Tag Archives: beach boys

“Good Timin” (Beach Boys Cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Here’s a great tune from the Beach Boys, originally sung by the legendary Carl Wilson (written mostly by Brian).  Good Timin’ is one of those gems that clocks in at just over 2 minutes.  But, so do many of the Beach Boys’ hit songs.  Of course, most of those I’m talking about came out in the early 60s.  “Good Timin'” is from 1980, off of the “Keepin’ the Summer Alive”.  (**EDIT: no it’s not! It’s from “L.A. (Light Album) in 1979! But the whole original post is about “Keepin’ the Summer Alive”, so I’ll keep the rest of the original post intact. 😃). It’s not the best album of all time, but it holds some serious sentimental value with me.

You see, every year on the last day of school, we would get picked up from school in my dad’s 1990 Camaro.  He’d pull up to the school, blasting “Keeping the Summer Alive”.  It was the sure-fire way to know that summer was here!  So, I associate this album with being extremely happy and that great times were ahead.  So, even though I know “Keeping the Summer Alive” isn’t the Beach Boys’ best album, I still love it.  I’ll be doing many acoustic cover songs off of that album in the future.

“Good Timin'” just sounds like a classic Beach Boys song.  I can imagine that they were all very proud of this track when they were finished.  Plus, the song has a great message.  I end up singing “Good Timin'” to myself quite often.  And nothing feels better than when you’ve got good timing on something- it could even be a well-timed joke.  When the timing clicks, you can’t help but feel good about yourself.

One note about “Keepin’ the Summer Alive”- it’s the last album Dennis Wilson appeared on for the Beach Boys, but he’s hardly on it.  In fact, the credits only say he played percussion on the song “Endless Harmony”!  I always thought he had the line, “Goin’ on!” in the raspy voice (in the song with the same name), but it turns out it was just a 350 pound Brian that sang that line.  It’s such a shame that Dennis didn’t get to contribute, whether it was his fault or not.  He had such a great contribution to “L.A. (Light Album)” the year before with songs like “Baby Blue” and “Love Surrounds Me”, plus an amazing lead vocal on “Angel Come Home”, written by his brother, Carl.  I’ll probably be recording acoustic versions of those songs, too, as they could use the Laptop Sessions acoustic cover song treatment!

I love this period in Beach Boys history, as they were making great music from every one of the band members, not just Brian.  I hope you’ll agree and that you’ll enjoy tonight’s Beach Boys cover song.

“The Warmth of the Sun” (Beach Boys Cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Here’s one plenty of people should know: the classic and beautiful “Warmth of the Sun” by the Beach Boys, written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love.  The story goes that both Brian and Mike were together the night that President John F. Kennedy passed away.  It must’ve been quite a night in America- I can only imagine it.  But, in songwriters’ darkest hours come some great material.  Most of the great songs you hear are a result of heartache- it’s usually due to losing a loved one.  But, Brian Wilson and Mike Love of the Beach Boys were creative in their songwriting and made their feellings for the passing of their President known in song.  Sure, they tailored it into a love-lost song (“The love of my life, she left me one day…”), but you can tell the sentiment in the song, especially considering the night they wrote it.

“The Warmth of the Sun” is a beautiful song in all ways- the chord changes are just great.  Brian Wilson always had a knack at creating chord progressions that were familiar, but had a great twist.  The bass line always moves in the opposite direction of where you expect it to go.  In addition to great music (and the instrumental track, which I’m pretty sure was played by the Beach Boys band members themselves), this song has AMAZING harmonies.  Brian Wilson’s voice simply soars in this song.  With the addition of the dead-on background vocals, you’ve got a pretty perfect song.  I’m just glad I found a way to put a solo acoustic performance together and record it with just an acoustic guitar for a cover song music video.

This video is fulfilling a request I received in my first week of doing the Laptop Sessions. I waited until now because I knew I had to get this one right. I had to practice the chords (not too easy, and this is my own interpretation- I didn’t even use a book), plus get the intricate tune correct. There’s so many subtleties to this tune and NO ONE was writing pop music like this in 1963. Talk about ahead of their time.

Please visit my website at http://jimfusco.com for more great music–original songs! One of the main ideas behind doing all of these cover songs for the Laptop Sessions is that if you like the style of music that I do live performances of, you’ll also love my original music, too!  I really think that’s true- my original songs aren’t just throwbacks or anything like that.  They’re unique songs that put a modern twist on my favorite influences, including The Beach Boys, the Byrds, the Beatles, and the Moody Blues.  I hope you enjoy tonight’s Beach Boys cover song and I hope you’ll stay tuned for more.  Make sure to follow me on Twitter @jimfuscomusic so you always know the latest on my songwriting endeavors, too!

“Somewhere Near Japan” (Beach Boys Cover)

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Okay, request time here at The Laptop Sessions! This one’s going out to Peter (aka thebeachboys on YouTube).

This is one of my favorites and I thought no one else really ever paid any attention to it. “Somewhere Near Japan”, written by Mike Love and Terry Melcher, is one of the only saving graces on the 1988 EP/album “Still Cruisin”.  Actually, I like the album a lot, but it’s not really a full album.  There are a few old Beach Boys songs tacked onto the end of the album because they were “featured” in movies out at the time.  And, you can pretty much throw away the Fat Boys’ version of “Wipeout” which featured Brian Wilson singing the backing vocals.  It’s nice to hear Brian in there, but honestly, why did that song end up on a Beach Boys album anyway?  You’ve also got “Kokomo”.  Love it or hate it, it’s one of the biggest songs they ever did.  So, the album had some notoriety behind it.  Songs like “Still Cruisin'” are just fun songs to me, and the Beach Boys even played that song during their 2012 tour!  Personally, I really like the songs “Make It Big” and “Island Girl”, especially because they feature Carl Wilson and Al Jardine, respectively.

Carl Wilson, Al Jardine, Mike Love, and Bruce Johnston are all featured on lead at some point on “Somewhere Near Japan” (ala “Add Some Music” from the Beach Boys’ 1970 classic album, Sunflower) and I think that always added to my enjoyment of the song.  I’ll admit it- when Terry Melcher and Mike Love wanted to write a good song, they really hit it on the nose.  Think of the classic song “Gethca Back” from the Beach Boys 1985 album.  Even a couple years after the Still Cruisin’ album on 1992’s “Summer In Paradise”, Melcher and Love wrote a few great songs.  Now THAT is an album that doesn’t get any respect.  I think songs like “Island Fever”, “Lahaina Aloha”, and “Strange Things Happen” are really great songs.

Tonight’s acoustic cover song music video is one of those “let’s hear how it sounds stripped-down” versions. The late-80s production might have turned some people off to this Beach Boys song, but I think the song stands up great on it own!   So, these 80s/90s Beach Boys songs may have cheesy lyrics now and again (and that 1992 drum machine is pretty bad).  But, that’s one of the reasons why I record cover song videos here on the music blog.  I’d like to think that I’m pretty good at spotting a good song, even if it’s hidden underneath terrible production and synth instruments.  And, with that ability, I strip all of that stuff away to give you an acoustic-guitar-driven version.  I hope these videos open people to songs they otherwise wouldn’t listen to.

I hope you enjoy tonight’s cover video, and keep those requests coming! I’m doing a new music video every two days this year. If you request something, please be patient, but we’re always here to please at The Laptop Sessions acoustic cover songs music video blog!

“And Then I Kissed Her” (Beach Boys Cover)

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By Jim Fusco

Here’s a great Beach Boys cover song originally done by The Crystals as “And Then He Kissed Me”. Brian Wilson loves Phil Spector’s music and re-did this tune (with Al Jardine on great lead vocals) with a Beach Boys touch. Of course, my version is stripped-down and it’s just me, but it’s a fun song to play and I think it sort of represents my project. Brian Wilson covered a song from his idol, and I cover songs from my favorite musicians here on the Laptop Sessions!

In 2013, Brian Wilson toured with Al Jardine and Al sang this song in concert.  You wouldn’t believe it, but Al (in his 70s) still sings this song great!  His voice is largely unchanged and he sings and plays it just like he did in the 60s.  It’s great to see him out there with his white Fender Stratocaster, just like he did so many years ago.  It’s actually a stark contrast from Brian Wilson himself.  I guess it just goes to show you that if you take care of yourself, you’ll still look and sound great later in life.  Paul McCartney seems to be that way, as does Ringo Starr.  But, guys like Ozzy Osbourne and Keith Richards choce the rockstar lifestyle back in the day.  Sure, they lived it up, but you can only stay that way for so long.  Their talent is still there, but it’s masked under a cloud of slurred speech and horribly wrinkled skin!

One thing about the Beach Boys is that they always did amazing cover songs.  From “Why Do Fools Fall In Love?” to “Cottonfields” and beyond, they always took songs and gave it the Beach Boys’ treatment.  Take “Sloop John B”, for example.  That was an old traditional song that Al Jardine brought to Brian Wilson’s attention.  Brian turned it into a pop song and it became a Top 5 hit!  The Beach Boys also had a Top 5 hit with their cover of Chuck Berry’s “Rock’n’roll Music” in the 70s, though that version isn’t too far of a departure from the original version back in the 50s.  Later on in the 80s, the Beach Boys collaborated with Roger McGuinn (formerly of the Byrds) to do a cover of the Mamas and the Papas’ “California Dreamin'”.  That version is a lot different from the original, mostly because of McGuinn’s amazing 12-string electric guitar (Rickenbacker) playing throughout.

So, sit back, relax, and watch my cover song version of the Beach Boys’ “And Then I Kissed Her” here on the Laptop Sessions acoustic cover songs music video blog.  I hope you enjoy and stay tuned for more!

NOTE: This video from 2007 has been remastered in 2020 for enhanced video and sound.