“Getcha Back” (Beach Boys Cover)

For chords & lyrics, CLICK HERE!

By Chris Moore:

Hello and welcome, one and all, to my favorite type of acoustic cover song — a collaboration with fellow Fusco-Moore Productions artist Jim Fusco. (I’ll be posting another one soon with Jim and his girlfriend — fiance, to be more precise! — Becky Daly.) Tonight, I’m happy to present our rendition of the Beach Boys’ “Getcha Back” from their 1985 self-titled release.

This is probably their last great record, as such. After this, Dennis’ absence is all the more profound and the overall quality of involvement and projects seems to decline. But this album should not be ignored, even taking into account how much it sounds like “eighties music.”

“Getcha Back” is the first track and sets the tone for the album as a whole. I used to turn this on, set it to repeat, turn off the lights in my room, and lay on the floor listening to it again and again. There’s so much running through Mike Love’s vocal and the instrumental accompaniment is both rocking and sad. It made me want to write and record a song that could be that simple, and yet that good!

Years later, I still love the track, and I feel privileged that Jim would relinquish his claim on a Beach Boys cover — one of my favorites — so that I could record it for the acoustic cover songs music blog. Not only did he let me record it, but he joined in to make it probably one of my favorite Laptop Sessions thus far. I hope you enjoy it too!

Don’t forget to hurry back tomorrow for a new acoustic rock cover by Jeff…

See you next session!

“Bulletproof…I wish I was” (Radiohead Cover)

By Jeff Copperthite:

Good evening to you!  I hope this evening finds you well and happy.  I’m bringing another familiar band (for me) for today’s session, and matter of fact, a familiar album.

Even though I love the more recent albums from Radiohead, I just can’t seem to find a song that would make a good acoustic cover outside of the songs I know on “The Bends”.  I’ve covered three from that album, and this song marks the fourth i’ve covered.  This could possibly be the most covered album on the sessions!

The song I have chosen is not a single on the album, and the song itself is known for it’s “spacy” feel.  The song is “Bulletproof…I wish I was” which I love for the Bb6 chord that is played at the end of the chorus.

I’m not saying I’m tired of covering this album, but if you think there’s a Radiohead song from another album that would make a good acoustic cover, please request it.  I’m seriously lost on what else I could cover from this band.

I also make no claim to sound like Thom Yorke, and if you’re reading this chances are you are not a person who watches an acoustic cover of a video expecting it to sound exactly the same.  And if it doesn’t, then the video is subpar.  We do quality covers on this site, and as long as you expect a cover, you will be a happy viewer.

Sorry, had to rant a bit – I haven’t historically gotten very positive comments on Youtube about my Radiohead covers in the past.

Well anyway, I think this is my best of the four songs from this album.  I hope you agree!

Tomorrow I can’t wait to see what Jim has in store for his original song.  I’ll be back to watch, and I know you will be too!

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!

“I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” (U2 Cover)

By Jeff Copperthite:

Welcome to Friday’s edition of #1 week. Today I bring you a new band to the sessions, and another great #1 hit.

You must live under a rock if you don’t know the band U2. Off of their album “The Joshua Tree” is one of their only 2 U.S. #1 hits, which is competing for longest song title. Again, I had to take out a bunch of the spacing to get the title to fit in Youtube’s field.

The song “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” is a classic to me, since I have known it since I saw the music video as a kid. I loved the chorus and I think I annoyed my entire family running up and down the halls of the house. I have always enjoyed U2 for reasons such as Edge their guitarist, and Bono has an incredible range.

Speaking of Bono’s range, I originally recorded this session with me singing it an octave lower. However, I wasn’t happy with it. So I decided to sing it in the intended range. You can tell that some notes are hard to hit, but I feel that you will enjoy this performance more, despite the vocal difficulties I may appear to be having.

You will also notice my wife sitting in the background listening on the performance. She also selected the regular range video for you.

Tomorrow Jim will close out #1 week with another great #1 song. Be sure to come back tomorrow for that!

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!

“No Excuses” (Alice In Chains Acoustic Rock Cover)

By Jeff:

Welcome to Thumpin’ Thursday!  I’ve got a great alternative song that I had completely forgotten about up until recently.

Two weeks ago my wife & I bought a Nintendo Wii after a long time of debating whether we wanted it enough to buy it.  Well, thankfully that answer is yes.  We bought a few games we knew we’d like, which included the line of “Wii” games (including the Wii fit, which i’m happy to report is actually quite effective), and I also bought Guitar Hero III and Guitar Hero: Metallica.

Well,  next week I hope that I can actually…cover a Metallica song!  An acoustic cover?  You bet!  I’m sure those that are reading this will probably narrow the possibilities down to about 3 songs.

But the reason I mention Guitar Hero: Metallica (besides the fact that I love it and am currently working on 5-starring all the songs on Hard) is because today’s song is in this game.  It helped to remind me that it existed, and that it would make a great session entry.

So today I bring you “No Excuses” by Alice in Chains from their 1994 album “Jar of Flies”.  This song always sounded like it’d be more difficult than it actually is.  The lyrics and song always made me sing along throughout my teenage years.  I love the chorus that fits right in to the mood.

The song is very easy to play.  Tune the guitar down 1/2 step, and play a standard A barre chord, but only press down on the low E string with your index finger, leaving the B and high E string open the entire song.  Slide that up to the 7th fret, and back again for the verse.  For the chorus, bring it down to G, then A, B, A, G, A, then E in standard position (I use my middle, ring, and pinky to play the chord so it allows me to return to the barre position for the verse).

I tried to use a slightly different position today, facing the sound hole from the guitar towards the camera.  It seemed to work for “Hello, it’s Late” from last month.

I hope you enjoy today’s entry, and next week perhaps I’ll see you for another great session!  TTFN!

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!