“Up From Under” (Wallflowers Cover)

By Ryan V:

Cover of “Up from Under” by the Wallflowers.  I did this with a freeware webcam recorder – sorry about that…  Thus the audio and video are kinda crappy, plus that annoying watermark.  But the vocals/guitar is all me, just a bit delayed.

** EDITOR’S NOTE: **

Ladies and gentlemen, let’s extend a warm welcome to the latest addition to the Guest Sessions team of performers… Ryan!

Ryan’s choice is an excellent one for an acoustic cover song.  In fact, after all the Breach covers that Jeff Copperthite and I have done over the years (“Sleepwalker,” “Hand Me Down,” “I’ve Been Delivered”), we’ve somehow managed to miss this little gem.  Breach really is an underrated album with a wide selection of beautiful songs, and Dylan and company strike a perfect balance between electric and acoustic work.

As Ryan points out above, the quality lags a bit on this music video.  Still, I think you’ll find it to be a solid, faithful cover version with some great fingerpicking.  He’s been watching the Laptop Sessions for some time, and I’m proud to welcome him to the blog via this performance. Seeing as how we were less than ten days away from the one year anniversary of our last Wallflowers post (Jeff’s February 27, 2009 cover of “I’ve Been Delivered”), we thank Ryan for sending this in just in time…

Here’s to many more great cover song music videos!

“Is There Anybody Out There?” (Pink Floyd Cover)

By Jeremy Hammond:

My cover of “Is There Anybody Out There?” by Pink Floyd from The Wall album. I don’t have classical guitar, so I’m playing it on a steel-string.

** EDITOR’S NOTE: **

Is there a better way to close out a long week than to listen to Jeremy’s beautiful rendition of this simple tune from Pink Floyd’s classic album The Wall?

I can’t think of one.

As you listen, you may be thinking back to this legendary concept album, and the significance of this question being asked — is there anybody out there?  As many critics and fans have pointed out, the decision to make this an instrumental clearly suggests that no answer is being given.

We thank Jeremy for highlighting another excellent album track for us, and wish you all a wonderful weekend.  Hopefully, it won’t be spent alone.  (And, if it is, then maybe it’s time to dust off your copy of The Wall!)

“She Belongs to Me” (Bob Dylan Cover)

We’re looking for more Guest Sessions submissions! So, sit down, pull up your acoustic guitar and camera, post the video on YouTube, and CLICK HERE!

As I always say, it’s never too soon for another Bob Dylan cover video!  Personally, I’ve attempted to restrain myself from recording a comfortable, enjoyable Dylan cover this year.  However, tonight’s installment of the Guest Sessions is a Dylan cover song music video with an interesting twist.

First of all, this is a song from Dylan’s 1965 album Bringing It All Back Home.  This is perhaps one of his best albums, and it was a transition point for him, half of the album being full band renditions and the other half being classic acoustic-only compositions.  (For his next album, Highway 61 Revisited, he would dive deeply into the world of electric rock…)

So far, I’ve recorded two covers from this album — “Subterranean Homesick Blues” for the members-only area of the site and “Love Minus Zero/No Limit.”  No one here has yet dared to take on the more noteworthy songs, such as “It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)” or the song that the Byrds launched to chart success, “Mr. Tambourine Man.”  This being said, I was truly impressed with the apparent ease with which Stan Denski, our guest tonight, played “She Belongs to Me.”  Granted, this is a fairly straightforward song, but he changed the tuning and plays in an interesting fashion.  His version is true to the original, yet very much his own and sung well.

Thank you, Stan, for sending this very entertaining video!

I’ll let him introduce the video — Stan writes,

This is a cover of Bob Dylan’s “She Belongs To Me.”  It is played on an old Guild 12-string tuned to an open D and played by barring chords from the top of the neck which allows the highest strings to ring open and create diminished chords.  It also uses a lot of harmonics struck at the 12th fret.

I was showing a friend how to play this version and he videotaped it and, later, stuck it up on YouTube.

Stan Denski, Indianapolis