Tag Archives: cover

“My Last Mistake” (Dan Auerbach Cover)

Posted on by
1

For Dan Auerbach chords/lyrics, CLICK HERE!

By Chris Moore:

Hello and welcome to another installment of “Chris Moore Monday.”  It is my priviledge and responsibility to start off each week right, usually with a selection that is in “new music” news.  I figure this is appropriate, since tomorrow is “New Music Tuesday” – what better role is there than to turn you on to great new music?

Okay, so tonight’s song is technically a week old…

Dan Auerbach is better known as one half of the blues rock music group the Black Keys.  The band formed in Ohio in 2001, and in less than a decade, they have accumulated an impressive resume — including opening for Beck and Radiohead, playing on Late Night with Conan O’Brien and The Late Show with David Letterman, and receiving accolades from Rolling Stone such as one of the “10 best acts of 2003.”  Although the band has not broken up, this year has found Dan Auerbach making a name for himself by releasing his very first solo album titled Keep It Hid.  I almost transcribed and played this, the title track, but I couldn’t resist “My Last Mistake,” the subsequent track.  Auerbach might agree with this choice of songs to record and play, as he performed “My Last Mistake” on the Friday, February 13th episode of Conan O’Brien.

So, you may be wondering how I heard of this release.  Well, aside from receiving a coupon for the first-week purchase in my favorite email each week — the Newbury Comics e-newsletter!! — I was tipped off to the release by someone who has his finger on the pulse of all things modern and alternative rock.  (So, thank you again, Geoff!)  He’s the same person who strongly suggested I check out the 2008 albums of Beck and Cold War Kids, both of which I would never have purchased on my own.

And I would have missed out!

Now, they’re not my favorite records of the year, by any means, but there are some killer songs that would have passed me by entirely.  So, hopefully I’ll continue to receive new rock music insight from Newbury Comics, Geoff, and who knows who else!

Speaking of new music, I constructed a fairly impressive “Albums of 2008” iTunes playlist.  It contains 341 songs, ranging from the Barenaked Ladies children’s album to Ben Folds’ album (which was certainly NOT kid-friendly!).  I hadn’t really listened to the playlist since the New Year, but I just turned it on yesterday and fell in love with it again.  I’m listening to it now, and even now, Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida” just faded into Brian Wilson’s “Oxygen to the Brain.”  Where else can you find that sort of variety?!  I cling to my playlists and albums these days, as the popular media has only embraced an extremely small and profoundly unrepresentative sample of what modern rock music has to offer.  Take the aforementioned Coldplay, an overrated and — until recently, in this writer’s opinion — mediocre band.  Chris Martin and his band have received more Grammys than all of my favorite bands combined.  No kidding!  Meanwhile, Brian Wilson got a Rolling Stone article for his amazing 2008 album That Lucky Old Sun, and that was all.  I understand that he is older and there perhaps isn’t a market for his music, but I find it sad that more people couldn’t have been exposed to the bright, brilliant, and uplifting rock tunes that pour forth from that album.

Enough ranting for one day’s post…

As a final note, I finally picked up and watched the Sam Jones documentary I Am Trying to Break Your Heart.  I had planned on watching it with Dana last night, but he hadn’t returned home, so I got ready to watch it alone.  Then, Mike texted and sounded interested.  So, before I knew it, Mike had arrived with apple juice and saltines (food for sick people — my personal choice is G2 and wheat toast!) and we cranked up the volume on the big screen.  What a great documentary — not only is the filmography reminiscent of Don’t Look Back, but Jeff Tweedy is looking very Dylan-esque.  Scruffy, bearing harmonica rack, singing poetic lyrics — what more could I ask for?  Also, he seems like he would be a difficult guy to live and/or work with.  But that being said, I like Jeff Tweedy a great deal, and it was really interesting to see him candidly in the studio.  And thanks to Dana and Mike for making last night an event in and of itself — when Jim returns from vacation, I just may have to join them for their late night sessions that I miss so much since I’ve become an “old man” with a wakeup time of 5 or 5:30am…

And now to tie this ALL together…

Wilco switched to Nonesuch records after the Yankee Hotel Foxtrot fiasco (the situation filmed and described in I Am Trying to Break Your Heart), and Dan Auerbach is also on the Nonesuch label.  So, as you see, it all comes full circle…

Don’t miss an all-new Jim Fusco Tuesday tomorrow.  Until then…

See you next session!

“Heavy Metal Drummer” (Wilco Cover)

Posted on by
Reply

For Wilco chords & lyrics, CLICK HERE!

By Chris Moore:

Hello and welcome to another week of all-new material here at the Laptop Sessions blog, your source for excellent acoustic cover song music videos!

Well, it’s that and then some this week, as the next seven days are jam-packed with posts.

Let’s just say we’re partying like it’s 2008!

Here’s the low-down:  After my Chris Moore Monday post tonight, I’ll be back tomorrow with a full-length article.  Then, you can look forward to three videos in a row: an Original Wednesday post, Thursday’s regularly scheduled programming, and Friday’s Guest Session.  And the weekend isn’t a time of rest, as you can look forward to the second installment in the Saturday “Playlists on Parade” series and Sunday’s “Weekend Review.”

For my video tonight, I’ve gone back to one of my favorites: Wilco.  I heard this Yankee Hotel Foxtrot deep track on a colleague’s iPod over the weekend before band practice, and I took a moment to figure it out.  It’s a straightforward progression, which makes it a lot of fun to play and sing along to.  So, it was a no-brainer when I thought about my session for the week.  I’ve made it my business to cover a wide range of Wilco material.  Thus far, I’ve translated songs from their 1995 debut A.M., the following year’s Being There, Summerteeth (albeit a members-only video), Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, and last year’s Wilco (the album).  I’ve also pulled from both collaborations with Billy Bragg, 1998’s Mermaid Avenue and 2000’s Mermaid Avenue Vol. II.  This leaves A Ghost is Born and Sky Blue Sky.

However, instead of filling in the gaps, I had to go with a fun track from one of my favorite albums of all time.  “Heavy Metal Drummer” starts with a beat machine, and builds up to an all-out rock song.  What I like about it is how well it evokes a sense of fond memories for one’s past, particularly with reference to music.  Now, my nostalgia is not for heavy metal bands and Kiss cover songs, but I will never forget the enjoyable outings my friends and I made to concerts, starting with my first Bob Dylan concert back in high school and on from there — Brian Wilson, Barenaked Ladies, and so many more…

…including an amazing two and a half hour performance by Wilco last summer!

So, it is with great pleasure that I bring you “Heavy Metal Drummer,” hoping to stir some of your own fond memories of the past.  It is, after all, inevitable that the years pass and our lives change.  Still, there will always be songs and experiences that we harken back to for years and years to come.  Which are yours?

See you next session!

“Little Sadie” (Bob Dylan Cover)

Posted on by
2

By Chris Moore:

Okay, it’s time to separate the Dylan fans from the fanatics… If you’re familiar with this song, you’re probably in the latter category. For your pleasure (I hope), I decided to record “Little Sadie,” a very simple but fun song from Bob Dylan’s Self Portrait album. This is, of course, not to be confused with “In Search of Little Sadie,” the song two tracks earlier on the album with essentially the same lyrics but a different arrangement. Now, Dylan is known for never performing a song the same way twice, but he doesn’t usually record two different versions on the same album…

I know that Self Portrait is considered perhaps his weakest and most disappointing album (aside from Dylan, which wasn’t even released on CD!), but I’ve always loved the simple and soothing feel of the recordings. True, some are throw-aways, but I actually recorded my very first Laptop Session last year with “Living the Blues.” He does a couple great covers — Gordon Lightfoot’s “Early Mornin’ Rain,” for instance. His cover of Paul Simon’s “The Boxer” is just about the only recording I’ve ever heard where he double-tracks his voice. If you listen carefully, it sounds like one voice is the gruff Dylan and one voice is the “Lay Lady Lay” Dylan. Interesting…

Without further ado, I really hope you enjoy this song and please rate and/or comment on it!

Check back tomorrow at https://guitarbucketlist.com for another great all-new session from Jeff!

“Clocks” (Coldplay Cover)

Posted on by
Reply

By Jeff Copperthite:
Good afternoon to you! It’s Jeff today bringing you today’s Laptop Session. It is our 2nd installment from Coldplay, and this one comes off of their album “Rush of Blood to the Head”.

It is also quite a popular one – “Clocks”. This song has an addictive backing to it with a driving piano riff. I managed to transcribe part of it to guitar.

I had done this version earlier this past week, but again wanted to redo it with my new guitar strings. They did give me some problems during the recording, as keeping them in tune proved somewhat frustrating.

Please continue to keep with us here at guitarbucketlist.com, as great things are happening! Our next live performance is May 16 at George’s II restaurant.

Check back tomorrow for another great session from Jim!

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!