By Jim Fusco
The next edition of The Laptop Sessions comes to you with a song from George Harrison. Man, do I love this song. It’s got George’s great lyrics that let you know it’s “him” and it’s also got such a catchy chorus. Even if you don’t know this tune, I’m sure you’ll love it once you hear it.
George is so underrated, and I plan on doing many of his songs in the future. Until then, please enjoy this one and stay tuned for more Laptop Sessions!
By Jim Fusco:
Well, my first request fulfilled tonight! Of course, it’s one from a genre we’ve become known for here on the Laptop Sessions acoustic cover songs music video blog: Beach Boys cover songs. Talk about obscure- here’s a song from the Beach Boys “Wild Honey” album. It’s called “Country Air”. I love the Boys’ harmonies on this song, but this take kinda gives it that down-home “country” feel to it.
I’ve always loved the dark sounding piano they used in this song, but, of course, I’ll take it on guitar. If I had a better sounding keyboard, I’d use that.
For all these videos so far, I’ve used my classical-stringed guitar that I bought in Sicily. I don’t know why, but it’s fun to play. It also kind of replicates that darker sounding piano that’s in the original. You just get to hear this song played a bit differently- and isn’t that what the cover songs music blog is all about?
Anyway, I hope you enjoy this song, and maybe next one will be a little more “known”.
But, if you have ANY Beatles, Beach Boys cover songs, Moody Blues, or Byrds songs you’d like me to do, I DEFINITELY will! (Unless it’s Good Vibrations or something that would sound ridiculous with just one person…).
I hope you enjoy! Please subscribe to my videos at http://youtube.com/jimfusco.
Hello all, Jim here. Well, there are PLENTY of ways to keep up with the latest updates from Fusco-Moore Productions.
You can register for our podcast series, you can subscribe to the “Laptop Sessions” on YouTube, you can subscribe to the blog by e-mail or rss– plus many other ways.
But, here’s a neat way to keep up with my YouTube videos! Just paste this link into an RSS reader (for instance, your iGoogle, your Mac Mail program, Yahoo! mail and widgets, and others) and you’ll instantly be updated once a new video comes online.
Here’s the link:
feed://www.youtube.com/rss/user/jimfusco/videos.rss
It’s just one more way to keep in touch! Also, please register to comment on our Blog here, as we’d LOVE to see your comments and requests! Jeff and Chris will soon be starting their own versions of the “Laptop Sessions” with songs from Bob Dylan, Stone Temple Pilots, and the Wallflowers.
As for me, I know it’s been a couple days. I have a BIG post about my night on Friday that I can’t wait to write. Plus, I’ll be posting a NEW “Laptop Session” tomorrow, another one on Monday, and ANOTHER one on Tuesday!! That’s right, I have three ready to go, and Chris is helping me out on two of them!!
Just check the stats on YouTube and see all the nice comments people have left for me. A big shoutout to everyone over at Brian Wilson’s website and their message board for all of their encouragement!! Until tomorrow…
~Jim
Okay, so now for a REALLY obscure one!
This song is from the Beach Boys self-titled 1985 album. It’s called “I’m So Lonely” and was Brian Wilson’s only solo lead on the album. Why would I pick such an obscure song? Well, for one thing, my roomate dared me to figure it out on my own, and this is also the way I’ve been feeling lately (bust out the violins). But can you blame me? I mean, living away from home is tough. Factor that in with just starting to work full-time for the first time. Plus, add in running a condo for the first time. When all of those things combine, you find that you don’t have a lot of time for yourself. But that’s where music comes in. Singing, playing and recording these cover song music videos for the Laptop Sessions music blog is a great way to keep the passion of music in my life without taking up too much time. Honestly, I don’t have that much time to take up anymore!
Most people don’t like the Beach Boys’ 1985 self-titled album. But, I don’t understand why. To me, this album has just about everything. It’s not without its flaws, but I’d love to hear a redone version of this album with real instruments. I think people would have a much different take on the album. But, it was 1985 and the Beach Boys were using cutting-edge technology to record their songs. They wanted to do all of their new songs digitally, so they went over to England. There, they found one of the only studios in the world with the equipment to pull off such a task. Maybe the Boys wanted to sound “hip” and not like they were a bunch of guys in their 40s. The result was one of the first albums released on compact disc- a revolution, but not well-received.
For one, the fans definitely noticed the change in style (except for “California’s Calling”, featuring real drums by Ringo Starr- the only person worthy enough to take Dennis Wilson’s place on a Beach Boys record). But, I like the style. Sure, I was born in 1984, but honestly, I love the style of these songs- especially Carl’s contributions. “Maybe I Don’t Know” is one of my all-time favorite songs. It features great lead vocals and an amazing mid-80s guitar solo. I’ll agree- it’s hard to believe it’s from a Beach Boys song.
With “I’m So Lonely”, the Beach Boys got Brian Wilson to contribute a song. You know, I think Brian sounds pretty good on the recording. He sounds passionate (unlike his lackluster performance in “Crack At Your Love”). The song is simple, but it’s great to hear Brian’s falsetto once again. If you haven’t listened to this album for a while, I strongly suggest you give it another chance.
This video is EXACTLY what the Laptop Sessions are all about. These acoustic cover song videos are meant to take songs and strip-down their production (in this case, the synthesizers of the mid-80s). I want to make videos where people say, “Wow, I never liked the studio version of that song, but since you just made it an acoustic version, it’s actually a really good tune!” I think I do the song justice and I hope you enjoy!