Tag Archives: billboard hot 100

“(Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay” (Otis Redding Cover)

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By Chris Moore:

Welcome to my second installment for Number One’s Week here at https://guitarbucketlist.com ! I’m proud to bring you an artist that I haven’t covered before — Otis Redding. This is truly a classic song that deserved to be a true #1 — “(Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay.” It’s such a simple song with really basic chords and fairly basic lyrics, but there’s just so much emotion in them. I could never duplicate the sound that Redding put into his studio recording (especially considering that he used a piano instead of an acoustic guitar…), but I really enjoyed recording this session. It was probably the most fun I’ve had recording in weeks; I spent about ten minutes playing along to the real version, and then I hit record and finished in a couple takes.

Once again, I hope you enjoy it. There’s a special “first” for me at the end of the video; regular viewers of the Laptop Sessions will pick up on it…

On a side note, speaking of simple but great music, I’ve been listening to the new Mudcrutch album non-stop since Tuesday, and I’m enjoying it a little more each time. It’s so cool to see not only Tom Petty, but also Benmont Tench and Tom Leadon with lead vocals on a few tracks. As a big Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers fan, it’s also cool to have a Campbell/Petty collaboration — it only takes one listen to “Bootleg Flyer” to figure out who wrote that one! My review will be coming soon, but I just wanted to spread the good news — there is good new music out there! (You just need to wait patiently and watch closely for it…)

Once again, thanks for watching — I hope you’ll comment and/or rate this video. And don’t forget to tune in tomorrow for an all-new session from Jeff!

See you next session!


“The Way It Is” (Bruce Hornsby Cover)

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By Chris Moore:

Welcome to your Sunday installment of the Laptop Sessions! Coming on the heels of Number Ones week, I decided to play one of my father’s favorite songs from Bruce Hornsby & the Range, “The Way It Is.” Only after I recorded it did I realize that it, in fact, was a #1 single on the Billboard Hot 100 for one week in 1986! So, it appears that I’m subconsciously having a hard time leaving the #1 songs behind…

I remember making mock-radio shows on my stereo when I was in middle school, even before I owned a CD player. I used to make shows for my father to listen to while he was working in the garage, so I wanted to find music that he would enjoy. I spent countless hours with a blank cassette tape in the stereo and switching stations constantly, waiting intently to hear a disc jockey announce that “The Way It Is” would be on next. I finally got a version recorded for my show, but I got to the record button a bit slowly, so a good chunk of the intro was cut off.

I did buy him the Bruce Hornsby greatest hits CD years later, when I finally caught up with technology.

I really love this song for a couple reasons. I love how it’s powered by piano, but sacrifices none of the soloing and backbeat that I value in rock music. I also love how the chorus is built around the G – Fmaj7 – C riff (which I duplicated in only a rudimentary fashion). The song was also a lot of fun to sing!

I should mention that everything that could have possibly interrupted my recording did, in fact, interrupt my recording today. My first take was lost for the incredibly raucous chirping of the birds downstairs. (Yes, that’s right–I wasn’t even on the same floor with them). My second take was lost due to stubbornness, as I refused to close my door and the birds continued to chirp. A later take was lost to the vibrating of my cell phone.

The funniest by far, and certainly the most ironic was when my cell phone alarm went off loudly during a good take — it was the alarm I had set to remind me to record a Laptop Session today!

My most perfect take was lost when I forgot the second to last line of the final verse. But, this one will have to do!

Thanks for watching; I hope you’ll leave a comment for me if you liked the song or have any requests for future songs.

See you next session!



“Photograph” (Ringo Starr Cover)

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By Chris Moore:

Welcome to my first of two installments for “Number Ones” week at https://guitarbucketlist.com ! I’m happy to bring you my second Ringo Starr cover this year, “Photograph.” Co-written with George Harrison, this is certainly one of his most well-known songs and probably one of his catchiest. If nothing else, it’s one of his most memorable, as it reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100!

There’s lots more to come as the week rolls on, so I hope you’ll check the blog to hear the songs that Jim and Jeff are recording — Jeff’s first installment of the week will be here tomorrow.

See you next session!


“Peggy Sue” (Buddy Holly Cover)

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By Chris Moore:

I had such fun going back in time with “Dock of the Bay” that I decided to go even farther back… to Buddy Holly’s “Peggy Sue”! This is a 1950’s hit that is one of those songs everyone just seems to know. It only made it to #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1957, but this song has been in so many movies and played on the radio so much since then…

I actually learned a lot by recording it today. I realized, for one thing, that the song is deceptively simple, in the sense that Holly’s voice is so distinctive and really makes it the hit that it was. Also, there’s no question that it was simple to play, seeing as how it uses only A and D chords, with the occasional E and maybe an F thrown in. This might seem like a good thing, but it only puts the pressure on to make a simple song sound interesting and fun to listen to!

I hope you enjoy this and would love you to leave a comment! Then, of course, don’t forget to come back to https://guitarbucketlist.com tomorrow for an all-new session from the library of Jeff Copperthite!

See you next session!