“Sweet Talkin’ Woman” by Electric Light Orchestra (E.L.O.) Cover

By Jim Fusco:

The 2010-2011 season of the Laptop Sessions with Jim Fusco has now begun!  Back here again after taking the summer off and that’s the way it looks like the schedule will go: September to June.  That way, I can take time off while my wife is off from work.  I’m excited to bring you a whole new crop of Laptop Sessions acoustic cover song music videos- once every two weeks!  In between, I’ll be posting articles, reviews, and more.  There’s a lot going on in this noggin’ of mine, so let me update you on a couple of things I’m up to:

  • I had a nice summer, taking a cruise to Bermuda and doing many activities (mostly that my wife wanted to accomplish during her time off)
  • BIG changes are coming to my suite of websites, including the simplification of everything.  This starts with the removal of fusco-moore.com and the FMP Music Store.  They’re just not necessary anymore.  I’ll keep the MoU site online just for old time’s sake (and, it looks cool), but everything else will be taken down (except for WCJM, of course).  I’m conceptualizing a new JimFusco.com and we’ve been doing some photo shoots to give me some new content.
  • I also have a new Twitter account for my music: jimfuscomusic.  Easy enough, huh?  Please follow me so you can get up to the minute updates on all of my musical ventures!
  • I’m working on a new vocals-only project, but this is more for my own usage.  I always put so much work into my vocals that I wanted to showcase them on a special collector’s album.  More to follow.
  • Finally, and most importantly, I’m working on new songs!  I have nine so far and will probably go to 15 so I can, for the first time, record everything and pick out only the best.  I think this will be important to make the best album I can.  But, I’m not giving up on “Halfway There” just yet, so I’ll be promoting that in the meantime.  We’re still probably a year out before I release anything new.

So, that’s what’s happening.  Now, onto tonight’s video!

I’m back with “Sweet Talkin’ Woman” by Electric Light Orchestra.  This is a great classic rock tune that I’ve known for as long as I can remember.  The song, written and sung by Jeff Lynne, is one of my favorite ELO (or E.L.O., whichever the search engines prefer) songs.

I knew the song started on the “C” chord- you can just hear it in the original recording.  What I didn’t know, however, was that this song is really easy to play.  I mean, when you hear an Electric Light Orchestra song, there’s so much going on that the songs sound like they’re really complicated.  But, even after taking three months off, this still only took me one take to get right!  No, I’m not perfect- I did practice quite a bit off-camera.

I think I got the song down really well and made it my own.  Again, this is definitely a pared-down version from the original, stripping-away the multiple instruments and backing vocals.  The backing vocals presented a bit of a challenge, so I had to pick what I believed to be the “lead” backing vocal note and sing that where necessary.

I hope you don’t notice that I’m getting over a cold.  I’ve been practicing guitar like mad lately, but I’ve been giving my voice a rest after a really bad cold.  You know how the cough lingers with you for weeks afterward?  Well, it’s only been a few days and I’m really holding back in the video.  I can’t even laugh without going into a coughing fit!

I hope you enjoy tonight’s video and that you’ll follow me on Twitter (@jimfuscomusic) so you’ll be the first to know when all my new acoustic cover song music videos and blog posts come out.  So, until next time, here’s “Sweet Talkin’ Woman”!

“Waterfalls” (Quilt Acoustic Original Song)

By Jeff Copperthite:

Welcoem to our favorite day of the week – Original Wednesday! Where we bring to light the various talents of us in the form of an original song.

Today I am doing an “oldie but somewhat goodie” from Quilt’s library. This is a song that I wrote called “Waterfalls”, and while it didn’t see an official Quilt release until “Patchwork”, I originally wrote and recorded this song back in 1999. It was one of my first ever acoustic guitar songs that I wrote. My friend Scott Jordan also helped me with the lyrics way back when.

I’m sorry if i’ve seemed short with descriptions the past week. I’ve been taking a course at the University of New Haven and it’s intensive. 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday since last week. My brain is fried.

Enjoy today’s installment (and enjoy the nice new paint job we just got in the house!), and come back tomorrow for the next acoustic cover song from the one and only Jim Fusco!

Editor’s Note: Unfortunately, Jeff’s acoustic cover song music videos are no longer on YouTube, but we decided to keep his cover song blog posts up.  We figured these music blog entries would be good for posterity’s sake and because Jeff always gave such insightful posts each Session.  We hope to see Jeff’s impressive catalog of acoustic rock songs here on the Laptop Sessions cover songs and origianal music blog again in the future.  But, for now, please make sure to check-out hundreds of other acoustic cover songs from all of your favorite bands here on the Laptop Sessions music blog!

“Scare Easy” by Mudcrutch – Chords, Tabs, and How to Play

“Scare Easy”
Mudcrutch

Am           G          Em         D
My love’s an ocean, you better not cross it
I’ve been the distance and I need some rest
Yeah, I had somebody once, and damn if I lost her
I’ve been running like a man possessed

        C      G          D
I don’t scare easy
Don’t fall apart when I’m under the gun
You can break my heart and I ain’t gonna run

        Am                D
I don’t scare easy for no one

Yeah, I’m a loser at the top of my game
I should have known to keep an eye on you
I got a sky that ain’t never the same
Yeah, I got a dream that don’t ever come true

CHORUS

SOLO to verse chords

Sun going down on a canyon wall
I’ve got a soul that ain’t never been blessed
Yeah, I’m a shadow at the back of the hall
Yeah, I got a sin I ain’t never confessed…

CHORUS 

CHORUS

** These chords and lyrics are interpretations and transcriptions, respectively, and are the sole property of the copyright holder(s). They are posted on this website free of charge for no profit for the purpose of study and commentary, as allowed for under the “fair use” provision of U.S. copyright law, and should only be used for such personal and/or academic work. **

“Love Minus Zero/No Limit” (Bob Dylan Cover)

By Chris Moore:

Well, my voice is still pretty much shot, so I did what I thought was logical… record another Dylan tune!

This is one that I’ve been saving for some time, as it’s one of my favorites — Bob Dylan’s “Love Minus Zero/No Limit” off his half-acoustic, half-electric album Bringing It All Back Home. I’ll be recording more off of this album in the future, but even a Dylan fan as devoted as myself hasn’t completely memorized “Bob Dylan’s 115th Dream”…

There’s some big news brewing for some live shows in the not-too-distant future, and as soon as dates are solidified, we’ll post them on the blog. For now, I really hope to see you for dinner at Testa’s in Southington this Saturday evening between 8:30 and 12:30. We’re prepared to play about 80 songs (which I don’t think we’ll get to, but we’re ready all the same!).

A final bit of good news — I hope to break 10,000 views on YouTube by my next post! Thanks again to all who have been watching my videos, both new and old, and I really hope you’ll come see them all — Jim’s, Jeff’s, and mine — at https://guitarbucketlist.com !!

You can look forward to an all-new session from Jeff tomorrow, and I’ll see you next session!