Tag Archives: cover songs

“Great Day” (Paul McCartney Cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Welcome to your Sunday edition of the Laptop Sessions!

Today, I bring you a tune that I covered on my album “That’s All Folks” called “Great Day” by Paul McCartney. It closes out his 1997 album “Flaming Pie”, one of my all-time favorites.  That album, “That’s All Folks”, came about because I had purchased my first good acoustic guitar.  That guitar meant everything to me- it sounded great, played great, and made me feel like a real musician.  I didn’t even really know how to play too well when I bought it.  So, I learned how to play a bunch of songs I was listening to at the time.  That taught me more chords, which turned me into a better player.  And, at the time, I was going through a HUGE Paul McCartney phase.  They had just released “Wingspan” with all of Wings’ greatest hits.  I know those songs probably grate on people after all this time, but they were all new to me- and I fell for it pretty hard.  We were also listening, as a family, to Paul’s albums from the 90s quite a bit.  The first real song I learned how to play (and played it for my parents) was, of all things, “Hope of Deliverance” by Paul McCartney off of the “Off the Ground” album from the early 90s.  I guess you could say that Paul McCartney’s songs really taught me how to play.  And when it comes to rock musicians, you can’t get a much better tutor than him.

This is the perfect acoustic song and gives quite a vocal workout, which you wouldn’t expect in such a simple song.  I decided to do this acoustic cover song on my nylon-string classical acoustic guitar, as it gave me the opportunity to be more expressive in my performance.  This song is very soulful, which you wouldn’t really expect from the lyrics.  I kind of dumbed-down the guitar picking riff throughout because that’s not really my thing.  I’m a strummer and a soloist, but can’t do the flat-picking thing too well.  Paul McCartney, the phenom that he is, is proficient at almost anything, musically.  The man is one of the best bass players of all time, he can play the drums, sing (obviously), write songs, and play any guitar part you throw in front of him.  Oh, and he’s written some of the most famous rock songs of all time on the piano, as well.  That’s a pretty impressive life, for sure!

I hope you all enjoy today’s Session, as I’ll be back on Wednesday with a “political” original song- don’t miss it!

“To Be Alone With You” (Bob Dylan Cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Just to prove that Chris isn’t the only one that listens to Bob Dylan, I give you one of my favorites of his, “To Be Alone With You” from “Nashville Skyline”.

I did this song originally on my “That’s All Folks” album, but couldn’t keep on the version I sold because of royalties.

I hope you enjoy my Laptop Session version! Coming up next week is my Original Wednesday, and I’ve already got my next two planned out. Make sure to check back every day!

“Soulful Old Man Sunshine” (Beach Boys Cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Welcome to my Beach Boys Session for this week! Today, this song goes out by request, but I probably would’ve done it eventually, anyway.

This is a technically unreleased song called “Soulful Old Man Sunshine” that was only released on a compilation a few years ago.

I truly think the only reason the Beach Boys never released it is because of Carl’s “shun-shine” gaff in the middle 8.

I figured out this song’s chords by myself and even though I took some liberties, I think it stays true to the original.

Also, I think this is one of the few over-produced Beach Boys songs. That’s why I was so excited to strip all that excess out and just make an acoustic version. You’ll notice that I even sing a bit of it like Brian Wilson did in the original demo of the song, also included on that compilation. I love that version, too- it’s a bit more jazzy.

Thank you for making this ongoing series so incredibly popular! We’re doing a Session a day in 2008, so make sure to check back EVERY DAY you go on the computer for fresh, new material at https://guitarbucketlist.com. Don’t forget to RATE the songs, too!

“Nights in White Satin” (Moody Blues Cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Well, in the world of Moody Blues songs, it doesn’t get much more popular than “Nights in White Satin”, written by the great Justin Hayward.

I wanted to do this classic song for the Laptop Sessions music video blog because I thought it would translate well to a solo acoustic performance. I hope you like my whistling flute solo! 🙂 I wasn’t gonna do it, but Chris and Becky egged me on, and I think I nailed it!!

I love the vocal exercise this song presents and I’ve always thought that Justin Hayward has one of the best singing voices ever.  He’s also one of the greatest songwriters ever and can play an amazing guitar.  As with most of my favorite musicians and songwriters, Justin Hayward doesn’t get the credit he deserves for his incredible talents.  His acoustic guitar work on songs like “Question” haven’t been reproduced since.  And his electric guitar work gets almost no attention, even though it’s amazing.  Have you heard the guitar on “Story in Your Eyes”?  It’s face-meltingly awesome!  The tone he gets and his style of playing belie the calm and proper British personality he portrays.  Well, even if Justin Hayward (or the Moody Blues as a band, for that matter) doesn’t get the credit he/they deserves, I’m still glad I can share some of his greatness with you, my loyal Laptop Sessions acoustic cover song watchers.

So, this is a high bar to rise above, but I’m such a big Moody Blues fan that I know the song backwards and forwards.  It would be great to record a version of this someday, but honestly, how can I improve upon perfection?  I think I’ll stick to classic songs like this on solo acoustic guitar for my posts here on the music blog.

Enjoy today’s Session and make sure to come back for a Super Saturday appearance from Chris!