“Artificial Energy” (The Byrds Cover)

By Jeff Copperthite:

Oh yeah – I get to bring in my favorite day to one of the cooler songs I know.

That’s right, it’s Thumpin’ Thursday® – naturally trademarked by yours truly.  I’m dedicated to bringing you not only every TT that I have left in the year, but in 2009 I hope you can count on your Thursdays every week to always be a Thumpin’ one.

And to go right along to that theme, I have a great tune from The Byrds tonight.  From their album “The Notorious Byrd Brothers” is a song introduced to me by (who else) Jim Fusco.  It’s the first track of the album and it’s a great album starter called “Artificial Energy”.  The song has an awesome horn part that overlays the entire song.  This album and song were recorded in 1967 – over 40 years ago.  A stereo version of the song is noted by having the horns loud enough to cause distortion that was still atypical to a record.

The album this comes from is one i’d like to hear.  I’ve read that it is one of their best albums, if somewhat short.

I also wanted to bring this song to the sessions to remind Jim of his days at Wesleyan University.  I hope your roommate was a Byrds’ fan man.

That does it for me tonight – but rest assured!  Tomorrow you will get to hear another song by myself, and then i’ll be back for another fantastic session on Sunday as well.  Chris will jump in Saturday to give me a break, but you can count on a session a day all the way through ’08.

I hope you enjoy today’s session!

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!

“A Horse With No Name” (America Cover)

By Jeff Copperthite:

Good evening to you. It’s Jeff Copperthite today with www.guitarbucketlist.com. Today I bring you my first tune from America, which is a band I have been slowly getting into the past 2 years or so.

After our live show at Testa’s Saturday night (which was GREAT! Look for some pictures and video soon on our site), we had a fan request an America song after our 2nd song, so we gave it to him. That made me want to play more, so yesterday I learned the song that I bring you today.

I also know this is one of the most well-known songs by America (and in the world for that matter). I love the strumming pattern and the chords that go with this song. When you hear the song you think it’s tough to play. I hope that this cover is appreciated by the die-hard America fans, as I am slowly joining your ranks the more I hear their music.

I also had the privilege of seeing them in concert this past year (w/ Jim Fusco and Chris Moore as well), and of course they closed their show with this song, and a 3 minute guitar solo by Gerry.

You can’t go wrong with this song. I hope you enjoy today’s edition and come back every day for a new song at https://guitarbucketlist.com/!

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 origianal 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!

“On the Shelf” (Original Wednesday Acoustic Video by Jeff Copperthite)

By Jeff Copperthite:

Wow it seems so long since i’ve done an original Original Wednesday.  I checked my video session catalog (which is nearing 100 by the way) and the last true original song I have brought you (read: a song that I have written) was actually on July 15.  That is OVER TWO MONTHS!  I couldn’t let it go on any longer!

So i’m digging one up for the sessions today.  Finally, not only an original tune, but a PREMIERE, never before seen or heard, Jeff Copperthite original.

All my fans and my sessionmates are familiar with my playing style.  I feel this song is somewhat of a deviation.  The guitar part I play to this song is probably among the more creative ones I have recently conceived.  The lyrics – well, remember I am a happily married guy, but that doesn’t mean someone can’t tell a story that isn’t personal to the writer.  Plus, it fits the “spirit” of the guitar part quite well.

Perhaps this song will make it to the recording studio next year for another album.  I’ve felt the writing itch for a couple months now.  Scott & I are going to be getting together in the near future to do some jamming as well.  Perhaps a new Quilt EP or album is not that far in the future.  And everyone that knows both of us know, that he’ll blow me out of the water on the guitar.

My viewcount has reached 42K, and I have three new requests to work on for my upcoming sessions, but now back to your regularly scheduled “New Bands 2.0” week.  I’ll be back Saturday covering a band that has already made me say “Holy crap why did I pick this band?” – not because they don’t sound good, but because they sound incredible, and covering them will be a tall order.  I’m up to it, however.

And tomorrow, Jim will be back with another new band (feel free to register it under the “Thumpin’ Thursday™” tag Jim), and Chris will be back to satiate our eyes and ears with another new band.

I hope you enjoyed this edition of Original Wednesday!

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!

“Fake Plastic Trees” (Radiohead Cover)

By Jeff Copperthite:

Welcome to your thumpin’ thursday edition of the Laptop Sessions (been waiting 3 weeks to use that again). Today I bring you another Radiohead song from their album “The Bends”, and another song i’ve known how to play for quite some time.

The song is “Fake Plastic Trees”, and is one of the singles from the album. I love the dynamic change in this song, and the vocal changes throughout the song.

Naturally, like most Radiohead songs, I don’t know what it’s about either. Apparently, however, one site says it’s about Canary Wharf, a large shopping area in London.

This video goes down as a “I recorded it despite being sick” video. We can’t skip a day here at guitarbucketlist.com! Can’t use sickness as an excuse. Gotta keep the streak alive! I missed a note near the last verse, and the last line of the last verse my voice didn’t quite hit the falsetto I had been hitting in the previous verse lines. This is by no means my top vocal performance for sure. I’d have been better off recording this while my voice was 100%.

I’m hoping to hit 5k views by next Wednesday’s edition! I’m really racking up the views as of late. Hopefully I can start racking up the ratings and comments as well!

Until then, enjoy “Fake Plastic Trees”, another Radiohead hit!

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!