Hello everyone and welcome to another edition of the Laptop Sessions and another in our series of Beach Boys cover songs videos!
I’m very excited about todays video for two reasons- I think it’s one of my best performances so far, plus it only took me one take to do it! I just kept practicing over the past few days and it really clicked.
Today’s song is a seldom-heard one from the Beach Boys called “Goin’ South”, written mainly by Carl Wilson.
I thought of doing this song when I heard about the impending snow storm we got last night here in CT. So, it was nice to record a song about “going south for the winter” while it was actually snowing!
I hope that everyone enjoys today’s session and that winter, in fact, does end soon. Because it IS gettin’ mighty cold and I’m hoping it gets mighty warm very soon.
A Young Man is Gone – 6 (very beautiful sounding, but I was always a bit bored by it- don’t kill me, Mike!) Little Deuce Coupe – 8 Be True to Your School (single version) – 4 (the only Beach Boys song I consistently skip past- I just never liked school enough to be “true” to it) Be True to Your School (album cut) – (3) No Go Showboat – 7 (love Brian’s great high voice here and the humor in Al’s lines) Custom Machine – 7 (love the chorus and especially Mike’s bass singing!!) Car Crazy Cutie – 6 (enjoyable) Cherry, Cherry Coupe – 7 (I really like those chords and I love Dennis’ harmony part) 409 – 3 (never been a big fan of this song) Our Car Club – 7 (I love the drums and vocal breaks! Also, really cool sounding) Shut Down – 7 Spirit of America – 3 (not a big fan) Ballad of Ole Betsy – 7 (great harmonies- the stereo separated vocals really show off the quality here)
*I love this album. To me, this is the happiest the Boys sounded on record. They are just so youthful and this album always reminds me of summer. The songs are great and the production, as minimalist as it is, just fits for these lighthearted songs about, well, cars! Plus, I always tell everyone it was the first “concept” album! Well, not really, I guess. Now, I was born in 1984, so any visions I have of the 60s come from the music I love. So, this album has always served as a window into that early 60s cars, girls, and teenage fun lifestyle that I never really got to replicate growing up in the 90s and 2000s. This album makes me reminiscent of a time that I wasn’t even alive! That’s pretty powerful stuff.*
Hello all, and welcome to your weekend edition of The Laptop Sessions acoustic cover songs music video blog with me, Jim Fusco. After two strong outings from Jeff and Chris, I decided to pull my ace-in-the-hole and do a Beach Boys song. I always have good luck doing a Beach Boys cover song, as growing up, I would constantly sing these while in the car. After a while, I think my voice just grew into the Beach Boys tone, so I’m able to bring you fairly accurate cover song videos here on the music blog!
This is an earlier Beach Boys song that doesn’t have way too much emphasis on the background vocals, so it was a nice transition into Laptop Sessions form. Normally, I like to take more produced songs and turn them into cover song videos, but tonight, I’m taking a lesser-known song and bringing it to the public’s attention again.
I love the way Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys sings this song. It’s like he’s semi-screaming it at some points, but he’s singing about how someone is “so good” to him! I think this might have been an attempt to sound a bit more “macho” on Brian’s part, and if I were in his shoes, I would completely understand. Of course, I think the “macho” aspect goes away on the falsetto, “And I love it, LOVE it!” line. That’s okay, though, as it’s my favorite part of the song. I’ve noticed lately that one of Brian Wilson’s strengths as a songwriter (and there are many) is his ability to write a great bridge. Those catchy transition periods between the verses and choruses are usually my favorite parts of a song. I’ve been putting a lot of focus on them in my original songs, as well. For instance, in “Good Enough” off of my album, “Those Around Us”, I love the way the bridge came out. It features really cool harmonies and a catchy tune. Plus, I like the line, “And now my heart is hardened like a heart of gold.”
I hope everyone likes this one, even though it doesn’t have my favorite Mike Love low part in there. Gotta get Chris to stop correcting high school English papers one of these nights and do some more collaborations! Actually, this cover song video doesn’t feature any of the background vocals. The “la-la-la” part in the chorus can be considered annoying by some people. In fact, it took away from my love of the song until just recently. I guess it grew on me. But, here I give you a version with no background vocals for the acoustic cover songs music video blog so you can hear just what a great little song “You’re So Good To Me” is!
See you Tuesday with another Session, but stay tuned for Chris and Jeff’s entries over the next two days! Haven’t missed a day in ’08!
Back into my favorite domain: the obscure Beach Boys cover songs! Today’s song is by request, and I’ll tell you, it wasn’t easy.
I always loved the acoustic guitar part in “Busy Doin’ Nothing”, especially because there’s not too many acoustic-guitar driven Brian Wilson songs.
But, this song uses some crazy chords, including some that 99.9% of rock songs never use- kind of like old jazz chords.
Needless to say, I learned all these new chords and practiced it over and over again for this cover song music video. That same night, I made this recording. It was actually pretty easy because I knew the words completely by heart (any Beach Boys songs I can sing in my sleep). That’s always the hardest part of the Laptop Sessions- learning the chords to a cover song is easy, but if you forget the order of the verses (see Jeff’s post yesterday), you’re stuck.
About this song: From the Friends album, this tune (I always thought) kind of shows the state of mind Brian Wilson was in during the late 60s. I think after the craziness of SMiLE, he wanted to be at home. This song describes a “day in the life”. Although, I still don’t know why Brian Wilson had a “pocket book”! Reminds me of that Seinfeld episode where Jerry had the pocket-book: “It’s European!” But seriously, “Busy Doin’ Nothing” doesn’t really sound like any other Beach Boys song. It has it’s own sound, from the acoustic guitars (that I mentioned earlier) to the flutes. It has the same bossa nova beat The Beach Boys were into during the Friends sessions, though. I think The Beach Boys were looking for a way to forge their own niche. After the SMiLE project broke down, the Beach Boys tried doing psychedelic music on “Smiley Smile”, but to me, it just didn’t work. I can imagine that they didn’t want to always follow in the (large) footsteps of the Beatles. At that time, they were working on the White Album and were going back to basics with their sound. The Beach Boys kind of did that in a way, but they also changed their style. It became more relaxed. Beach Boy music was always peppy and fast-paced under the tutelage of Murray Wilson, the Wilson brothers’ father. Under their own management, the Boys decided to take a more mellow approach. It didn’t gain them much commercial success for quite a while, but I do look back on this period of albums fondly.
This is a big shout-out to all the Blueboarders (fans of Brian Wilson’s message board on his official website) that always give me encouragement and always want more videos! I have so many great cover song music videos up my sleeve, I can’t wait to release them to the world! Enjoy tonight’s cover song video in the Beach Boys’ “Busy Doin’ Nothing” here on the Laptop Sessions acoustic cover songs music video blog!
NOTE: This video was remastered in 2020 for better video and audio quality.
