Tag Archives: chris moore

“Not Myself” (John Mayer Cover)

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By Chris Moore:

Hello and welcome — one and all — to an all-new acoustic rock cover song music video!  Yes, it’s a mouthful, but it’s the best way to describe this music blog that you’re viewing.  Whether you’re a regular visitor or this is your first time, I hope you’ll see how much work we’ve put into the design, the variety of bands represented, and the quality of content for each post.  We don’t just record a video; instead, we write substantive text posts to give you something interesting (we hope!) to read as you listen to the session of the day.  Whenever possible, we share information about the band or our individual processes for recording the videos — and we hope that you find the reading worthwhile.  We certainly have found these songs worthwhile and devote a lot of time to learning, practicing, recording, and writing about them.

Which brings me to my video for this Saturday session.  Today, I picked John Mayer’s “Not Myself,” a great track from his great album Room For Squares.  Yes, it may be an over-publicized album (having won many awards and much notoriety when it first came out) and it may be better known for such hits as “Your Body Is a Wonderland,” but it is so much more than these aspects would suggest.  I still think this is John Mayer’s best album to date, as it combines great songwriting with great sounds, blending acoustic and electric elements nicely.  Possibly my favorite John Mayer song, “Why Georgia,” is on this album, not to mention another close runner up, “Love Song for No One.”

And I’ll always have an odd memory of this album.  When I first bought it and started listening to it, I was hooked and couldn’t get enough of it.  It gradually became the album that I would listen to in the shower and sing along to, practicing and enjoying singing.  Now, this was before I had a portable set of speakers for my iPod, so I would put the CD in my stereo and blast it loud enough to be heard down the hall, in the bathroom, with the water running for the shower.  (I obviously only did this when no one else was home.)

So, I was thinking about songs that I really would like to learn and record, and “Not Myself” immediately came to mind.  I’ve always liked the structure of the song and the overall mood of the studio recording.  I hope I’ve done it justice and that you’ll enjoy listening to it!

Jim Fusco — the man, the myth, the legend — gave me the best birthday present a man like myself could ever hope for — an all-expenses paid set of recording sessions at Fusco-Moore Studios and his creative input as producer on my new album!  I’m more excited than I can quite explain in words right now to think about what my songs will sound like with his expertise and creative input, especially based on what his new unreleased music sounds like.

See you next session!

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Chris Moore reaches 50,000 video views landmark on YouTube!

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By Chris Moore:

Well, after weeks of lessening views, I have finally achieved half of a hundred grand views on YouTube.  By “a hundred grand” I of course mean 100,000 (as opposed to 100 grand views; although I’d love for all of my views to be grand…).

And, based on that confusing introduction to this post, you may be starting to see why less people view my videos than Jim’s!!  Seriously, though, I’m very excited to hit the 50,000 view mark on YouTube, as I’ve had my hopes set on 100,000 for a long time.  I think I would start to feel accomplished on YouTube if I were to reach 100 grand.

Then, once I reached that, I would look around and realize how insignificant even that number is.  But, by that time, I’ll be aiming for a million views!

So, as session-a-day rolls onward — ever closer to the new year — I’m more excited than ever to make and break some new records for the Laptop Sessions music video blog…

…and you’ll see another reason if you’ll just read my next post!

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“Needle in the Hay” (Elliott Smith Indie Rock Cover)

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By Chris Moore:

Trying to find great acoustic cover songs on the web is like trying to find a needle in the hay…

…and now you can find both in the same place!!  (In this case, a great acoustic cover song music blog AND a “Needle in the Hay”)

Seriously, though, it is my pleasure to bring you the Laptop Sessions’ second installment in the Elliott Smith category (see our 100+ band categories in the drop-down menu above) with his great song “Needle in the Hay.”  This is track one on his second, self-titled album.  I truly love Elliott Smith’s work, but I’m really a fan of his third (Either/Or), fourth (XO), and especially fifth (Figure 8 ) albums.  His first two releases are solid and I’ve grown more and more fond of them after multiple listens.  I think what really holds them back for me is the fact that they’re predominantly Smith and his acoustic guitar.  There is, of course, double-tracking and soloing, but it simply doesn’t stand up to the mixture of simple acoustic tracks and lively, fully-produced, upbeat tracks on the aforementioned three later albums.  I just discovered XO recently, and I was so into it that I decided to record my first Elliott Smith session based on “Waltz #2 (XO).”

So, you may be wondering why I chose this track from the early two albums.  The answer is simple — what better song to record for an acoustic cover than a song that is already based on vocals and acoustic guitar alone?  I hope you enjoy this song as much as I enjoyed learning and playing it — I’ll certainly be digging into Smith’s catalog again at a later date, after I’ve helped patch some holes in our category offerings (can anyone say, “The Rolling Stones” or “Simon and Garfunkel”?…).

See you next session!



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“Walt Whitman’s Niece” (Billy Bragg & Wilco Cover)

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By Chris Moore:

As promised, I’m back after my second Jack Johnson acoustic cover song (posted on Saturday) to bring you my first installment for “New Bands Week.”  Since I wanted to make sure that I’m pulling my weight around here (and considering that Jim is swiftly adding to a list of at least ten new artists he plans to cover!), I decided to bring not only one but two new bands in one day to the best cover song music blog in the universe!

Okay, so maybe I’m talking up my contribution here, since the song I chose — “Walt Whitman’s Niece” — was recorded as a collaboration between the two artists, songwriter Billy Bragg and alternative rock band Wilco.  But, still… in the spirit of “New Bands Week,” two new bands!

There’s a really interesting story to go along with this cover song.  This is the first track on Billy Bragg and Wilco’s Mermaid Avenue album, a collection of songs based on the lyrics of Woody Guthrie.  Guthrie essentially ended up writing countless songs over his years as a songwriter, many of which he never put to music.  He literally had boxes of them.  I read that Guthrie actually offered them to a young Bob Dylan when Dylan went to visit him in the hospital.  He even made the long trip out to Guthrie’s house, but there was only a babysitter at home and she did not want to let a stranger in.  (Little did she know he would soon be anything BUT a stranger!)  Then, decades later, Billy Bragg and Wilco got their hands on the lyrics, chose their favorites, and wrote music for the words.  The result is an amazing album that I first learned about through my Journalism II teacher, who was also a big Dylan fan.

They came out with a sequel a few years later, simply called Mermaid Avenue Volume II, but it really wasn’t as strong as the first time around.  This is simply one of those moments in rock music, in my opinion, that came down to initial inspiration.  That first album is such a strong, enjoyable, and interesting collection of music.  In fact, I initially wanted to record “Ingrid Bergman” (which I did and stored away for later), but then remembered about “Walt Whitman’s Niece.”  I figured it would be a much stronger choice, as it is the first track on the album, upbeat, and of course, highlighted by a crazy harmonica solo that I could never duplicate.  All in all, a really fun song to sing.  As Jim and I figured out, it was a lot of fun to improv lyrics to the tune!

As a final note, Jim and I saw the latest Woody Allen movie, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, tonight.  Although I’m always a big fan of seeing him in the movies, this was a really interesting film even if he didn’t play an acting role.  I wasn’t sure how I felt about the voiceovers initially, but I really got into the characters and especially the situation.  I think this is one of those movies that will cause viewers to think about their own ideas about love, trust, and what their lives will be like in several decades.  How do you find happiness?  I don’t want to give anything away, so I’ll stop here.

This may be all for today’s post. If you haven’t already, you should scroll down the home page and check out Jim and Jeff’s first picks of the New Bands Week.

See you next sesion!

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