Tag Archives: chris moore

“God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” (Traditional/Brian Wilson acoustic rock cover)

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For Brian Wilson chords & lyrics, CLICK HERE!

By Chris Moore:

If you have found yourself suffering from a “pernicious case of the Mondays” and need something to turn your week around, then look no further than the best cover song music video blog on the Internet today!

This week, as with all weeks, there’s a lot to look forward to.

Tonight, there’s Chris Moore Monday.  Tomorrow, there’s Jim Fusco Tuesday.  On Saturday, there’s chords to one of the most classic Christmas songs of all time.  And, finally, there’s The Weekend Review on Sunday, a very special edition during which I’ll reveal my pick for the #3 best rock album of the decade, 2000-2009.  Thus far, it’s been The Barenaked Ladies’ Maroon at #5 and, as of yesterday, Elliott Smith’s Figure 8 at #4.

But that’s enough about the future.  For now, let’s live in the moment.

“God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” is a traditional song, which basically means that no one knows who wrote the song.  I learned tonight that the song is more accurately referred to as “God rest you merry, gentlemen,” even though it is often incorrectly punctuated as “God rest you, merry gentlemen.”  Of course, as an English teacher, I found this fascinating.  Don’t you?

And, as if that wasn’t enough, Charles Dickens referred to this song in his classic holiday novel, A Christmas Carol.  This is a novel that I loved when I first read it in my Charles Dickens class at CCSU, and I loved it even more when I returned to it a couple years ago.  If I wasn’t so busy this month, I would re-read it for a third time.

Instead, I’m grading, getting car work done, attending real estate meetings, and, of course, decorating for Christmas.  We had a lot of fun pulling out old decorations and buying some new ones to complete the Christmas spirit in the apartment.  Even now, I sit bathed in the multi-colored glow of Christmas lights, and really, there’s no better atmosphere for typing a yuletide post.

I’m very proud of tonight’s session for a couple of reasons.  First of all, I couldn’t find any reliable chords on the web to work from, so I essentially started from scratch.  I used a set of lyrics and chords for the traditional arrangement as a foundation from which to transcribe, but Brian Wilson, true to form, added some twists as well as an instrumental middle section that I figured out on my own.  Being that I’m more of a lyrics guy, I always feel excited when I crack a musical code, no matter how simple or complex it might be.

How long it took me, I won’t mention…  🙂

The other main reason I’m happy with this session is that, for whatever reason, this became one of those songs that I just couldn’t relax for.  For instance, for the life of me, I couldn’t remember which line to sing after the instrumental break.  I kept opting for the blending of the first and third bridges, singing, “To save all those who…”  So, I played more takes than I’m willing to admit here, but in the end, I walked away with a complete session that I’m happy with.  I especially enjoyed being able to play my Bb harmonica, a first for the Laptop Sessions!

“God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” is one of those songs that I’ve known forever.  As I mentioned, it’s a traditional Christmas song that anyone who has gone to church has heard.  I never particularly cared for the song — even the Barenaked Ladies and Sarah McLachlan version was one I appreciated but never really loved.

Then, I listened to Brian Wilson’s 2004 Christmas album, What I Really Want for Christmas.  I was immediately drawn to Wilson’s arrangement of this song, and it has become an instant favorite for me these past several years.  The album as a whole has become a favorite of mine, right up there with the Beach Boys’ Christmas album and the Moody Blues’ December.  (And, after five years, another top holiday album has been added in Bob Dylan’s Christmas in the Heart.)

If you’ve heard Brian Wilson’s Christmas album — or even if you haven’t — I strongly recommend you go to YouTube and search “Brian Wilson What I Really Want for Christmas Video Part I.”  I just watched this documentary today, which includes some great behind-the-scenes making-of footage, interviews, and clips from the album.  If you love the album, it will remind you why.  If you haven’t heard the album, it will make you want to.

And, on that note, I hope that my video makes you interested enough to want to hear the Brian Wilson version.

See you next session!

“Good Enough” (Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers Cover)

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For Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers chords & lyrics, CLICK HERE!

By Chris Moore:

Wow! I can’t remember the last time I posted a Laptop Session video on a day other than Monday! Why, you ask? Well, if you’ve come to the blog over the past year or so, you may have noticed the weekly schedule posted above. It’s pretty clear that Mondays are my day…

Unfortunately, I won’t have Internet service at home until Tuesday evening, and I just don’t have the energy on a Sunday night to type a 750 – 1000 word review on my iPhone, even if it IS based on one of my favorite albums of all time. (Wanna know which album I’m referring to? Check back tomorrow at this time…)

So instead of posting the Weekend Review as per usual tonight, I’m flip-flopping the schedule. Tonight, I present to you for your consideration my acoustic rock cover song performance of a track from the upcoming 2010 Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers album “Mojo.” This is a big deal, as far as I’m concerned, since this will be their first studio album in eight years. That’s a long wait! Mudcrutch was good and I do love Petty’s solo work, but there’s just no substitute for a bona fide Heartbreakers record. It’s been a little over a year since I finally picked up a used copy of “Long After Dark” and thus completed my TPATH (as the band is referred to on their official website’s message board) collection. Just a month ago, I was thinking about how much I’d like to hear a new Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers album…

For a few days now, they’ve been streaming “Good Enough” on their website, and although it is heavily electric — bordering on jam band-esque in fact — I thought I might try my hand at translating it to acoustic guitar. While I had more fun playing it on my Washburn electric, I did eventually record it on acoustic guitar for tonight’s session. As you’ll hear, the song is pretty straightforward. Now, you might be thinking: well, so is every other Tom Petty song. The only difference is that this one sounds a bit different than what you’d expect from the band. In fact, it’s caused some disagreements between fans as to whether it is promising or foreboding for the new release. As for me, I think it’s great — fun, loud, and highlighted by a real killer lead guitar by Campbell. That being said, I certainly hope the whole album isn’t variations on this bluesy style.

I’ll just have to wait for “Mojo” to arrive…

That being said, I hope you enjoy my cover of this brand-new, yet to be released song, and that, if you do, you’ll take the time to listen to the real thing. And don’t forget to hurry back tomorrow for this week’s installment of the Weekend Review.

See you next session!

“Your Life is Now” (John Mellencamp Cover)

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By Chris Moore:

And now, ladies and gentlemen, it’s time once again to take a trip back to nineties pop radio…

Three days ago, Jim and I brought you the Sugar Ray single “Someday,” which was a favorite of mine back when I used to wake up early before school to listen to the morning show on Kiss 95.7.  Ross, Courtney, and Scott were the three voices I looked forward to hearing every morning — for a couple years, I was even lucky enough to have a bus driver that played that radio station on the way to school — and they were the ones who played the first songs that I really fell in love with.  Over time, some have faded from my memory and some have remained among my favorites when I listen to my iPod.  The song I’m bringing you tonight is one that had actually faded for quite a while.

Up until last weekend when I recorded this music video, it had literally been years since I had listened to John Mellencamp’s “Your Life is Now.”  It is on his 1998 self-titled album (he’s one of the few artists who have been able to release two different self-titled albums; I’m of course referring to the 1979 album when his name was John Cougar…) and although this is not my favorite track on the album, it is the single.  Thus, considering my penchant for deep tracks, I figured I’d stick to a relatively mainstream song for the first John Mellencamp cover on the Laptop Sessions website.  Unlike the aforementioned Sugar Ray tune (which hit #7 on the Billboard Hot 100), this song never charted.  However, it did reach #15 on the US Rock Charts, which is probably why I heard it played on the radio so much that year.

And, I have to admit, I had a lot of fun these past couple sessions learning the songs that remind me of years ago, when music was all-new, unknown, and simply exciting for me.  I definitely plan to revisit my pop radio roots for future sessions.  (Tune in next time, though, as I’ll be dusting off a Jim Croce single for the first time on this, the best acoustic cover song blog on the Internet!)

Finally, before I go back to reading for school tomorrow — I’m reading a great mystery by Tana French called In the Woods for those of you mystery fans among us — I have to comment on tonight’s episode of TNA Impact!  It was, without a doubt, one of the best episodes probably in months.  It pretty much had everyone and everything you could want in a two-hour wrestling program, with the exception of Christian Cage, one of my all-time favorite wrestlers who was not on tonight’s show.  (As Jim mentioned, though, Samoa Joe wasn’t there, which was a nice trade-off…  Sorry, is that mean?  Well, he’s not the “champ” anymore, so…)  But, seriously, aside from being incredibly disappointed in the way that the Kurt Angle vs. Matt Morgan ended (I wanted Morgan to win, even though I knew he wasn’t going to!!), it was a great show.

Probably the most shocking segment was when Kevin Nash — after demolishing Consequences Creed, or as Nash referred to him, “Unconscious Creed” — completely amped up his ego, proclaiming himself to be the smartest, largest wrestler and a man that women lust for and that men wish they could be.  He actually mocked the men in the audience who brough wives and girlfriends, warning them that their women were thinking only of what it would be like to spend the night with him.

Now, while I in no way, shape, or form would endorse this kind of pompous behavior and I generally dislike anyone whose personality remotely leans in that direction, I have to share this funny moment I had tonight:

Jim:  Chris, now are you such a big fan of Kevin Nash?

Chris:  Well, to be honest, I sometimes do wish I could be seven feet tall, incredibly muscular, and have the nickname “Big Sexy!”

I realize that this all has little to do with acoustic covers, but I really just had to share…

Thanks for reading, watching, and/or listening — I look forward to possibly seeing you back here in three days for yet another all-new acoustic cover music video and a review of the America concert I’m going to see at the Mohegan Sun on Saturday!

See you next session!

CD Review: Songwriter (and Former Beatle) Ringo Starr’s New Music on “Liverpool 8”

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RATING:  3.5 / 5 stars

By Chris Moore:

When I read that Ringo and his longtime musical partner Mark Hudson had severed their working relationship, I was concerned for what Liverpool 8 might end up sounding like. Would it follow in the solid, enjoyable footsteps of 2003’s Ringo Rama and 2005’s Choose Love, or would it embrace a new sound altogether? How would Dave Stewart’s influence as producer manifest itself in the music? As much as I’d like to believe I’m open-minded about artistic development, I have also grown fond of Ringo’s recent sound.

A couple nights after the album’s release, I sat in my car outside the CD store, hurriedly tearing the shrink wrap off of Liverpool 8. As the title track began, I was simultaneously hesitant and intrigued – it was a new sound, but certainly not a negative one – hearing Ringo tumble words-first into the autobiographical, “I was a sailor first…” Some may say (and, in fact, some reviewers have already said) that this song is a campy rehashing of his past exploits as a Beatle. I, however, have to scoff at those sentiments.

It strikes me as far too easy to write off or make fun of an “I remember when” song by an ex-Beatle. Have we forgotten the great ex-Beatle autobiographical songs? (George Harrison’s “All Those Years Ago” and “When We Was Fab,” just to name a couple.) Listen to the track for yourself; I hope you’ll find it as interesting, informative, and fun as I did. My favorite line has to be (referring to the leader of the band he was in when Lennon and McCartney saw him play and asked him to join the Beatles), “Played Butlin’s camp/with my friend Rory/It was good for him/it was great for me.” In a recent live version, I’m certain I saw him grinning on that last part, as if to say, “Of course it was ‘great’ for me!”

Initially, I did find the album to be somewhat darker than his recent work, but that is by no means to suggest that his basic advocacy of the “Peace and Love” lifestyle has lessened; if anything, it is just as strong as it has ever been. Songs like “For Love” and (my personal favorite) the solid rocker “If It’s Love That You Want” may not have the most original lyrics, but they have all the heart that we have grown to expect out of Ringo. Even the more serious songs, such as “Now That She’s Gone Away” and “Gone Are the Days,” shine through with lively guitar solos and, of course, reminders that “it don’t come easy” (Any fan of Ringo’s recent, excellent albums who has checked their Billboard ratings would agree!).

At the end of the day, I cannot say that I like this album more than Choose Love or especially Ringo Rama, but I can say that it is a solid, enjoyable album that proves Ringo cannot be written off as the least talented ex-Beatle. He has been smart enough to surround himself with talented young musician/songwriters who compliment his excellent drumming. He has created and maintained an exciting new sound in his recent work. He possesses a larger-than-life personality that drives even his lesser songs forward. And, if nothing else, he still knows how to rock n’roll!