Tag Archives: chris

“No Way to Say Goodbye” [Leonard Cohen Cover]

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By Chris Moore:

Hello and welcome to the final Laptop Session of November!  Today, I bring you an all-new cover (that’s right, ALL new) from a new songwriter to the blog, Leonard Cohen.  In fact, I had so much fun learning this song today that I’ll be posting another Cohen song — perhaps his most well-known song — “Suzanne.”

You may be wondering, why bring in a Leonard Cohen song now, after all this time?  Well, there are a couple of answers to that question.

First, I have recently been listening to The Essential Leonard Cohen, after my friend from work, Larry, suggested that Cohen and Bob Dylan are on the same level as songwriters.  Now, for those of you who don’t know me, this was quite a compelling assertion indeed.  Thus, I picked up the CD when I saw the special 3-disc edition on sale at Wal-Mart, and I’ve been listening to the first disc for the past week and a half.  This song, “No Way to Say Goodbye,” is on that disc and has quickly become one of those songs that I find repeatedly stuck in my head during the day.

Then, I was reminded of Cohen yesterday when Alberto picked a cover of his “Hallelujah” by Jeff Buckley to play on our WCJM “Tenth Anniversary Show.”  This was interesting for me, as it got me wondering if Cohen is one of those artists whose songs are more well-known when done by other performers.  That’s the only song I know of, but I’ll have to do some research to find out…

Speaking of the WCJM show, we had a blast yesterday as we met to record a new installment of Moore Hits in the Morning in the… believe it or not… morning!  The music was as diverse as ever, coming on the heels of Jim’s idea for each of the seven cast members to contribute two of their favorite songs.  This inspired such disparate responses as Jim’s new music choices — BnL’s “Wind it Up” from ’06 and Brian Wilson’s “Live Let Live” from this year — to Dave’s classic music choices — WCJM favorites “All the Things” by the Byrds and “A Simple Game” by the Moody Blues.  I chose one of each — the classic Moody Blues song “Question” and the contemporary “Living Well is the Best Revenge” by R.E.M.

Aside from the music, we had skits, skits, skits!  We had an impeccably delivered segment of Matt’s standup.  We had new skits by classic characters — Ronco, the Food Critic, Dr. Keck, Stuffy D. Bear, and more.  We had brand-new skits, including my Scam Wow parody.

In short, it was fun!

And it was really great to see all the guys in one place one more time.  We had a touch of nostalgia unlike any other on the previous shows, and for good reason — it was our tenth anniversary, for crying out loud!  Seriously though, I was proud to sit there for almost three hours and share in this crazy, creative experience we call WCJM!  Stay tuned to WCJM.com, as the show will be posted soon…

Well, that’s enough for me for one post.  Thanks for stopping by for your daily fix of acoustic rock cover songs; I hope you enjoy my music video.  I’ll be back on Original Wednesday, but until then, don’t miss Jeff’s Monday post and Jim’s Tuesday video.

See you next session!

“You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere” [Bob Dylan Cover)

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By Chris Moore:

If it was an honor to bring you “Getcha Back” three days ago, it is even more of a pleasure (it that’s possible!) to welcome you to the best cover song video blog in the universe tonight with Bob Dylan’s “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere”! This cover song video has the added bonus of my collaboration with not only fellow songwriter Jim Fusco but also his girlfriend (fiancee to be more precise!) Becky Daly.

Several years ago, before the band Masters of the Universe was even an idea, we toured and recorded briefly as “Chris, Jim, and Becky.” This was probably my happiest musical collaboration, my first recording that I was really proud to be a part of (Click here to listen to Live in the Studio), and if we could have devoted more time and energy to the act or even just found a venue that appreciated what we were doing, I would have wanted Chris, Jim, and Becky to go on for a good long time!

But, alas, all good things come to an end. Now, years later, “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere” is such a comfortable classic to us that we sat down and tore through it in one full take. I think it comes across on the video just how comfortable we are and I can at least speak for myself when I say this acoustic cover was a ton of fun to record. I hope it is the first of many collaborations to come, and although I’m out of them for a while, I know Jim still has some from that night’s recording session in his back pocket. Now, that’s something to look forward to…

I have one more major announcement before I rush off to my favorite weekly television event — TNA Impact!, my favorite and simply the best wrestling program out there. I’ll be going to the Bob Dylan concert tomorrow night, and as with the Brian Wilson concert last month, I’ll be posting the set list online immediately after the show, if not actually updating it DURING the show! I don’t know if it will be that cool, but it will be up immediately with a review shortly after and I hope all you Bob Dylan fans will hurry back for both the set list and the review!

You can also look forward to an all-new acoustic cover song from Jeff tomorrow…

See you next session!



“Fire and Rain” (James Taylor Cover)

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By Chris Moore:

Welcome back for another installment in the session-a-day project at the best music blog on the Internet! Tonight’s Laptop Session is from a new artist to the blog — James Taylor. “Fire and Rain” is his second single, released in 1970 after “Carolina on My Mind.” And now it is one more acoustic cover song to be added to the Laptop Sessions’ list of covers!

I’ve always liked this song, since I first heard it on a seventies compilation early in high school. This is actually a funny story — I was just explaining it to Jim last week…

Growing up, I didn’t listen to a lot of music. My dad had tapes of his favorite artists and a few compilation tapes, but outside of this, I didn’t really focus that much on songs or especially albums. Then, by middle school, I was listening to the radio religiously, especially the morning show on Kiss 95.7 — one of my favorite parts of summer vacation was being able to listen to 8am-10am portion of the morning show. As I began to record my own “radio shows” on cassette tape, I also began buying CDs so that I would have a wide range of music to present.

Thus began my vast musical journey. My first CD was an Elvis greatest hits that my parents bought me to go along with my first CD player. Then, I got into sixties music briefly. I had an extended seventies period, picking up greatest hits of the 70s compilations and — yes, I’ll admit it now — disco CDs. If you listen to some of the earlier Moore Hits in the Morning shows on WCJM.com, you’ll find that disco music crept into my choices for best songs.

Suffice it to say that I, just like most other people in the free world, did indeed grow out of that phase!

I collected and listened to a lot of eighties music, as well. All throughout these whims, I was buying contemporary music, and I’ve since gone back to the sixties — Dylan, the Beach Boys, and the Beatles — for the core of my favorite music artists.

I’m not sure that everyone goes through a musical education quite like that, but I have a good laugh when I really think about the way I grew into music and experienced a lot of different styles and eras over a relatively short amount of time. So, tonight, I dig back to my favorite seventies tracks to bring you this great one from James Taylor. I hope you enjoy it!

And don’t forget to come back tomorrow for yet another awesome acoustic rock cover by the man, the myth, the legend — Jeff Copperthite…

See you next session!



“When I Go” (Original song performed by Jim Fusco) – The Open Mic Sessions

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By Jim Fusco:

Welcome to another edition of “The Open Mic Sessions” with Jim Fusco!  Today, I reach back into the archives for a song off of the EP “Meaningless: Echoes of Dreams”.  You see, back when these tracks were recorded, the idea was to take an entire week’s vacation from school and record an album.  Our idea was to basically lock ourselves in and to write and record the whole thing.  It’s still an idea I’d like to try someday, but back then, it just didn’t turn out that way.

First, I had a bad cold so I couldn’t really sing.  Second, my brother and I are, well, brothers.  You can’t lock us in a room for a week (figuratively speaking, that is) and expect good results.  So, after some fights and even less work getting done (mostly because of arguments over how each song should’ve sounded), we ended up with nothing more than a few backing tracks at the end of the week.  Oh yeah, and a vow to never work together again…which we ditched in 2006 when we started MoU.  And now we’re still in the throes of the newest vow never to work together again. 🙂  Time heals all wounds, but some wounds take a bit longer to heal!  I guess that’s why certain bands that have stayed together longer aren’t really friends- they work together and go their separate ways.  It’s tough to think of playing music that way because of how social it is.  But, there’s so much passion involved.  And the addition of one vocal part one band member doesn’t think should be there seems like a life-or-death decision.  I kind of liken it to a marriage, except it’s even more stressful because there’s someone messing with something you’ve created!

That’s a long-winded way of saying that, even though we didn’t accomplish too much, what we did accomplish was really good.  Those tunes are some of the most enduring ones I can remember writing and participating in.  “When I Go” is played by my brother and me every time we jam together.  It’s just this great tune that has a great beat.  What more could you want?  So, when I went to play an open mic performance at The Space in Hamden, CT, I wanted to bust-out this song.  I never got to perform it there while in MoU, so it was my chance to resurrect it.

I hope you enjoy the performance- everyone there certainly seemed to!  Stay tuned for more from The Open Mic Sessions, as my solo acoustic and electric performances of original songs continues here on the Laptop Sessions acoustic cover songs and original music video blog!