“Waltz #2 (XO)” (Elliott Smith Cover)

By Chris Moore:

Hello and welcome to not only a brand-new Laptop Session, but the introduction of a new artist to our list of covers! Today, I’m playing “Waltz #2 (XO)” from Elliott Smith’s XO album. I actually just realized a couple weeks ago that he did indeed have an album between my two favorites from him — Either/Or and Figure 8 — and I had to get it. I’ve been listening to it ever since, and it feels kind of like a new album to me, considering that I thought I had heard all of his studio material.

Like I said, I’ve been listening to the album for over a week, and even though I still have several Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash “Laptop Sessions” videos, I just had to sit down and record this one (thus, the late-night, down-to-the-wire posting).

I hope you enjoy it; I certainly enjoyed learning it and playing it! Don’t forget to check out an all-new session from Jeff tomorrow, right here at https://guitarbucketlist.com !


“Tonight I’ll Be Stayin’ Here With You” (Bob Dylan Covers – Triple Threat Tuesday!!)

By Chris Moore:

Hello and welcome to not only another Laptop Session music video, but also a special treat from the three songwriters who bring you an acoustic cover a day EVERY day in 2008…

This is a little something we like to call Triple Threat Tuesday. What this means is today you will receive not one, not two, not four, but THREE video blog entries. Each video will be a cover version of Bob Dylan’s 1969 song “Tonight I’ll Be Stayin’ Here With You.” It’s such a great track that we couldn’t agree on just one person to record an acoustic cover of it… so all three of us will take a stab at it! This song originally appeared on the first fully country-rock Dylan album, appropriately titled Nashville Skyline. This album is filled with very simple, upbeat, and brief (under 3 minutes each) songs, not to mention they’re all sung in his “Lay, Lady, Lay” voice and Johnny Cash himself makes a special guest appearance on the opening track. I’ve heard better duets, but there are few things better than hearing two giants like Cash and Dylan harmonize (however loosely) on such a great song as “Girl from the North Country.” Dylan actually originally released that song on his 1962 acoustic album The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan.

Personally, my favorite version of this song is Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue version, recorded in 1975 and released in the Bootleg series. He changes the words around and, although they’re a bit more blunt than the original, I love them and think they work well for this acoustic cover rendition. But that’s the beauty of cover songs — they give songwriters like us endless opportunities to perfect our own skills and to end some of our own style to the track. For instance, I can bet that Jim’s version will be faithful to the original, as he loves that album. He could have bet money that I would go for the obscure live lyrics, since I love Bob Dylan and have probably heard more live versions of this song than the average person should.

As Jim explained yesterday, I must follow up — it’s great to be back online. This music blog has been a lot of work for us and I can’t imagine losing the session – a – day promise this far into the game! We’re building more and more each day, and now that I’m on summer break from teaching, I’ll be able to devote all my attention toward my creative pursuits.

See you next session!


Jeff’s version is no longer on YouTube, but here’s…

Jim’s version: Recorded the night of, using my new video filters and amazing USB microphone- just listen to the audio quality of this acoustic cover song!



“Will It Grow” by Jakob Dylan – Chords, Lyrics, & How to Play

“Will It Grow”
Jakob Dylan

Intro:  C#m

C#m                         A         E
I made a promise to not let go;
E              C#m                              B             A
Our tug of war has only made me want you more.
A               B                     E                 A
Steeped in hard luck and doomed to roam;
A               B                       C#m
My love is braver than you know.

My forefathers, they worked this land,
And I was schooled in the tyranny of nature’s plans.
Dressed in thunder, a cloud came round;
A                          B        E                C#m
In the shape of a lion, a hand came down.

A               E         A              E
Damn this valley, damn this cold.
E             B         A        C#m
Takes so long to let me know…
A                   E             A             E
It’s plant and reap and plow and sow,
E                        C#m
But tell me will it grow?

Dig my ditches in the golden sun;
I’d be robbing these trains if I could catch me one.
Sunday, Monday, now Tuesday’s gone…
Got me stone cold sober in a drought so long.

Boarded mansions and ghost filled yards;
There’s a boy in a water tower counting cars.
Steel traps open and empty stalls;
There’s a well-worn saddle, but the horse is gone.

Damn this valley, damn this cold.
Takes so long to let me know…
It’s plant and reap and plow and sow,
But tell me will it grow?

Jet black starlit midnight rolls;
I am down in the garden where I let you go.
Here on the surface, the earth looks round,
But it’s a Godless city of cold flat ground.

Damn this valley, damn this cold.
Takes so long to let me know…
It’s plant and reap and plow and sow,
But tell me will it grow?

C#m  C#m – B – E – B – A
Will it grow?…
A       C#m – B – E – B – A
Will it grow?…
A       C#m – B – E – B – A
Will it grow?…

Outro:  C#m

“She Knows Me Too Well” (Beach Boys Cover mp3) by Jim Fusco

By Jim Fusco:

Ladies and gentlemen- I give you a brand-new recording!!

This is a cover of the Beach Boys’ classic song “She Knows Me Too Well” off of the “Today!” album from 1965.

I got some new equipment, so I wanted to try to match the original recording the best I could (with a little more flair on the drums, no disrespect to Dennis Wilson). I used my new Shure SM57 mic, Epiphone Les Paul Special II with P-90 pickups, and my Samson 7-piece drum mic set. I rounded-it out with my Fender Stratocaster, Fender Jazz Bass, electric piano, and ten vocal tracks, recorded with my Shure SM27 condenser mic.

I really hope you enjoy all the hard work I put into this and hope you’ll share it with all of your friends, too!

http://jimfusco.com/audio/sheknowsmetoowell.mp3

And here’s a special “vocals-only” version for you super-fans:

http://jimfusco.com/audio/sheknowsme-vocals.mp3

Stay tuned for even more Beach Boys cover songs coming your way on the Laptop Sessions cover songs music blog!