Tag Archives: acoustic

“Dream Angel” (Brian Wilson Cover)

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Hey, hey everyone and welcome to your “no bad stuff” edition of the Laptop Sessions.  Geesh, say one thing about your current state of well-being and they jump all over you… 🙂  Anyway, I’m back tonight with another acoustic cover song music video for you all to enjoy!

Things have been crazy lately, but what else is new.  I’ll be happy when my 2009 taxes are all done and the end is in sight.  I’m keeping my fingers crossed on a couple of fronts.  Work has been busy, as usual, but manageable.  I’m getting a bit worried about my after-work work (lack of productivity in recent days), but I hope to rectify that tomorrow night.  My 5k, that I’m running with my brother Mike, is coming up this weekend and there’s still plenty of training to do.  Also, we’ve set up three parties/get-togethers here at the new house for those who haven’t seen it yet.  Considering that we’ve lived here for four months now, these are people we haven’t seen in a long time, so it’ll be great to host them here.  This weekend, as well as the next two weekends after that, look to be fun and eventful.  It’ll be nice talking with my friends from my Italy trip and my old college buddies.

On the music front, I did three very important things tonight that I want to share with you before I get into the body of the post:

1. I got The Laptop Sessions music blog listed on about 200 Social Bookmarking sites (like Digg and Del.ic.ious).  This will give the site more inbound links and will give it a chance at some real popularity.  I’m hoping it will bring the site to new heights.  And it wasn’t too expensive (besides, I’ve been saving-up!).

2. I also submitted the music video blog to 195 directories with a Google PageRank 2 or higher!  This is really good, as these will count as 1-way inbound links that are categorized, so we should see some major increases in Google traffic soon.  I really hope many eyes will be seeing this site soon.  I’m really hoping for 2,400 views a day (we got almost 2,200 yesterday).

3. Finally, I did something I should’ve done about seven months ago- I registered my new album, “Halfway There” on CD Baby.  This allows me to sell the album digitally on services like iTunes and Amazon MP3.  I’m getting anxious (and a bit excited) to play shows again.  My brother and I are planning on attending a local open mic night in the next couple of weeks.  I’ll keep you posted on that.  There’s a couple more areas of promotion I want to try, but until the FMP Store is back up and running, I don’t want to spend the money.  Also, I’m hoping that I can get some new fans and finally sell some copies of “Halfway There”, as the production (not to mention the packaging and the album cover) is really good.

Okay- onto tonight’s acoustic cover song music video!

Everyone knows that Brian Wilson is my musical hero.  I’ve met the man, met his band, and was a big part of the online community.  That is, until life stepped-in.  After I moved-out, there was little time to read the message board and post my thoughts.  I hope those folks there will understand that a 25 year old just needs a bit of “growing up” time before he can join a community like that again.  We’ll see if they’re understanding.

A few weeks ago, I wanted to play Becky a song from Brian Wilson’s second solo album, “Imagination” from 1998.  I then realized that it wasn’t on my iPod!! How could this be??  With over 11,000 songs, I didn’t have one of my absolute favorites of all-time??  Then, I remembered- the family copy (that my father owns) is now scratched and/or just won’t rip into my iTunes.  I tried it a couple times back when I was making my collection, but it wouldn’t work.  So, while I was on a nice weekend trip with Becky over Valentine’s Day, we stopped at this cool (but kind of overpriced) underground (literally) record store in Northampton, MA.  They had a copy of “Imagination” on CD!!  So, I bought a used copy (that had never been played before) and we got to listen on the way home.

The album rekindled my love for the song “Dream Angel”.  This is a great tune with some amazing harmonies, all sung by Brian Wilson.  This is really a perfect song- a great sound, great vocals, and even a nifty guitar solo.  No, it’s not going to win any lyrical awards, but it’s a happy tune and that’s good enough for me.  Brian is really at his best, vocal-wise, in this song.  I’ve even placed it in my Top 10 songs list in the past- looking back, I think it was a wise decision.

If you’ve heard the song before, you know what I’m talking about.  If not, then you’re about to hear a great tune and I hope you’ll listen to the rest of “Imagination”, too!  I hope you enjoy my acoustic cover version of this song- I’m back on the nylon string guitar tonight.  It gave a more smooth sound and it was so fun to play.  Make sure to watch it in HD, too!  Because not only is the picture clearer, but the audio is done at a higher quality, as well.  I hope you enjoy tonight’s Laptop Session and come back next Tuesday for an all-new video from a new artist on the blog.  And this is a big one- they’ve had NUMEROUS Number One hits and they’re one of the most popular acts of the past 30 years.  Why haven’t we covered a song from them yet?  Well, I’ll explain that next week.  And, see if you can guess in the meantime.  First correct guess gets a free CD!  Talk to next Tuesday.

“Baby I Need Your Loving” (Four Tops and Johnny Rivers Cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Wow, finally I get to post my video.  I hate when this happens- now it’s going to feel like such a short time until my next video!  Anyway, I’m very proud to bring you tonight’s acoustic cover song music video of a classic song in, “Baby I Need Your Loving”.

Written by three of the Motown Records songwriters, “Baby I Need Your Loving” was the first big hit for the Four Tops back in 1964.  And let me tell you, this falls into my category of “perfect recordings”.  It clocks in under two minutes, but the vocals and instrumentation are just perfect.  The song gives me chills.  The Tops had such a unique vocal blend.  The lead vocalist recently passed away, as I heard.  When I saw them in concert a few years ago, there were only two original Tops left, but I still enjoyed the concert very much.  Hey, there’s only two original Beach Boys left in the band…and one isn’t even technically an original!

Anyway, you may also know this song from the Johnny Rivers version in the late 60’s.  His voice fit well with this classic tune, as well.  But, there’s one big difference between his version and the one done by the Four Tops: the title!  Johnny decided to title the song after what the chorus really says: Baby I Need Your Lovin’.  Note that apostrophe?  The Four Tops had the more grammatically correct version for theirs.

I had so much fun recording this- in one take, mind you.  And now for my slightly melodramatic “personal” update for the week:

I really hope I can find more time to post on the blog, as I have a lot of ambition, but it keeps getting thrown to the side.  Work, both during the day and at night, has helped my wife and I accomplish so much more than anyone else our age I know.  But, that does come at a cost- we’re both tired and the time we do have off becomes “necessary” rather than leisurely.  What do I mean by that?  Well, when you don’t do anything for yourself during the week, you feel like you need to cram in a TON of fun on the weekend.  Most times, that ends up in disappointment because it’s so much pressure!

But, the good news is that we’re managing things a lot better now than we were.  Personally, I’m still working on the whole “friends” issue.  I’ve recently realized that all my friends are gone, either taken away by disagreements, girlfriends, wives, rifts, or even just a marred past.  But, it’s tough finding new friends when everyone you work with is twice your age and doesn’t have time for friends.  Also, it’s tough when you don’t have time for friends yourself!  Thankfully, I still have Dana to get breakfast with me each week, and I’ve been spending a lot of time with my family (both my immediate family and my in-laws).  But, it would be nice to find someone that wants to hang around with me that doesn’t feel obligated because of their relation to me! 🙂 

In closing- I hope the friend train stops at my station soon, for where there are friends, there is fun.  Enjoy tonight’s video and make sure to come back for more, y’all! 🙂

“Exit Music (For A Film)” by Radiohead – Chords, Tabs, & How to Play

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

“Exit Music (For A Film)”
Radiohead

(Capo 2nd fret)

Am                    E                  C                    D/F#
Wake from your dreams, the drying of your tears;
Am               E                Asus2      Am
Today we escape, we escape…

Pack and get dressed before your father hears us,
Before all hell breaks loose…

Gm                    D
Breathe, keep breathing;
Asus2   Am  Asus2    Am      Em7
Don’t     lose your nerve.
Gm                    D
Breathe, keep breathing;
Asus2   Am  Asus2      Am      Em7      E
I can’t   do     this    alone.

Sing us a song, a song to keep us warm.
There’s such a chill, such a CHILL…

Am         B           E             F
You can laugh a spineless laugh.
F                      Bb            E
We hope your rules and wisdom choke you…

Am               E        C                D/F#
Now we are one in everlasting peace…

Am                       E                         Asus2      Am
We hope that you choke, that you choke…
We hope that you choke, that you choke…
We hope that you choke, that you choke.

** 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. **

“Heaven” (Brett Dennen Cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Hi folks!  Welcome to another Jim Fusco Tuesday!  This was one of those weeks where, after such a great long weekend, I truly dreaded the four-day week ahead.  I have two immediate video programs to edit, a whole bunch of PSA’s, an audio mastering project, and multiple projects looming around the corner… And that’s all stuff I have to do AFTER a crazy day at work!  I feel myself getting a better handle on things at work, but it’s still a struggle on a daily basis, as I’m constantly trying to dig out of a growing hole.  It’ll get better, but it’s just these weeks when everything piles up that I get a bit nervous.  Becky’s been helping (bringing me coffee and snacks, plus trying to keep me to a schedule), so it’s definitely hurt less than it should’ve.

Anyway, onto tonight’s video:

I’ve been churning out the new artists to the blog lately (and ones you might even have heard of, by the way), but tonight I might break that mold a bit.  I had never heard of Brett Dennen before, but my boss kept telling me about him after he heard Dennen’s music on Last.fm, a music service on Xbox 360.  Anyway, he burned me a copy of Brett’s songs (don’t worry, Brett- I bought the LP version of “Hope for the Hopeless” afterward and so did my brother!).  But, even though he kept asking me about it, I didn’t put the CD in because I was still hooked on the Grateful Dead!  So, about four weeks ago now, I popped Brett’s “Hope for the Hopeless” album in and completely fell in love with the music.

The man is simply a good songwriter.  His songs are not overly complicated (which I LOVE)- he uses some pretty simple chords in some songs (and some cool inversions in others, too) and the songs are short and sweet.  The songs pretty much follow the verse-bridge-chorus model and there’s one or two guitar solos spattered throughout the album.  It’s a short one with only 11 songs, but I don’t care- the quality definitely makes up for the quantity.

Dennen’s two previous releases before “Hope for the Hopeless” had the feel of Jack Johnson’s first album- sparsely produced to its detriment.  Yes, there are good songs, but I need a little more than an acoustic guitar to make me love an album.  “Hope for the Hopeless” is different.  It’s almost like he got signed to a label that gave him some more money to produce an album.  The result is amazing- I just love the production on this disc.  You won’t find a lot of harmonies here and the instruments are no-frills.  Mostly, you have an acoustic, an electric, bass, piano/organ, and drums.  That’s a perfect mix for me.  What’s great about this album, and I plan on trying with my next album, is that there really is no rhythm guitar.  The guitar only plays what it needs to.  So, the music sounds open, but not lacking.  You’ll just have to listen to get what I’m saying.

I could’ve picked any of the 11 songs from “Hope for the Hopeless” to cover.  My favorites are “Who Do You Think You Are?” and “Make You Crazy”, but I chose “Heaven” because it’s just one of those “perfect” songs.  It has such a message- kind of like “Imagine” by John Lennon.  This song, according to Dennen fans, will stand as his masterpiece.  On the recording, I challenge you not to get chills once the band comes in at the start of the second chorus.  It’s AWESOME!

So, I decided to record my version of this song just acoustically, though I’ve been playing it on the piano recently, as well.  “Heaven” is a great song to sing by yourself, as it only has one vocal in the album version anyway (the single version suffers from a female lead vocal in the second verse- I much prefer the album version and I’m glad he did it that way).

One thing about Dennen- when you hear his songs, you’ll notice his…let’s say “accent”.  I’m not really sure what it is.  It sounds Louisianan to me.  At first, I really didn’t like it.  But, if you get past the way he says certain words (like instead of “trouble”, he says, “trugh-bowl”), you’ll really like these songs.  And now, I even like the way he says those words, because I can tell he’s not doing it on purpose (just to sound different)- it’s just the way he talks/sings.

On a side note, check out one of my new favorite tunes, “Make You Crazy”, on YouTube- the music video is pretty cool.

Now, I had a feeling I’d heard of Brett Dennen before.  I mean, that voice is so unmistakable.  Becky and I both agree that we’ve heard his most “famous” song, “Ain’t No Reason” (not one of my favorites and if you heard it and know my musical tastes, you’ll understand why).  We must’ve heard it in a TV show.  Then, my brother Mike ended up knowing (and loving) “Make You Crazy”, too, from his days working at Hollister, where they played the song on a daily basis.

Okay, enough talk- time to watch the LSHD version of “Heaven” performed by me, Jim Fusco!  I’d love to hear your thoughts about the song, my performance, and Brett Dennen.  I hope you have a great week and make sure to stop back next Tuesday for another acoustic cover song.  I plan on it being a classic early 60’s tune that Becky and I heard in the car while on our way to Albany, NY for our weekend trip.  We had a blast- check my Twitter (jimfusco) for all the updates and photos from the road!  Until next week!