Tag Archives: cover

“If This Is It” (Huey Lewis & The News Cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Welcome to the Laptop Sessions acoustic cover songs music blog for Monday! I’m back with a video that’s not only one of my best performances (if I do say so myself) but one of my favorite tunes. This song, “If This Is It”, is an underrated song and Huey Lewis and the News are a very underrated band.

I think Huey Lewis loses points in many reviewers’ minds because he doesn’t write the songs he sings.  But, there are members of his band (you know, the News!) that write the songs he sings.  It’s kind of like a Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons thing.  So, when you look at the band in that light, Huey Lewis is just a really cool guy and a good singer, too!  I love the style of their songs- it’s kind of like my music, but back in the 80s.  You can tell that the songwriters loved a bygone era of music (especially with the doo-wop style of “If This Is It”) but updated it for the times.  Obviously, “If This Is It” wouldn’t have sounded right in 1956, but somehow the song gives off that vibe while still sounding fresh…for 1983, that is…

The whole “Sports” album is very entertaining to me.  I know songs like “The Heart Of Rock & Roll” have actually been put on “Worst Song Ever” lists in the past, but I’ve always liked that tune!  Plus, “Heart and Soul” is one of my absolute favorite songs of all time.  And, you’ve even got the song that was stolen for the Ghostbusters theme song in “I Want a New Drug”!  If you’re into music from that era, please give “Sports” from Huey Lewis and the News a shot.  You’ll be glad you did!

“If This Is It” wasn’t the easiest song to learn- the chord changes and the special strumming pattern made it a tough one to get correct while singing.  But, the singing wasn’t too easy, either.  I recall messing up near the end of the song on a couple of occasions.  Why?  Because Huey Lewis had (and still does) an amazingly powerful voice.  Of course, he wasn’t playing guitar at the same time during his performances!

I always thought this would be the perfect album closing song.  It just has that “ending” feel to it, even though it’s not a slow song like most albums feature at the end.  The sentiment here is that a person knows all of the telltale signs of a relationship ending are there and that person wants the truth.  But, what makes this song great is the hesitation- yes, he may know it’s over, but he still doesn’t like that fact.  He knows he should save himself from more heartache, but he wants her to be the person to break it off.

I hope you all enjoy tonight’s acoustic cover song, played on my nylon stringed acoustic guitar, as our week of brand-new bands to the Laptop Sessions continues!  This Huey Lewis and the News song is one of my favorites and I knew it would be a great pick for another cover song music video here on the best music blog around: The Laptop Sessions!

“You’re So Good To Me” (Beach Boys Cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Hello all, and welcome to your weekend edition of The Laptop Sessions acoustic cover songs music video blog with me, Jim Fusco. After two strong outings from Jeff and Chris, I decided to pull my ace-in-the-hole and do a Beach Boys song.  I always have good luck doing a Beach Boys cover song, as growing up, I would constantly sing these while in the car.  After a while, I think my voice just grew into the Beach Boys tone, so I’m able to bring you fairly accurate cover song videos here on the music blog!

This is an earlier Beach Boys song that doesn’t have way too much emphasis on the background vocals, so it was a nice transition into Laptop Sessions form.  Normally, I like to take more produced songs and turn them into cover song videos, but tonight, I’m taking a lesser-known song and bringing it to the public’s attention again.

I love the way Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys sings this song. It’s like he’s semi-screaming it at some points, but he’s singing about how someone is “so good” to him! I think this might have been an attempt to sound a bit more “macho” on Brian’s part, and if I were in his shoes, I would completely understand.  Of course, I think the “macho” aspect goes away on the falsetto, “And I love it, LOVE it!” line.  That’s okay, though, as it’s my favorite part of the song.  I’ve noticed lately that one of Brian Wilson’s strengths as a songwriter (and there are many) is his ability to write a great bridge.  Those catchy transition periods between the verses and choruses are usually my favorite parts of a song.  I’ve been putting a lot of focus on them in my original songs, as well.  For instance, in “Good Enough” off of my album, “Those Around Us”, I love the way the bridge came out.  It features really cool harmonies and a catchy tune.  Plus, I like the line, “And now my heart is hardened like a heart of gold.”

I hope everyone likes this one, even though it doesn’t have my favorite Mike Love low part in there. Gotta get Chris to stop correcting high school English papers one of these nights and do some more collaborations!  Actually, this cover song video doesn’t feature any of the background vocals.  The “la-la-la” part in the chorus can be considered annoying by some people.  In fact, it took away from my love of the song until just recently.  I guess it grew on me.  But, here I give you a version with no background vocals for the acoustic cover songs music video blog so you can hear just what a great little song “You’re So Good To Me” is!

See you Tuesday with another Session, but stay tuned for Chris and Jeff’s entries over the next two days! Haven’t missed a day in ’08!

“Dark of My Moon” (Gene Clark Cover)

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Welcome to your Super Bowl Sunday edition of The Laptop Sessions acoustic cover songs music video blog! As a quick note on the Super Bowl, I’m a Jets “fan”, so even though this concerns two northeast teams, I really don’t care who wins. On top of that, I’m a baseball fan, so hearing that the Mets signed Johan Santana, it already feels like a win.

On to today’s acoustic cover song:

I’ve said it before, but Gene Clark is in the running for best songwriter of all time. Those know know Gene’s music share my admiration of it, and even though finding someone who’s even HEARD of him is few and far between, I know this acoustic cover version of “Dark of My Moon” will make a lot of fans very happy.

“Dark of My Moon” and is an “unreleased” song that was formally released only as an acoustic demo a few years ago (long after Gene passed away). This has been a favorite of everyone in my family since we first heard it and I’m proud to bring it to the Laptop Sessions music blog.

This literally took me 30 takes to do. This is a very powerful song and I needed to do it right. I found that the more I played it, the harder it became to sing. But, after plenty of loud obscenities, I finally got the perfect take, which I present to you today.

Listen to the words of this song and listen to how the music rises and falls with the emotions. Not all of Gene Clark’s songs were this slow and sad-sounding, but most of them had this hint of melancholy to them.  Even in a fast-paced song like “Feel A Whole Lot Better”, Gene would put this sad tinge on the lyrics.  But, what’s interesting about “Feel A Whole Lot Better” is how he says, “I’ll probably feel a whole lot better when you’re gone.”  He doesn’t even know for sure!  I think that extra dimension to Gene Clark’s lyrics is what made him so great.  He had a way with words and you could tell he looked up to guys like Bob Dylan.  For “Dark of My Moon”, you can tell it’s a very personal song.  Lines like, “That’s the tenth time that you went and then came back,” make the listener realize that he’s talking about something (and someone) very specific.  On songs like that, I usually choose not to do a cover version.  But, “Dark of My Moon” is such a great song, I just couldn’t help it.  The way Gene Clark sings in the rough demo version is just perfectly suited to the content of the song.  This is only the first of many solo Gene Clark cover songs to come here on the video blog (not to mention those he did with the Byrds), so I hope everyone enjoys it!

Stay tuned as the Laptop Session a day in 2008 “keeps burnin'”! (to quote another great Gene Clark song)

“Young Boy” (Paul McCartney Cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Hello everyone and welcome to your Thursday fix of the Laptop Sessions music blog!

I’ve been sick with a cold these past couple of days- good thing I had a couple of cover song videos in reserve! I should be back to my healthy self again over the weekend, and I have a list of literally 40 different songs to record cover song music videos for the Sessions…hopefully not all in one day…

This tune is a great one from Paul McCartney’s late 90’s album, “Flaming Pie”. That album stands as one of my all-time favorites because it came out right when I was really getting into music seriously. My family listened to it constantly. I plan on doing most of the songs off this album eventually because of it.  “Flaming Pie”, for me, will always be the “vacation” album.  I remember the summer that this album came out.  My family went on vacation- a road trip to one of the New England states.  We listened to this album constantly while on the trip.  It was so exciting to go into a music store and see this album being promoted.  I remember listening to the album on headphones in one of these stores (remember those kiosks?).  But the weird thing was- we were listening to it in the car!  I guess I was just excited to see an album I liked getting some popularity for once.

Paul McCartney’s songs, dare I say, are much better when he’s in a bad mood.  Unfortunately, his wife was suffering from cancer at the time he wrote and recorded “Flaming Pie”.  The emotions Paul put into this album range from sweet (“Little Willow”) to edgy (“Really Love You”).  I think “Flaming Pie” features some of the best songs he’s ever written.  “Heaven On A Sunday” is one of my absolute favorites- it’s just got that perfect peaceful sound.  And “The World Tonight” is just a great rock’n’roll song- the perfect single.  Paul even makes mention of his old friend John Lennon.  You remember John’s story of how the Beatles got their name, right?  “A man on a flaming pie came down and told me to spell “Beetles” with an “a”.”  Yeah, right.  Anyway, it made for a great song (and album) many, many years later.

This tune is a great one on acoustic guitar and was one of the first songs I leaned to play on guitar. It’s fun to sing and has a great melody, but most of all, I love the message in the song. “He’s gotta do it for himself.” How many times have I tried to steer someone in the “right” direction, only to learn that the person needed to learn on his own. I love when people learn from others’ mistakes, but I also accept the fact that it doesn’t happen that often.

I hope you enjoy tonight’s Paul McCartney cover song.  “Young Boy” is a great one for you to learn, too.  Just start with C – Am – Em – F – G.  There- you’ve got the verse and you’ve mastered five different chords!  Stay tuned for many more Paul McCartney songs here on the Laptop Sessions acoustic cover songs music video blog!