Hello and welcome to the “Title Tracks Week” edition of the Laptop Sessions! Today, I’m proud to pull one out of the archives, dust it off, and present it to you in all its laptop camera – recorded glory… This is the title track from my 2005 album Looking For You – click here to listen!. “Looking For You” is one of only three songs (all included on that album) that I’ve released with drums included in the mix. At the time, Jim officially produced three tracks off the album for me and they are, by far, the standout tracks! With his help and musicianship, I was able to include percussion and background vocals like no other song I had previously released. To this day, I still remember the hours I spent teaching him the songs and learning what I could from his recording style.
“Looking For You” quickly became one of the staples of our band at the time, the trio “Chris, Jim, and Becky.” We played coffee houses and open mic nights, and this song seemed to fit amongst our rather acoustic fare. For whatever reason, I had a hell of a time remembering the words though, so there are some embarrassing live tracks floating around out there. But there is a really great recording of it on our only release as a trio, appropriately titled Live in the Studio – click here to listen!.
Then, in 2006, MoU began recording their debut album – click here to listen!, again with a “live in the studio” sound. Looking for standards that we were comfortable playing, “Looking For You” made the final cut. This, I think, is the definitive version. Years of playing this song finally gelled on this recording, as the three of us were joined by Mike Fusco on drums and Cliff Huizenga on bass.
As a final note, I must admit that I have purposely pushed this song out of our set lists as of late. The reason is certainly not that I don’t like the song; the length of this post should refute that suggestion! (In fact, I’m not sure I’ve ever told anyone before, but this was the first harmonica solo I ever played on my own and it really marked the beginning of that instrument in my music.) I’ve felt that the words of the song get buried in a live, electric rock setting, and that’s the real reason it’s been passed over recently. Playing it again tonight was a blast!
I hope you enjoy it, and I hope you’ll come back to https://guitarbucketlist.com tomorrow for an all-new “Title Track” Laptop Session from Jeff Copperthite… it’s sure to be a great one!
Well, never let it be said that I was entirely original when I first started writing songs. This song is proof positive that I had a lot of emotions that needed to be expressed, but that I had a long way to go before I could release songs and not be embarrassed of them. For instance, take the title of tonight’s original contribution, “My First Song.”
Anyone willing to guess when I wrote this song?
As you may have guessed, this is the first song I ever wrote. Now, I had written poems and stories, and I had even written lyrics for which I had tunes in my head. Some of those I would even go back to later on and add music. But, at the time, this was the first song I wrote as a complete piece.
I clearly recall that afternoon, sitting in front of my sister’s keyboard and awkwardly positioning my fingers on the keyboard, playing with chord progressions and lyrical possibilities. On this particular afternoon, I was particularly consumed with conflicting feelings of obsession and revulsion for a girl who I spent the better part of four years idolizing. Now, the lyrics may be simple and the words may be even simpler, but it was true. It was from the heart. And, for better or worse, it was probably the most openly honest I have ever been — or ever will be — in a song.
If you pay attention, the lyrics are subtle but have interesting aspects. For instance, the first verse ends, “I know that you want-“. This abrupt ending is deliberate; I meant to give the feeling of being cut off, perhaps to invite the girl who is the subject of the song to be curious. To want to find out what I know and if what I know is indeed what she wants.
The second verse is somewhat enigmatic. From where I sit, pushing seven years after I wrote this song, I’m not sure if I meant what I think this line means: “I feel that you want something that will get you there.” My question now is, where is “there”? For that matter, what did I mean by “something” rather than “someone”?
Regardless, I had a lot of fun dusting this classic off. Thanks to the Chris Moore Songbook, I was able to recall the chords and lyrics to this song, as well as several others that I played as part of a “tour down memory lane.” I hope you enjoy this brief and simple, but landmark (for me!) tune.
As a final note, because I’m posting today, Jeff will be taking my place on Friday. I know you’ll enjoy Jim and Jeff’s work in the coming days (and I certainly will, as I now have the weekend off!), so I’ll see you all on Monday.
This is completely off the cuff, and I’m loving it!
All you Mets fans out there will be well aware that Jeff Francoeur — the topic of not a few trade rumors since the return of Carlos Beltran and the outstanding performance of Angel Pagan this season — got a spot on the starting rotation last night due to Jason Bay being out with a concussion. Well, he made the most of it…
…with a three run homer off the Cardinals’ Adam Wainwright, arguably one of the best pitchers in the game right now!
Granted, it’s only one hit in the midst of a mighty slump, but it reminded me of this great song called “Joe DiMaggio Done It Again” off Wilco and Billy Bragg’s second album of Woody Guthrie-penned (lyrics, at least) songs, Mermaid Avenue Vol. II. I slipped a “Jeff” here and a “Frenchy” there, and voila!
This is my 200th Laptop Session, and I could think of no better way to celebrate it than to make it a fun one. (And, yes, at the beginning of the music video, that IS me doing my best Jeff Francoeur impression…) I hope you enjoy listening as much as I enjoyed recording it.
Hello and welcome to an all-new week of cover song music videos at my personal favorite blog on the web today — and I swear I’m not biased! I had a busy but very enjoyable weekend, including going to see the Moody Blues as they tore the house down at the “Chevrolet” Theater in Wallingford, Connecticut. (I put the Chevrolet part in quotations because I refuse to recognize that as the name. Just about everyone I know still calls it the Oakdale, despite Chevy’s blatant self-promotion.)
The song I chose to learn and record came out of the music I listened to on the way home from the concert on Saturday night, namely the Moody Blues’ “Live at the Isle of Wight Festival,” a concert from 1970 that was released a year or so ago on CD and, more recently, on DVD. As could be expected, this concert includes songs from their first three LPs, but it certainly includes a healthy portion of songs from their A Question of Balance album, released that same year. My session tonight, a John Lodge track titled “Minstrel’s Song,” is a song from that aforementioned album.
The live version from 1970 is an upbeat version and a great performance, but there really is no comparison to the studio recording on the album. Even though I agree that A Question of Balance simply doesn’t hit the same peaks of concept album perfection that On the Threshold of a Dream and To Our Children’s Children’s Children did — what a year 1969 must have been for Moody Blues fans and music lovers in general! — in my opinion, it can’t be beat in terms of production quality and a constant flow of catchy, interesting songs. I suppose this makes sense, as it has been said that the album was an effort on their part to record songs that would be more easily reproduced in concert. Thankfully, though, they did return to their inventive soundscapes for their following two releases.
Now, let’s pause for a moment to add in some Laptop Sessions trivia. In the past, there have been two other tracks from A Question of Balance recorded as cover song music videos here at the blog. One is a foregone conclusion — the truly amazing album opener “Question,” a true acoustic masterpiece, if only for the opening guitar strum pattern. And I’ll even tell you that Jim recorded it.
My question is: what was the second song from this album to be recorded by a Laptop Sessions contributor, and which guitarist here at the blog recorded it? If you know, then be the first to add a comment below!
The reason I chose this song is the same reason I have spent the past two days listening to the Moody Blues nonstop — first the concert CD, then A Question of Balance, followed by Strange Times — namely, because the concert was such an entertaining experience. This is probably the third or fourth time I have seen Justin Hayward, John Lodge, and Graeme Edge in concert, and they continue to impress every year they come around. (They must have a decent fanbase in Connecticut, as they appeared at the Mohegan Sun on Sunday, the next night after performing at the Oakdale!) As my third and final concert of the summer, there was some pressure here based on how much I enjoyed my previous two, Bob Dylan and Wilco respectively. And, again, there was no contest; the Moody Blues only get better — or, more realistically, stay at the same level of greatness — with age.
Some highlights from this stop on the Moody Blues’ “Summer Nights Tour 2009” included Justin Hayward foregoing his usual collared shirt for a lime green t-shirt with a definite summer feel to it, then a white t-shirt after the intermission break. The set list included some interesting song choices, most notably “Peak Hour” from the “Lunch Break” segment of their debut album Days of Future Passed. Supposedly, this song has not been performed in concert for about 40 years! Regardless, it was one of the highlights of the night, combining catchy vocals and impressive harmonies with amazing instrumental work.
Perhaps the funniest moment of the night came when Graeme Edge, before performing “Higher and Higher,” recalled the classic mentality that it’s all about “sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll.” He claimed that it was still true, even if the drug of choice may have changed to Viagra.
Obvious crack at their age aside, I can’t stress enough that the Moody Blues are still at the top of their game. Ever since Jim and I spent a summer a couple years ago listening to all of their albums (each one repeatedly) in sequence, the Moody Blues have held a special place in my heart and in my thoughts of the summer time. Each time they come around, I realize they have a lot to live up to in terms of their past performances and their impressive discography. All in all, they played for almost two hours and included at least one song from just about every studio album they ever released, with the exception of two of my favorites, The Present and Strange Times. Jim might correct me here, as I decided to entirely enjoy this concert without keeping track of the set list or writing a full review, but my full review would have gone something like this: don’t miss out on the chance to see the Moody Blues if you get the chance!
Well, that about does it for me. On a final note, is it a bad sign if, after playing my finished Laptop Session as I wrote this post tonight, my cat reached over and hit the “Volume Down” key on my MacBook? I’m not even kidding here. I hope you don’t have the same reaction!
