by subscribing to the music blog!  That’s right- just enter your name and email address and we’ll send you new acoustic cover song music videos every week- cancel at any time, but keep the free mp3 download as our gift to you.  Sounds like an infomercial, doesn’t it? 🙂

Tonight’s video will also be the last one in HD (there may be a couple of instances where I can’t get the HD camera, though).  Today, after a scare, I got our new HD video camcorder!  It’s a Canon HV10 and man, what a good deal we got on it.  I found it on eBay in Canada and paid literally a third of the price for it.  It’s basically brand-new and came with a whole bunch of accessories and extra tapes.  But, don’t go thinking I went out and bought a camera just for this- I got it to finally play back our wedding videos (which were shot in HD) and edit them onto Blu-Ray.  I can’t wait to see how it came out!  Not too many people these days gettin’ married in HD.

I’m also posting this relatively early tonight in hopes that my music partner Steve will be able to see it before he goes to bed.

Tonight’s video is a slightly obscure one from Paul McCartney from his 1997 album, Flaming Pie.  What a great album.  Steve and I played for about a half hour extra last Thursday, just going through every song on that album.  I’ve written about my love for Flaming Pie in the past (click on the Paul McCartney category in the upper left on the sidebar to see my other posts), but this is actually good timing because I haven’t recorded a McCartney song for months.  Plus, I have Steve with me, playing his usual great guitar and singing the bridge with me.

“If You Wanna” is just a good driving song- when Paul McCartney got together with Steve Miller for a writing session, he promised himself he wouldn’t write an Americana driving song….so much for that idea.  But, it was really fun recording this one- Steve and I always get so pumped after a good take.  And this one was ONE TAKE!  We had never even practiced it before!  We just went over the structure once and hit record.  Such is life when you’re running on a tight schedule.  I keep hoping for the days when we can have a lot of time to just jam and record a bunch of tunes.

Of course, you’ll see me playing our colleague Noreen’s beautiful Gibson 1967 12-string acoustic, which never sounded better.  I’m hoping she’ll let me borrow it again.  That song will usher in the “holiday” (there’s a clue) season nicely.  Speaking of the upcoming holiday, I’m incredibly excited!!  I can’t wait to finally play some video games, eat, and go shopping for someone else for a change!  We’re hoping to do the midnight madness at our local chain of outlet stores.  Don’t worry, I don’t plan on trampling anyone for a TV at Wal-Mart or anything.  We’re just looking forward to a really cool opportunity to ring in my favorite time of year: Christmastime!  You know, we’ve recorded many Christmas songs already- you should check out some of those acoustic videos by choosing the “Christmas Songs” category up top.

I hope you enjoy tonight’s collaborative effort!

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“Younger Generation” by the Lovin’ Spoonful – Chords, Tabs, & How to Play

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

“Younger Generation”
The Lovin’ Spoonful

Cmaj7                                                   Dm7
Why must every generation think their folks are square?
Dm7     G7                                                            Cmaj7
And no matter where their heads are, they know Mom’s ain’t there…
‘Cause I swore when I was small that I’d remember when
I knew what’s wrong with them that I was smaller then.

Cmaj7                                          Dm7
Determined to remember all the cardinal rules,
Dm7  G7                                                 Cmaj7
Like sun showers are legal grounds for cutting school.
Cmaj7                                       Dm7
I know I have forgotten maybe one or two,
Dm7                       G7                Cmaj7
And I hope that I recall them all before the baby’s due
Dm7                              G7              Cmaj7
And I know he’ll have a question or two.

Cmaj7   F      G            C                 Am
Like,    “Hey, Pop, can I go ride my zoom?
Am      F                   G7                     C                     Am
It goes two hundred miles an hour suspended on balloons.
Am   F               G                    C                       Am
And can I put a droplet of this new stuff on my tongue,
Am    Dm                                                 D7
And imagine frothing dragons while you sit and wreck your lungs?”
C                                            Am                                                G
And I must be permissive, understanding of the younger generation

Cmaj7                                                 Dm7
Then I’ll know that all I’ve learned my kid assumes,
Dm7  G7                                             Cmaj7
And   all my deepest worries must be his cartoons.
Cmaj7                                       Dm7
And still I’ll try to tell him all the things I’ve done
Dm7                   G7                     Cmaj7
Related to what he can do when he becomes a man,
Dm7                           G7                Cmaj7
And still he’ll stick his fingers in the fan.

And, “Hey, Pop, my girlfriend’s only three.
She’s got her own videophone and she’s taking L.S.D.,
And now that we’re best friends she wants to give a bit to me.
But what’s the matter, Daddy?  How come you’re turning green?
F                                                           G
Can it be that you can’t live up to your dreams?

** 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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“Who Says” (John Mayer Cover music video)

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For John Mayer chords & lyrics, CLICK HERE!

By Chris Moore:

Hello and welcome to a very special Monday edition of the Laptop Sessions! What makes tonight so special, you might ask? Well, for the first time in months, I’m bringing you a cover song music video of a song that has yet to be released.  No worries, though — if you like this song, then you’ll be able to buy it in stores tomorrow. 

The song I’m bringing you tonight is “Who Says,” the first single from the forthcoming 2009 John Mayer studio album Battle Studies.  There’s a little bit of a story behind this one, so here goes…

I first learned about this album when I happened upon Mayer’s video blog established to document the recording sessions.  The first video was a tour of his newly designed and built home recording studio.  Do I even need to describe it?  Believe me, it’s drool-inducing.  Although a couple of the entries were only jams or just a bit weird, I ended up searching YouTube for some of the new songs.  As I expected, most were available as live concert performances that someone videotaped and uploaded.  I listened to a couple, including “Who Says,” and I started to get excited about this release. 

I have a general rule against hearing too much of an album before it comes out.  After all, it’s more than half the fun of buying a new album to be able to get in the car, put it on the CD player, and discover the music for the first time.  Sometimes this is an exciting, expectation-defying journey (a la last week’s Echo & the Bunnymen album The Fountain).  Other times, it can be just as disappointing an experience as one can have (i.e. U2’s No Line on the Horizon deluxe edition CD). 

I should also comment on my recent opinion of Mayer. 

As I wrote in my review of Where the Light Is, I am a big fan of Mayer’s first three releases — the independently released EP Inside Wants Out, his debut Room For Squares, and his follow-up Heavier Things.  And yet, just as he gained “credibility,” I lost interest.  Yes, his third album Continuum offers some interesting guitar parts and melodies, but I resented the idea that he needed to become a blues afficionado in order to be accepted by those outside his stereotypical audience of young girls.  In my mind, this was a step backward in his songwriting.  Did no one notice or appreciate the effort he put into the album design for the first two albums, or the backing vocals in “Your Body is a Wonderland” that echo the chorus lyrics of “My Stupid Mouth”?  There was so much care taken with those releases that the minimalism of his last release was disappointing.  From the title of Heavier Things alone, one could imply that Mayer was interested in tackling more “important issues” and being taken more seriously. 

But, even in Heavier Things, he retained his sense of what was important — interpersonal relations, perspective, ambition, etc.  On Continuum, political and social issues apppeared as the subjects for his songs, which always seemed out of place to me. 

Anyone who knows me knows that I have an intense sense of loyalty, sometimes to my own detriment. But I had told myself I wouldn’t buy future Mayer releases to spare myself further disappointment, as I did with Where the Light Is.  That being said, I can’t deny that this single “Who Says” sounds more to me like the John Mayer that I enjoyed listening to on earlier works.  It’s simple, catchy, and tackles the same desires that my favorite John Mayer songs always did — namely, the desire for freedom from personal and social expectations (think: “No Such Thing,” “Not Myself,” “Bigger Than My Body,” and others). I don’t read the reference to marijuana as a literal desire to get high, but rather as a symbol for what society or one’s friends and family members think you shouldn’t do because “it’s not like you.”

So, I’ll give the album a try. 

And you better believe there will be a review forthcoming.

Until then, I hope you enjoy my video tonight.  I’m not sure what came over me, but I made this one a real production.  I tacked on a purposely goofy intro and follow-up documentary that I hope you laugh at — either because it’s funny or because you’re laughing AT me, as long as the result is the same!

And I know that I have other news and ideas on my mind that I wanted to share tonight, but I can’t remember what they are.  So, for now, I hope you enjoy this video. 

See you next session!

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“Who Says” by John Mayer – Chords, Tabs, and How to Play

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“Who Says”
John Mayer

D                G
Who says I can’t get stoned,
Em                                    A
Turn off the lights and the telephone?
Bm          E
Me in my house alone —
G                A            D
Who says I can’t get stoned?

Who says I can’t be free
From all of the things that I used to be?
Rewrite my history —
Who says I can’t be free?

D               G     D                           A
It’s been a long night in New York City;
A                G     D                     A
It’s been a long night in Baton Rouge.
G            D                 F#m               Bm
I don’t remember you looking any better,
Bm  E                                           A
But then again I don’t remember you…

Who says I can’t get stoned,
Call up a girl that I used to know?
Fake love for an hour or so —
Who says I can’t get stoned?

Who says I can’t take time,
Meet all the girls in the county line?
Wait on fate to send a sign —
Who says I can’t take time?

It’s been a long night in New York City;
It’s been a long night in Austin too.
I don’t remember you looking any better,
But then again I don’t remember you…

INSTRUMENTAL

Who says I can’t get stoned,
Plan a trip to Japan alone?
Doesn’t matter if I even go —
Who says I can’t get stoned?

It’s been a long night in New York City;
It’s been a long time since twenty-two.
I don’t remember you looking any better,
But then again I don’t remember, don’t remember you…

Outro:  D

** 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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