Tag Archives: alternative music

“The Man Who Sold The World” (David Bowie Cover)

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By Jeff Copperthite:

That’s right, ladies and gentlemen.  It’s that time…that’s right…Thumpin’ Thursday!  Who doesn’t enjoy a great dose of their Laptop Sessions on the second best day of the week – and it’s right after the best day of the week!

This next song is sort of by request – Jim mentioned it in recent correspondence that this song was covered by Nirvana, and we have not done either Nirvana, or the guy who wrote the song David Bowie.

What better day than Thumpin’ Thursday to fix both of those things in one session?

Therefore, here comes Jeff Copperthite with the “cover of a cover” version of David Bowie’s classic “The Man Who Sold The World” from his album of the same name.  The cover version was featured on the widely played Nirvana edition of the show “MTV Unplugged”.  I thoroughly enjoyed that series when it was on the air, and some of my favorite bands were lucky enough to be featured on that show while it lasted.

I recorded this in the same session as my previous U2 video, and again, I look tired.  I feel a lot better today than how I look in this video.  I couldn’t get a solid take where I played the riff cleanly, and eventually cut out some parts with the riff.  I also came in just a bit too early on one part.  Nobody has pointed it out in my recent video (what I did wrong), but I am very pleased on the positive feedback I have gotten from that video.

But now, you get to enjoy this version on a great Thursday.  I hope you enjoy it, and return for Jim’s fantastic Friday edition tomorrow!

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!

“(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding” (Elvis Costello Cover)

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By Chris Moore:

Hello and welcome to another all-new Laptop Session, brought to you by the music blog devoted to great new rock music. My acoustic cover song tonight is not a new rock song, but it is a classic by an artist that did release an excellent album this year. That artist is Elvis Costello and the song is “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding.” I had actually planned on recording (and did, in fact) record a different song for my session tonight, but after I finished that one, I went on to this Elvis Costello tune and liked how it came out so much that I had to post it tonight. For whatever reason (the amount of time that I had been singing previously, the air conditioning taking all the moisture out of the air in the house, or my allergies), my voice was somewhat rough for this recording. Normally, that would be enough for me to put down the guitar and wait for another day. However, I think it worked for the emotion that is supposed to be conveyed by this track. Aside from the very end of this take when my voice is simply too shot to hit the notes I wanted to hit (please feel free to laugh at the ridiculous look on my face), I’m happy with how it came out.

This is one my favorite Elvis Costello songs of all time, and it’s a perfect track to bring to this music blog, as it has been recorded as a cover song previously by such bands as the Wallflowers. It’s a fairly simple song with simple chords, simple but great lyrics, and a simple message that I know Ringo Starr would love, and it translates very well to acoustic guitar. That being said, Jim and I did some research tonight and were shocked to find that although he is listed as #80 on the list of best rock artists ever, he has had very few songs chart well, especially on the Billboard Hot 100. It’s amazing that his most popular songs really aren’t as successful as you might expect for an artist of his standing. That either says something about him or, more likely, the system. (Especially considering that this is a system that barely recognizes the existence of such talented and influential acts as the Moody Blues…)

If you’re a regular viewer of the Laptop Sessions, you’ll get another dose of Elvis Costello very soon — his new rock music on this year’s Momofuku is some of my favorite from him and is easily in my personal top four or five albums of the year (and this is saying alot, as I’ve heard somewhere approaching fifteen new albums this year already!).

Whatever you do, don’t go too far; Jeff will be back tomorrow with an all-new acoustic cover song music video for your listening and viewing pleasure…

See you next session!



“Automatic” (Weezer Cover)

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By Chris Moore:

Welcome to a fresh new Tuesday installment of the best acoustic cover song music blog series in the universe! That’s right — not just the country or the world, but the universe! Of course, I said the series is good, so that doesn’t guarantee that I’ll be any good, so you’ll just have to take your chances tonight…

Tonight’s music video is an acoustic cover from the new Weezer (Red Album). “Automatic” is track nine of ten — a powerhouse of an electric number with a great distortion guitar riff — and written by drummer Pat Wilson. I read that Wilson actually played the guitar for this one and frontman Rivers Cuomo sat at the drums. If you search YouTube videos like I did, you’ll find that there are some live versions of the songs from the Red Album already available and the one for “Automatic” is definitely worth checking out, if only for the alternative arrangement of the band.

I love to see when the bands I love switch it up a bit and allow other members to take the center stage, if only briefly. Some great bands that have done this on a regular basis are the Band, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, the Barenaked Ladies, the Moody Blues, and — now — Weezer! Still, many of my favorite musicians and bands are really one-man shows with a band to support them. Take Jakob Dylan (Wallflowers) and Adam Duritz (Counting Crows) just for a couple examples. Dylan and Duritz are two of my favorite songwriters, and although I like their bands, it is really their songwriting and lead singing that makes me love the bands and continue to buy their albums.

Even as I’m writing this, I can only think of one real exception to this songwriter-over-band preference of mine. Namely, Matchbox Twenty. I love Matchbox Twenty, and I have since their first album. I have bought every album and even loved their recent EP. But I just didn’t understand why Rob Thomas had to go off separately and try a solo career. For all intents and purposes, he really IS Matchbox Twenty. I mean, up until the EP, he wrote literally every song on each of their releases!

Exception aside, I have thoroughly enjoyed the new Weezer album, and I hope you have too. If you haven’t, you should really check it out. I found that the first couple tracks threw me a bit at first, but I quickly fell in love with a number of the songs — such as “Though I Knew” (a previous Laptop Session I recorded) and “Miss Sweeney” (a bonus track on the special edition).

Well, I’m off to do some work to promote all the great things happening here at the music blog. If you haven’t already, you should really check out the past couple days’ worth of posts — there is some great stuff, and much of it is FREE! There are live concert tracks, TNA pictures, and of course, great acoustic cover songs!

And, guess what?… Jeff Copperthite will be back tomorrow to post yet another all-new awesome acoustic cover, so don’t miss it…

See you next session!



“Feel For Love” (An Acoustic Rock Song by Indie Music Songwriter Chris Moore)

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By Chris Moore:

Hello and welcome to yet another all-new installment of the Laptop Sessions! Being that it’s Hump Day, I’m excited — for those of you who may be new to the blog, I’m excited because every Wednesday here is “Original Wednesday.” For just a moment, we songwriters who contribute to this acoustic rock cover song music blog just take a moment to put aside the covers and record a song that we have written. It comes but once every three weeks for us…

Tonight, I’ve recorded “Feel For Love,” a song from my most recent solo release, the EP entitled Love Out of Fashion. To be honest, I’ll never know why I didn’t just finish recording one more song during the recording sessions (and I actually did have one demo with basic tracks that never made the final cut).  If I had, then I would have accumulated nine songs and I could have called the EP a full album.  But, I guess nine is kind of a cop out after most of my earlier solo albums have an average of 12 songs or so.  Either way, I was satisfied that an 8-song EP was not a cop out, so…

I don’t know that I’ve ever told anyone, but “Feel For Love” was the first song recorded for the project.  I actually began recording with the idea of making a set of demos to present to Jim Fusco in order to convince him to produce an album for me the following summer.  Once I got into the process, I just devoted too much time and energy to let the songs sit as demos — I would lay down one acoustic, then add electric to give it the right sound.  After all, I wanted the songs to be presentable to him.  Then I would add background vocals.  And then some more background vocals.  I practiced again and again and again to perfect the solos I wanted for the songs, both harmonica and electric / acoustic guitar.

By the time I had finished eight songs, it was clear that I couldn’t simply burn the songs onto a blank disc for Jim to listen to; I had an EP on my hands.

To this day, I still haven’t recorded an album with Jim as producer, but to be honest, I probably won’t record another project until I’ve fully polished a set of songs and convinced him to let me hire him or at least bribe him with fast food and TNA cards to produce the next Chris Moore solo album.  The simple fact is — especially after hearing the new Masters of the Universe album — I can’t go back to self-producing without drums and without mastering.  Instead, I’m starting to save my pennies and save my dimes…

As a final note, the tracks for Love Out of Fashion became an obsession for me.  I listened to those songs in every way possible — on the computer speakers, on different pairs of headphones, on my stereo, and I even burned multiple copies at different phases to listen to in the car.  One early morning around one a.m. or so, I pulled over in the shopping plaza near my house to be able to listen to the tracks clearly and loudly.  I leaned over the console of my car to get myself as close to the middle as possible, closing my eyes and listening to every nuance of the mix to decide what needed to change and what aspects were finished.  Someone actually pulled into the lot next to me to ask if I was okay and was my car working?  I, of course, said I was fine.  What I should have said was that I was, for the first time, really becoming a confident producer of my own music.

Of course, the conspicuous absence of time-keeping drums will forever label Love Out of Fashion a second-class album, which I suppose I’ve come to terms with.  But I’m still proud of it!

Okay, that’s more than enough from me.  I hope you enjoy this and will take the time to comment on it here.  Don’t forget to tune in tomorrow for an all-new track from our very own Jeff Copperthite…

See you next session!