“Garden Party” (Rick Nelson Cover)

By Jim Fusco:

Welcome everyone to another edition of the Laptop Sessions! Glad to be here today, as I’m happy to present a great song from Rick Nelson, “Garden Party”.

I’ve been a fan of this song for a long time and I love the beat it has. It was a lot of fun to play on acoustic and it just has that “down-home” type of feel to it.

I’ll be going back to Rick’s more classic numbers in the future, but this song really makes me want to learn more about his work as a country-rock songwriter in the mid-70s.

I hope you enjoy today’s Session!

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“You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go” (Bob Dylan Cover)

By Chris Moore:

Hello and welcome to another Laptop Session! I’ve been thinking about love songs quite a bit recently — as a songwriter, I’m not very good at writing them. I feel that I’m much better (and much more natural) at writing songs that express some issue in my life or concern. So, like any good Dylan fan, I went to Blood on the Tracks.

You might wonder why I would go to an album that is considered one of the best “break-up” albums ever. I figured , if it’s one of the best break-up albums, then it must have started with a passionate relationship. “You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go” may not be a love song per say, since it’s all about the inevitability of a loved one departing. But, if you listen to the words, there is such a power that this woman has over Dylan/the narrator. It’s so hard to express this type of power that a loved one can have, and although it’s not a happy song, I think it’s a great love song.

So, I may not be any closer to writing a happy love song, but hey… 🙂

On a side note, I’m really excited that I have 35 subscribers as of today and that I’ll reach 4,000 views by early next week. Thank you so much to those who have been watching and commenting on the videos — it makes me all the more excited to keep finding good songs to record!


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“Goin’ South” (Beach Boys Cover)

By Jim Fusco:

Hello everyone and welcome to another edition of the Laptop Sessions and another in our series of Beach Boys cover songs videos!

I’m very excited about todays video for two reasons- I think it’s one of my best performances so far, plus it only took me one take to do it! I just kept practicing over the past few days and it really clicked.

Today’s song is a seldom-heard one from the Beach Boys called “Goin’ South”, written mainly by Carl Wilson.

I thought of doing this song when I heard about the impending snow storm we got last night here in CT. So, it was nice to record a song about “going south for the winter” while it was actually snowing!

I hope that everyone enjoys today’s session and that winter, in fact, does end soon. Because it IS gettin’ mighty cold and I’m hoping it gets mighty warm very soon.


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“Bell Bottom Blues” (Eric Clapton / Derek & the Dominoes Cover)

By Chris Moore:

Well, I can hardly pass up an opportunity to extend “New Bands Week” just one more day…

The song I bring you tonight is “Bell Bottom Blues” by Derek and the Dominoes, the 1970’s band fronted by Eric Clapton and better known for “Layla.” Supposedly, Clapton purposely named this band to avoid the media and fan attention that he was getting at the time, such as when a fan scrawled on a billboard “Clapton is God.” I also read in an interview that Clapton suggested the purpose of the band name was to give himself an excuse to write about Pattie Boyd (former wife of George Harrison) under the guise of Derek singing about “Layla.” I’m not sure how well the ruse worked at the time, but with songs like these, it must have been hard to keep things under wraps.

Without further ado, I give you my version of “Bell Bottom Blues,” a song that I’ve loved since I heard it years ago and that received the heaviest attention from me during high school when I was drawn to the emotion of the song. I hope you like it as well!

Don’t forget to check out Jeff’s new album Greenlight. I downloaded my copy yesterday and have already listened to it twice. (“And,” to quote Maxwell Smart, “lovin’ it!”)

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