Tag Archives: cover song

“Carry On” (Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Yes, the dream is still alive with me here on the Laptop Sessions acoustic cover songs music video blog.  I’ve said it a thousand times- we are simply the best music video blog ever created and I intend to keep it that way.  That’s why, tonight, I bring to you yet another new artist to the blog.

I can’t believe it’s taken this long to get to an amazing and popular acoustic act in Crosby, Stills, Nash, and (sometimes) Young.  Talk about a supergroup- not only did they amass a ton of hit singles and albums over the years, but they are comprised of some of rock music’s most popular and influential singers and songwriters: David Crosby (formerly of the Byrds), Stephen Stills (formerly of Manassas), Graham Nash, and Neil Young.

This band is credited with some of the most innovative and great songs of the seventies- they were keeping rock alive and doing it while playing their own instruments and singing in great, tight harmonies.  I don’t know why I don’t love this band more than I have in the past- think about it- they have four songwriting members, sing harmonies, and play their own instruments.  Those are all qualities of my favorite bands!  I have to get my hands on a “Best of” to get me started.

Truthfully, though, I remember not getting into their albums too much because of the extended jams and such.  I’m more of a 3-minute catchy song kinda guy.  But, when learning tonight’s song on acoustic guitar, I realized that it’s really three separate songs wrapped-up into one neat 4-minute masterpiece.

“Carry On” kicks off an amazing album in “Deja Vu”, which some consider to be one of (if not THE) best albums of all time.  Personally, I don’t think so, but I see where they’re coming from.  You have this supergroup of stars and they come out with fresh new music that rocks and they start this whole revolution of Seventies acoustic rock that some of my favorite acts, like America, modeled themselves after.  As recently as 2003, you had the Thorns, a “supergroup” of sorts in itself (with 90s acts Shawn Mullins, Matthew Sweet, and Pete Droge), who sounded EXACTLY like CSNY.

Of course the chords for “Carry On” that you find online are correct…to a certain degree.  I had to work some magic to find out that it’s actually on a first fret capo.  Also, on the bridge during the first three verses, they had the chords wrong, mostly because the bass guitar in the recording is playing a different note than what matches the chord the acoustic guitars are doing.  So, I improvised and came up with an interesting chord progression for that part that I thought both fit and sounded cool.  It may not be exactly correct, but it’s my little interpretation.

On a personal note, every day seems to get shorter and shorter.  I have so much to do on a daily basis, between working on four websites, work, and (helping to) plan a wedding.  I found out that I’m going to get my discs for “Halfway There” during the first week of April, so I’m aiming for an April 7th release date.  I need to do many updates to our site here and add pages to my site, too.  What a project- that’s why I only do one once every two…three…four…years.

Have a great night, and I’ll catch you tomorrow to re-attempt posting my Original Wednesday from last week that was inadvertently erased!

“Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl)” (Looking Glass cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Another Tuesday, another Jim Fusco cover song, another new band to the Laptop Sessions acoustic cover songs series, and yet another One-Hit-Wonder here in “Looking Glass” with their hti song, “Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl)”.

Big points to anyone who knew the name of the band that did this song.  My roommate Dana yelled down, “You’re doing Looking Glass?”  I was shocked.  Turned out it’s one of his favorite songs.  I’ve known this song by hearing it on the radio over the years and decided it would be a great one to cover for the music blog.  I mean, it’s a catchy tune and tells an interesting story of a woman that everyone loves, but can never land the man she wants.  Why?  Because he’s a sailor.  And a sailor’s love is the sea- first, foremost, and absolutely.

It’s funny the learning curve I have when doing these videos.  I start off thinking I’m not going to get it.  Then, it just comes to me and all of a sudden, I can play the whole song.  The problem with these songs lately is the lyrics, as I’ve only heard them here and there on the radio and don’t know them all.  So, I get all nervous and then sit down to do my takes.  The first one or two takes are great- I make it almost all the way through the song and just mess up a little thing and decide to start over.  Then, the floodgates open.  I must’ve done 20 takes of this song- screwing up words like, “Harbor town” and “Western port”- I would switch them around and then the next lines wouldn’t rhyme.  Ugh.

So, every Laptop Sessions session ends up in anger for me.  Hope I don’t show it on the videos! 🙂

Now, last week, I promised I’d show you my brand new 12-string electric guitar.  I was also going to show off my new lap steel guitar.  Well, I’ve got one better for you- I’m going to start (hopefully very soon) a new YouTube series called “Jim’s Guitars”.  This series will have me showing all of my guitars, why I have them, and how I use them all in a unique way.  It’s finally a chance to get my guitars off the wall and out there for everyone to see.  I love these things and hope to have quite the collection as life goes on.  But, I think for now, I’ve resigned myself to buy them based on practicality rather than just looks.  I mean, there were a few great looking guitars I really liked, but I decided to go with the 12-string electric because it’s so different and opens up a new world of sounds to me in the studio.  Plus, since my parents got me the lap steel guitar for my birthday, I have a great new way to play solos and add some of that wonderful twang to some songs.  I love it in the Beach Boys’ song, ‘Hold On Dear Brother” from “Carl and the Passions, ‘So Tough'”.

So, stay tuned for this new series.  I really want to do it right- I’m hoping to do it in HD…but I need an HD camera first.  Maybe one of those little ones that are under a hundred bucks.  How bad can they be?  At least for this kind of work, it might be worth it.

I hope you enjoy tonight’s cover song music video and stay tuned for more later this week from our own Jeff Copperthite- he’s sure to please!  And congrats, Jeff!!

“Shoe Box” (Barenaked Ladies Cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Tonight, another event in my ongoing tribute entitled, “Steven Page, we hardly knew ye.”  Steven Page leaving Barenaked Ladies has been traumatic for me, musically.  It’s like if John left the Beatles and the band went on without him.  They’d still be a great band with three songwriters, singers, and musicians, but you would always wonder if they’ll ever get back together, etc…

At first, I likened Steven Page leaving Barenaked Ladies after 20 years to Brian Wilson taking a self-inflicted leave from the Beach Boys starting in late 1967.  But, I then realized that Page leaving BNL is much worse in a way, but better in another.

You see, when Brian Wilson stopped making music with the Beach Boys on a regular basis (and being the producer), the other Boys (Carl, Dennis, Mike, Al, and Bruce) hadn’t really been accomplished songwriters yet.  I mean, it took them until 1968 to really put together an album and it definitely sounds like a first effort in many ways.  We were all just lucky to discover five brilliant songwriters behind Brian Wilson.  In many ways, for me, Brian recessing in the Beach Boys contributes to my love of the band because, well, they really became a band after that.  You had five songwriting members that played instruments and sang and went out and played concerts- that incarnation of the Beach Boys is almost unsurpassed, for me.

With Steven Page, he leaves the band with three accomplished songwriters (especially Ed Robertson, with a #1 single in “One Week” under his belt) and some fine singers, to boot.  So, BNL has a bit of a head-start.  In fact, there shouldn’t be too much of a hiccup, other than Page’s recent flurry of depressing songs and over-the-top oparetta vocals.

The thing that makes Page’s absence worse is that, at least for the forseeable future, it’s permanent.  With the Beach Boys, Brian was always still around in some form.  He always contributed at least one song to every album, even if they had to dig it up and force him to complete it.  Fans would always hope for the next Brian Wilson gem and it was comforting to know he was there, readying himself for a possible comeback that never really came.  Of course, I say this like I was there- I wasn’t even alive until after Brian’s amazingly talented brother Dennis died- I’m just speaking from what I’ve read in the past.

So, after that whole explanation, I’m really trying to say that I’m having a hard time getting over the restructuring of my second-all-time favorite band.  Tonight’s video is a little tribute to Steven Page.

“Shoe Box” (which I always thought was “Shoebox”) was a single and had its own EP (with includes a decent song in “Trust Me’) and served as a bridge between the style of the first three albums and the albums to follow (starting with “Stunt”).  The song was also on “Born On A Pirate Ship” in a much more subdued tone, much to that version’s detriment.  The rockin’ single version is my choice, and that’s what I did my video after.  How can you tell them apart?  Well, the album verison just starts off with the instruments and vocals at the same time.  The single goes through the chord progression before Steven Page starts in.

Listen to the words closely on this one- a very interesting message to it.  Also, you may have to look up the words, as it took Chris and I about five years to realize that he’s not saying, “And Rumplestiltskin side my shoe box!” and is in fact saying, “When talk turns to single malts and Stilton and my shoe box!”  Who would’ve thought?

Okay- a long post tonight to make up for last week.  Tomorrow night, I have a BIG announcement about my new album and that just means more work for me.  So, you’ll have to stay tuned until another all-new Original Wednesday comes your way!  Have a great night and I’ll catch you all tomorrow!

“Margaritaville” (Jimmy Buffett Cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Welcome, Parrotheads, to the Laptop Sessions acoustic cover songs music video blog!

Now, don’t get too excited. I, like most people, pretty much know just this Jimmy Buffett song and not much else.  But, I was at Mohegan Sun casino last week and walked by the new Margaritaville club and bar they have.  I, of course, thought of this song and decided it would be a nice fit for the Laptop Sessions!

But, for a three-chord song, this certainly took me a few tries to get it right.  I really do feel like I should be wasted away again in Margaritaville after that recording session…

What a life Jimmy Buffett must have.  He wrote a song about lounging around in the tropics while sulking over some unmentioned tragedy, and now he’s the king of a Margaritaville empire!  They have hats, t-shirts, a whole food and drink line, and now a line of bars.  His site is known as Margaritaville- it’s almost like the song comes first and the man comes second.  It’ll be an interesting surprise to see if any of the guys here on the music video blog do a different Jimmy Buffett song in the future…

Tonight, I feel a bit like sinking away, as I learned that my brand-new Mac Pro computer, which I haven’t even gotten to pay the bill for yet, is already obsolete.  A new version came out, just as I said it would, and is twice as fast, just as I said it would, for the same price…just as I said it would.  How depressing.  I mean, I still love my computer, but I got a bad enough deal on the thing as it was.  Now I feel like I could be getting things done even faster.  And the amount of time I spend down here working on side projects, I think that sounds good to me.  Well, here’s to waiting until the next version comes out and making a lot of money to buy one in the interim.

But here’s a slightly interesting fact about today- today is Square root day!  I’m sure you’re all excited.  It’s the day where the numbers of the month and the day are multiplied together, creating the number of the year.  So, today: 03 x 03 = 09!  It only happens like 7 times a century, and the next one isn’t until 4/4/16.  So, there’s another “milestone” we’ve all lived through…

Sorry I can’t write a bit more tonight- it’s been a tough and long week already…and it’s only Tuesday.  It’s not going to stop, either, and I already have important plans into next week.  It’s been a crazy time lately- I’m either working away endlessly, or I’m out having a great time, going to the casino, going on weekend trips, etc.  I guess I need some super-fun times to balance out my dull, 15 hour a day working times all week.  I’m already plotting a great weekend…

I’m taking Original Wednesday off this week and will attempt to come back with another next week.  I hope to find some time to finish up the album over the weekend so I can send it out once and for all.  You know I’ll keep you updated on my progress, and I hope you’ll also join me on my quest (in the very near future) of reaching a quarter-million views on YouTube!  Have a great night and see you all next week!