Tag Archives: cover songs

“Unexplained” (Quilt Original Cover)

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By Jeff Copperthite:

You know, it is time to ask the age-old question that I have asked multiple times this year.  I think i’ve lost count just how many times.

Any idea what it is?

Ok, here it goes.

“Why does Youtube feel like it’s time to have a maintenance only when it is my night to post for the day?”

Yes that’s right.  Youtube will be undergoing scheduled maintenance in a short while – probably after I finish typing this post.

But thankfully, I have uploaded the video already!  Ha!  And it’s a good one too.  It’s “Like bashing in the head of whomever schedules the time for Youtube maintenance so badly he looks at you and vows never to do it again and you force feed him various videos involving Mister Ed and movies with Paul Reiser until his eyeballs can’t take it anymore and he screams for mercy” good.

But seriously, it’s Original Wednesday – the BEST day of the week!  Where you get to hear another original tune from the library of yours truly.

The song I have chosen for tonight, ironically, is my own self-declared “Most Depressing Song i’ve ever written”.

From the 2003 Quilt album Expressions, the song is “Unexplained”.  There was a time towards the end of my senior year in college where I suddenly realized how “aware” I was of the world.  It’s what my teachers talked about throughout my years of school that “you’ll have to grow up and realize you aren’t invincible, there’s people around you, etc.”  It’s really a kind of awakening.  But that sudden awareness of things around you includes the positive…and the dreadfully negative.  I wrote this song after a period of questions that are embedded in the lyrics of this song.

It’s weird though.  Nowadays I tend to think about that subject matter at night as I drift off to sleep.  It’s discomforting for sure.  Funny thing is if you saw me at any point of the day where I was awake, you’d think I was the happiest person alive.

Well, I am quite happy.  I’ve got a great job, great wife, great condo, and an overall great life (my wife wants me to put “wife” first, but she doesn’t understand the literary prose that is at work here).  I even wrote in the liner notes of this album that the lyrics do not reflect my true overall state of thinking.

I decided to throw in some fingerpicking into this song, despite the recorded version having all normal picking.  The recorded version is also a bit slower than this one.  Also, 5 years later, I have more insights of how to sing songs properly.  I’m really pleased with the quality of this video!

Now, you know that tomorrow is Thumpin’ Thursday.  I’m still mad at my voice for supplanting my previous Thursday.  However, Jim “Like three octaves of pure unadulaterated BAM for your ears Good” Fusco will be here to show us his 2nd consecutive Thumpin’ entry.  It’s going to be that good.

I’ll see you in 3 days!

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 original 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!

“Never Without You” (Ringo Starr Cover – Jeff’s 100th session!)

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By Jeff Copperthite:

Good evening and welcome to your weekend-ending Super Sunday session w/ me, Jeff Copperthite!  I’m happy to expand my personal “bands covered” library with today’s session, which happens during a great landmark.

Tonight is my 100th Laptop Session!

And tonight i’m bringing you a sentimental dedication song by Ringo Starr.  This song is from his recent 2003 album Ringo Rama (though not his latest album) and was composed in remembrance of the late great George Harrison.  The fact that i’m wearing black in the video is just a coincidence, but it is well fitting for this video.

I am well behind on Beatles’ trivia, but Ringo Starr’s name is Richard Starkey.  The whole time i’m reading credits for the Ringo Rama album i’m going “Who is Starkey in the credits?”.  Should’ve guessed that it was him since it sounds a lot like Starr being derived from that.

I am excited that I have reached the 100 session mark.  Through the past year or so I have accomplished a lot during the course of these 100 sessions and I have made a lot of fans and recorded a lot of cover songs.  I’ve had to fight the urge to quit quite a few times, mostly due to negative comments (which we do get from time to time).  I’ve been told to throw my guitar out a window, stop insulting songs, and yes, i’ve even been told to inflict a self-mortal wound (paraphrased naturally).

But aside from the occasional negative comment, I have gotten huge amounts of positive feedback and that is the stuff that makes me continue to bring these videos to you.  I don’t intend for them to “get me anywhere” (as someone so kindly pointed out how i’ll never make it, despite me not really trying to do so) – I do it for fun and for your enjoyment.  And even if it’s a few people who truly enjoy seeing our sessions per day, if we have made it better because of our series, then that’s all the confirmation I need.

Here’s to 100 more sessions!  Come back tomorrow for Jim’s latest session – i’m sure you’ve missed him since his double dose last week.

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 original 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!

“Feel For Love” (An Acoustic Rock Song by Indie Music Songwriter Chris Moore)

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By Chris Moore:

Hello and welcome to yet another all-new installment of the Laptop Sessions! Being that it’s Hump Day, I’m excited — for those of you who may be new to the blog, I’m excited because every Wednesday here is “Original Wednesday.” For just a moment, we songwriters who contribute to this acoustic rock cover song music blog just take a moment to put aside the covers and record a song that we have written. It comes but once every three weeks for us…

Tonight, I’ve recorded “Feel For Love,” a song from my most recent solo release, the EP entitled Love Out of Fashion. To be honest, I’ll never know why I didn’t just finish recording one more song during the recording sessions (and I actually did have one demo with basic tracks that never made the final cut).  If I had, then I would have accumulated nine songs and I could have called the EP a full album.  But, I guess nine is kind of a cop out after most of my earlier solo albums have an average of 12 songs or so.  Either way, I was satisfied that an 8-song EP was not a cop out, so…

I don’t know that I’ve ever told anyone, but “Feel For Love” was the first song recorded for the project.  I actually began recording with the idea of making a set of demos to present to Jim Fusco in order to convince him to produce an album for me the following summer.  Once I got into the process, I just devoted too much time and energy to let the songs sit as demos — I would lay down one acoustic, then add electric to give it the right sound.  After all, I wanted the songs to be presentable to him.  Then I would add background vocals.  And then some more background vocals.  I practiced again and again and again to perfect the solos I wanted for the songs, both harmonica and electric / acoustic guitar.

By the time I had finished eight songs, it was clear that I couldn’t simply burn the songs onto a blank disc for Jim to listen to; I had an EP on my hands.

To this day, I still haven’t recorded an album with Jim as producer, but to be honest, I probably won’t record another project until I’ve fully polished a set of songs and convinced him to let me hire him or at least bribe him with fast food and TNA cards to produce the next Chris Moore solo album.  The simple fact is — especially after hearing the new Masters of the Universe album — I can’t go back to self-producing without drums and without mastering.  Instead, I’m starting to save my pennies and save my dimes…

As a final note, the tracks for Love Out of Fashion became an obsession for me.  I listened to those songs in every way possible — on the computer speakers, on different pairs of headphones, on my stereo, and I even burned multiple copies at different phases to listen to in the car.  One early morning around one a.m. or so, I pulled over in the shopping plaza near my house to be able to listen to the tracks clearly and loudly.  I leaned over the console of my car to get myself as close to the middle as possible, closing my eyes and listening to every nuance of the mix to decide what needed to change and what aspects were finished.  Someone actually pulled into the lot next to me to ask if I was okay and was my car working?  I, of course, said I was fine.  What I should have said was that I was, for the first time, really becoming a confident producer of my own music.

Of course, the conspicuous absence of time-keeping drums will forever label Love Out of Fashion a second-class album, which I suppose I’ve come to terms with.  But I’m still proud of it!

Okay, that’s more than enough from me.  I hope you enjoy this and will take the time to comment on it here.  Don’t forget to tune in tomorrow for an all-new track from our very own Jeff Copperthite…

See you next session!



“Whatever I Fear” (Toad the Wet Sprocket Cover)

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By Jeff Copperthite:

Welcome to Sunday’s edition of the Laptop Sessions, and I am VERY excited about this upcoming week. A lot will be happening over the course of the next 7 days, but in all of it we will continue to provide you with a new session every day, and as we roll onto the week all of our sessions will be from bands each of us have never did a session for.

Our first entry to this mini series is a song from a little known band named “Toad the Wet Sprocket”. The band is known for singles such as “Fall Down”, which still may make an appearance in future sessions. But for now, I will do a song from their last album before their breakup “Coil”, the song “Whatever I Fear”.

This song is the album opener, and the album itself is full of introspective melodies, including this one. If you have a chance to listen to it you’ll find a few songs on it that really stand out. The singles that were released didn’t chart except for the song “Come Down”, and the album is probably the least known of theirs.

Regardless, I bring to you “Whatever I Fear”. I hope you enjoy it, and remember my new album “Greenlight” is coming out next Sunday!! I hope you find your way over to the Fusco-Moore Store and take a listen, and perhaps a purchase, of my new album.

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 original 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!