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“(Marie’s The Name Of) His Latest Flame” (Elvis Presley cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Welcome to The Laptop Sessions with me, Jim Fusco!  I’m glad to be back with another acoustic cover song music video for you to enjoy.  Tonight, I go back about fifty years and bring you Elvis Presley’s classic song, “His Latest Flame”.  It’s a cool tune with a great beat.  I love the bossa nova style used in the original recording.  Of course, this video is just me and my guitar.  But, I think it still captures the essence of the song.  This song requires a lot of energy and I hope that shows in this cover song video.

“His Latest Flame” was written by the songwriting pair of Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman (you may remember the mention of their names in Ben Folds & Nick Hornsby’s “Lonely Avenue”).  This song went all the way up to #4 on the Billboard charts.  And clocking in just over two minutes, they proved that a catchy number, no matter the length, can be a big hit.

One thing I thought was interesting was the Del Shannon (of “Runaway” fame) originally recorded this song.  Of course, his version wasn’t the hit.  I imagine that happened to many artists once Elvis got a hold of a song.  I, for one, would be pretty intimidated if Elvis Presley picked a song I had already recorded and made it his own.  I think that would spell the end of the original version and the beginning of Elvis’ sure-fire hit in the late 50s and early 60s.

Of course, my cover version of “His Latest Flame” sounds its best because of my Martin MMV acoustic guitar.  It’s just so clear and powerful- it makes anything I play sound better.  I hope that my cover version helps keep this song alive for years to come and introduces it to a new generation of potential Elvis (and early rock’n’roll) fans.

On a side note, I’m still getting used to editing my Laptop Sessions cover song music videos with Final Cut Pro X.  It’s really a pain in the neck and many of the functions just seem purposefully “dumbed-down” to make it easier to use.  The problem is that it literally took me an hour searching online to find out how to fade in the video.  Geesh!  Plus, there’s a little skip in the audio at the end- I’m not sure why that happened, but there’s no way to fix it.  Also, there’s a few seconds of black at the end- not sure how it got there or how to fix that in the future.  But when the video takes literally HOURS to render at full 1080p high-definition resolution, I really only get one shot at it to get it right.

Finally for tonight, I wanted to mention the progress of my brand-new album, “Those Around Us”.  It’s all recorded and mixed.  Now, it’s in the loving hands of a mastering company.  If everything turns out as well as I hope it does, I’ll be posting praise for that company soon enough- I just want to make sure first. 🙂  Anyway, it’s an album of 12 original songs.  It’s 95% me, but there are a couple of nice collaborations on there.  As you’ll hear once it’s released, it’s by far and away the finest work I’ve done so far.  Every song is crafted with love and care down to each minute detail.  The songs aren’t overproduced, but they don’t sound sparse, either.  The vocals, now that I have a great Shure condenser microphone, are clear and pitch-perfect.  I’m not tooting my own horn there- I spent countless hours making sure the timbre of my voice was correct on each harmony track.  Also, the instruments really sound great.  I utilized a sampled Wurlitzer electric piano (used in such hits as “Joy To The World” among many, many others) and this album features a real drum kit.  Also, I have a vast array of different guitars, ranging from a 12-string electric to a lap steel.  The variation of sounds makes each track on this album sound fresh and different- no two tracks have the same instrument setup.  To me, that’s the mark of a diverse and interesting album.

I’ll be releasing more information on the album in the next few weeks.  I’m hoping to get the album cover firmed-up soon and will hopefully get to post an in-depth look at how it was created.  I’d love to read comments both here on the music blog and on YouTube.   Enjoy “(Marie’s the Name of) His Latest Flame”!

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Elvis Costello’s “National Ransom” (2010) – YES, NO, MAYBE SO?

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Elvis Costello’s National Ransom (2010) – MAYBE NOT

National Ransom (Elvis Costello, 2010)

National Ransom (Elvis Costello, 2010)

(November 2, 2010)

Review:

Aside from a few sparking moments and a couple notable tracks, National Ransom feels more like a collection of sixteen songs that didn’t make the cut for Secret, Profane, and Sugarcane, which was in every way a more engaging, dynamic, and cohesive effort.

Top Two Tracks:

“A Slow Drag With Josephine” & “Five Little Words”

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Christmas, Volume 1 – Playlists on Parade

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By Chris Moore:

Living for years with a friend who made it his business to know, love, and compile Christmas music, I’ve never really taken much ownership of the hundreds of holiday songs that are on my iPod, many of the older and/or more obscure selections having been discovered through him.  Of course, there are certain albums that I look forward to hearing every year.  These albums are collections of music that really help me get into the spirit of the season, ranging from classics like the Beach Boys’ sixties Christmas album to 2004’s Barenaked for the Holidays.

The problem I encountered last year was that the albums were easy to isolate in my iTunes, but the individual tracks from artists that I only listen to at Christmas time were more difficult to call up.  Some of the more legendary singers are easy to remember, like Bing Crosby and Burl Ives, but it is still inconvenient to flip between artists after every song or two.

This year, I was struck by the desire to hear the songs I missed last season, so I woke up early this morning to sort out all the yuletide tracks.  In the end, I had 340 songs in a playlist titled simply “Christmas Collection.”  Now, this is an excellent list to play on random when friends or family come over, or when you’re simply looking to mix it up.

But it could also be a drag to suffer through all your least favorite versions of your favorite songs or to keep hoping a song you’re thinking of is coming up next.

Thus, I sorted out my favorite songs into a separate playlist.  After I had picked through all 340 tunes, I found myself with 70 songs.  Still too many, so I forced myself – forced! – to cut out ten more.  With sixty remaining, I set about separating them into three more manageable lists of twenty each.

This is volume one of the creatively titled “Christmas” playlist series!

In this first playlist, I’ve included some of my absolute favorites, like the Beach Boys’ “Little Saint Nick” and the Moody Blues’ “Don’t Need a Reindeer.” I’ve also added some lesser known but equally excellent holiday themed tracks, like Clarence Carter’s “Back Door Santa” (a song I definitely did NOT fully understand when I first heard it at age 12) and Relient K’s “I Hate Christmas Parties.”  One of the most difficult decisions for me here was whether to use the original and unarguably classic Band Aid version of “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”  In the end, I went with the BnL version, which is on the whole much more listenable, as it’s louder and clearer.

When they remaster the Band Aid version, I may need to revisit this playlist…

I’ll be back with more commentary on the tracks in specific and my process overall next Saturday, so be sure to check back for volume two!

1. “Little Saint Nick” (Single Version) – The Beach Boys

2. “Christmas Vacation” – Mavis Staples

3. “Don’t Need a Reindeer” – Moody Blues

4. “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” – Barenaked Ladies (Band Aid cover)

5. “Back Door Santa” – Clarence Carter

6. “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” – Darlene Love

7. “Holly Jolly Christmas” – Burl Ives

8. “The First Snow” – Mike Fusco

9. “Winter Wonderland” – America

10. “Come On Christmas, Christmas Come On” – Ringo Starr

11. “Blue Christmas” – Elvis Presley

12. “I Hate Christmas Parties” – Relient K

13. “Happy Xmas (War is Over)” – John Lennon

14. “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” – Judy Garland

15. “Christmastime (Oh Yeah)” – Barenaked Ladies

16. “Christmas Time is Here Again” – The Beatles

17. “Christmas Don’t Be Late” – Alvin & the Chipmunks

18. “Run Rudolph Run” – Chuck Berry

19. “Here Comes Santa Claus” – Bob Dylan

20. “The Christmas Song” – Nat King Cole

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“Alison” (Elvis Costello Cover)

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For Elvis Costello chords & lyrics, CLICK HERE!

By Chris Moore:

Good evening and welcome to another week of all-new Laptop Sessions posts!  Today was busy, and although I had a lot of work to do around the condo, I was able to finally relax a bit and begin enjoying being here.  Since tonight marks my first cover song music video since the move, you’ll notice a new backdrop.  It’s a bit plain, since we’re still unpacking boxes and hanging up posters, etc.  In fact, I’m not entirely sure where I want to play my sessions here.  Although I miss having the “wall o’ CD’s” in the background as I did when I lived in the apartment, I do like the light and acoustics of the living room here at the condo.

Still, the visuals should come second to the song at hand.  My session tonight is a cover of Elvis Costello’s “Alison” from his classic 1977 debut album My Aim is True.  As for how I’ve never recorded this song before, I really don’t have an explanation.  This is widely considered Costello’s best known and best loved recording, second only to “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding?”  There are certainly other Costello songs that are more rocking, more complex, or simply better, but this heartbreaking tune is a wonderful little song.  Although I’ve loved Elvis Costello and the Imposters since Delivery Man, I’ve only recently gotten into his older material (via Live at Hollywood High – CLICK HERE for the full review).  Even still, I’ve always loved “Alison.”

I’ve been thinking recently about why it took me a while to warm to Costello’s material, and my best guess is the way his “best of” is compiled.  The Very Best of Elvis Costello, the quintessential EC greatest hits that was released in April 2001, is a two-disc set with virtually no booklet to speak of.  This, to me, is a cardinal sin — how could one, as an album designer, decide to disconnect a “best of” compilation from the appropriate context?  Instead of liner notes, there is a series of the same photo of Costello colorized in different shades.  And, really, I would have been happy with any type of text: brief notes about each song, an essay about Costello, or even a message/reflection from the man himself.

And what really surprised me years ago when I opened this CD on Christmas morning was that it was a Rhino release.  Anyone who’s ever bought an album release from Rhino knows that they’re typically very generous with booklets and other packaging.  At least, that’s the experience that I’ve had.

Regardless, I picked up Live at Hollywood High, an Elvis Costello and the Attractions concert from 1978, out of curiosity, and I actually felt a little guilty about spending money on it.  After all, the last time I had listened to his early songs, I hadn’t been overly interested.  But it has also been a good number of years since I had heard them.

The concert is fantastic.

I went back last week and listened to all 140 EC songs on my iPod and five-starred the songs I really liked.  In the end, I was left with a 36 song playlist that I’ve been listening to in shuffle mode constantly for days.  (And, since there’s no new music of interest coming out this week, it’ll have to sustain me for another seven days.)  Not surprisingly, several of the live versions of his songs made the playlist over the studio versions.  Typically, I opt for studio recordings, but this was one of those cases where the live versions are sometimes just better — more catchy, passionate, etc.

The studio recording of “Alison” is classic, though.

I’m posting late tonight because I had a faculty meeting today, followed by a trip to a fancy locale known as K-Mart (remember those??) to pick up a dinette set with the help of my parents, and I’ve been building the chairs ever since.  You can’t believe how many nuts, bolts, washers, spring washers, screws, and other little pieces go into the assembly of these things.

It’s been so much work that I might record my session next week at the dining room table just to feel like it was for a purpose…

Seriously though, it’s actually been a lot of fun just building this set while watching season five of The Office.  Of course, it wouldn’t be exciting without an issue.  In this case, I unpacked the pieces to find that the table has a six-inch crack down the center of it.  They’re getting more in on Friday, so I’ll be able to complete the building then, but I just have to wonder…  why did it have to be the BIGGEST piece that’s broken?  Couldn’t it have been something like one of the chair spindles?

Until next week, I want to remind you to stay tuned here all week for some great new posts.  There are more Laptop Sessions to come, as well as music reviews and more.  And the Guest Sessions submissions have been multiplying recently, which I couldn’t be more thrilled about, so once I review those videos, you can look forward to the cream of that particular crop over the next few weeks.

See you next session!

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