Tag Archives: cover

“Heaven” (Brett Dennen Cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Hi folks!  Welcome to another Jim Fusco Tuesday!  This was one of those weeks where, after such a great long weekend, I truly dreaded the four-day week ahead.  I have two immediate video programs to edit, a whole bunch of PSA’s, an audio mastering project, and multiple projects looming around the corner… And that’s all stuff I have to do AFTER a crazy day at work!  I feel myself getting a better handle on things at work, but it’s still a struggle on a daily basis, as I’m constantly trying to dig out of a growing hole.  It’ll get better, but it’s just these weeks when everything piles up that I get a bit nervous.  Becky’s been helping (bringing me coffee and snacks, plus trying to keep me to a schedule), so it’s definitely hurt less than it should’ve.

Anyway, onto tonight’s video:

I’ve been churning out the new artists to the blog lately (and ones you might even have heard of, by the way), but tonight I might break that mold a bit.  I had never heard of Brett Dennen before, but my boss kept telling me about him after he heard Dennen’s music on Last.fm, a music service on Xbox 360.  Anyway, he burned me a copy of Brett’s songs (don’t worry, Brett- I bought the LP version of “Hope for the Hopeless” afterward and so did my brother!).  But, even though he kept asking me about it, I didn’t put the CD in because I was still hooked on the Grateful Dead!  So, about four weeks ago now, I popped Brett’s “Hope for the Hopeless” album in and completely fell in love with the music.

The man is simply a good songwriter.  His songs are not overly complicated (which I LOVE)- he uses some pretty simple chords in some songs (and some cool inversions in others, too) and the songs are short and sweet.  The songs pretty much follow the verse-bridge-chorus model and there’s one or two guitar solos spattered throughout the album.  It’s a short one with only 11 songs, but I don’t care- the quality definitely makes up for the quantity.

Dennen’s two previous releases before “Hope for the Hopeless” had the feel of Jack Johnson’s first album- sparsely produced to its detriment.  Yes, there are good songs, but I need a little more than an acoustic guitar to make me love an album.  “Hope for the Hopeless” is different.  It’s almost like he got signed to a label that gave him some more money to produce an album.  The result is amazing- I just love the production on this disc.  You won’t find a lot of harmonies here and the instruments are no-frills.  Mostly, you have an acoustic, an electric, bass, piano/organ, and drums.  That’s a perfect mix for me.  What’s great about this album, and I plan on trying with my next album, is that there really is no rhythm guitar.  The guitar only plays what it needs to.  So, the music sounds open, but not lacking.  You’ll just have to listen to get what I’m saying.

I could’ve picked any of the 11 songs from “Hope for the Hopeless” to cover.  My favorites are “Who Do You Think You Are?” and “Make You Crazy”, but I chose “Heaven” because it’s just one of those “perfect” songs.  It has such a message- kind of like “Imagine” by John Lennon.  This song, according to Dennen fans, will stand as his masterpiece.  On the recording, I challenge you not to get chills once the band comes in at the start of the second chorus.  It’s AWESOME!

So, I decided to record my version of this song just acoustically, though I’ve been playing it on the piano recently, as well.  “Heaven” is a great song to sing by yourself, as it only has one vocal in the album version anyway (the single version suffers from a female lead vocal in the second verse- I much prefer the album version and I’m glad he did it that way).

One thing about Dennen- when you hear his songs, you’ll notice his…let’s say “accent”.  I’m not really sure what it is.  It sounds Louisianan to me.  At first, I really didn’t like it.  But, if you get past the way he says certain words (like instead of “trouble”, he says, “trugh-bowl”), you’ll really like these songs.  And now, I even like the way he says those words, because I can tell he’s not doing it on purpose (just to sound different)- it’s just the way he talks/sings.

On a side note, check out one of my new favorite tunes, “Make You Crazy”, on YouTube- the music video is pretty cool.

Now, I had a feeling I’d heard of Brett Dennen before.  I mean, that voice is so unmistakable.  Becky and I both agree that we’ve heard his most “famous” song, “Ain’t No Reason” (not one of my favorites and if you heard it and know my musical tastes, you’ll understand why).  We must’ve heard it in a TV show.  Then, my brother Mike ended up knowing (and loving) “Make You Crazy”, too, from his days working at Hollister, where they played the song on a daily basis.

Okay, enough talk- time to watch the LSHD version of “Heaven” performed by me, Jim Fusco!  I’d love to hear your thoughts about the song, my performance, and Brett Dennen.  I hope you have a great week and make sure to stop back next Tuesday for another acoustic cover song.  I plan on it being a classic early 60’s tune that Becky and I heard in the car while on our way to Albany, NY for our weekend trip.  We had a blast- check my Twitter (jimfusco) for all the updates and photos from the road!  Until next week!

“Friend of the Devil” (Grateful Dead Cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Well, as promised, I’m back with your Wednesday edition of Jim Fusco Tuesdays!  Don’t understand that?  Then you should be visiting the blog more often! 🙂  Tuesdays are my usual day to post, but unfortunately, I didn’t have my camera last night, so I had to put-off doing the video until today.  I also recorded another video for next week that you’re going to LOVE.  It’s from a guy you probably haven’t heard of, but he’s new to the blog and he’s a well-respected musician.  I guess you’ll have to wait in suspense until then!

I can’t believe it- this blog has been up for well over two years and there hasn’t been a Grateful Dead song done yet!  Late last year, I decided that I wanted to learn more about the Grateful Dead.  Back in high school and early college, I used to work at the now defunct Cheshire Video and Disc (a local video store).  I used to work with this hippy girl named Karen.  She was cool- we used to work on Sunday mornings together and always had a nice time.  She used to play this Grateful Dead VHS tape during our shift every week.  It was from the 80’s.  It was a trippy kind of concert- crazy 80’s video effects and extended drum solos.  But, I really enjoyed the songs.

Fast-forward about seven years to the present-day.  I finally got my Grateful Dead “Best Of” for Christmas from my mother in law and I was so excited to play it for the first time.  My boss had re-ignited my interest for the band, as he put a few of their songs on a mix CD for me.  So, I got the CD and played it at work for the first time.  I LOVED IT!!

It’s 17 songs and, believe me, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a better overall “Best Of”.  It has all of my favorite elements: harmonies, good guitar, everyone plays their own instruments, and (my personal favorite) multiple band members writing songs!!  Actually, my favorite song on the whole “Best Of” CD (which I will definitely cover in the future) is “Box Of Rain”, written by bassist Phil Lesh.  (On another note, I hear he and former Dead member Bob Weir are now touring as “Furthur”, but the show in my hometown of Wallingford, CT is SOLD OUT!  Grrr….)

Anyway, there are so many great songs on this disc- from the ones you’ve heard of (and probably didn’t know they did them) like “Truckin'”, “Casey Jones”,  and “Touch of Grey” to the ones that you haven’t heard of yet, this is a top-to-bottom rare “Best Of” find.  The last times I felt this great about a “Best Of” was when I purchased the America and Doobie Brothers’ discs.  So, what I’m saying is, if you haven’t purchased the Grateful Dead “Best Of” (the one with 17 tracks- NOT the cheap 10-track version), then you should really give it a try.

Tonight’s song is “Friend of the Devil”.  At first, this wasn’t one of my favorites, but it’s catchy and the story is pretty cool, so it grew on me quickly.  I love singing it in that Jerry Garcia drawl.  Plus, this was an easy one to convert to acoustic.  Most of their songs aren’t so easy because of their great harmonies.  I’ve wanted to do so many of their songs, but it just won’t sound right without someone else singing with me (who knows the song really well, too).

So, whatever idea you had of the Dead (I thought it was just a stupid stoner band that jammed nonsensical songs for hours on end…which may be true for the live sets, as I’ve heard), throw it away!  They’re a tight band that last quite a while and came up with some great songs.  And now I’m even more excited that I can build my vinyl record collection with some of their interesting albums, such as their lone 60’s record (from 1967, which I’m INCREDIBLY interested in hearing) and their all-time classic from 1970, American Beauty.

Enjoy tonight’s LSHD video and make sure to come back next week for my newest obsession in music!

“Sundown” (Gordon Lightfoot Cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Oh…My…GOD!!  I am so angry right now!!  THREE TIMES- that’s right, three perfect takes of “Sundown” by Gordon Lightfoot it took before I could render tonight’s video and publish to YouTube.  Why?!?!  Because, for whatever reason, my computer corrupted my video TWICE!  It’s so much later than I want it to be.  And, if you know anything about me, you’ll know that I like to (and most times ONLY will) do things once and that’s it.  Tonight, I brought home Noreen’s 1967 Gibson 12-string acoustic and needed to get this song done.  Grrrrrr…..

And, of course, this happens on GROUNDHOG’S DAY!!  Wait, am I Bill Murray?

Anyway, onto the shorter (due to the late post) description of tonight’s video.

The legend of the guitar I’m playing in this video is that it was actually OWNED by Gordon Lightfoot at some point!!  I don’t know if that’s really true, but wouldn’t it be crazy?  I just had to ask Noreen to borrow it tonight.  Someday, I may inherit this beautiful guitar…but, seriously, I’m not hoping that day comes anytime soon at all.

I’ve always known this song, and always kind of knew Gordon Lightfoot did it, but I never knew the name (thank you Shazaam App on my iPhone!) and when I heard it again on the radio last week, I knew I had to do it.  Listening back, I noticed that it was recorded using a 12-string guitar.  Imagine if it was the same one on the recording…

This song is so easy- just slap a capo on the second fret and play E and B for the verse.  Then, do E, A, and D for the chorus and you’ve got it!  But, even in its simplicity, I find “Sundown” to be a very powerful song.  It’s got such a great tune.  And the original has really cool harmonies on the chorus.  I was hoping to round-up a posse to sing with me, but remembered that I live in Connecticut and would be nowhere near any semblance of a “posse” for at least 500 miles…

So, you get the standard one-man Laptop Session version of “Sundown” by Gordon Lightfoot here on the best blog ever created!

I have some new plans (that’ll cost me some money) to promote both the blog and my original music.  I save emails that interest me (advertisements, etc.) and then I let them stew in my mind for about four months.  After that, I have a pretty good idea of what I want to spend my money on.  And I think I’ve come up with two great ways of promotion that will help get me fans of my original music and help give the Laptop Sessions music blog some better search engine traffic.  If I play my cards right, I can do it all for under $100, which in terms of internet promotion is a STEAL.

On a final note, my brother Mike suggested today that he and I record the brand-new Barenaked Ladies single, “You Run Away” from their upcoming album in March.  I cannot wait for this album to come out.  It’s so exciting to get a new album from BNL and I’m excited to hear them as a four-piece band with more contributions from the “secondary” (if you can even say that with them) band members.  I hear there’s THREE Jim Creegan songs on the album!  He’s like the George Harrison of the group now. 🙂  Anyway, “You Run Away” came out on iTunes today and it’s AWESOME.  You really have to buy it.  They sound great.  They didn’t try to change their sound too much.  It’s just great rock’n’roll with great vocals.  And that’s the way to please me musically, folks.

I’ve been listening to some new stuff lately and can’t wait to share it with you- hopefully I’ll get some time soon.  Until next post, have a great week!

NOTE: This video was remastered in 2020 for improved video and sound.

“Dream Lover” (Bobby Darin Cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Hello everybody and welcome to your Tuesday night fix of Jim Fusco’s Cover Song Experience!  No, that’s not my new one-man band name- I’ve just been watching ‘Arrested Development” and was thinking of “Dr. Funke’s 100 Percent Natural Good Time Family Band Solution”, which I find incredibly funny.

Anyway, tonight I bring you a song that’s over 50 years old in Bobby Darin’s self-penned classic, “Dream Lover”.  And I can’t believe it’s our first Bobby Darin song on the music blog!

There’s this radio show I listen to on WHUS radio (at the UCONN campus in Storrs, CT).  It’s called “Rockin’ With Wayne” and I can’t get enough of it.  He just plays all these songs from the 50s and very early 60s.  So, I get to hear Ricky Nelson, Roy Orbison, Buddy Holly, etc.  I just love those old songs.  They’re so simple and all kind of sound alike, but they’re happy and innocent.  Even the “downer” songs are just so lightweight that I can’t help but smile when I hear them.  So, I’m on a bit of an oldies cover song kick.

Next week’s post will also be a song that’s over 50 years old- it’s even older than “Dream Lover’!  After that, I have a lot of possibilities, including my new “deadly” musical interest that will appear on the blog soon…as soon as I can find someone who can sing and play guitar to help me out.

Getting back to tonight’s song, we’re talking about a fairly formulaic tune for the late 50s here, especially that middle section.  But, what always made me love this tune is the great start-stop beat in the chorus.  It’s so unique.  And even though it uses only C, G7, C, and F chords (in that order), something about the melody there and the beat always gets me.

In other news, I had a great day on Sunday- Dana came over for “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2” and we had a good time, even though I’m not that great at it yet.  After that, my father came over and we all watched the Jets game.  It was amazing!  Mike came over, too, and we all had pizza and snacks.  After that, we ordered TNA’s “Genesis” Pay-Per-View.  And even though there were some startling moves like the new 4-sided ring, the new entrance ramp (which I saw in a WCW pay-per view back from 1991), the addition of Misterrrrrrrr…..Anderson, and a couple of title changes, it was a pretty good show.  The AJ Styles heel turn was very unexpected- he’s aligned with none other than the Nature Boy, Ric Flair!

Lots of work this week, both at home and at my day job, so I’ll keep this post a bit briefer than usual.  Is “briefer” a word?  Sounds like someone who makes underwear…

Anyway, I hope you have a good time watching “Dream Lover” and will come right back here next week for another “Roots of Rock’n’Roll” acoustic cover song music video.  Until then!